Pitufa.at

Puerto Villamil on Isabela is a picture-book anchorage: sparkling turquoise waters, black volcanic rocks surround the bay almost entirely and give good protection. Behind that light-green hills rise to volcano craters. The seas around the Galapagos are incredibly lively: rays jump, dolphins play around the bow, birds splash into swarms of fish and on the way into the bay we were accompanied by playful sea-lions,… Continue reading »

Yesterday afternoon, after some slow tacking towards the first island of the archipelago, Isla Cristobal, we motored through the islands in the night. We are now south of our destination, Isla Isabela, and will make landfall soon.

Yesterday at 9 in the evening we sailed for the first time over the equator. According to our clever book about ceremonies and traditions that would require several rituals to turn the bollywogs (people who’ve never sailed over the equator) into shellbacks. The book said that would include dressing up in strange garb, crawling through garbage, being sloshed with something black and smelly and shaved… Continue reading »

The winds are still very light, but the waves have calmed down and sailing almost feels like being in a calm anchorage. Under deck we don’t even feel the huge swell that comes up from the south, only in the cockpit you suddenly realize that the boat is gently lifted up to the first floor and then set down on the groundfloor again Last night… Continue reading »

We still have light winds from the southeast, but with a countercurrent of almost 1 knot Pitufa’s slowed down to 3 to 4 knots over ground. We don’t complain though, as long as there’s enough wind to keep the sails filled and from slapping. It’s getting cooler now, maybe we can already feel the effects of the cold Humboldt current. The water temperature has dropped… Continue reading »

We’re still making good progress, now with southeasterly winds that have been stronger than predicted (very light). Alas, 10 knots is still not enough to make Pitufa fly along and so some of the boats that have started out on the same weather window have sailed past us during the day. It’s the first time that we’re sailing in a kind of convoy (though one… Continue reading »

After a night of fast sailing with Pitufa storming down the waves and having a good time (if she could sing she’d sing the Ride of the Valkyries at those times), the wind has slowed down and the current left us stumbling along with merely 4 knots. Hopefully we’ll pick up both wind and current again. We don’t have luck with our fishing: three lures… Continue reading »

We still have a steady northerly wind between 15 and 20 knots, just the sort of stiff breeze our overloaded Smurfette needs. Yesterday noon we were able to go on a downwind course and put out the twin headsails, that’s our favourite kind of sailing. No main up, just the two genoas on poles–one to the left and one two the right Pitufa looks like… Continue reading »

Steady winds and a friendly current are carrying us swiftly southwards.++++++++++ Stetige Winde und eine freundliche Stroemung tragen uns geschwind suedwaerts.

Yesterday we got the boat into passage-mode–that takes a whole day. We have to take down the mobile solar panel, tidy the deck, declatter all cupboards, tidy up the forecabin, tie down all bits that could go flying through the boat in heavy weather. We decided on rigging the second genoa (in case of downwind), putting the inner foresail on deck (in case of strong… Continue reading »

This morning we motored a few miles down the coast to the southernmost bay of Panama only 14 miles from the Colombian border. Some small, spotted dolphins accompanied us for a while. Even though we trolled two lures and the waters here are famous for the abundance of fish, we weren’t lucky enough to catch dinner. The coast is fringed by high mountains that rise… Continue reading »