Isla San Cristobal, The Galapagos 17 March 2006 Vilisar departs The Galapagos Islands today after an interesting and informative month in the archipelago. Leaving today about noon, we expect the 600 Nm (1,000 km) sail due east will be uneventful and take aobut 7 - 10 days depending upon winds and currents. The weather charts are promiisng light trade winds blowing mainly from the SW. That's perfect for us. Our destination there is Bahia de Caraquez, a storm-free river lagoon and up-scale beach town about 50 miles north of Manta. Ecuador remains quite temperate during the northern summer because the Peru Current brings cool waters north from Antarctica. We shall be leaving Vilisar at 'Bahia' on occasion to travel to Quito and other towns where Kathleen will be leading choir and conducting workshops for Ecuadorian choirs under sponsorship of the Association of Ecuadorian Choirs. We are really excited about as it will help us to get to know Ecuadorians. Keep checking.