A very brief blog - After days of motoring into the current, with the constant engine noise, crashing waves, and everything on the boat jumping around, it’s suddenly gone very quiet. The engines are off, the anchor is down, and it’s blissfully peaceful. We’re anchored in Academy Bay, Puerto Ayora, Galapagos! Unfortunately, this peace won’t last long. Very shortly, we’ll have a boatload of officials coming to inspect the boat and check us in. Immediately after that, we’ll start the process of arranging fuel, which I think is going to be a bit of a kerfuffle as it’s coming in cans, and I'm looking at getting around 1200 liters. We then have to grab some lunch, do some grocery shopping, sleep solidly the entire night, and get up in the morning for a swift departure.
Location: Departing Denarau, Fiji And so it begins! The journey from Fiji to Southport is officially underway. I arrived in Fiji yesterday and had a fantastic handover from Karl, the boat's owner. It was a proper, detailed session, which is always a treat and makes the whole process so much smoother. It's rare to get a handover at all so that level of thoroughness was a huge help and saved a lot of time, and I'm very grateful for it—it makes a huge difference to a delivery skipper. This morning was all about final preparations. We filled the tanks with a massive 15,000 litres of duty-free fuel. By midday, customs and immigration were on board to complete the paperwork, and with their stamp of approval, we were good to go. The moment you first take the helm of a new boat is always a mix of excitement and a little bit of nerves. No matter how much you've been briefed, you're never quite sure how she'll handle. Will she respond to the helm? How will she behave in t...