Writing our blog today is poignant as it is exactly one year since we said good-bye to our family and friends, at our ‘Bon Voyage’ party, and also, it would have been Stephen's Dad’s 87th birthday. Without knowing it, we shared his last birthday together.
Off the coast of Bali as we were settling into our first night shift, we heard a loud hissing noise, perplexed before we discovered that the black tape holding the ‘Jon Buoy’ in position had disintegrated due to sunlight damage. This is an inflatable man overboard recovery system mounted on the stern. In the dark we were able to see the inflatable for a short time but to our dismay the light didn’t work. Sensibly we did not attempt to recover the buoy but notified Falmouth Coastguard in case we set off a sea search mission.
En route from Bali to Cocos Keeling we were to sail very close to the north of Christmas Island, named because it was first sighted by the English Navy on Christmas Day, 1643. It is administered by Australia and exports phosphates. It is also home to many beautiful birds including the rare Golden Bosun which is unique to the island. We were privileged to spot two of these rare species with their fantastic yellow plumage gliding over Amelie. There was also plenty of life in the sea and we had a close encounter with a Humpback whale swimming on the surface, passing within 5 metres of Amelie’s bow, as usual no camera to hand. We watched this whale for ages, blowing and fluking together with another that joined him/her.
Passing so close to Christmas Island, we spied yacht Valentine anchored in Flying Fish Cove. We had a great chat on the VHF and this was while enjoying a hearty meal cruising at 9 knots in a stiff breeze.
At 1,200 nm our passage to Cocos keeling Islands was long enough to get into our watch system. We have made changes and adaptations to our cruising life along the way, one very important one is reducing our meals from three to two a day. This was because eating early in the evening clashed with the SSB roll call, tiredness, trying to eat in the dark and then sleeping on a full stomach. Everything became rushed and not enjoyable. Food is one of the pleasures of our cruising day and it is important that we don’t let this lapse. We now have a later breakfast, enjoying a full english when provisions allow, followed by a mid-afternoon main meal of the day. Preparation and eating is far more enjoyable now - no longer feeding our ears, nose, clothes,etc. Beer o’clock is religiously adhered to at midday and sundown.
The Cocos Keeling Islands were noted by Captain.W.Keeling in 1609 but not settled until 1826 when two individuals saw it as a Copra business prospect. This partnership dissolved and John Clunies-Ross remained, importing Malayan labour to assist with his enormous Copra plantation. In 1886, Queen Victoria awarded the islands to the descendants of Clunies-Ross but continued to be administered by the British until 1955, whereupon it became an Australian dependency.
Arriving in Cocos Keeling Islands late Friday afternoon meant we had to stay aboard until checking in with Cocos police the following morning.
Cocos Keeling Islands consist of a round shaped lagoon about 7 nm in diameter with a reef connecting the 27 small islands around its perimeter. Only two of the islands are inhabited - Home island which is Muslim and the population predominantly Malay; West Island which has the airport (doubles up as a golf course) and populated mainly by Australian ex-pats. The only anchorage for Amelie was in a mini lagoon off uninhabited Direction Island. We heard from one of the locals that there is an annual walk at low water around the lagoon - sounds fun and one for the return visit.
A huge highlight of this stop was catching up with our friend, Leo on Duchess. It was so good to see him and catch up on news. We also had the pleasure of meeting his partner, Karin. Many more fun days and evenings to be enjoyed with them to come during this rally.
Flights (generally always full) on a Tuesday, Friday and Saturday from Perth via Christmas Island are mainly for government officials, mail and fresh produce with the odd tourist thrown in. The produce which arrives on the Friday flight is organised by a co-operative directed from Home Island. We were lucky enough to use this facility by pre-ordering produce by email before we arrived.
The only ‘drinking hole’ is on West Island and is housed in the island’s cyclone shelter. This also acts as the official off licence.
Our second night we enjoyed an impromptu BBQ on Direction Island with OWR, singing along to a guitar around a campfire. The following day we were generously entertained in a beautiful setting on West Island, drinking Champagne, eating al fresco and swimming in the surf as the sun was setting. It was after this BBQ that the majority of OWR boats set off to Mauritius but we decided to stay in this slice of paradise for a few more days on our own.We spent time exploring Direction and Prison Island, visited West and Home Island for lunch and some shopping but the icing on the cake was the drift snorkel in the ‘Rip’ and around the reef.The colours of the water here were vibrant and there was every shade of blue imaginable, unspoiled beauty to the eye. The ‘Rip’ is a shallow,strong current that whips around the corner of Direction Island. We drift snorkeled here several times awestruck by the varieties and health of the colourful coral. The abundance of marine life, large and small was almost too much to take in. Our heads were swiveling back and forth; our eyes drinking up the underwater world in perfect clarity. The seabed was clear of rubbish as the islanders are vigilant with their recycling and burning the rest in fire pits. Roger from yacht Mariella was responsible for organising a plastic pick up from the beach, mainly flip flops and plastic bottles which had swept across the ocean from distant shores.
We were entertained by giant Jackfish and a variety of cod (indigenous of the island) swimming past, appearing to be oblivious to the aliens in their fins, snorkel and masks. A massive Wahoo ignored us as it went about it’s daily business. From ‘M’ we disturbed a few rays, their speed still surprises us.
With the other boats gone,we became the focus of the Direction Island ‘welcoming committee’ - six black tipped reef sharks. We swam and snorkeled with them, and they visited Amelie each morning and evening. Although they looked menacing, they are not known to be dangerous. We kept a respectful distance from one another - and we enjoyed the sight of them effortlessly gliding through the strong current with their characteristic markings.
From the various docks that we went by RIB or ferry, we witnessed turtles swimming playfully, appearing quite nosey and disappearing under the waves with the wave of a flipper.
Crabs everywhere. Hermits scurrying around; tiny, pale crabs at lightning speed across the sand not leaving a trace and much larger, darker ones toppling over the rocks into rock pools in their hundreds, desperate to get away from our shadows but in defensive mode.
Quietly contemplating life on Amelie in the anchorage, pilot whales and dolphins spent hours dancing around the boats. The whales moving gently through the water whilst the dolphins playfully leapt and performed acrobatics for their audience.
We monitored VHF channel 20 as there were repeaters around the islands. We were alerted to some fun and games when Cocos police put out a message that all vessels were to stay clear of the western passage. We had noticed two brightly coloured fishing boats anchored outside the anchorage and rumours of trafficking illegal immigrants via these vessels were rife. The Australian government are strict regarding this issue, returning the immigrants back to their country of origin and disposing the boat if it isn’t taken out of Australian waters by it’s owners. One of the fishing boats was towed out to sea and immediately after the radio warning, the vessel went up in flames with a fireball shooting into the sky. The billowing smoke could be seen all afternoon. We assume the vessel is now in a watery grave.
Early Thursday morning we prepared Amelie for her ocean passage of 2,400 nm to Reunion Island, we up anchored and to our delight one of the sharks did a swim by as we set off into the Indian Ocean.
Whilst reflecting on our wonderful stay in Cocos Keeling we felt the following;Life being life and being in such close proximity to each other at all times, there have been inevitable misunderstandings and differences between us but in Cocos Keeling we found the tranquility of true togetherness.
Stephen & Debbie Gratton
Amelie 13 Deg 07 min South, 086 deg 03 min East