Galapagos- Day 5

It is time to write something! Quite what, I am not sure. I do not have the vocabulary to do it justice... Incredible, Amazing, Fantastic, Unbelievable, Inspiring..There is not time enough or a dictionary thick enough to describe our experience here so far.

We are working long days it is true but we are encouraging everyone to spend some hours each day to do a dive, to snorkel to walk on the beach. You don't have to go off the boat to be treated by turtles, sharks, all kinds of fish and sea lions. The place is alive with wildlife.

You just have to walk into the crew mess at meal times to feel and hear the excitement and not only from the crew. The park ranger and the veteran guide of 16 years experience, have also seen new things because they are utilising our helicopter to transport scientists to remote locations (they do not have helicopters here in the Galapagos). Everyone describing sightings with the energy and excitement of children.

Myself, I have walked on the beach with giant Iguanas and blue footed boobies, colourful crabs and sea birds of all kinds. I have swam with sea lions and dived amongst a school of 20 plus sharks, I have snorkeled in between communities of turtles too many to count, the millions of bright fish up staged by the floating reptiles. We have seen penguins and a killer whale. This morning before work a few of us went back only 100m from where the boat is anchored, to snorkel again with the turtles. What a great start to any day.

There is so much involved in a Galapagos experience. It touches everyone. We are thrilled and privileged to be here and I am enjoying every minute. Long hours of work pass effortlessly between snatched excursions of the most exciting and unique kind.

Thursday 23rd April

The passage to Galapagos continues still. Not that arriving will make any difference actually! The common misconception at home is that we go to these wonderful places for our selves but we are
all at work and for us the arrival will coincide with a shifting of gears, fuelling, provisions and preparing of the boat for guests.
Cleaning and polishing, preparing boats and equipment outside, un-stowing the accommodation side of things inside and making our battened down ship into a floating hotel of the highest luxury. We are here for our guests and the long days working will continue until the guests depart, when hopefully but not guaranteed, there will be a chance to get a day off before being deployed to an as yet, unknown destination for the process to continue in that place.

Wednesday 22nd April
The pictures above are taken around sunrise this morning. An eyrie calm descended over the equatorial Pacific., We have found what we were looking for! The calm seas and balmy weather of the doldrums, so now we are making excellent progress eastwards and our voyage will be over by the weekend.
The sea was so calm this morning, it was a deep rich, effervescent blue that cast a perfect reflection of the bow.
As the passage nears conclusion I look back over the days out here with some fondness. Such wonders we have seen. The rainbow cast by the moon! A meteorite crashing through the earth’s atmosphere, dolphins swimming in the bow, phosphorescence glowing and sparkling like fireworks in the bow wave. Star lit nights that spangle the sky with no light pollution to hinder their magnificence . Sun rises and sun sets, more in two weeks than many see or take time to notice in a year.
Our minds and energies shift now, from getting there to preparing everything for the actual destination.
I just wonder if they will sell tea bags in Galapagos?.

Eh up. there's now't in me cup!

To the amazement of the rest of the crew, two Yorkshire men and a guy from Sussex were today seen rummaging around like mad men, in the dry stores on board. This can not be true! How have we allowed this to happen?
The PG Tips have run out and we are still 5 days from land.

Earlier today

What was that? Wow!!

Karen had just delivered a hot cup off coffee to me on the bridge. It was about 9:30, The dark night had closed in around the bridge with the glow from the radars and other instruments, the only form of light. We could be the only people in a million square miles of this Pacific wilderness. We are well over a thousand miles away, in any direction to the nearest land and well away from normal shipping lanes. We have not seen a ship in 10 days of sailing.

Seeing a shooting star is normal and not even worth mentioning to the person sharing the bridge watch with you. These sightings are frequent and are usually such fleeting moments caught in peripheral vision. Last nights sighting was a special one! At first a shooting light across the sky bright green in colour and then as it hit the earths atmosphere is flared bright with a long green tale following it. I am sure that something made it through the atmosphere, a meteorite crashing to earth in the middle of a massive ocean watched only by me and Karen who could not believe our eyes ,pleased to share the experience. Only 5 or 6 seconds out of a 4 hour night watch but it made our day.

Port Hole

This port hole is about 30cms from my head when I lay in my bunk. In these weather conditions the 'washing machine' is on constantly but the blue colour of the water is amazing and this sideways view looks like the planet earth from space or a shot taken by a surfer appearing from a tubing wave.

Marathon Invites continue to be avoided

As the leader of the Sussex Men's Fitness League (div 2) I am willing to believe that it will be possible again in the future to run a marathon. At present however, I am not fit enough! With this fact in mind you would be surprised at the number of Marathon invites I have to side step.

A group of friends ( SMFL Div 1) are off, very soon to run in Prague and another friend was disappointed that I will not be a starter with him in Berg, where ever in Europe that may be?

Today a sensible and very funny friend of mine sent me a link to one of his spoof news articles that he writes as a hobby. Maybe I will get to enter a marathon this year! As an obese chariot riding participant...http://www.thespoof.com/news/spoof.cfm?headline=s2i51205

Sunday 19th April

The mood has lightened on board as the half way point of our journey was achieved during yesterday. The extensive media server that we have on board has been searched for programs on the Galapagos and we have had our fill of David Attenborough describing the wonders of the place and of Darwin, the voyages and discoveries of the 'Beagle' etc.
Excitement of the destination, a brightening of the weather and of the crew spirits is noticeable. Sundays have a slightly different routine about them too, which is one small thing.
Today's fire drill livened things up a bit too. Mostly because it also breaks routine and raises peoples heart rate a bit. Not mine though! because I was the one who set the alarm off. I tried in vein this morning, to raise my heart rate by using the boats gym and can feel my standing in the Sussex men's fitness league slipping yet further. I don't believe however, that I continue to be alone in division two of that league.... You know who you are....

Friday 17th April - Groundhog Day

Routines are in motion, the ocean is determined to slow us down and the TTG (time to go) component on the GPS unit is still indicating over 10 days to go.
We have come further north so that we might find the balmy doldrums of the equatorial region and make better headway away from the easerly trades that we have been fighting to date but instead of calm, this evening it is anything but and we are actually in the middle of some very squally and generally disagreable conditions.
As we do progress slowly east we have to adjust the clocks on board for each time zone that we pass. Today we have advanced one more hour, it is no big deal but just as you get settled to the routine you loose an hours sleep and then again in a few days and one more time after that. I think it is a slow form or torture but we must all like it somehow because here we are still going this way and that over these vast oceans.
The film that was playing in the crew mess this afternoon was 'Mutiny on the Bounty' There is a clear theme running here! We have today past the point of no return and are no longer able to divert to Hawaii. One of the crew had met a girl there on one of our previous visits and was looking forward to returning. He is clearly out of luck but the adventure continues, I hear also that there is an abundance of great boobies to be seen in the Galapagos.

Wednesday 15th April

The day started with another perfect sun rise. Beautiful clear tropical skies and an endless blue horizon.
The calculations suggest that we will make land fall on the 26th or 27th of April a further 11 or 12 days!!

“The scurvy on board is rife, the biscuits are full of weevils. A sailor from the fo’csle was given 12 lashes today for taking more than his share of the rum and the fresh water is so putrid that it is only drinkable when mixed with a fair quantity of grog.”

I have been enjoying reading the accounts of Captain, James Cook and his voyages in this part of the world and although I am tempted to moan of the monotony I realise that we have it good.

After my watch I did my rounds, checked my e-mails, ran up the engines on the rescue boat and the jet skis, also checking the lashings on the helicopter. Hawaiian pizza with salad was served for lunch and fresh fruit with banana bread was served with morning tea, or should I say espresso coffee. I am off now to get a short afternoon nap before my evening watch, perhaps read a few more of Captain Cook's tales of daring do and on my way have another slice of our cooks banana bread.

Those blokes in the 1700’s were a hardy bunch! Far more hardy than me, it is fair to say.

Crew unrest

The change of course and resulting extra week at sea has created some unrest amongst the crew! This has appeard on the crew notice board and has obviously been inspired by our recent visit to Tahiti.

Nuku Hiva

8 am 14th April Passing Nuku Hiva

This morning saw sun rise number 5 and our passing to the south of Nuku Hiva, a remote and very beautiful Island in the group of islands called the Marqueses

7 am on Monday 13th April

This dramatic sky is what faced us this morning, just after sun rise today. The sky is enormous when you are at sea and it is always changing. A bit like our destination really!

At 4 am I took over the bridge watch from the 2nd officer. This is the start of our 4th day at sea and although we know where we are, we don't really know where we are going. This is often the way of things but it messes with peoples heads. I am fresh on board and don't care but a few folks get a bit edgy when the plan is so fickle.

The ships log book has a new page for every day, apart from the day and date, there are three headings at the top of the page, 'Ships Name', 'Voyage From' and on the top right it says 'Towards' in our case this section currently remains blank.

Our course is still East and we are still making progress in that direction just south of the Equator

Routine is set and course is changed

For the next month or so I am the chief officer on board which means that, when we are at sea I take the 4 to 8 watch. This is brilliant for me because I get to see every sun set and every sun rise. Today the picture of the moon and the sun rise were taken at the same time. The stunning beauty of the open ocean gives us time to appreciate the things that you don't get chance to see at home in the city.

This morning, those ashore suggested a new destination for us and as is often the way we have made a 90 degree course change right in the middle of the ocean and have begun to sail East. The Ocean passages book might make some sense to us now.

The Moon on Easter Sunday 2009

I am pretty pleased with this picture that I took on my early morning watch today!

A Rainbow at night

In all of the moon lit, night watches that I have gazed out over the horizon, last nights was the brightest moon that I have ever seen.

After a small rain shower we were treated to something none of us had ever witnessed before. The moon casting a rainbow, a silver gray arc with unmistakable multi-coloured tinge at the ends. Fantastic! It always cool to see new things.

Long exposure photography does not work on a moving boat.

Girl Guide 1 - Daren Nil

We slipped the moorings in Tahiti at the civilised time of 0930 the day after I had arrived and in only a few minutes we were negotiating the gap in the reef where a perfect set of 4 foot surf was peeling away on either side of us.

My body is here but my mind is still mostly at home and is struggling to catch up with said body. This is a surprise in it self, as even a girl guide with a runny nose can catch this body at the moment, so my mind can't be doing very well at all. Luckily, routine and procedures are helping. Pre departure check lists and so on, have been aiding me enormously to synchronise mind and body into the responsibilities of work.

It is a long way from Tahiti to Hawaii! 2500 miles in fact. Eight or nine days at sea. These journeys should not be taken lightly and we are once again doing something that is not illustrated in the trusty mariners companion, "Ocean Passages of the World". In centuries of ocean travel there really hasn’t been a reason for anyone to bother to sail straight up the middle of the Pacific. It is just a silly thing to do! Who in their right mind would do that?

If you get your self a globe or a map of the world, locate the biggest blue bit you can find and then stick your finger right in the centre of it, that is where we are! For the more technically minded 13 ° 00’ S 150° 00’W. In a few days we will once again cross the Equator so the weather is a balmy, baldy head burning sunny.

Hopefully in a week we will arrive in Honolulu. It’s becoming an old favourite with us.

A taste of French Polynisia

My only taste of Tahiti was a couple of cold beers in a quiet bar near to the boat. I asked around in the crew mess if anyone had some local money that they could sell me and soon I found myself staring at a pile of dabloons, sheckles and notes that honestly looked like booty from a pirate ships chest. Is this enough fore a beer?
I took my pirate booty to town and found that my small pile of over sized coins did afford me and a colleague a couple of beers.
I finally shook off the depression of returning to work. I gave myself a talking to.."Get over yourself man! look, listen and feel where you are!"
Today is Good Friday and we are preparing for sea..A mere 2500 miles of open ocean to our next stop Hawaii. Happy Easter to all.

Made it To Paradise

Flying to Tahiti from London is a bloody long way... My arms are killing me!

Now don't be silly, not even Cliff could fly that far! I hear that he is very strong though and still leads up the Sussex men's fitness table. (bastard)

A 4am arrival in Tahiti is a far cry from the craziness of Heathrow and LA International. Even at 4am there are dudes playing the Ukulele and singing while pretty Polynesian girls hand out flowers. The heat, despite the early hours has that un-mistakable tropical smell to it and that physical density of the humidity that feel immediately

There was a little lady proudly holding a board with my name on it at the arrivals and before you could say Ukulele I was swept away towards the port.

The boat looked fantastic actually. After 4 months on board you get very used to it but a 2 months break at home has made the, 'Wow factor' kick back in. This is home now for the next few months, I am sad to be back at work leaving behind Claire and my real home. I guess this makes that all the more sweet but here I am so may as well get on and enjoy the ride.

Boo Hoo

Claire and I were sat drinking a cup of Saturday morning tea. I fired up the computer to check my e mails and as expected there was an e mail from work.
We both sat quietly as the sad reality sank in. Damn it! someone has bought me a ticket to Tahiti and I leave for there on Wednesday next week!
I have been travelling away for work for some years now and Tahiti is probably one of the most exciting and certainly one of the most exotic places that I have been required to go to. As always the time at home is too short and the wrench of leaving for work is the same that anyone feels on a normal Monday morning, only I am leaving on Wednesday and not coming home again until one Wednesday in August, leaving my wife and our new home for 4 long months!
Of course there will be adventure, excitements and as yet unknown destinations along with surreal situations. I will enjoy the challenges that we will face on our journeys but I will endlessly miss being at home. It is laughable to say that I am not excited to be flown to a small, French Polynesian island where the 'Austral winter' is just beginning! What that means, I have no idea but the temperature all year round is between 24 and 34 deg's C and the water temperature in the perfect turquoise lagoon is a tepid 23 to 26 degrees.
There are still three and a half good days of home time left which I am intending to cherish as always.

You have to start somewhere

A new beginning. This blog will be the same as the last, hopefully funnier and better written, with less spelling mistakes. I somehow doubt it though...

I am sat in the kitchen in the new house and have a calm dread running through my mind! I am due to return to work next week after a fantastic couple of months at home in England, hoping here to show more and better photographs than in the last blog but only time will tell!

Next week will be the start of an adventure in Tahiti and the south Pacific, for now an at home adventure is coming to an end. An exciting weekend with friends and then the dreaded good byes will start.