We set off at midday on Thursday 12th February with a start set between a floating motorboat and a rocky shoal, not the most precise line we have ever seen. Unsurprisingly the call over the radio was “line clear, good start!”.

We had light breezes and, as we are expected to do at each start, the whole fleet sailed across the line…. well all except one of the other catamarans, who proceeded to motor at pace through the group ignoring COLREGS (the international collision regulations all sailors should adhere to)! Shouts of “starboard” and “power gives way to sail” were ignored but after we and another boat both crash-tacked (a sudden alteration of course) collisions were avoided and we all set off heading south-west.

Next stop: the Galapagos Islands. The trip was largely uneventful but enlivened by visits from Boobies which one night ended up with 14 on board, mostly juveniles, who lined up in a very disciplined fashion on bowsprit. In the end we managed to sail for 3 days but eventually had to turn on the engines and motor for the last 2.

We crossed the Equator at 1530 on 17th February at exactly the same time as our friends Rob and Rachel on Ægle. The “Crossing the Line” ceremony is a 400-year-old maritime tradition initiating sailors from “Pollywogs” (first-timers) into “Shellbacks” (veterans) upon crossing the equator. Presided over by a costumed King Neptune (Adrian) and Queen Amphitrite (Lucy) the ceremony involves a trial with sometimes messy challenges, dunkings, etc. as a symbolic initiation to boost morale (!?).

Adrian and Lucy as Shellbacks had planned this well in advance for Anne-Laure and me (the Shellbacks), storing a bottle of fermenting, foul gunk from our organic waste for a week for the initiation (yuck) and a long script and testing punishments! The ceremony is best watched:

From email click here to watch the Video

With only about 60 miles to go to Puerto Baquerizo, the main port and town on San Cristobal, we realised we could get in about midnight if we put the hammer down and ran on both engines (we normally only motor using one engine to save fuel). I’m normally wary about going into a new port at night, especially if crowded but one of the World ARC boats had left a couple of days ahead of the fleet and after chatting with Sasha it didn’t look too challenging so we decided to press ahead and get anchored in the first group of boats.

We had some other preparations to make before arrival. San Cristobal is known for it’s enormous population of sea-lions. They will do their best to board moored yachts so we assembled all our fenders and a couple of spare lines (it’s useful to keep worn halliards and sheets) and built defences for the back of each hull which a low and open to the water. We decided we could defend one side pretty well but on the starboard side where we lacked a fastening point we decided to concede a bathing spot but defend the steps. We finished the prep before sunset then headed into the port and anchored at midnight as planned.

In the morning we awoke to the cacophony of sounds from the sea-lions and our first look at the Galapagos Islands. We’d had our first visitor already (one of many to come on board during our stay) but our defences had held. First up were the formalities of clearing in. The Galapagos Islands are part of Ecuador and have the most stringent clearing in process of any country we are ever likely to visit.

The World ARC organisers had an agent ready to help us manage the process, with most of our documentation sent ahead and printed for us. At around 1000 two boats arrived, the first had two divers who went into the water to check we had no growth on our hull. We had had the boat dived in Panama and been given a certificate which showed we’d made the effort but after a week there was no guarantee that we’d pass. Discovery of barnacles or weed would mean being sent 60 miles offshore with a diver to clean the bottom again. Fortunately after 15 mins they emerged with smiles and thumbs up. We were certified clean!

The second boat then appeared with our agent and 11 (!) uniformed personnel. This included the Customs officer, Immigration, the port Police, a Narcotics officer, Environmental health inspectors (checking we weren’t bringing in any banned plants or meats) and a Doctor, who asked our medical history and decided to check Anne-Laure’s blood pressure!

As part of our prep we had signs up all over our boat indicating warnings about garbage and that our black water (sewage) tanks were closed and our eco cleaning products prominently on display. Although it looked intimidating they were all in good humour and also relieved to be in our cockpit as the heavens opened with torrential rain as they arrived. 30 minutes later passports stamped, documentation complete, they left us so we were free to set foot ashore.

At each port the World ARC set up camp in a local bar and have a happy hour at 5pm. We had most of the day to wander round the port, it’s small but clearly economically successful with backpacker hostels and numerous restaurants. It also had numerous sealions who are everywhere. We were unable to use our dinghy to travel to the shore as it would immediately have been adopted by a family of these enormous beast but fortunately there were water taxis that run night and day.

We met up with the other ARC sailors and started planning our tours. The island only has one main road that goes from north to south at the western tip of the island and the rest of the island is a national park. The culture of the island is very much about conservation but balanced with allowing eco-sensitive tourism. We planned a land based tour and a snorkelling tour for the coming days plus walks in the vicinity of the port.