The Grand Majestic -Bartholomew/Santiago - Galapagos –26 April 2024.

The Grand Majestic anchored about 1.00-2.00am off Bartholomew and when I woke about 5.30am, I looked out over what looked like a volcanic landscape. We were anchored off Bartholomew Island with Santiago being a lot bigger behind it There was a large rock standing up which I later learned was Pinnacle Rock.

We had breakfast and were going ashore to visit the highest spot-on Bartholomew which has a magnificent view -see the picture -of the Island and the coastline. We took the dinghies and went via the base of Pinnacle Rock and were blessed by seeing three Galapagos Penguins who were sitting on a rock at its base. They are quite small and there only approximately 4,000 in the Galapagos and most of them live on Isabella with only about 30-50 at Bartholomew. They are about 35 cm tall and are the third smallest of the Penguin family. They are frequently seen sunning on the rocks especially in the early morning or late afternoon but otherwise are fishing and swimming along the shore. They have had to adapt to hot land and cold water. They are the only Penguins to occur North of the Equator but nest in the tropics.

They are covered in fat, which is good insulation but it also keeps in the heat, so they cool down by holding their wings out at 45 degrees allowing air to pass over the less feathered areas. On land they always shade their feet which allows the circulation to increase, the breeze passing over them cools them (like a car radiator). They can also pant rapidly and hide in the shade. During the moulting period they fast and do not enter the water until their new  feathers are formed as they would lose too much temperature without them. This period is about 15 days. The Galapagos Penguins choose a mate for life and lay one or two eggs which they lay in holes to keep out of the sun. One parent stays with the eggs and the other goes out to fish. They take it in turn for 5 weeks until the eggs hatch. As long as there is enough food they should survive. They are not sure why the population is not larger but for some reason it remains quite small.  

Having seen the Penguins we were happy to move on and the dinghies moved us to some stone steps at the bottom of Bartholemew which led on to a wooden walkway all the way to the top. This has been built to protect the environment, as the walkway goes over what is like a luna landscape of ash and lava. There are 388 steps to the top. We stopped at various points to discuss the landscape. The island is about 1 million years old but still there is very little vegetation and this is also due to volcanic activity. We also saw a little snake and looked down on what was clearly a crater in the water. We could see Pinnacle Rock and the curving landscape as we gradually climbed. We then saw some vent holes and raised bits of lava leaving an uneven surface and looking around you could see volcanic cones and smaller vent cones over the two islands. There was little plant life at all and just the odd lava cactus which did not look that healthy. When we got to the top there was a fantastic view – see the picture – which looked down the island, Pinnacle Rock and the curved coastline and it was quite a view.

We climbed down and the temperature was rising. We got back to the boat and put on our snorkelling gear and we were then dropped off by the dinghies near Pinnacle Rock. This was a good snorkel and we saw lots of fish, some small sharks, and a couple of penguins came to join us briefly. We also saw a magnificent Galapagos Green Turtle on the bottom having what appeared to be a rest. The visibility was not as good as previous snorkels but good enough and on every snorkel we see an abundance of fish life, so it is difficult to describe different snorkels.

We returned to the GM for lunch and a small rest. However, lunch was on the sundeck today and they did a barbecue which  was great and we sat on the sundeck which had a good breeze. During this time GM moved about half a mile down off Satiago Island which had a large old lava field which was very obvious. We went out snorkelling again at 2.30pm off the opposite side of Pinnacle Rock and saw again an amazing array of fish life but also several large white tip sharks and a field of starfish. It was another good snorkel and interesting although the wind had got up and there was more current to deal with.

We returned to GM and had hot chocolate and brandy and then headed out to the lava flow which we walked around. This lava field is 130 years old – so not long really and there were some very interesting and attractive patterns which looked like ropes or chains and it was odd that we found this lava field attractive in a certain way. It was clear that when this lava field cooled a lot of lava tunnels underneath cracked and the ground although generally flat is very uneven. You could see different colours looking into the fissures and crevices.

We also sat by the shore and saw Sally Lightfoot Crabs which can move very fast if they need to. We saw a Noddy bird, Large Pelican and of course Boobies. We also saw three penguins swimming around.

We were moving on to Rabida Island and so once we returned to GM we got underway. We soon anchored and had a good supper. We will wake up in the morning and visit Rabida Island.

Opportunity for any Readers/Sailors.

In late May 2024 we shall be in the Marquesas in French Polynesia, and we will then move through to the Tuamotu’s before getting to Tahiti about the end of July 2024. There may be some space on Stormbird during this period should any sailor/reader be interested in joining for this period or part of it in what must be one of the most distant and beautiful places in the world.

In addition, in year two I will be going up the Eastern Australian Coast, Indonesia and probably across the Indian Ocean to Cape Town and I will need some more crew.

If there is any interest do email me at  hine.nick9@gmail.com  

The blog will continue as we head off to the Galapagos and beyond.

If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com  I can only upload one picture a day and visit our website www.stormbirdgoesglobal.co.uk