Galapagos to Marquesas : Day 3

20th July 2017

Current position: 02 26.1S 097 5.6W at 0300UTC, 2100hrs boat time. SOG 6.5kts, COG 245. Wind SSE 8-10 kts. Seas state :long gentle swells. 24hr run 135nm. DTR: 2488nm

One of many dead flying fish on the deck

It has been a quite day on GWTW today with the wind up and down like a yo-yo.

Many more Chinese trawlers have past us today heading east towards Galapagos. They are big and cumbersome looking and their paint work leaves a lot to be desired. The outside of these boats is appalling and covered in huge streak marks down the sides of the hulls where they haul in their catch. W e can only imagine what the inside must look and smell like.

They look to be either squid catchers or long line fishing boats and seem to come in packs usually with the same name followed by a different set of numbers for each vessel. Kind of like calling your kids Ming 823, Ming 824, Ming 825 etc, not very inventive really. Anyway their attack plan is to have two or three boats in the front row with the others in the group bringing up the rear. Their noisy engines thump away as they go by. In fact it is the only mechanical sound out here. There are no other ships or yachts nearby and no planes overhead.

What a shocker of a look

The mother ship stays about 20 miles or more behind the group while the refueling tanker, yes they bring their own, ambles along some 50 miles in the distance. You gotta give it to them, China certainly is organized when it comes to the assault on the world's marine life.

On another subject the weather today is the best since leaving the Galapagos. Not a cloud in the sky and the long slow swells make it a very pleasant motion on board. One would almost think we were on a cruise ship. It's starting to warm up too. The temp today hit the 30's and the sea temp is now 18c.. nearly time for that swim.

Liam has been playing guitar and I have been engrossed in a book. Lunch today was a tasty lobster salad with sundried tomatoes, avocado, basil and fresh romaine lettuce. A nice glass of chilled NZ Sav Blanc would have gone very nicely with it, but soda water had to suffice instead.

Tonight the sunset was a cracker. Without a trace of cloud on the horizon the fabled "Green Flash" lived up to it's name. One of the best we've seen and a first on this crossing.

So that's the GWTW crew report for today. More exciting news tomorrow.

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