We left the Los Perlas Islands, which is located west of Panama on the Pacific side, with anticipation.  We were 6 to 8 days from the Galapagos Islands.  A location we had always heard about and were exciting about visiting.   It has always seemed so far away.  In fact, when we were discussing sailing this was a destination mentioned in all our travel itineraries.  In addition to the excitement of getting to the Galapagos, we were also going south of the equator, another feat in our travels.

As we got ready for the passage we were in contact with several others boats heading towards the Galagapos.  Not everyone left at the same time, however, because of the SSB radios we were able to stay in touch.  Each morning we had a network of boats checking in and giving their location and weather.  By doing this we were able to keep in touch with everyone, making sure no one had any problems they needed help with.    Tranquillity seemed to have a powerful enough radio to hear and be heard by yachts many days ahead and behind us so I volunteered, or was volunteered, to be net controller.  I had a great time talking with all the cruisers on our net.  We had about 15  or so boats traveling in the same general direction.  It was great when we arrived in the Galapagos to meet the people we had been talking with for so many days.

Move on to our visits to the various islands in the Galapagos.  We were able to visit several and they follow:

You can also visit our Photo section were we added a few pictures that could not fit into the newsletter portion of this section.