Monday 16. April we went out into
the Pacific Ocean. Among big tankers waiting for transit through the
channel and with Panama City in the background we followed a big herd of
dolphins on our way out.
The course was sat for Islas Perlas,
a group of islands located about 40 miles from Panama. We passed a lazy
turtle and a dead dolphin. Alive dolphins are cute and wonderful but when
they are dead and lying on the surface they stink.
We arrived at the island Contendora,
recommended by Carsten in Panama, late in the afternoon. We walked round
the island and watched the small planes and helicopters that brought
tourists to and from the island. The water was clean, nice and refreshing
and we watched the sunset lying there.
The next day we had two missions.
Water and diesel! We carried 30 cans and a few dollars and went out to
find diesel, we had heard that it was difficult to find diesel and water
on this island. We went in pairs and went in different directions. Mission
Diesel knew where to go but Mission Water was left high and dry and asked
a person who was driving a scooter. He told that the island only had bad
water- but as a matter of luck he himself had an artesian boring with good
water! The only problem was that his house was on the other side of the
island- but what don’t you do in order to bring nice water for crossing
of the big ocean. We succeed in finding his house and his wife was willing
to help us filling the cans. Max, as he was called, started his Fiat and
brought the water back to the beach. Mission Diesel also succeeded but the
primitive diesel pump caught fire – it was not every day it pumped 150
litres.
Happy and contented we left for
Isla del Ray, the southernmost island of the Islas Perlas. We have planned
to meet with Evening Star and together enjoy a nice dinner. We arrived a
little late in the evening and the last part of the trip we only had the
radar to navigate with- Good that we have these modern equipment. But
unfortunately there was no Evening Star.
The next morning we contacted a
couple of local fishermen. They only spoke Spanish and we only manage to
say Cerveza- but nevertheless we understood that they would come back with
some fish if we were interested. That sounded delicious! They gabbled and
we answered them in Danish indeed this was a nice chat. We understood the
meaning-what do we need all these languages for??
We were to wait for Evening Star
anyway so we might as well act as explorers. The first to be explored was
the delta. There was not much water in the river but in return many small
fish and crabs. We walked further on and found a lot of mangroves and it
was nice to see unspoiled nature. We saw a couple of small nurse sharks
lying in the sun and I think we made a lot of noise in order to avoid us
from stepping on one of them.
After lunch we agreed on sailing
down to the little village Esmaralda to see if they could offer a couple
of cervezas. Here we meet with the small fisher boat again and they
brought us fresh fish- a couple of red snapper. Lovely. Suddenly it
started raining. It was coming down in buckets. Fresh water is very
precious and we took off all our clothes and took out our rainwater
pick-up attachment and collected more than 100 litres. We all washed
ourselves with soap and could not help laughing – we would have looked
funny on Candid Camera. But we were clean and we had lots of fresh water.
It was all over- in pots and pans.
Back to the cold beers-We took the
dinghy and went ashore a little outside the village, it was no bigger that
a football field. 10-15 youngsters hurried to meets us and it looked as if
they had never seen a rubber boat before and some of them came to touch
us- obviously it was not every day white men paid them a visit. The local
men stopped working when we arrived, the strangers were looked at. A man
came to us and as the fishermen he started talking. We did not understand
much but using our excellent Spanish we made it clear for him that it
would be nice with a beer- a way to make contact to these people. He gave
us a sign that we should follow him and with a small cortege we went to
town. They said white men and everybody looked out of doors and windows to
see us. It was rather peculiar to be stared at like that.
The houses were made of a
lightweight-expanded aggregate some were plastered and others were rough.
Some of the houses had been painted but the paint was peeling off. We were
shown into a house- That was probably “the inn”. It was only a square,
charmless room with a primitive counter along the wall.
It was without any importance whatever-they had cold beers and they
were the size of Danish Hancock. We sat down on 5 homemade small stools.
We introduced ourselves and our guide proudly showed us his children who
embarrassed shook hands with us. The other children played by the door and
when our eyes met they gave a big smile and ran off.
Later he took us to the local
store, which had a very limited selection. We bought a few soft drinks and
a few onions, we had to buy something because they actually had opened the
small shop for us. Dennis wanted to post a few postcards but our guide
misunderstood us and instead be showed us to their school, which was built
in a quite different style than the other houses and it was also
well-preserved. Close to the school we saw nice bamboo huts. Dogs and cats
walked in and out the houses as pleased but we did not find a post
office/mailbox. It was as if they had no need for that!
The kids and the inhabitants waved
us good-bye when we sailed out again.
We hoped to meet with Evening Star
the following day. Dennis and René caught sight of a radio tower and went
ashore in the dinghy in order to borrow their radio, which must have a
longer range than our VHF on the boat. We still wanted contact with
Evening Star, but this didn’t help either.
When they hadn’t shown up the
next day we agreed on going for Galapagos. We did not come very far before
we stopped again. We were all pushed half a meter forward and knew
immediately that we had struck a rock. Full astern, René went into the
water using a lifeline and found that the boat only had got a small
scratch and some paint had been stripped off. After this unexpected stop
we were ready to continue the great voyage. Once again we were followed by
a flock of dolphins and we also saw a little flock of pilot whales.
The favourable wind we went out
with did not last long and was followed by dead calm. We knew that we had
to go south and out of Gulf of Panama which meant using the engine for the
next 16-17 hours. We will spare you the details from the next 4-5 days
sail. We had wind from all points of the compass, high sea and
countercurrent. After this it stabilized but we had the wind dead ahead
and a strong northerly current- but in spite of everything it was wind,
and that was crucial. Navigation to Galapagos is feared by many sailors
because of the direct influence from the Intertropical Convergence Zone,
also called doldrums. This is an area, which separate the trade winds
between the northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere. This area has
a low barometric pressure, calm and an inconceivable heat and humidity,
almost unbearable. Some sailors had used 70 days to go the distance
Panama-Galapagos- that was why we had brought lots of diesel. We would not
want to die with a rose in our butt! We want to reach Tahiti this year.
We passed equator on this part of
the journey. A special event for every sailor. To sail from the northern
hemisphere and pass the gate to the South Sea has been one of our aims.
Crossing the equator is connected
to many traditions and rituals. We had prepared a ceremony and a party
when the famous median line was crossed. We definitely wanted to kick up a
row. We always take advantage of any opportunity to celebrate –e.g.
birthdays –and we bake cakes, prepare a nice meal and have a couple of
drinks.
It is an old custom to hold His
Majesty, King Neptune, in respect and do what he demands in order to be
able to travel safely in his backyard- the southern hemisphere.
None of us had crossed the equator
before which means that it is common practice to get new names and undergo
a purification process of your soul in honour of King Neptune.
When the boat 29 April 9.11 crossed
the Equator Skipper Dennis held this speech:
I, King Neptune’s humble servant,
have got the credit in honour of the occasion to take care of hands of the
good ship Dream so that they can sail safely in the South Sea now and
forever. It has come to my knowledge that the whole crew is a bunch of
landlubbers and fairweather sailors who until now have dawdled in the
northern latitudes. We, Neptune, ruler of the waves, will only let you and
the ship pass Equator if you submit to a cleansing process- inside and
outside and to be baptized as genuine sailors.
"Do all the heathen and
landlubbers approve? Everybody cried y e s. You will now enter the
line of brave seamen and the blood in your veins will forever consist of
pure sea water. You will everlasting feel attracted to the sky, the sea
and the refreshing breezes which will fill your soul and heart with
happiness and strengh.
We, Neptune, now baptize the
sailor:
-
-Walrus Dainty alias Stefan Laursen
-
-Shellback Hoenut alias René Krath
-
-Actinaria Morningcream alias Heidi
Soerensen
-
-Scomber scombrus /Mackerel
Morningbawler alias Dennis Oestergaard
After this the purification process
was carried through. Beer was shaken thoroughly and everybody was
“sandblasted” carefully with good American beer. Then a bottle of
champagne was enjoyed in addition to the newly baked coconut cakes. Indeed
this was a breakthrough party!! Of course we had to check in what
direction the water ran out of the sink. Actually it did not turn it ran
out directly- strange but true!
12 days passed before we came to
Galapagos. We did not have much wind and the current was normally against
us- this meant 56 hours of sailing with motor- almost unbearable. But we
arrived.
A shoal of pilot whales and
dolphins received us. Soon we realized that we had come to an area of
great fauna- before it turned dark we had seen a big sei whale, sea lions,
turtles and a heaps of birds. We became more and more enthusiastic it
looked promising for our stay at Galapagos.
We had been recommended to go to
the island Isabella, which meant another day at sea- but it should be
worth it.
We have always thought that
Galapagos was very expensive probably due to the expensive billeting. But
we were surprised when we one day dined at a local public house. We all 4
had what we wanted cokes included- prize 5 USD- it was actually more
expensive to eat onboard compared to going out- Fantastic country!
Our friends, Graham and Barbara
from England had also arrived at Villamil, Isla Isabella. They were the
ones René and Heidi helped through the Panama Canal. That was a nice
meeting again- they had also had a quicker travel from Panama but had also
used more diesel. We were invited to their catamaran, Persian Lady, for a
bottle of red wine or 7!. During the conversations this night Graham
complained about his computer. It would not turn on and obliging Dennis
offered assistance but nothing helped. Was it because of the amount of
wine or lack of experience? We arranged to go to the big volcano the next
day.
We started out early in the morning
with breakfast at the restaurant that had arranged the trip. After that we
had an hours drive on truck body of an old pick-up. We waited a bit at the
terminal station and then the guide came with horses. Now we had to travel
on horsebacks. Quite a challenge! Heidi was the only one who had tried
this “vehicle” before. The rest of us had only had the pleasure of a
zoo-model. We actually did quite well and soon we put the horses into a
gallop. We spent 45 minutes on these instruments of torture, saddles
homemade of wood/metal with a few cloth bags as cover.
The trip ended at a big tree, we
got off and continued by foot about 30 minutes through a desert of lava
and melted stone. It looked like a landscape in an old science fiction
film. No growth only the heat from the black stones. Finally we reached
the destination. A steaming volcano. It was hot and all around was lava
with holes and they formed a kind of oven with a rather high temperature.
When we had seen what we wanted at shot a couple of films we returned. It
was a great trip, but the horses leave you with a sore behind...
Safe back on the boat and now we
wanted to catch lobster. We took out all our diving equipments which had
not been in use since Isla Grande, Panama. When we had it on Dennis was
already in the water. Stefan jumps in but has trouble floating. Dennis
cannot see the trouble from the water and Stefan must on boat again. A
valve with a pony flask had fallen off and left a hole at the size of a
silver dollar in the buoyancy vest and it is now filled with water instead
of air. Dennis and René try to find the lost things, but do not succeed.
It was too dark. (You chase
lobster at night) and the
visibility at the anchorage is also poor, actually so poor that René the
day before hit his head on the sand bottom- he was not able to see the
depth. We started a search the next day and luckily we found it all.
It is strictly forbidden to dive on
your own at Galapagos and you can be certain that the local divers will
report it, if they find out about it. So if we wanted to see the
underwater world we had to report to a diving establishment. These were
only to be found on the more civilized islands and as we had to go to
Santa Cruz to fetch water and diesel, we had better leave. So we hit for
Santa Cruz also hoping to find Evening Star.
We had a nice night sail to Santa
Cruz, we found many boats in the bay but we found a small room for our
good ship Dream. We spent the next days filling the boat with water and
diesel. It was not easy because we had to carry it to the boat in tins.
Water was to be fetched at the waterworks 2 km away and the only gas
station on the island was located close to the waterworks. We had to make
the trip twice because we only had 2 water and 4 diesel cans. But you get
to know the local inhabitants when you cope with practical problems.. We
were told that the was a Danish diving guide- perfect we thought and went
down to her immediately. We were very keen on a dive or two.
Her name was Heidi, she was 24 years old and instructor in the
biggest diving shop on the island. Heidi had not talked to Danes for a
long time and we spent some very nice hours together. Among all t6he other
things she took us out dining at a one of the good local places and we had
a very good chat. It is nice to be a Dane we almost felt as if we knew her
from the very beginning. It is as if you are a member of a big family.
Though it must also have something to do with her having the same attitude
towards life, as we have. She was also a former backpacker and had
travelled all the way in Central America. You can feel a special
well-balanced and relaxed attitude when people have travelled a lot. They
do not a fuss over trifles and furthermore, like Heidi, they are very easy
to talk with.
Of course we wanted to have a few
dives with Heidi-one of our big goals in our stay at Galapagos. We did not
dive the first days because Heidi fell ill but then it came true.
We were fetched at our boat and
then it took a sail of 45 minutes to Gordens Rock, which is a couple of
rocks a few kilometres from the shore. The sight was good. Just after we
came in the water a sea lion came by, and shortly after we saw a Galapagos
shark. This was everybody’s shark début. Very quiet and calm. Heidi
showed us through a ravine between two rocks. We saw lots of coloured
fish, a turtle came by and then another Galapagos shark and then finally
came the long expected hammerhead – it is so special because of the
shape of its head. Usually they are seen in flocks but this one was
alone.. Heidi showed us a scorpion fish, which had a good camouflage. We
were only half a meter away from it and did not see it before Heidi
pointed out its eyes and mouth. ¤0 minutes had passed and Stefan, who had
a cold, ran low on air. He was sent up together with Dennis( Rene’s
luck, because the two had the same amount of air left) A couple of minutes
later a flock of 60- 100 hammerheads came by only 10 meters away. Very
impressive!!
The diving ended after 58 minutes
and at that time Heidi and Rene were very close to a big turtle.
The second dive took place a little
north. Here we saw a lot of white tipped sharks. Lazy and relatively
harmless sharks. At the end of the dive we saw a huge flock of manta rays,
devil rays we guessed about 30-40.
We were advised to see the Charles
Darwin centre, but it was not as interesting as we thought, it only had
turtles and we thought we had seen enough of them for the time being, but
old George, the 180 years old giant tortoise, the only specimen left, was
worthwhile. Most of the time he spent his time in the shade too old to
move. There was one very interesting part, a pen with 6-8 elephant
tortoises and you were allowed to enter it and even feed them by hand. We
really got some fine snaps, we hope to be able to show them on our site
within a short period of time. The same day we rented a body-surf-board
and went to Tortuga Bay. We had expected to be able to drive all the way
to the beach, but then we had to think again. We were dropped off so far
away from the water, that we could not even hear the water. We asked our
local driver several times whether this was Tortuga Bay but every time he
just nodded. Ok we got out of the car and moved towards the water. We
found out that the only way to the beach was a 2.5 km narrow path and
although we were not dressed for a walk this far and in a heat like this,
we managed. And what a sight- a huge beach and it was as long as the eye
could see. The sand was chalk-white and was in a total contrast to the
turquoise blue water. This was a surfer paradise- we think- none of us are
real surfers. One thing was certain-there were problems finding big
waves-it was harder to avoid them! Well, the local surfers were paddling
on their surfboards a few hundred metres out so we better get there – no
reason to waste the time. We found out that it is not easy to paddle on a
surfer in these big waves- and our technique was probably poor, but we
managed to get out and have a good “ride” on the waves a couple of
times- It was as if a new world was opened for us –This was FUN and for
sure this is not the only time we try this!
Other sailors told us that Evening
Star had just arrived when we had left for Villamil and we agreed to go
back to see them. It was a nice reunion and we told each other stories for
hours. They never made it to Isla Del Ray but had come to another island
at Isla Perlas, and that was why we never met with them. They thought that
the could reach us on their VHF radio, and they thought that we might
still be at Panama. That the way things can turn out and we had a couple
of good days together in Villamil- we went swimming together with the sea
lions- that was fun-It was as if they could read our minds- we were
playing together for hours. Yes right to the point when one of the big
bulls came and refused us to play with their mates. One chased Stefan
along the beach because he did not understand their signals- they roar
loudly when it does not suit them anymore- but Stefan wanted to take a
picture!! Whether he got it or not is not to be said.
11. Mai 2pm different horns
blow. Dream and Evening Star put out.
2975 miles await, the greatest ocean. In the beginning we have some
illness. Some are ailing but we want to leave because the wind is right.
Thomas from Evening Star is worse off than the rest of us. After one day
we decide to send René to their boat so that he can help Sabine to
navigate. Their automatic steering had broken down so you had to steer by
hand all the time. René was to stay there for about 24 hours. It was a
bit interesting to get René onboard, because the sea was rough and the
wind was increasing. But we succeeded, and even better we succeeded in
getting him back again-which was about to fail because we lost radio
contact during the night, but Dennis came up with some fantastic
navigation skills and we corrected our course so that we soon was able to
get radio contact. We were very happy to get René back. We were lucky
with the wind and current on this trip. We have not had a stable wind but
we have always had a blowing wind. Especially the first days we had waves
none of us had dreamt of. It was not too much but they were very big and
broke over the boat and unfortunately Dennis became wet and sulky!!
The wind has come from the south
and the east so we have had different sails up all time. It could be
spinnaker and mainsail, genoa jib and mainsail, butterfly with 2 genoa
jibs or butterfly with mainsail and genua- we have tried a little of all.
The wind rudder had a sip of champagne ages ago and that must have done
it, because it has worked satisfactorily ever since. We had to mind the
helm ourselves if the wind rose or if the sea was getting up-and that
usually happened at night when we could not see anything.
We had “fresh” vegetables for
14 days. The potatoes we bought at Galapagos rotted almost immediately,
which meant that we had to eat them as fast as possible. This meant that
we had potatoes even for breakfast- potato pancakes. After that we
continued with rice and paste. The last onion was used together with a
dorado we caught a few days before we had crossed. The garlic and the
chilli peppers kept well all the way, the cabbage died after 3 weeks- but
stayed crunchy until it passed away. We were lucky fishing. We caught tuna
fish, dorado and wahoo. We were able to keep the fish for a couple of
days, they do no do well in the heat, but if we caught lots of fish we
turned on the refrigerator or made fish rissole. Often flying fish and
small cuttlefish came onboard at night when the sea was rough. But they
were too small to fish with. We caught the fish with orange or yellow
plastic cuttlefish..
The crossing of the great sea went
fast even though it is a long period at sea. We had afternoon card-playing
“breme” with beer and popcorn. We were active in the workshop making
things out of coconut shell, placing the dentures from the red-snapper
nicely on a fine mahogany plate, or mending
the things that broke all the time or just were in need of a doing over.
We actually did not destroy many things, the worst damage was when the old
genoa jib was torn in the top. Then we used the old “Singer” sewing
machine. Every director of a museum would envy sailmaker Oestergaard and
Krath who made nice stitches and a few hours later the sail was ready
again. In general we have used our library frequently and the good old
songbooks have also come out once in a while.
Walrus Dainty prepared a nice
little party when we were midway with banana cake, rum, cold cokes and
warm rum toddy while Gasolin with “The Globe is Turning” blowing
through the loudspeakers. It was at 2 at night after 10.5 days of
sailing.
Our average speed on this distance
was 5.9 knots and 141.6 miles a day, which is very fast for an old lady
like DREAM. We crossed in 21 days and arrived on 1. July at 6 pm at Nuku
Hiva- We touch glasses of champagne and rum and everybody were in high
spirits – we did it.
The day after the arrival we slept
a long time and then we went ashore to set foot on solid grounds. We
invaded the first pizza bar, pure titbit!
While we were eating we could see
that somebody was onboard DREAM. We knew who it was because Thomas Krüger
was to come. It was very nice to see him again because it had been so
long. Our friends from Evening Star arrived on the third and a small party
was arranged. It is nice to have “the family! gathered again.
We spent out time till the sixth,
the departure day for Stefan, mending a few things on the boat and
making a nice walk in the mountains. We simply have to move your
body after a long sail.
We followed Stefan to the
helicopter, which was to bring him to the airport, on his departure day.
He chose to take the funny trip instead of using two hours in a pick-up.
It is always sad when somebody leaves the boat, but a tie of friendship
has been made.