Galapagos Islands to Easter Island, March 20 to April 3, 2003
Repairs and Preparations April 4 to 9

After spending 7 days exploring the Galapagos Islands aboard the 85' charter catamaran, Nemo, we headed back to Darwin's Passage. We disembarked at the island of Baltra and headed south to Puerto Aroya on Santa Cruz where we had left her in the care of Falsto. The airport in the Galapagos happens to be located on Baltra, and our timing was perfect so that we picked up our two new crew members, Tasha and Jason. Four days later, on the 20th of March, we pulled anchor and headed back off into the deep blue.

As we departed the Galapagos archipelago, we were greeted by dolphins, whales, and thousands of flying fish. As our usual luck, the wind was on the nose as we picked our way out of the island group, and so we motored until we could pick up a light breeze. All in all it was a smooth transit, although for me it was a blur. At 1730 our time on the 22nd of March we received a call on the Iridium telephone. My brother had collapsed while in Puerto Montt, Chile. I called home to discover my worst fears. Julian had died. Ironically, in Puerto Montt, our final destination scheduled for May.

Julian was the opposite extreme to me and Barry when it came to sailing -- he lived for racing. He taught me how to fold a sail, the parts of a sailboat, and the theory of aerodynamics. When he was a student in college he taught me the fundamentals of biochemistry, something that would lay the ground for my career as a scientist. Needless to say, the loss was great.

There is nothing quite so bizarre as to be in the middle of the ocean when such a tragedy strikes. There is a sense of closure gained from the process of funerals and burial -- the contact with family, friends, and familiar persons. But out in the middle of the ocean, it is a different thing altogether. There is a peculiar time to reflect with breath-taking sunrises and sunsets to remind you of the beauty of this world and how precious life is.

We made landfall at Hanga Roa, Easter Island, on the 3rd of April. The island has three names, Easter Island, Rapa Nui, or Isla de Pascua depending on the language you speak or the map you look at. It is part of Chile, although the continent is almost 2,000 nautical miles (approx. 3200 km) away. It is an incredible place. There are virtually no trees and the smooth rolling hills are covered in short grass. It takes about one day to explore with a small car or truck. Horses run freely across the island and seem to be an important mode of transportation.

We were moved over to Hanga Vinapu as the conditions were getting too rough in Hanga Roa. It is important to remember that Rapa Nui has no safe anchorages, and subsequently it is imperative to keep a careful watch at all times. The ocean comes rolling in and smashes along the coastline. In Hanga Vinapu incredible "horse heads" could be seen at the tips of the waves with the spray looking like wind-swept manes. The site was truly spectacular, but a little unnerving. I spent my first few nights on anchor watch until we were comfortable with the location.

We laid out 225 feet of chain in 59 feet of water, well off of the coastline. We were glad we had done so, especially with so much scope out. When we swung, it was rather unnerving to be shifted towards those "horse heads", and to be further out was better.

We spent much of our time repairing sails. The car for the clew of our inmast furling sail had blown apart with the subsequent weakening and tearing of the leech of the mainsail. Furthermore, the strong tropical sun of the equatorial latitudes had broken down our sacrifical UV covers on the jib and the staysail, the covers of which had decided to sacrifice themselves and fall off. Tasha and Jason had done a brilliant job in finding Jose, a local fellow with an upholstery quality sewing machine. With the assistance of the fellows at Rapu Dive, who had managed to find an old sail for material, a repair was made that would take us to the mainland. The patch wasn't pretty, but it was functional.

We managed to get some time in exploring and got over to Rana Roraka, where the Moai had been carved out. It was amazing to see so many half carved statues still in the sides of the old volcano along with petroglyphs and half sunken heads.

It was at Easter Island that Tasha and Jason left us and Roger joined us for the 1600+ nautical mile trek to the Juan Fernandez Islands. We managed to obtain fuel using the rather bouncy dinghy dock at Hanga Vinapu. We then had to move back over to Hanga Roa by request of the Armada. During this short trip, our sole piece of rod rigging snapped - the headstay that held our enormous jib and Reckmann roller furling gear. With some interesting challenges, we managed to make a repair, but were sure to have some galvanized wire to rig a temporary stay should it be necessary.

When we arrived back at Hanga Roa, we discovered another Canadian vessel -- the training ship Concordia. Funny enough, we would encounter her again on our next trip to Victoria, where she was on display for the Folk Fest celebrations.