We think we are checked into Peru. It is a long story that is not over yet so I will wait and put t in another blog entry.
For those of you who are interested in numbers, here are the numbers for the passage:
Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador to La Punta, Peru including 2 stops; Salinas, Ecuador for 6 hours to check the hot water heater and to see about getting fuel, which we did not, Islas Lobos de Afuera, Peru for 2 hours to change the fuel filter and move some fuel from Jerry cans to aft tank.
Total passage time: 9 days, 5 hours, 15 minutes or 221 hours, 15 minutes, from Nov. 7 to Nov 16.
Of that, we spent 142 hours sailing, 79 hours motor sailing or motoring. Total distance traveled was 1004 nautical miles. Maximum winds was 23 knots around Cabo Blanco.
For the last few days we have been catching up on sleep and exploring. We met Don and Rita of SV Limbo and they have been showing us around.
La Punta is a small bedroom community that is home to a naval school as well as the Yacht Club Peruano. It has many restaurants with in easy walking distance. There are two laundries, one by the kilo (s/5 per kilo) and the other by the piece (not sure of the price). The small business section a block from the yacht club includes a bank with ATM, 2 pharmacies, a vegetable market, a money exchange and a cafeteria with a bakery (over the top eclairs). La Punta is very clean and safe and the homes are well maintained. Some of the architecture is quite old, such as the yacht club but others are a modern mix of glass and wood.
One block farther you may catch a 'micro', pronounced 'mecro' or a small bus to La Marina and the shopping mall at Plaza San Miguel for s/1. The mall is in two parts and includes one combination store similar to a Walmart plus a Home Depot, a Starbucks, and a TGIFridays. Across the street is the other mall with another large hardware store called Maestro, plus upscale clothing stores like Levi's, Pierre Cardin, etc. We found a Claro shop so we now have Claro Peru sim cards in our iphones for internet. No joy for the ipad though. Next to this is Wong's a higher end grocery store that has many items you would find in the states.
Yesterday we walked with Don and Rita to the fish, produce and everything else market. We bought two 10 gallons Jerry cans to add to Windarra for s/40 or $14. The everything else market is full of small stalls that have any and everything from jewelry to tennis shoes to plastic good like our Jerry cans to clothing.
Today we moved to a mooring that has power so we may deep charge our batteries. We are tied to two buoys. The aft buoy has a power stand with an outlet for 110v and 220v. We are plugged into 110v and the electrician had to switch the polarity as it was reversed. Rich is wiring our connection to 220v and using a ProMariner charger we will be able to charge the batteries using 220v, which is more common in South America.
We are working through our boat chores what we need to do before leaving for Chile. I have been researching what food items we may not bring into Chile so we provision appropriately before we leave.
Gonzalo Ravago is the Seven Seas Cruising Association contact for Callao/Lima. We have been in contact with him since before we left Ecuador and he has been extremely helpful. He even assisted us getting an electronic part in from the US.
That is all for now. I will try to post some photos.
Cheers,
Elaine and Rich
Sent from Elaine's iPhone
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Day 10, We're here
12 3.820 S, 077 09.934 W
Yacht Club Peruano, Callao, Peru
We finally arrived at Yacht Club Peruano, La Punta, Callao, Peru. Now we are having our CDA drinks as we sit on a mooring waiting for our agent, Jorge, to arrive to pick up our paperwork so that he may check us into the country.
It feels good have arrived. Today was a long motor but very uneventful except for watching the huge flocks of birds head out to the fishing grounds. We were able to communicate with TRAMAR vessel traffic control for Callao. At first they did not answer when we were 20 miles out but they did at 10 miles. Per their instructions we passed the sea buoy for traffic separation into Callao and as Rich was about to call on the VHF they called to verify that we had passed the buoy.
We anchored near the mooring field for the yacht club and took our showers. As I was drying off, the launch came by and told us we had to move to a mooring. We tried to plead being tired but they would not have it so we moved in the dark and I managed to snag the mooring line with the boat hook on the second pass.
Both of us are looking forward to dinner and a good nights sleep in our bed. I put the quilt on the bed as well. This is the first time we will be sleeping with more than just a sheet on the bed in the boat since we left the United States in 2011.
But for now, we are safe and secure after our passage of 10 days and 1005 nautical miles.
Adios amigos.
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Yacht Club Peruano, Callao, Peru
We finally arrived at Yacht Club Peruano, La Punta, Callao, Peru. Now we are having our CDA drinks as we sit on a mooring waiting for our agent, Jorge, to arrive to pick up our paperwork so that he may check us into the country.
It feels good have arrived. Today was a long motor but very uneventful except for watching the huge flocks of birds head out to the fishing grounds. We were able to communicate with TRAMAR vessel traffic control for Callao. At first they did not answer when we were 20 miles out but they did at 10 miles. Per their instructions we passed the sea buoy for traffic separation into Callao and as Rich was about to call on the VHF they called to verify that we had passed the buoy.
We anchored near the mooring field for the yacht club and took our showers. As I was drying off, the launch came by and told us we had to move to a mooring. We tried to plead being tired but they would not have it so we moved in the dark and I managed to snag the mooring line with the boat hook on the second pass.
Both of us are looking forward to dinner and a good nights sleep in our bed. I put the quilt on the bed as well. This is the first time we will be sleeping with more than just a sheet on the bed in the boat since we left the United States in 2011.
But for now, we are safe and secure after our passage of 10 days and 1005 nautical miles.
Adios amigos.
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Friday, November 15, 2013
Day 9, Passage to Callao
10 35.220 S, 78 16.622 W
We are still not there yet. We are about 106 nautical miles short of the vessel traffic control lanes for Callao and another 8 nm to La Punta and the Yacht Club Peruano where we will get a mooring.
Today has been a bumpy ride into winds and seas on our nose. Now the winds have piped up to 16-19 knots so we are going even slower. Our original course was about 800 nm from Bahia de Caraquez to Callao, Peru. So far we have covered 885 and still have over 106 to go. It seems like the closer we get the farther way it is.
But we have a full moon tonight and hopefully no fishing traffic to dodge.
Cheers
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We are still not there yet. We are about 106 nautical miles short of the vessel traffic control lanes for Callao and another 8 nm to La Punta and the Yacht Club Peruano where we will get a mooring.
Today has been a bumpy ride into winds and seas on our nose. Now the winds have piped up to 16-19 knots so we are going even slower. Our original course was about 800 nm from Bahia de Caraquez to Callao, Peru. So far we have covered 885 and still have over 106 to go. It seems like the closer we get the farther way it is.
But we have a full moon tonight and hopefully no fishing traffic to dodge.
Cheers
----------
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Thursday, November 14, 2013
Day 8, Passage to Callao
09 31.560 S, 78 46.761 W
Today was a day of mostly motorsailing. It was a good thing we had the motor running as the fishing fleet decided it was time to come in. It was like rush hour on the freeway. Unfortunately you can not be sure that some one is at the helm besides the autopilot. As we were going 90 degrees to their path we had to speed up or slow down as they passed.
We saw hundreds of birds in large flocks heading out to the fishing grounds and back again. They looked like swarms of bees. Flight schools of pelicans with at least 30 birds in a class.
We are so looking forward to arriving in Callao. Passaging is going well, the weather has been moderate, we could wish for wind from a direction other than from the south but slim chances of that but we are ready to be there. In the meantime we enjoyed fresh baked blueberry muffins for breakfast so life is not too bad.
Cheers,
Elaine and Rich
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Today was a day of mostly motorsailing. It was a good thing we had the motor running as the fishing fleet decided it was time to come in. It was like rush hour on the freeway. Unfortunately you can not be sure that some one is at the helm besides the autopilot. As we were going 90 degrees to their path we had to speed up or slow down as they passed.
We saw hundreds of birds in large flocks heading out to the fishing grounds and back again. They looked like swarms of bees. Flight schools of pelicans with at least 30 birds in a class.
We are so looking forward to arriving in Callao. Passaging is going well, the weather has been moderate, we could wish for wind from a direction other than from the south but slim chances of that but we are ready to be there. In the meantime we enjoyed fresh baked blueberry muffins for breakfast so life is not too bad.
Cheers,
Elaine and Rich
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Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Day 7, Passage to Peru
08 25.642 S, 79 38.335 W, 11/13/2013 7:36 pm
We are doing well. Motoring when there is little wind, sailing when we can to save fuel.
Today we saw hundreds of dolphins surrounding a school of fish, leaping, chasing through the water, jumping out of the water and splashing. The water was frothy with their activity. It was very amazing to watch.
This afternoon I made some macaroni and cheese for our afternoon repast. We used our new Starbucks mugs that we got in Peru. I have the Peru cup with a photograph of Machu Picchu on it. Rich has the Cusco cup with the Inca site of Saqsayhuaman on it.
We get excited about simple things when we are on passage....
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We are doing well. Motoring when there is little wind, sailing when we can to save fuel.
Today we saw hundreds of dolphins surrounding a school of fish, leaping, chasing through the water, jumping out of the water and splashing. The water was frothy with their activity. It was very amazing to watch.
This afternoon I made some macaroni and cheese for our afternoon repast. We used our new Starbucks mugs that we got in Peru. I have the Peru cup with a photograph of Machu Picchu on it. Rich has the Cusco cup with the Inca site of Saqsayhuaman on it.
We get excited about simple things when we are on passage....
----------
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Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Day 6, Passage to Callao, a pit stop, 11/12
06 55.579 S, 08 42.816 W, Islas Lobos de Afuerta
This morning during my 3 am - 6 am watch, the wind continued to back down until our speed over the ground bottomed out at 0.0 knots and stayed there. We were not going anywhere. The wind would pick up a little and the boat would move along a .5 knots, then back to 0.0 knots. Rich and I decided that it was time to turn the engine on. Sixteen nautical miles away was Islas Lobos de Auerta, a nature reserve, which also had a place to anchor, according to the Publication 125, Sailing Directions (Enroute) West Coast of South America, Eighth Edition, 2004. We need to change our engine fuel filter and transfer some fuel from the Jerry cans on deck to the fuel tanks anyway, so why not go there, stop for a bit to do these chores and then continue on.
So we did. The group of small islands that for. Islas Lobos de Afuerta are brown, barren rocks, home to no man but home to whales, sea lions, pelicans, boobies. frigate birds plus many more sea birds that I don't know the names of. There is a cacophony of sounds plus the stench of guano. The sailing directions mention that the island was reported (in 1992) to lie 1.4 miles west of its charted position. It is true, both of our electronic charts, C-Map and Navionics Gold, had us traversing overland to our anchor spot in 24 meters of water. One would have thought that sometime between 1992 and 2013, that this would have been corrected on the electronic charts but sad to say it has not been. The holding was a combination of sand and rock with some sea grass.
As Rich worked on changing the filter, I checked out the local inhabitants and monitored our position. Several large whales came nearby, within two boat lengths, would blow and then dive and come back again. There were at least 5 individuals. A large bull sea lion escorting his harem swam by and barked a few times for good measure. A group of younger sea lions swam by and would pop their heads up to take a look at us. Large flocks of sea birds would fly on masse to their island nesting grounds. An open panga full of fishermen drifted by as they cast their nets. Rich saw them haul in a large fish, beat it with a club and then stow it in the large container they had on board. It looked like there were some trails on the islands as well. I did not see a place to land a dingy from our position at anchor.
We moved about 6 Jerry cans of fuel to the aft tank and then prepared to be on our way, just as a large whale surfaced nearby. Rich slowly motored us back out into open waters as we continued to head for Callao.
There are no cruising guide books for Peru. We got advice not to enter certain ports and to only check in at Callao. We did receive a suggestion to stop at Islas Lobos de Afuerta and it was convenient for us to make our stop there. The smell of guano would discourage me from making this an overnight stop. You may use the GPS position listed above at your own risk.
The sailing directions mention some other islands as well but right now we are looking forward to arriving in Callao.
Sent from SV Windarra iPad
This morning during my 3 am - 6 am watch, the wind continued to back down until our speed over the ground bottomed out at 0.0 knots and stayed there. We were not going anywhere. The wind would pick up a little and the boat would move along a .5 knots, then back to 0.0 knots. Rich and I decided that it was time to turn the engine on. Sixteen nautical miles away was Islas Lobos de Auerta, a nature reserve, which also had a place to anchor, according to the Publication 125, Sailing Directions (Enroute) West Coast of South America, Eighth Edition, 2004. We need to change our engine fuel filter and transfer some fuel from the Jerry cans on deck to the fuel tanks anyway, so why not go there, stop for a bit to do these chores and then continue on.
So we did. The group of small islands that for. Islas Lobos de Afuerta are brown, barren rocks, home to no man but home to whales, sea lions, pelicans, boobies. frigate birds plus many more sea birds that I don't know the names of. There is a cacophony of sounds plus the stench of guano. The sailing directions mention that the island was reported (in 1992) to lie 1.4 miles west of its charted position. It is true, both of our electronic charts, C-Map and Navionics Gold, had us traversing overland to our anchor spot in 24 meters of water. One would have thought that sometime between 1992 and 2013, that this would have been corrected on the electronic charts but sad to say it has not been. The holding was a combination of sand and rock with some sea grass.
As Rich worked on changing the filter, I checked out the local inhabitants and monitored our position. Several large whales came nearby, within two boat lengths, would blow and then dive and come back again. There were at least 5 individuals. A large bull sea lion escorting his harem swam by and barked a few times for good measure. A group of younger sea lions swam by and would pop their heads up to take a look at us. Large flocks of sea birds would fly on masse to their island nesting grounds. An open panga full of fishermen drifted by as they cast their nets. Rich saw them haul in a large fish, beat it with a club and then stow it in the large container they had on board. It looked like there were some trails on the islands as well. I did not see a place to land a dingy from our position at anchor.
We moved about 6 Jerry cans of fuel to the aft tank and then prepared to be on our way, just as a large whale surfaced nearby. Rich slowly motored us back out into open waters as we continued to head for Callao.
There are no cruising guide books for Peru. We got advice not to enter certain ports and to only check in at Callao. We did receive a suggestion to stop at Islas Lobos de Afuerta and it was convenient for us to make our stop there. The smell of guano would discourage me from making this an overnight stop. You may use the GPS position listed above at your own risk.
The sailing directions mention some other islands as well but right now we are looking forward to arriving in Callao.
Sent from SV Windarra iPad
Day 6, Passage to Callao
07 09.893 S, 080 14.838 W
Today we made a stop at Islas Lobos de Afuerta. It is a nature reserve made of a group of small islands. The only inhabitants are sea lions, pelicans, boobies, frigate birds and other sea birds. In the anchorage we saw several whales. It still makes me feel anxious when a mammal the size of our boat surfaces less than 2 boat lengths away.
We stopped so that Rich could change the fuel filter on the engine and so we could transfer some diesel from the jerry cans to the aft fuel tank.
I have a longer blog entry on this that I will post when we have internet.
Anyway, we are doing well. Of course we wish we were at Callao already but so far so good.
Cheers,
Elaine and Rich
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Today we made a stop at Islas Lobos de Afuerta. It is a nature reserve made of a group of small islands. The only inhabitants are sea lions, pelicans, boobies, frigate birds and other sea birds. In the anchorage we saw several whales. It still makes me feel anxious when a mammal the size of our boat surfaces less than 2 boat lengths away.
We stopped so that Rich could change the fuel filter on the engine and so we could transfer some diesel from the jerry cans to the aft fuel tank.
I have a longer blog entry on this that I will post when we have internet.
Anyway, we are doing well. Of course we wish we were at Callao already but so far so good.
Cheers,
Elaine and Rich
----------
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Monday, November 11, 2013
Day 5, Passage to Callao
06 31.011 S. 80 10.790 W
We are around both capes, Cabo Blanco and Punta Arujes (spelling?) We have been sailing as much as possible to conserve fuel. Since the predominant winds and current are from the south and the direction we want to go, we need to tack back and forth, which means we have to go farther. Callao seems to be getting farther, the closer we try to get to it. We have traveled just about 500 miles. Our original sail plan estimated about 810 nautical miles from Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador to Callao, Peru, which assumed we could sail directly on our plan. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. Having sailed 500 nm, we should have only 810 left but no so, it is more like 415 or so. I know we will get there, some time...
Late this afternoon as we were preparing to reef the main sail, it was feeding time for the dolphins and the frigate birds. The dolphins swam by the bow to say hi and then they would shoot over and you would see lots of activity in the water. The frigate birds would circle and then suddenly dive head first into the water, one after another, like a bombing run. It was amazing to see and then it was over as quickly as it had started.
Cheers
----------
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We are around both capes, Cabo Blanco and Punta Arujes (spelling?) We have been sailing as much as possible to conserve fuel. Since the predominant winds and current are from the south and the direction we want to go, we need to tack back and forth, which means we have to go farther. Callao seems to be getting farther, the closer we try to get to it. We have traveled just about 500 miles. Our original sail plan estimated about 810 nautical miles from Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador to Callao, Peru, which assumed we could sail directly on our plan. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. Having sailed 500 nm, we should have only 810 left but no so, it is more like 415 or so. I know we will get there, some time...
Late this afternoon as we were preparing to reef the main sail, it was feeding time for the dolphins and the frigate birds. The dolphins swam by the bow to say hi and then they would shoot over and you would see lots of activity in the water. The frigate birds would circle and then suddenly dive head first into the water, one after another, like a bombing run. It was amazing to see and then it was over as quickly as it had started.
Cheers
----------
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Sunday, November 10, 2013
Day 4, Passage to Callao
05 05.370 S, 81 28.110 W
We made it around Cabo Blanco. It was a little tough at the end as there were all sorts of fishermen with nets which are lit with lights that flash red, green and white. We wish we could tell where was the end of the row. At one point we tried to go around a net following the lights only to run over it instead. Luckily we did not get caught on it.
Today we have been sailing as much as possible to conserve fuel. Just before I came down to do these entries, the speed log stopped working. This is frustrating as now we don't know how we are being affected by the current. So far it has been minimal but now we will not know at all.
We have one more cape to go around and then it should be 'smooth sailing', or something like that.
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We made it around Cabo Blanco. It was a little tough at the end as there were all sorts of fishermen with nets which are lit with lights that flash red, green and white. We wish we could tell where was the end of the row. At one point we tried to go around a net following the lights only to run over it instead. Luckily we did not get caught on it.
Today we have been sailing as much as possible to conserve fuel. Just before I came down to do these entries, the speed log stopped working. This is frustrating as now we don't know how we are being affected by the current. So far it has been minimal but now we will not know at all.
We have one more cape to go around and then it should be 'smooth sailing', or something like that.
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Saturday, November 9, 2013
Day 3, in Peruvian waters
04 01.894 S, 81 15.761 W
We had 24 hours of great sailing, favorable current, good weather, reasonable seas. Now we are trying to get around Cabo Blanco and I am trying to remember what those 24 hours were like since now it is dark, large confused seas, gusty winds, etc.
Looking forward to being around the cape...
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We had 24 hours of great sailing, favorable current, good weather, reasonable seas. Now we are trying to get around Cabo Blanco and I am trying to remember what those 24 hours were like since now it is dark, large confused seas, gusty winds, etc.
Looking forward to being around the cape...
----------
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Friday, November 8, 2013
Day 2 passage to Callao, Peru
02 32.247 S, 80 56.533 W
This morning we made a brief stop at Salinas. We were seeing a leak in the aft head and we wanted to check it out. It turned out to be a fitting on the top of the water heater was failing and leaking. Rich tightened it up but we will have to make a better repair in Callao. It is not a) life threatening, b) engine threatening, c) serious and d) something we can't live with. As we have been motorsailing so far, we thought we would quickly stop in and buy some more diesel. It was a good thought but when we went to the marina and found out that we had to have an agent and that we would have to check back into Ecuador, buy fuel and then check out again with at least a charge of $200 plus the agent's fee of $50 with no assurance that there would be no other fees and that this could be accomplished today so we could continue to Peru, we decided that we did not need the extra fuel and we could continue.
The whole stop cost us a few hours of time but we got to see one of the submarines of the Ecuadorian Navy. Now we are sailing across the Golfo de Guayaquil, conserving fuel and heading to Peru.
Cheers
----------
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This morning we made a brief stop at Salinas. We were seeing a leak in the aft head and we wanted to check it out. It turned out to be a fitting on the top of the water heater was failing and leaking. Rich tightened it up but we will have to make a better repair in Callao. It is not a) life threatening, b) engine threatening, c) serious and d) something we can't live with. As we have been motorsailing so far, we thought we would quickly stop in and buy some more diesel. It was a good thought but when we went to the marina and found out that we had to have an agent and that we would have to check back into Ecuador, buy fuel and then check out again with at least a charge of $200 plus the agent's fee of $50 with no assurance that there would be no other fees and that this could be accomplished today so we could continue to Peru, we decided that we did not need the extra fuel and we could continue.
The whole stop cost us a few hours of time but we got to see one of the submarines of the Ecuadorian Navy. Now we are sailing across the Golfo de Guayaquil, conserving fuel and heading to Peru.
Cheers
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Thursday, November 7, 2013
first night to Callao, Peru
01 14.092 S, 80 52.726 W
Our pilot, Pedro, was late this morning so we did not leave until 6:15 am. Chuck and Linda on SV Jacaranda followed us close behind. After we let off Pedro, we turn south to Peru and Jacaranda turned the opposite direction to Panama.
So far we have been motorsailing with the main and staysail. Winds have varied between 12 and 19 knots and we are close hauled. The setting current has been between .5 and 1 knot. This evening the current has slackened and the wind is not on our nose as much so we are making about 5 knots speed over the ground.
we have traveled about 60 miles since this morning. Just a little under 750 to go.
Cheers
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Our pilot, Pedro, was late this morning so we did not leave until 6:15 am. Chuck and Linda on SV Jacaranda followed us close behind. After we let off Pedro, we turn south to Peru and Jacaranda turned the opposite direction to Panama.
So far we have been motorsailing with the main and staysail. Winds have varied between 12 and 19 knots and we are close hauled. The setting current has been between .5 and 1 knot. This evening the current has slackened and the wind is not on our nose as much so we are making about 5 knots speed over the ground.
we have traveled about 60 miles since this morning. Just a little under 750 to go.
Cheers
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Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Heading south
This is just a quick note to let you know we are leaving Bahia de Caraquez, Ecuador for Callao, Peru tomorrow morning at 5:30 am to catch the rising tide to cross the bar. Our friends Chuck and Linda of SV Jacaranda are leaving at the same time but they are headed to Panama.
Tuesday we caught a ride with Geovanny the taxi driver to the town of Manta, an hour and 15 minute drive from here. Geovanny handled taking our paperwork and passports to immigration to get them stamped. Meanwhile Rich and I did some provisioning at two of the large grocery stores. Now we have food for our journey southward. We treated him to lunch and practiced our Spanish skills. We are getting better and were able to find out about his two kids, a lawyer and a doctor, who both live in Guayaquil along with his two grandchildren. Geovanny drives not only to Manta but to Guayaquil at least three times a week. We wish we had known about him when we got lost with Cristobal.
Anyway, Windarra is prepared and hopefully we are too. It is a little over 800 miles but we will be going against the Humboldt current and into the wind as well so it may be a longer trip. We are guessing about 8-10 days but we will see.
I will try to send some reports along the way. Once we cross into Peruvian waters we need to report into Tramar at 8 am and 8 pm every day.
Cheers,
Elaine and Rich
Sent from Elaine's iPhone
Tuesday we caught a ride with Geovanny the taxi driver to the town of Manta, an hour and 15 minute drive from here. Geovanny handled taking our paperwork and passports to immigration to get them stamped. Meanwhile Rich and I did some provisioning at two of the large grocery stores. Now we have food for our journey southward. We treated him to lunch and practiced our Spanish skills. We are getting better and were able to find out about his two kids, a lawyer and a doctor, who both live in Guayaquil along with his two grandchildren. Geovanny drives not only to Manta but to Guayaquil at least three times a week. We wish we had known about him when we got lost with Cristobal.
Anyway, Windarra is prepared and hopefully we are too. It is a little over 800 miles but we will be going against the Humboldt current and into the wind as well so it may be a longer trip. We are guessing about 8-10 days but we will see.
I will try to send some reports along the way. Once we cross into Peruvian waters we need to report into Tramar at 8 am and 8 pm every day.
Cheers,
Elaine and Rich
Sent from Elaine's iPhone
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