Kicker Rock welcomed us into the Galapagos Islands. We will do a tour of the rock in a couple of days. The gap between the rocks is quite stunning. We passed the view of the gap while I was down in the bilge closing off the holding tank valves, so we turned the boat around to go back to get some pictures of it. One of the yachts behind us in the fleet saw us do this and called us on the VHF radio to ask if something was wrong and did we need any help. We explained what happened and why we did the unexpected about turn. It is nice to know that others are nearby should something go wrong and we really did need their help.
The rules are very strict in the Galapagos, you are not allowed to dump your holding tanks (Toilet Waste) into the sea.
To protect the ecology of the Galapagos there is a long list of items ( fruit, cheese, meat, tuna) that you cannot bring into the islands.
We have to separate our garbage into three classifications ( Organic, Recycling, non- Recycling) and clearly identify each separate bag containing this waste. We were told that 5 officials from different government departments will visit the boat on arrival and check that we are in compliance. They check use by dates on food, medical suppliers, check our fridge for milk, cheese and the freezer contents for banned items. I had to throw out some left over tuna that we had in the freezer.
Divers inspect the hull and thru hull connections for barnacles. One of the boats in the fleet did not pass this inspection and had to go 60 miles out to sea and clean their hull. They also had to make a “Donation” to the “Keep Galapagos Clean” fund.
This is why I had the boat hauled and bottom painted in the BVI. I also inspected the hulls and thru hull stop valves a few days ago. I had to remove one small barnacle from the Generator exhaust tube. We passed the hull inspection OK. When it came time for inspection, it was late in the afternoon and there was still a lot of boats to be checked in. The officials only checked our paperwork, and the medical kit. They did not check food use by dates, or the fridge or freezer contents. We could have keep the tuna.