The Hammerhead Sharks

Well it was the big day, diving with the hammerhead sharks. So we boarded a 30’ boat 7’ beam and on this boat there were 8 divers, 2 dive masters and 2 crew. Needless to say it was very tight, but we were going to dive. On the way to the sight we stopped to do a test dive (5 minutes) and during that dive a sea lion was swimming all around us. It was really cool. We finally made it to the Hammerhead site, suited up and went down to 80’ to watch for them. In about 15 min. we spotted20about 6-7 probably 30-50 ft away. You could just make them out, and a little later on the same dive we spotted another 4-6 of them about 60 ft away.
Now I thought that I would be concerned being in the water with sharks that are bigger then ME. But once in the water all I wanted to do was get close and swim with them
which was not going to happen on this dive. So we came up had lunch and waited an hour for our second dive.
This time we went to the same spot and went down to 80’. In about 10 min., 15 Hammerheads passed 10 ft below us. You could make out all the details, even seeing their eyes. It was awesome. After that we headed back to port.

The Excursion

I decided it was time to get off the boat and go ashore, fi rst time sleeping on land in 4 months. So I set up a trip to Isabela Island, about 50 miles away. It is one of the biggest Islands in the Galapagos and one of the youngest 4 million years young. This was a 2 nights, 3 day trip and I stayed in a motel.
To get there you had to take a boat ride. Well!! Let me tell you about the boat ride. It was the worst ride I have ever been on. You remember when you were young and you went on a carnival ride and after 2 minutes you wanted to get off but they wouldn’t stop it. Well this is what it was like, but it was 2 HOURS long. It was a 30’, old fiberglass boat with bench seats. It had two 225hp outboards and the guys driving them were wanta be offshore racers. The boat did 25 mph in 4-6 ft seas. This was open ocean. Oh my God you just hung on because you certainly could not sleep. Well anyways we finally made it.

The first day I just explored the town. Very nice and quite, sand streets with a population of 2000 very friendly people. The beach was beautiful and 2 miles long.
The next day was a trip to Sierra Negra Volcano. There are actually four of them on the Island and at one time 2 million years ago there were 4 islands, now one. The trip to the volcano involved a 45 min. taxi ride, 1:15 min Horse back ride and a 1 hr hike, and then of course the same to get out. But it was totally worth it. It was just awesome to see the varied geological stuff going on. We were hiking across one lave flow that was 1000’s of years old with cacti growing that were 500-1000 years old. Then right next to this lava flow was another one only 40 years old. These lave flows were massive, 1 mile wide miles long and 5-10 ft deep. The most recent eruption was 4 years ago. The main volcano was not your typical volcano. It was 3000 ft high and 10 miles in diameter.
The next day I took the boat ride from hell back to Santa Cruz where Shellette and the rest of the crew were.

We are now on our way to the Marquesas Islands 3000 miles, 25 days. While the Panama Canal was cool an d the Galapagos were great to visit, this is the part of the trip that I have dreamed of. Sailing into the sunset day after day in the South Pacific trade winds, heading to the South Pacific Islands. We left the Galapagos on Saturday June 6 in the morning. I am now on watch 4pm to 8 pm and there is a beautiful sunset about to occur. So with my glass of wine in hand I bid you farewell till next Sunday when the South Pacific passage continues.