Changes
in Latitude
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Surprisingly, we finally headed for Ecuador after having told everyone for months that we were on our way. We were in the Balboa Yacht Club getting ready to transit; we were excited about our big day in the canal. After touring Panama City and its environs and line handling on 2 boats making the transit, we decided that we had plenty of time. We had met a couple from Ecuador who told us their home was our home ,so we decided we needed to cross the Equator somewhere; it might as well be Ecuador.On the day that we knew we would cross the Equator in spite of 30 knot winds on our nose and waves that made our knot meter read 0 knots and -velocity over the ground we dug out the wine Jerry had brought from Paris 26 years ago just for this occasion. He donned his green mop beard, tinfoil crown, took up his tinfoil trident and waited. We counted down, he with his GPS up in the cockpit and I with my GPS down in the cabin. The winner was the first one to see the S for South of the Equator. My GPS was the winner by 1 second. What a thrill to be South of the Equator and to claim a new continent for Grace our 44 ft. Kelly Peterson
And Ecuador is everything that we didn't know about. The people are so friendly and helpful we feel like we have reached a new plateau in wonderful, my overused word ever since I started sailing. We put our anchor down at Puerto Manta Yacht Club and backed up to buoys right in front of the Yacht Club and next to Wayward Cru, Liberte, and Atua. The Yacht Club is new and beautiful with a swimming pool and lovely restaurant. They are working hard on new showers; however, I don't know if the $5.00 a day will apply once they finish them. Literally 100's of boats are anchored in this large harbor with the U.S. Navy and Air Force making their presence known. We met some of our guys in a restaurant and were invited to visit their ship. What a thrill for us!
Metropolitan Touring of Ecuador planned a trip down the spine of the Andes so that we could see the country. We flew to Quito, and loved Quito and its many art galleries and outstanding museums, especially the Central Banco in the Casa de Cultura. The Jacchigua Ecuadorean Folklore Ballet, which we flew to Quito on Friday to see especially, was not a disappointment. We went by autobus South to Riobamba and boarded an autoferril which is kind of a bus on tracks to travel down the Nariz de la Diablo or the Devil's Nose at Alausi, but much to our disappointment a truck overturned on the tracks. We boarded our bus which was travelling on the Panamerican highway and drove to Alausi; we made the trip down the Devil's Nose on an antique fixit train of some kind. Exciting is not an adequate superlative for this trip.
We then headed for Cuenca, Ecuador's third largest city and our favorite with a stop at Ingapirca, the major Inca ruins in Ecuador. Cuenca is divided into the Colonial and the modern with the Tumebamba River as its dividing line. After visiting a convent on the outside, I bought radish juice from the cloistered sisters through a little turnstyle in the wall. Haven't yet tried the radish juoice which is supposed to improve my memory. After cooking our Ecuadorean turkey for Thanksgiving, we will take our leftovers and head for the Galapagos. Getting to Ecuador is a challenge, but it should certainly find a place on every adventurous cruiser's calendar.
Our best to all, Ellen & Jerry
- 21 November 2000