This blog is about life onboard SV Moana Roa, a 46 foot sailing catamaran, and the journey from the Caribbean back to Australia. Laurie and Sonia, Travis, Beau, and Kara leave home on Christmas Island (Australian Indian Ocean Territories) in December 2012 and set sail in January 2013.


Sunday, 6 April 2014

Galapagos - a magic place!


We are having a great time in Galapagos with our friends Chris, Ingrid and Alika (Kara's best friend from Christmas Island) who have been living on Santa Cruz.  It's been a CI reunion with Jol already onboard and having Nina from CI also join us for a week.

Here are some pics from Galapagos.... not without its dramas as you will see below...
Perfect downwind sailing conditions from Panama to Galapagos.  Here we are sailing "wing-on-wing"
Crossing the equator at 4am....Neptune, Poseidon, and Bette Muller!  We carried out all the rituals to appease the gods of the sea including bucket baths for the uninitiated equator crossers!
Our first sight of Galapagos, San Cristobal, after the 6 day passage

Jol pulls in a big yellow fin, sharked!  We are yet to break the drought in the Pacific.  Not through lack of trying.
Moana Roa dwarfed by Kicker Rock.  Here you can dive with Hammerhead sharks, Mantas, Turtles, and Sea Lions!

Wreck Bay, San Cristobal
We had many sea lion friends make their bed on our back steps.  We just had to keep them out of the cockpit because they made a mess!
A full boat! with Jol, Nina, Ingrid & Chris, and Alika
The crew preparing to sail from San Cristobal to Santa Cruz
Sonia's favourite Galapagos bird - the Blue-footed Boobie
Kara blows the conch to send off a boat leaving for French Polynesia
Kara was on a mission to take photos of all the Galapagos wildlife for  the Log Book she received from Alika for her 8th birthday
Water maker problems!  A burnt out wire - lucky we have skilled and handy fellow cruisers who helped us diagnose the problem and fix it
Galapagos penguins came right up to our dinghy to say hello...
The Marine Iguana's are big and fearless.  They stand their ground but let you get right up close. 
A Giant Tortoise - maybe 50 years old. found on the side of the road.  There are lots of wild ones out of town.




The night of the tsunami red alert - sleeping on a church pew and the steps leading to the altar.  The kids experienced a small taste of what it might be like to be a refugee.  Jol and Laurie ran the police gauntlet and got back to the yacht to find the anchorage almost empty.  They sailed off into deep water for the night.  


Jol playing music at one of the local beach bars
The Sierra Negra Volcano is active and one of 5 on Isla Isabella.  It has the second largest cauldron in the world

At the top of Sierra Negra among the lava flows.  The volcano last erupted in 2005.

One of the many fumaroles seen on the walk.  This is a massive hole in the earth's crust. 
Walking through an underground lava tunnel.  Like walking through a cave but perfectly shaped like a tunnel

A Giant Tortoise - maybe 50 years old. found on the side of the road.  There are lots of wild ones out of town.
 Travis' double blow-out on the volcano walk




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