Tag Archives: sea lion

Antofagasta from our temporary anchorage.

Land a Ho: Arriving in Antofagasta, Chile

Imagine arriving into a new country at 0400 on New Year’s Day.  Brilliant, right?  How the heck are we going to get officials to clear us into the country on a National holiday?  Ugh.

Our new IridiumGo enabled us to communicate with the marina and local officials before our arrival.  However, because we motored in at 0100 Galapagos time or 0400 local time, nothing was open and everything was pitch black.  So, Matt dutifully drove us in circles until sunrise.  Once the sun the came up, we headed over to a shoal where we dropped anchor in 15 meters of water.

Land Ho:

Antofagasta is a much bigger city that any of us anticipated.  In this photo below you can see all of the foam that surrounded us prior to getting to the marina  entrance.

Antofagasta from our temporary anchorage.

Antofagasta from our temporary anchorage.

Unfortunately, the red tide has found its way to Chile and has turned the water a dark muddy red.  In addition, there is a huge pocket of foam floating around as we get closer to shore – very unappealing.  The photo doesn’t show the red tide, but trust me when I saw it aint pretty.

More foam ahead of us

More foam ahead of us

There were also dozens and dozens of jelly fish.  Their sizes ranging from the size of a lemon to the size of a basketball.  Huge, swirly tails trailing behind them.  I could not get a decent photo with anchoring and other activities going on at the time.

Giant jelly fish all over the marina entrance

Giant jelly fish all over the marina entrance

Entering the bay requires local knowledge.  The marina said they would send someone out to meet us at 1030 so we had some time to kill.  We set a temporary anchor and hit the sack for a few hours.

True to their word, Theo, the marina manager came out to greet us, explain the mooring process and guide us in.  There are shoals and large shallow patches all around, so we were grateful for the help.  We came in, turned around, dropped anchor, pulled back to first buoy where we tied bow lines and pulled back more to a stern buoy.  We tightened up all the lines, thanked them profusely and wished them a happy NY.    They informed us officials would be on board at 1530 and we had 5 more hours to burn on-board.

Formalities:

Three officials came aboard.  They were extremely professional, efficient and friendly.  Lucky for us, I had been in communication with SAG, the local official, before arrival so I had all of our paperwork prepared ahead of time.  In addition, we had made sure we had no live plants, animals, organic food, fresh fruits, vegetables, cheese, nuts, coffee beans, and limited frozen meats.  All part of the dance you do when you enter a new country.

After forcing some of my cookies on them, we wished them a happy NY and sent them on their way.  It did not take us long to hop in the dinghy to go to shore.  We were all in need of a good walk!

We have some new neighbors.  Giant “Lobos” call the marina home and make an awful lot of noise.  These enormous sea wolves are some of the biggest sea creatures I have ever seen.  Most of them well over 300-400lbs a piece.  In order to get up on to the dock, they dip under and burst up and then sit on the edge to catch their breath.  Sometimes it takes two or three times before they make it up.

Los Lobos playing in the marina

Los Lobos playing in the marina

The sea lions like to sit half way up with their noses in the air.  Might because they are posturing or declaring their dominance.  Maybe they just like to stretch their necks or dry out their underbellies.  Who knows.  Either way, sometimes they just look like a giant, hairy turd.  Still, they captivate us.

What’s Next?

We explore Antofagasta, find a movie theater, bowling ally, two markets, and a well-stocked hardware store.

Sunset at San Cristobal

CHRISTMAS, CRUSTATIONS, & POOP

After our guests left, I flew back to the States to be with my family.  We had a family emergency that I needed to attend to before crossing the Pacific.  Matt stayed on-board and managed to complete a lot of boat projects, welcome our new guests, and cook up some crustations.

While I was away, our two friends, Ron and Sally joined Sugar Shack.  We asked them to join us as additional crew on our upcoming passage to Chile.  Matt was the perfect host and tour guide.  He showed them around Santa Cruz and San Cristobal and took them to all the hot spots.

Sally met some crustations at the fish market and picked out a few favorites for dinner

Sally picking out dinner: crustations

Sally picking out dinner: crustations

Ron had fun with all of the Charles Darwin images around the island – remarkable resemblance, don’t you think?

Ron posing next to Chuck

Ron posing next to Chuck

Once I arrived, we unloaded my two enormous bags of goodies.  Always a bit like Christmas which is especially fitting since it is so close to Santa coming.  We only have a few more days before we have to leave as Ron and Sally need to be in Chile by 3rd of January.

Christmas on San Cristobal

Christmas on San Cristobal

Unfortunately, a few, large sea lions made it past our fender barrier and on to the boat.  Normally, it would be “oh look how cute the sea lions want to come with us.”  But when you come back to this, you just want to scream and pull your hair out.  Yes, that is poop an dirt all over the cushions, floor, and side walls.

Presents from the Sea Wolves: POOP

Presents from the Sea Wolves: POOP

Matt and Ron checked out the video from our security camera.  Evidently, two sea lions rolled around every seat cushion before leaving us some early presents.

COMING UP NEXT:

We go on a dive tour with Islanders Galapagos and swim with sharks!

archipelago

San Cristobal, Galapagos

Smooth check-in (formalities), despite not following procedure.  Our agent, Javier Plua Rizzo with YachtGala proved his worth in gold and made the magic happen.  We were supposed to notify him 24 hours prior to our arrival so he could schedule the 8-10 officials who needed to clear us into the Galapagos.  But, our SSB went out half way through the trip, so we were not able to contact him until 12 hours after we arrived.  Within the hour, he was able to schedule the arrival of the officials and fumigation for 10:00am.

We left the boat during the fumigation and met the Barkers at Midori Sushi.  Matt and Diana arrived into San Cristobal before we did and stayed at the beautiful Golden Bay Hotel.  They enjoyed an awesome dive at Kicker rock, scoped out the town, found the market, and discovered the unofficial sea wolf breeding grounds.

Sea Wolves (Sea Lions):

The beach in front of the Golden Bay Hotel is where all the sea wolves gather.  Here, they learn to swim, nurse, look adorable, sunbathe, and hang out with their family and friends.

Sea Wolves in front of Golden Bay Hotel

Sea Wolves in front of Golden Bay Hotel

Diana spent hours watching the sea wolf mayhem while imagined how they could smuggle one home.

San Cristobal Tourist Sites:

We walked around the small town a bit and took in the sights during the late afternoon.  Lots of “marketing” opportunities in this small town.

We came across a giant San Cristobal branded surf board and took a photo with Sugar Shack in the background.  They had lots of these “cactus trees”, a cool pond with the entire Galapagos archipelago laid out, and Charles Darwin and the Beagle.

Galapagos Sights

Galapagos Sights

We called it an early night after sunset cocktails at Golden Bay – Matt and I are still recovering from the 6-day passage.

Coming Up Next:

We sail to Santa Cruz and pick up Wayne for more adventures.