Isla Isabella - Galapagos

We are anchored next to a massive volcano about 3600 meters high on Isla Isabella. Isabella is positioned right on the equator. Our Galapagos cruise has had us cross the equator three time now. This volcanic landscape makes for a dramatic back drop for the yacht in the setting warm sunlight.
We take a dingy ride around the anchorage riding very close to the rock walls. We see Penguins, Blue Footed Boobies, Sea Lions, Land and Marine Iguanas, Marine Turtles. We see all of this in the first ten minutes. The Galapagos Islands are preserved. Kept sacred and protected from man. It is amazing to see the amount of LIFE here.
The penguins are the highlight of this dinghy ride. About 10 of them come whizzing around a rock corner in the surge over a boulder shallow. They bob, weave and flow like white water rafters bouncing at the mercy of a class 5 river.

20 Shearwaters fly by. Their aerodynamic bodies are black on top, and as they bank away synchronized, like acrobatic Blue Angels, they expose their white bellies. It's very foggy. The water temp, even though we are near the equator, is between 19 and 20 c. We are approaching Roca Redondo to dive. This is the area that Master and Commander was filmed. Redondo Rock is 20 juts out of the water 20 meters high. It is the tip of an active volcano. Sulfur bubbles that have made their way up from the bottom are natures way of reminding us that this Volcano still has some life in it.
Now there are about 100 Shearwater birds around us. We anchor in the axis of the strong currents that wrap around both sides of Redondo. one boat length behind us is a group of about 60 sea lions "cooling". They chill out by floating on the surface with one fin in the air, its quite a sight. Simutaniously to port, close enough to touch, a group of about 20 large Bottlenose Dolphin are lolly gagging by in the current axis looking for lunch to come their way. In the surf break off the point of the Roca, Sea Lions float and wait like territorial surfers guarding "their" break. They wait for the big one and then body surf as far as the surf will take them.
Redondo is covered with birds of every type. They swarm the island like pissed off bees after a few mischievous kids played pinyotta on their hive.

Crossing the Equator

The water outside is like pools of olive oil. The sky is absolutely cram packed with stars. The breeze is turned off as we transit the ITCZ, Inter Tropical Convergence Zone - AKA the Doldrums. The southern cross is in full sight.
We are all gathered in the Pilot house watching the GPS count down to 0 00 Latitude and switch from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere. It's exactly the same feeling as a new years eve countdown.
At 2300 we cross the equator for the first time. We stop the boat and drift. We throw gifts to Neptune. toast the occasion and silently each in our own way ask for protection and safe passage in the vast open waters of the Southern Pacific Ocean.