The Beluga

 During our 8 days in the Galapagos Islands we stayed aboard the MY Beluga. It has a crew of 8 and can hold 16 for a total capacity of 24.  Our total was 21. It is about 35 years old and in lovely condition.  It is a small Yacht with a dining/ social area, a sun deck on the back and an open bow.  It is small enough that it can feel chop. I have never been bothered by sea sickness and get my sea legs pretty quickly. Geordie was bothered just a little but there were some on board that were hitting the dramamine pretty heavily and feeding the fishes.

 The rooms were small but very nice. Ours was about midship on the port side. We had a port hole in the bedroom and one in the shower.  All the closets had special fasteners to hold them shut or open when the ship rolled. One night after we were underway in rough seas I thought a bit more roll and I was going to fall off the bed! I got used to it quickly and for days after we departed the boat I felt the roll of the ship.  It took almost a week for it to go away.

 Below is a panoramic photograph of the dining area and common social area. The kitchen and access to the sundeck is on the far right. On the far left are stairs going down to some bedrooms including ours.  The sofas were a good place to lounge after the sun had gone done and have a beer or glass of wine and look in their excellent supply of nature books. You can see the beautiful wood and brass detailing which gives this ship so much character and charm. It was a pleasure to stay on and would certainly recommend a smaller boat over one of the huge Cruise Ships which hold 100- 3000 people.

 Click on the panorama above to enlarge it.