Isla del Coco and to the Galapagos

We set off to go to Isla del Cocos---an island owned by Costa Rica west of Panama to do some diving and then south to the Galapagos. We have as much fuel as we can carry as we have over 1000NM (nautical miles) and the currents will not necessarily be in our favour and there has been little wind recently.
We started with a great sail with good winds but as the days went by it varied—light winds in our face—not enough to sail to—so adopted a motor sailing technique. This involves picking as favourable direction as possible using the sails and with one engine going---our catamaran has two—we are able to go along at about 4 knots and optimize our fuel consumption.
The days drift on—we did see one whale and other than that a few birds. Got in a squall which had intense rain and wind one night but apart from that many books get read, sudokus get solved and sleep is taken in tandem.
Ken’s highlight was to catch two marlins, one on one day and another the following day. Luckily the front sail was not either time and using the two engines---another good reason to own a catamaran—I was able to motor in circles backwards as the fish swam in circles around the boat trying to get off. It took us almost an hour each time and finally Ken landed both. They were beautiful—about 6 to 7 feet long with a long sword and a beautiful dorsal fin which fanned most of his back. Ken was able to release them OK---much too much food for us—so after a big rest I am sure they carried on not sure if they had been having nightmares or not. I now declared a fishing ban as our fuel was short and not enough to go in circles forever and besides he could not catch a fish small enough for us to keep.
After 5 ½ days we finally reached Isla Del Coco. It seemed so strange to come across a small island all alone in the middle of the ocean—Costa Rica is over 300 miles away. It is the largest uninhabited island in the world and is a tropical rain forest receiving 280 inches of rain a year. It is a national park with two ranger stations. The ranger who collected our fees---about $100 per day which is how they maintain and police the illegal fishing---told us that it is in 3rd place in the 7 natural wonders of the world and is a world heritage site.
We did four incredible dives near our anchorage. We saw moray eels, marbled rays (about 5 feet diameter), white tipped reef sharks, crayfish, so many varieties and numbers of fish that it was a never ending colour display. The ultimate thrill were the hammerhead sharks. These school in vast numbers in the region and although we did not do the very deep dives where apparently you can see hundreds we saw a school of 24. These are huge sharks with a very strange head shape which have never attacked anyone when they are in a school. It was a little disconcerting watching them swim over, under and around you very calmly and slowly. I did see one who for whatever reason decided to take off and he went so fast that I realized that if any one had wanted one of us for dinner it would have been over before we knew what hit us. Anyway fortunately none did, so we were able to enjoy the wonderful spectacle. It equaled the best dives we have ever done, which were on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and far surpassed any others. The sheer numbers of fish was awe inspiring, schools and schools of so many varieties it is impossible to relate on paper how spectacular it is.
There are dive boats which come out for 7 days from Costa Rica with divers who dive around the island. I am sure no-one goes home disappointed. The dive boats very kindly refilled our tanks for us so we were able to do four dives each; there are no facilities on the island whatsoever.
We took a walk on the island to the magical waterfall which cascades into a lovely pool which was very welcome after a sticky hot 2 hour walk. The foliage is lush and beautiful and the island although only 4 miles long rises to 2800 feet.
After 4 incredible days there it was time to head to the Galapagos for the next sector of our voyage. No wind was in any forecast so motoring was to be in our future.
We motored for the first two days and then had a really nice sailing wind for 24 hours. The last day we had to motor again. We had a current all the way with us so were able to sail in to the Galapagos with still fuel left---it had been a concern with over 1000 miles to sail we weren’t sure how far our fuel would take us.
How do you know when you are in the Galapagos????
When you are awoken in the morning by a seal on your boat peering in at you down through your hatch above your bed!!!!
If only they didn’t poop all over and lie on your cockpit cushions making everything stink they would be cute.
We are watching the ongoing battle by sailing vessels to outwit them and keep them off. So far the seals are winning.