27 October 1999 - Wednesday

Greetings to all the correspondents from Antica's crew in La Liberta, Ecuador. As early as today we are leaving for Galapagos, we are waiting for the fuel delivery and part of food supplies. The crew on yacht is multinational. In La Liberta we were joined by Steve and Pia, an Englishman and a Finnish woman so English is back on board.

The latest part of our voyage was full of little sensations the first one being the impossibility of leaving Peru. The clearances, disputes between offices concerning the competences, attempts of money defraudation - all this beaurocracy lasted three days. Coruption at the lowest possible level. No wonder Peru is visited by no more than 3-4 yachts a year (general conclusion).

Additional emotions and the rise in our pulse rate were caused by the information from various sources about the instances of piracy commited on yachts and boats around the Guayaquil bay. We couldn't disregard it and as a consequence we left Peru having a new rifle on board. During the second night while we were sailing at the border of Peru and Ecuador we were thrice visited by suspected fast 'banana boats' with the crews of few members but obviously the sight of us being firm and holding the rifle and the floodlight was discouraging enough for them to continue their visits.

Our stay in Ecuador was too short to form an opinion on this country. We got some interesting information from George, a Canadian sailor who had been staying here for few years now. One we are all sure of - this is the cheapest place in South America. Now Galapagos, one of the most interesting parts of the world.

Capt. Jurek Wąsowicz

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