Cocos Keeling
The trick to surviving here is to be aware of the ferry timetables, when the shops and facilities are open and join in the laid back lifestyle.
The anchorage at Direction Island (under Port Refuge for the tide tables), well away from the 2 communities on Home Island and West Island. Direction Island is uninhabited and is the best swimming beach of the islands. West Island has about 100 residents who mainly cater for the tourists, and government services. The resorts are on West Island. Home Island is home to the Muslim community of about 500 5th generation decedents of the original Malay workers. Home Island is about 15minutes tinny ride from DI and West Island is a further half hour ferry ride and 15minute bus ride from HI.
The ferries operate for the school children and workers to go to the other islands, and for the tourists from West Island.
Everything is closed for a lunch hour. Sometimes a business will re-open after lunch, for an hour or so, but usually the hours of a business are either morning or afternoon only. Nearly everything is closed on the weekend. Everyone is happy. It is such a laid back lifestyle.
Communications are unusual. Most that arrive by sail are ‘overdue’ as officials have no concept that ETA is an approximation and they think the minimum time for a trip. Everyone at the anchorage knows where you are from already before you arrive. There is a phone on DI of the type that you would have at home. All local phone calls from this phone are free, there are no card or coin slots on this phone. The options for contact at Cocos are
· Satellite phone, one you have bought with you.
· Hire a mobile phone as your mobile will NOT work
· Reverse charge your calls from the phone at DI
· Buy or subscribe to a local call phone service (Telstra has one you can get from the PO, or you can use a company like Gotalk)
· Use the pay phones on HI or WI
· Use the internet services on HI or WI
· Use Sail Mail from the HF radio
Mail is another experience. Cocos is served by a small plane on a Monday and Friday. That plane is for tourists, letters and express post, perishable food and parcels, in that order of preference. Therefore, if the plane is full, the parcels are left off until there is room, regardless if they have been sent ‘airmail’. The thing is, sea mail is VERY unreliable. The ship comes once a month and last month it broke down and never made it and the month before, the weather was too extreme for the ship. When we were there, the ship was due ‘any day now’ and after 3 months the shelves in the shops were very bare, even after rationing.
The climate is ideal as the rain was mainly at night and then the sun would come out to play in the day. I also had enough wind for my dinghy sailing as it blew every day 15-20 knots average, which also moderated the temperatures.
On Home Island there is what they call the ‘big house’ it is not such a big house by today’s standards, however the adjoining courtyards are about 1acre apiece. They have 10 foot high ancient brick walls with archways just like the secret garden. There were fruit trees of enormous proportions bearing various fruit of different shapes and colours. The grounds were spectacular with the appearance of a botanical garden with the expanses of mowed lawns. I must say the lemons were the best we had tasted and put to good use.
When we arrived, there were 2 yachts with masts and 2 yachts without masts. The 2 boats without masts were Kitmore and Spyglass. Kitmore had been left neglected after much of her gear had been stolen by another yachtie. After doing his time in prison, this yachtie sailed his own boat to WA, calling for help 50 miles off Fremantle stating that his engine was not working. This was a ruse as we had been told that his engine never did work and this was what he always did. Sad that there has to be one that gives yachties a bad name. Spyglass was from Fremantle and had lost his mast on his way back home from Cocos. They were waiting on the new mast coming on the next ship! The ones with masts consisted of a cat named Sautilage with Di and Bea on board and a ‘Farr 11.6’ L’Atitude with Claude and Ollie. Both yachts had sailed from Darwin and had been there since November. The cat had been there several times and helped maintain the Island to make it like home. Di and Bea were sea gypsies and sources of much valued knowledge. Claude, a sparkly French lady and Ollie, a sociable gent who made us welcome were hooked on diving and had found a ‘Nemo’ (clownfish) reef near the boats. A week later came Linda and Bill in Valiam (named after 
their kids before you may ask) who had just sailed from QLD via Malasia. Linda was great at organising get together’s and Bill was a talented forester who had harvested and processed the materials the make the boat that he also built himself. A week after came Dita, a German, sailing single handed and Rob and Natalie, from California, who had just travelled from Christmas Island. Soon after that came another single hander, Jim from San Fran Cisco who had sailed from Darwin, Then came Geoff, a pom who had also sailed from Darwin.
We had many a get-together swapping yarns (of which Steve told his fair share) and picking each other’s brains on cruising matters. We were very fortunate to have a wonderful stove/oven (a Wallas Diesel) and Steve could cook up wonderful treats for the parties. Once he just brought one of his fabulous loaves of bread which was better than the shop bought bread which was eaten with flourish.
The sea life was everywhere. Sharks were abundant, but were mainly the harmless black tip or bronze whalers. There were a few Tiger sharks around, but we tried not to think of them. Fishing was a pain. When you went fishing by line or gidgee, the sharks would hone in on your fish as soon as you caught it. You had to be fast to reel them in before the sharks did! Steve ended up giving up on the small stuff and caught a nice little 3’ shark which we all enjoyed at one of our group BBQ’s. When he went diving, Steve would take the gidgee and prod any sharks coming too close and they would just tootle off away. One day he went off diving and I said not to come back without a cray. Guess whose boat had an impromptu party on it?? Enough to feed the crowd that arrived. The sea also had Dolphins that performed magic jumping feats and many shy turtles and a dugong called Sam.
The animal life was very different. Every island in the South atoll had chooks wandering everywhere and very few native birds. There was a drive to eradicate the feral chooks, and nurture the few native birds left to get the numbers back up. The authorities would come for a days’ culling of the chooks now and then and it was sad to know they were being shot, but after each session, you could still hear roosters crowing on the island. DI also had many rats that would come out at night, scampering around. Trouble was that the Parks people could not poison them as also on the islands were Hermit Crabs as well as Ghost Crabs. The Hermit Crabs were incredible. Shells with little orange legs were moving all over the island and you had to be cautious where you stepped. They were very shy and would hide in their shells as soon as they saw you.
Steve’s days were busy trying to outsmart the sharks, exploring the many reefs and islands, trying to keep the tinny afloat, telling the yarns at the get togethers’ and trying to get to a shop when it was open. Once while walking between islands in knee deep water, a shark went full pelt towards him, thinking that his ‘muscled’ legs were a tasty morsel (the shark could not see the rest of him above the knees) Steve had to use his drink bottle as a projectile which he hurled with great velocity into the path of the oncoming leg eater! Thank goodness for Steve’s legs the shark altered course after that. After many attempts to catch fish before the sharks did, Steve decided to catch a shark instead. He set up his ‘patented’ shark alarm and did a crossword while waiting for the guaranteed result. That night the yachties were licking their lips after proclaiming Steve a top shark chef!!! Steve loved being underwater so much, that the cuts he was getting from Cray’s and reefs were not healing. Some of those cuts were pretty big, and the silly bugger tried applying liquid nails, and when that did not work, sikaflex to close it up. He still has some sika under the healed up skin. In desperation I pulled out a jigsaw and banned him from going in the water until healed. That lasted a day, for which I was grateful as he is a fast healer (comes with practice). The tinny sunk twice whilst hanging off the back of the yacht while we were sleeping, submerging the outboard both times. The first time we lost Steves thongs, the all important bailer bucket and the gigi. I found the bucket on the beach, but could not find the thongs. Steve found the gidgi not far from the boat on the bottom. Every time the
outboard was dunked, Steve managed to get it back working after a good deal of work. It was time to fix the tinny! A bit of Sikaflex works wonders and it was up and going again in no time. Steve spent many hours exploring in that tinny and once after exploring the back of the island, realised that fuel must be a bit low, so decided to take a short cut through the breakers. You guessed it. The tinny went topsy and now he had truly lost the gidgi. He had a backup gidgi but it was not as good. We know the local shop sold good reasonable priced gidgi’s and fishing nets, but they were never open!!! One night Steve decided it was time to try out certain yachties theories that crays were easier to get at night. Trev had once given Steve a prawning light as a pressie and hey presto, Steve had attached the 2 torch batteries we had and fans long electric cable. These he mounted in a crate and towed it around when night diving so that he had portable light as he dived.
My days were spent sailing in the Walker Bay, reading, exploring with Steve and trying to contact people. The WB was great as I could either rig it on the beach or hanging off the yacht. I enjoyed pottering around in the bay looking for fish and turtles or sailing it to HI. One time when I arrived at HI it was low tide making tacking into shore between coral bombies quite difficult? By the time I arrived at the wharf where I usually just luffed up and tied on to, the tide was too low for me to reach the top of the wharf with my short little arms. My only other option was to get out near the slipway. What a shenanigans! I bailed out a little too deep and the mud sucked up my sandal. After groping around in the mud for the missing sandal, I saw it floating away and had to swim after it. We kept the WB hanging off the back of the yacht with its mast up when not in use. That way when Steve was off in the tinny, I still had my transport. When we went exploring, we always found WW2 relics, thongs and floats. The thongs and floats floated down from Asia and it was astounding to see how many there were. There were a couple of hammocks on the beach and sometimes it was just pleasant to read a book in a hammock under the coconut trees. What a life.
Time to move on to Christmas Island to see new sites.
Cocos to Christmas Island.
10-7-08 – 16-7-08
Thursday July 10th at 8am we set off on a promising day. We hope for the SE winds so we don’t need to tack as much. Well we had SE winds and Easterly winds; however we also had big seas, a current against us and strong winds. We can handle that! The main had a number 2 reef in, and the jib could be furled easily as required. But the waves were knocking us down and the current was affecting us. What we thought was a 4-5 day trip became a 6.5 day trip. The starboard running backstay needed emergency repairs out at sea and on the last day, the main sail track lugs pulled out forcing us to drop the main. Also the front hatch developed a leak and the new window we had only just had installed. Grrrrr... Water was also coming in through the keel hydraulics and under the deckhouse clears. The bilges were awash and Steve was constantly clearing them. When we arrived we had heaps of washing to do (and I was still doing it after 4 days) we are trying work out better ways to protect our gear from water while travelling!
Halfway between Cocos and CI we came across another Asian Long Line Fishing Boat. It was international waters and near the location we saw the vessel on the trip to Cocos. This one was pretty blue and as with the other fishing boat it aimed for us, hopefully just to have a look, but anyway, we were travelling too fast for them and it was not long before they were just a speck on the horizon behind us.
Christmas Island
First impression was a mountain shaped cloud, but it didn’t move like clouds do so we were very happy to know that we were actually looking at CI. Next was the number of birds. They were everywhere. They would enjoy escorting us flying above us level with the top of the mast. Sometimes they would dive on the lure Steve was trolling, but at 2m deep, they would land above it, duck their heads under water to look for it, shake their head in disbelief that they could not find it and start their flight pattern again. It took a few goes before they would give up.
Half an hour out of CI, customs called up. On the ball here. (it was getting near knock off time) They met us on the jetty and we had our first taste at the famed CI friendliness.
OK so now it was walkie time, oh joy. Steve reckons I was swaying all over the place. Everyone waves to you here. We found a quaint Chinese shop and they knew we were from the new yacht in town and that we had come from Cocos. Along the way we also found the big supermarket and the tourist centre, from which we bought a map. We also learnt a bit about the testy jetty. This jetty is some jetty. It is the Port Authority Jetty for the pilot boats and is VERY high, has a ladder underneath with no decent handgrips, a nice little surge from the waves, and last but not least, the pilot boats are craned in and out of the water from on top of the jetty.
Thursday 7th July Armed with our trusty map, we set out to test Ollie’s story that CI people like yachties and that it is impossible to walk up the steep main arterial road without someone stoping to give you a lift. We were picked up by the Shire President who pointed out places of interest and dropped us where we needed to go, only slightly out of his way. We checked out the Laundromat, hardware, and then finally found the car hire place, just to make enquiries. We ended up hiring a little 4WD for 2 days and finished the day touring the interior of CI. It’s lovely with the rainforests and steep slopes towards the coast. We will have to hire a serious 4WD later to do some serious exploration!
Friday, 18th July we still have the car, so Steve stays on the boat to get some maintenance done, while I run around trying to find the hard to get bits and pieces we need for repairs. I rock off to the jetty in the tinny and realise that Steve had the keys to the car last. So it’s back to the boat, nup, back to the jetty to check the bags, nup, back to the boat, finally, they were in his shoes. Boy is I flustered. Especially as on one of these little trips, I thought they were lowering a pilot boat on top of me and the tinny. I was shouting halt! Halt! And trying to reverse and duck under the jetty as fast as I could go. Later I found out that they did not stop it for me, but to let the crew on while it was on the top level. Jeepers!!! We were in radio contact so that I could check with him if I had a problem and the radio had already been used heaps today. We didn’t expect the great result we had, but due to the CI friendliness, we were put in touch with people who could help and did with amazing efficiency. I was also happy to find a surf shop open. Now, I hope you are aware, that being seasick does have a GOOD side effect. I have lost weight and I needed new clothes. Well something that did not fall off me anyway. Well Steve caught me out and radioed in just as I was trying on a bikini and some other lovely clothes. How embarrassing to hear Steve’s voice coming in from my bag. I don’t know what the attendant thought at first. I did manage to get a nice dress though no bikini. I still have more to lose for the bikini! OK, so now I have had my fun, it’s time to do the washing. 10loads we did. Imagine doing it all by hand. I had a bit of a problem with the bleach bottle which has resulted in some lovely tie died effects on some items. At $12 for a large bottle of Rum, Steve has been enjoying his Dark and Stormys. Trouble is the ginger beer is not as good, still you can’t have it all! The range of instant coffee mixes is vast and Steve is enjoying having a go. These come from Asia and have some exotic flavours.
Saturday 19th July the boat had washing all over the place drying out. Steve decided to go for a dive around the corner and I tried to dry out more of the boat and clean up in the process. Steve came back to a mess as my way of cleaning up is obviously not the right way. Just as he was losing more hair while pulling it out in frustration, we received a call that one of the parts I chased up the other day was ready and could I come to the jetty to get it. Reprieve! So I got into killer tinny and made my way to testy jetty. Well you wouldn’t believe it, as I was tying up, a surge took me out of reach of the jetty and as I leaned towards it, I fell off the killer tinny. Claimed another victim! I knew from past experience that the tinny is too high for me to get back on board, and also the jetty steps too high as well so I tie up the painter to another dinghies painter, grab my trusty dry bag with my purse in it, and proceed to swim sidestroke to shore with my purse above my head. I must have looked a sight when I presented myself to the chappie with dripping hat, blouse and skirt to pay him for the job. Later that arvo, we were invited aboard the neighbours boat. He is French and can speak moderate English and she is German and is fluent in French and English. They have a boy, about 7 and a girl about 3 who both speak 3 languages. We had a great time, but I can’t tell you their names as we were told, but could not understand them enough to retain the foreign type of name. They will be travelling on to Cocos and then to Phuket where they will be getting their yacht fitted out.
Sunday 20th July and I look around the boat and we still have stuff drying everywhere. I am getting pretty down so Steve does a wise thing and knicks off to get out of my hair. I spend all day washing, drying and water protecting items. Steve came back with a Barra and cooked a lovely meal then we went for a walk to the point that overlooks the bay. It is lovely here.
Monday 21st July and Steve hooks up the hooker to retrieve a fishing line, a jagged hook and trace and the top to the bait box. It is 20m below the boat and even though the waters are clear, I can’t see him when he is near the bottom, five metres from the yacht. All he managed to retrieve was the hook and trace as he had marked that with a float! We figure we might try the noodle house for lunch. Closed. That’s Ok. We had left over Barra and fresh bread instead. The supermarket was busy as the container ship had just unloaded the first bulk shipment to the island for 3 months. These guys were not as bad off as Cocos as they were able to use their planes for the smaller cargo as their planes are larger.
Tuesday 22 July and Steve wants to invite the neighbours over. Big tidy up. He is so house proud. Now I have time to write this blog and get a bit of paperwork done. Once I get organised, I am hoping to go for a sail in the Walker Bay. I will have to rig, de-rig and sail from the yacht though as the beach is unsuitable for sailing dinghies.
The trick to surviving here is to be aware of the ferry timetables, when the shops and facilities are open and join in the laid back lifestyle.
The anchorage at Direction Island (under Port Refuge for the tide tables), well away from the 2 communities on Home Island and West Island. Direction Island is uninhabited and is the best swimming beach of the islands. West Island has about 100 residents who mainly cater for the tourists, and government services. The resorts are on West Island. Home Island is home to the Muslim community of about 500 5th generation decedents of the original Malay workers. Home Island is about 15minutes tinny ride from DI and West Island is a further half hour ferry ride and 15minute bus ride from HI.
The ferries operate for the school children and workers to go to the other islands, and for the tourists from West Island.
Everything is closed for a lunch hour. Sometimes a business will re-open after lunch, for an hour or so, but usually the hours of a business are either morning or afternoon only. Nearly everything is closed on the weekend. Everyone is happy. It is such a laid back lifestyle.
Communications are unusual. Most that arrive by sail are ‘overdue’ as officials have no concept that ETA is an approximation and they think the minimum time for a trip. Everyone at the anchorage knows where you are from already before you arrive. There is a phone on DI of the type that you would have at home. All local phone calls from this phone are free, there are no card or coin slots on this phone. The options for contact at Cocos are
· Satellite phone, one you have bought with you.
· Hire a mobile phone as your mobile will NOT work
· Reverse charge your calls from the phone at DI
· Buy or subscribe to a local call phone service (Telstra has one you can get from the PO, or you can use a company like Gotalk)
· Use the pay phones on HI or WI
· Use the internet services on HI or WI
· Use Sail Mail from the HF radio
Mail is another experience. Cocos is served by a small plane on a Monday and Friday. That plane is for tourists, letters and express post, perishable food and parcels, in that order of preference. Therefore, if the plane is full, the parcels are left off until there is room, regardless if they have been sent ‘airmail’. The thing is, sea mail is VERY unreliable. The ship comes once a month and last month it broke down and never made it and the month before, the weather was too extreme for the ship. When we were there, the ship was due ‘any day now’ and after 3 months the shelves in the shops were very bare, even after rationing.
The climate is ideal as the rain was mainly at night and then the sun would come out to play in the day. I also had enough wind for my dinghy sailing as it blew every day 15-20 knots average, which also moderated the temperatures.
On Home Island there is what they call the ‘big house’ it is not such a big house by today’s standards, however the adjoining courtyards are about 1acre apiece. They have 10 foot high ancient brick walls with archways just like the secret garden. There were fruit trees of enormous proportions bearing various fruit of different shapes and colours. The grounds were spectacular with the appearance of a botanical garden with the expanses of mowed lawns. I must say the lemons were the best we had tasted and put to good use.
When we arrived, there were 2 yachts with masts and 2 yachts without masts. The 2 boats without masts were Kitmore and Spyglass. Kitmore had been left neglected after much of her gear had been stolen by another yachtie. After doing his time in prison, this yachtie sailed his own boat to WA, calling for help 50 miles off Fremantle stating that his engine was not working. This was a ruse as we had been told that his engine never did work and this was what he always did. Sad that there has to be one that gives yachties a bad name. Spyglass was from Fremantle and had lost his mast on his way back home from Cocos. They were waiting on the new mast coming on the next ship! The ones with masts consisted of a cat named Sautilage with Di and Bea on board and a ‘Farr 11.6’ L’Atitude with Claude and Ollie. Both yachts had sailed from Darwin and had been there since November. The cat had been there several times and helped maintain the Island to make it like home. Di and Bea were sea gypsies and sources of much valued knowledge. Claude, a sparkly French lady and Ollie, a sociable gent who made us welcome were hooked on diving and had found a ‘Nemo’ (clownfish) reef near the boats. A week later came Linda and Bill in Valiam (named after 
their kids before you may ask) who had just sailed from QLD via Malasia. Linda was great at organising get together’s and Bill was a talented forester who had harvested and processed the materials the make the boat that he also built himself. A week after came Dita, a German, sailing single handed and Rob and Natalie, from California, who had just travelled from Christmas Island. Soon after that came another single hander, Jim from San Fran Cisco who had sailed from Darwin, Then came Geoff, a pom who had also sailed from Darwin.We had many a get-together swapping yarns (of which Steve told his fair share) and picking each other’s brains on cruising matters. We were very fortunate to have a wonderful stove/oven (a Wallas Diesel) and Steve could cook up wonderful treats for the parties. Once he just brought one of his fabulous loaves of bread which was better than the shop bought bread which was eaten with flourish.
The sea life was everywhere. Sharks were abundant, but were mainly the harmless black tip or bronze whalers. There were a few Tiger sharks around, but we tried not to think of them. Fishing was a pain. When you went fishing by line or gidgee, the sharks would hone in on your fish as soon as you caught it. You had to be fast to reel them in before the sharks did! Steve ended up giving up on the small stuff and caught a nice little 3’ shark which we all enjoyed at one of our group BBQ’s. When he went diving, Steve would take the gidgee and prod any sharks coming too close and they would just tootle off away. One day he went off diving and I said not to come back without a cray. Guess whose boat had an impromptu party on it?? Enough to feed the crowd that arrived. The sea also had Dolphins that performed magic jumping feats and many shy turtles and a dugong called Sam.
The animal life was very different. Every island in the South atoll had chooks wandering everywhere and very few native birds. There was a drive to eradicate the feral chooks, and nurture the few native birds left to get the numbers back up. The authorities would come for a days’ culling of the chooks now and then and it was sad to know they were being shot, but after each session, you could still hear roosters crowing on the island. DI also had many rats that would come out at night, scampering around. Trouble was that the Parks people could not poison them as also on the islands were Hermit Crabs as well as Ghost Crabs. The Hermit Crabs were incredible. Shells with little orange legs were moving all over the island and you had to be cautious where you stepped. They were very shy and would hide in their shells as soon as they saw you.
Steve’s days were busy trying to outsmart the sharks, exploring the many reefs and islands, trying to keep the tinny afloat, telling the yarns at the get togethers’ and trying to get to a shop when it was open. Once while walking between islands in knee deep water, a shark went full pelt towards him, thinking that his ‘muscled’ legs were a tasty morsel (the shark could not see the rest of him above the knees) Steve had to use his drink bottle as a projectile which he hurled with great velocity into the path of the oncoming leg eater! Thank goodness for Steve’s legs the shark altered course after that. After many attempts to catch fish before the sharks did, Steve decided to catch a shark instead. He set up his ‘patented’ shark alarm and did a crossword while waiting for the guaranteed result. That night the yachties were licking their lips after proclaiming Steve a top shark chef!!! Steve loved being underwater so much, that the cuts he was getting from Cray’s and reefs were not healing. Some of those cuts were pretty big, and the silly bugger tried applying liquid nails, and when that did not work, sikaflex to close it up. He still has some sika under the healed up skin. In desperation I pulled out a jigsaw and banned him from going in the water until healed. That lasted a day, for which I was grateful as he is a fast healer (comes with practice). The tinny sunk twice whilst hanging off the back of the yacht while we were sleeping, submerging the outboard both times. The first time we lost Steves thongs, the all important bailer bucket and the gigi. I found the bucket on the beach, but could not find the thongs. Steve found the gidgi not far from the boat on the bottom. Every time the
outboard was dunked, Steve managed to get it back working after a good deal of work. It was time to fix the tinny! A bit of Sikaflex works wonders and it was up and going again in no time. Steve spent many hours exploring in that tinny and once after exploring the back of the island, realised that fuel must be a bit low, so decided to take a short cut through the breakers. You guessed it. The tinny went topsy and now he had truly lost the gidgi. He had a backup gidgi but it was not as good. We know the local shop sold good reasonable priced gidgi’s and fishing nets, but they were never open!!! One night Steve decided it was time to try out certain yachties theories that crays were easier to get at night. Trev had once given Steve a prawning light as a pressie and hey presto, Steve had attached the 2 torch batteries we had and fans long electric cable. These he mounted in a crate and towed it around when night diving so that he had portable light as he dived.
My days were spent sailing in the Walker Bay, reading, exploring with Steve and trying to contact people. The WB was great as I could either rig it on the beach or hanging off the yacht. I enjoyed pottering around in the bay looking for fish and turtles or sailing it to HI. One time when I arrived at HI it was low tide making tacking into shore between coral bombies quite difficult? By the time I arrived at the wharf where I usually just luffed up and tied on to, the tide was too low for me to reach the top of the wharf with my short little arms. My only other option was to get out near the slipway. What a shenanigans! I bailed out a little too deep and the mud sucked up my sandal. After groping around in the mud for the missing sandal, I saw it floating away and had to swim after it. We kept the WB hanging off the back of the yacht with its mast up when not in use. That way when Steve was off in the tinny, I still had my transport. When we went exploring, we always found WW2 relics, thongs and floats. The thongs and floats floated down from Asia and it was astounding to see how many there were. There were a couple of hammocks on the beach and sometimes it was just pleasant to read a book in a hammock under the coconut trees. What a life.Time to move on to Christmas Island to see new sites.
Cocos to Christmas Island.
10-7-08 – 16-7-08
Thursday July 10th at 8am we set off on a promising day. We hope for the SE winds so we don’t need to tack as much. Well we had SE winds and Easterly winds; however we also had big seas, a current against us and strong winds. We can handle that! The main had a number 2 reef in, and the jib could be furled easily as required. But the waves were knocking us down and the current was affecting us. What we thought was a 4-5 day trip became a 6.5 day trip. The starboard running backstay needed emergency repairs out at sea and on the last day, the main sail track lugs pulled out forcing us to drop the main. Also the front hatch developed a leak and the new window we had only just had installed. Grrrrr... Water was also coming in through the keel hydraulics and under the deckhouse clears. The bilges were awash and Steve was constantly clearing them. When we arrived we had heaps of washing to do (and I was still doing it after 4 days) we are trying work out better ways to protect our gear from water while travelling!
Halfway between Cocos and CI we came across another Asian Long Line Fishing Boat. It was international waters and near the location we saw the vessel on the trip to Cocos. This one was pretty blue and as with the other fishing boat it aimed for us, hopefully just to have a look, but anyway, we were travelling too fast for them and it was not long before they were just a speck on the horizon behind us.
Christmas Island
First impression was a mountain shaped cloud, but it didn’t move like clouds do so we were very happy to know that we were actually looking at CI. Next was the number of birds. They were everywhere. They would enjoy escorting us flying above us level with the top of the mast. Sometimes they would dive on the lure Steve was trolling, but at 2m deep, they would land above it, duck their heads under water to look for it, shake their head in disbelief that they could not find it and start their flight pattern again. It took a few goes before they would give up.
Half an hour out of CI, customs called up. On the ball here. (it was getting near knock off time) They met us on the jetty and we had our first taste at the famed CI friendliness.
OK so now it was walkie time, oh joy. Steve reckons I was swaying all over the place. Everyone waves to you here. We found a quaint Chinese shop and they knew we were from the new yacht in town and that we had come from Cocos. Along the way we also found the big supermarket and the tourist centre, from which we bought a map. We also learnt a bit about the testy jetty. This jetty is some jetty. It is the Port Authority Jetty for the pilot boats and is VERY high, has a ladder underneath with no decent handgrips, a nice little surge from the waves, and last but not least, the pilot boats are craned in and out of the water from on top of the jetty.
Thursday 7th July Armed with our trusty map, we set out to test Ollie’s story that CI people like yachties and that it is impossible to walk up the steep main arterial road without someone stoping to give you a lift. We were picked up by the Shire President who pointed out places of interest and dropped us where we needed to go, only slightly out of his way. We checked out the Laundromat, hardware, and then finally found the car hire place, just to make enquiries. We ended up hiring a little 4WD for 2 days and finished the day touring the interior of CI. It’s lovely with the rainforests and steep slopes towards the coast. We will have to hire a serious 4WD later to do some serious exploration!
Friday, 18th July we still have the car, so Steve stays on the boat to get some maintenance done, while I run around trying to find the hard to get bits and pieces we need for repairs. I rock off to the jetty in the tinny and realise that Steve had the keys to the car last. So it’s back to the boat, nup, back to the jetty to check the bags, nup, back to the boat, finally, they were in his shoes. Boy is I flustered. Especially as on one of these little trips, I thought they were lowering a pilot boat on top of me and the tinny. I was shouting halt! Halt! And trying to reverse and duck under the jetty as fast as I could go. Later I found out that they did not stop it for me, but to let the crew on while it was on the top level. Jeepers!!! We were in radio contact so that I could check with him if I had a problem and the radio had already been used heaps today. We didn’t expect the great result we had, but due to the CI friendliness, we were put in touch with people who could help and did with amazing efficiency. I was also happy to find a surf shop open. Now, I hope you are aware, that being seasick does have a GOOD side effect. I have lost weight and I needed new clothes. Well something that did not fall off me anyway. Well Steve caught me out and radioed in just as I was trying on a bikini and some other lovely clothes. How embarrassing to hear Steve’s voice coming in from my bag. I don’t know what the attendant thought at first. I did manage to get a nice dress though no bikini. I still have more to lose for the bikini! OK, so now I have had my fun, it’s time to do the washing. 10loads we did. Imagine doing it all by hand. I had a bit of a problem with the bleach bottle which has resulted in some lovely tie died effects on some items. At $12 for a large bottle of Rum, Steve has been enjoying his Dark and Stormys. Trouble is the ginger beer is not as good, still you can’t have it all! The range of instant coffee mixes is vast and Steve is enjoying having a go. These come from Asia and have some exotic flavours.
Saturday 19th July the boat had washing all over the place drying out. Steve decided to go for a dive around the corner and I tried to dry out more of the boat and clean up in the process. Steve came back to a mess as my way of cleaning up is obviously not the right way. Just as he was losing more hair while pulling it out in frustration, we received a call that one of the parts I chased up the other day was ready and could I come to the jetty to get it. Reprieve! So I got into killer tinny and made my way to testy jetty. Well you wouldn’t believe it, as I was tying up, a surge took me out of reach of the jetty and as I leaned towards it, I fell off the killer tinny. Claimed another victim! I knew from past experience that the tinny is too high for me to get back on board, and also the jetty steps too high as well so I tie up the painter to another dinghies painter, grab my trusty dry bag with my purse in it, and proceed to swim sidestroke to shore with my purse above my head. I must have looked a sight when I presented myself to the chappie with dripping hat, blouse and skirt to pay him for the job. Later that arvo, we were invited aboard the neighbours boat. He is French and can speak moderate English and she is German and is fluent in French and English. They have a boy, about 7 and a girl about 3 who both speak 3 languages. We had a great time, but I can’t tell you their names as we were told, but could not understand them enough to retain the foreign type of name. They will be travelling on to Cocos and then to Phuket where they will be getting their yacht fitted out.
Sunday 20th July and I look around the boat and we still have stuff drying everywhere. I am getting pretty down so Steve does a wise thing and knicks off to get out of my hair. I spend all day washing, drying and water protecting items. Steve came back with a Barra and cooked a lovely meal then we went for a walk to the point that overlooks the bay. It is lovely here.
Monday 21st July and Steve hooks up the hooker to retrieve a fishing line, a jagged hook and trace and the top to the bait box. It is 20m below the boat and even though the waters are clear, I can’t see him when he is near the bottom, five metres from the yacht. All he managed to retrieve was the hook and trace as he had marked that with a float! We figure we might try the noodle house for lunch. Closed. That’s Ok. We had left over Barra and fresh bread instead. The supermarket was busy as the container ship had just unloaded the first bulk shipment to the island for 3 months. These guys were not as bad off as Cocos as they were able to use their planes for the smaller cargo as their planes are larger.
Tuesday 22 July and Steve wants to invite the neighbours over. Big tidy up. He is so house proud. Now I have time to write this blog and get a bit of paperwork done. Once I get organised, I am hoping to go for a sail in the Walker Bay. I will have to rig, de-rig and sail from the yacht though as the beach is unsuitable for sailing dinghies.
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