Cocos to Rodrigues (Part 2)

Rob and Bob preparing to pole out the genoa

Beautiful sunset

 Lots of birds - more successful at fishing than we were!

During the roughest part of the trip we resorted to watching a movie.

Bob with a fish on - the big one got away!

Lots of squalls on the horizon - we managed to get hit by our fair share!

Bob and Carol reading during the calm first half of our trip.

Cocos to Rodrigues

 May 28-30 2016

Day 7 

Another reading day. My e-reader has bit the dust, but I can borrow Rob's and we have an old one from Norm and Nora. We also like to have lots of hard covers as you can trade them with other sailors. It has exposed us to some interesting, and occasionally poor, books that are not promoted in Chapters at home. As well as sailing books and manuals and books on travel and on climate change, here are some of the authors we are reading now.

On the ereaders, Atwood, Ken Follet, Elizabeth George, Tom Clancy, John Le Carre, Maisie Dobbs series by Winspear, Pilgrim and I am Pilgrim
Book exchange finds- Kathy Reichs, a forensic anthropologist working for police in Quebec
Wilbur Smith, historical novels
John Burdet, detectives in Bangkok, unique!
Paul Theroux, travel
Buddhism proganda
Moitessier, sailing
The No1 Ladies' Detective series, a Botswana detective

The higher winds that were to start Sun pm began on my Sat evening shift. No reading, just reefing, taking things out of the rain, and watching the heading.

Day 8 Sun May 29

This was supposed to be a light wind day and we had expected to motor. We are happy that forecast was wrong. Except for getting out of the anchorage we haven't had to use the motor. We have been traveling over 7 knots with a reef in both sails. We covered 159nm yesterday-a record for this passage. Overnight we crossed the halfway mark. The time zone is +6 UTC, but by Mon we are at +5 UTC, the same as Sri Lanka. It is interesting to see the sunset, sunrise, and moonrise change a bit each day as we travel west and south. It is also cooling off some, especially overnight.

Day 9 Mon May 30

We are in to the heavy weather now. Since Sun night, it has been blowing over 20 kn, with one squall after another during the day. But it is the rough seas that are making it the most uncomfortable. We have had a few bites on the fishing line. By the time the last one got near the boat only the mouth was left. We think we need stronger hooks.

Day 10 Tues May 30

I can't believe it is already the last day of May! It is still blowing and wet. The first boats on the net will be arriving in Rodrigues tomorrow. These are the ones that didn't stop at Cocos Keeling.

Cocos to Rodrigues

Cocos to Rodrigues
May 27- 28 2016

Day 6 Fri May 27

More of the same, spinnaker up and down each day. last night the angle was good enough to use both the main as well as the genoa so made more speed. The forecast is for stronger winds starting Sun night. The boats several days ahead have 25 to 30 kt. It is still easy to shower on deck with a hose that Rob set up to bring water from the tanks. If that is too cold, there is the solar shower. You land up being pretty slippery on the back deck if the waves are too high. Maggie has a shower inside but it is usually full with all the things we store there. We are still eating well with lots of time to cook, although the bread and fresh produce will only last a few more days. Everyone is doing lots of reading. The days seem short when you have shifts from 7 to 7 and probably a nap. Only seen one freighter.

Day7 Sat May 28

We are getting at a few more chores today. I have been cleaning. Rust and mildew never go to sleep. Rob had the whole steering system opened up as it and the autopilot were making unusual noises, but fortunately still working. The block holding the spinnaker at the bow broke-piece of metal sheared right off. Another is in its place now. The blocked holding tank needs manually pumped out every few days. We have a mystery leak or leaks that we keep trying to find the source of. Not much rain or pounding seas, fortunately.

Cocos Keeling to Rodrigues

Cocos Keeling to Rodrigues
May 24, 2016

Day 1, Sun May 22

1985 nm to go. Winds 15 to 18 knots, seas rough. The wind and chop are from the southeast and the swell from the SW. The decision with No Regrets is to travel west first as there is a hole in the wind to the south. We have been in contact with 2 boats ahead who are motoring. But Maggie can only travel SW with our conventional sail plan-near the rhumb line which is 254degrees. We are getting used to life aboard and always holding on with one hand. We each do a 4 hour shift covering the hours of darkness. It is just lucky that we are beginning with a full moon.

Day 2, Mon May 23

This has been an ideal sailing day. The wind and seas have calmed down to about 12 knots. We put up the spinnaker in the morning and sailed over 6 kt all day. The boat doesn't roll as much with this sail. It was comfortable enough to get some work done as well as reading. I had a big cooking day to have some easier things ready for later in the trip. For overnight we switched to a poled out genoa (a head sail). These sail changes take about 45 min but we are reluctant to carry the spinnaker at night when it takes 2 people out on the deck to get down if the winds pick up. A bird traveled on our traveler most of the night despite efforts to shoo him away. Bob is washing up his mess today.

Day 3 Tues May 24

Another easy day with the spinnaker. We are covering 130 to 140 nm a day. Rob made water and I defrosted the freezer. We download weather forecasts either on the sat phone or on the SSB. We are talking twice a day on the SSB and can also receive emails from other boats out here. More naps and books read. The weather is more of a problem on the west side of the Indian Ocean. Personally I like boring days at sea.

Day 4 Wed May 25

Last night we decided to keep the spinnaker up overnight as the winds were light and it was giving us an extra knot per hour. At 5 am all 3 of us were up getting it down in a squall and in the dark. Our own fault for being greedy for those extra miles. Once we were all awake in the later morning, it went up again, this time just for the day. We are about a quarter of the way across. Average wind speeds in the south Indian Ocean are 12 to 25 knots. With 4 days at less than that we expect a change soon. We have changed course from west to SW along the rhumb line.

Day 5 Thurs May 26

No Regrets received an email from Tom Tom that his forestay has broken. This is a line from the top of the mast to the bow. It helps support the mast and holds the foresail. He has jury rigged some support using a spinnaker halyard, and is sailing at 3.5 knots with a bit of mainsail. He is about 500 nm ahead. The conditions there are 25 kn with 2 to 4 meter seas. We will stay in touch in case he has a problem.

Cocos Keeling Islands

Cocos Keeling Islands
May 17 to 22, 2016

The islands are an atoll -a circular ring of coral with a lagoon in the center. Each spot that the coral is above sea level there is a small island. Yachts anchor at Direction Island, the first one to the east of the entrance where there is shelter and enough depth. It is uninhabited. Home Island comes next, with a population that is primarily Malay and Muslim. They are descendants of slaves brought in to work the coconut plantations of the 19th century. Across the lagoon is West Island that has the government workers and the airport. There are only 550 residents, with 400 on Home.

The islands are owned and run by Australia. There is a ferry between Home and West, but not enough depth for sailboats to travel to either. It was even a challenge to get the dinghy to Home Island at low tide. Alcohol is only available on West after 5 pm at the bar. The last ferry back to Home is at 4pm. West is nicknamed "naughty island" by the Muslims. Our first 2 days were dedicated to chores ashore, like finding cash, internet, food and fuel. Home Island has no bank or ATM but you could get cash back from a Mastercard at the grocery store. Diesel was almost 4 times the price in Sumatra. The information office on West offered internet for $20 an hour. We had taken the 10:30 ferry over Thurs to look around. Including a leisurely lunch at the only restaurant open we had run out of things to do by 12:30, but had to wait for the 3pm ferry. Tourists come mostly to surf or bird watch so it was at least a scenic walk along the shore. There is a golf course that uses the airport runway as part of the fairway.

After Indonesia, the check in and out procedures were simple and the staff friendly and helpful and understandable. On mainland Australia the quarantine dept confiscate much of your food. But the rule here was not to take any food or waste to shore, unless bought on the island. That way we could keep the provisions for the ocean crossing. Unfortunately there is no garbage disposal for yachts so we will have well over a month's worth by the time we get to Rodriques.

Although a small place in the middle of nowhere, Cocos Keeling was an important location in the early part of the 20th century. Cables were laid on the ocean floor to connect the major continents for telecommunications. The stations in this area were Perth, Cocos, Rodriques, Sri Lanka, Cape Town, and St Helena. In 1901 a telegraph relay station was built on Direction Island with a community of staff. It became a target during WW1. There is a heritage trail on the island recounting much of the history and battles.

Today, much of the area is national park, protecting bird and fish populations. There is also a regular, large, border patrol boat, the Ocean Shield. They check for boats that may be trying to bring immigrants in illegally, usually via Sri Lanka or Indonesia.

The real treat at the anchorage is to go to the beach for a swim or do some snorkelling. The beach has been maintained as a park with picnic tables, chairs, shelters, a diving raft, water, fire pits, dock and mooring balls for your dinghy. At the end of the beach there is a rip with a strong current running across the reef into the lagoon. You can swim across and be swept into the lagoon where it is easy to swim back to shore. The fish are plentiful, with a good variety and much larger than usually seen snorkelling. Plenty of sharks there as well as around the boat, black and white tipped ones that are not dangerous. Unfortunately, we have to wait until we have internet to attach some photos of this special place.

First Indian Ocean Passage, Padang to Cocos/Keeling

May 15 2016

This has been an uneventful trip so far. We are travelling mostly south to get out of the doldrums, but are not there yet. Most days we are motoring in light winds. If there are squalls around, we can sail a few hours on the winds they produce. Yesterday during dinner a squall to 30 knots hit us. That was a scramble to reef and keep things from flying around down below. It has been so calm that we are not tidied up enough.

We left last Wed and were planning on stopping Thurs night in the southeast corner of Pagai Selatan. Several other boats are waiting there for good weather, which means at least some wind here. But the weather didn't look like it was going to be much different in the next few days so we just kept going. No Regrets came within sight of us at the end of the island having spent the night before on the west coast. That was our official "start". We have been fairly close most of the trip, travelling slowly to conserve fuel. But, at least, we will probably make it to Cocos. If the wind is too strong from the south, it is too much of a "beat" to be worth a stop. Most of the boats on the Sum (Sumatra) net are not making this detour.

We thought the bilge pumps were good now, but the fuse keeps blowing on one of them. Also the hose has come off the manual pump. I guess they all need to come out again for repair. Good thing we will have a stop.

The only company we have had are a few dolphins and some birds, and still some fishing boats out this far. We expect tradewinds to develop by 10 south. We are currently at 7S. ETA Wed the 18th

Padang

Approaching Bungus Harbour, Pedang

Unique West Sumatran roof design

Museaum

                                         

                                              Our provisions on the floor being tallied

Carol, Tim and Zeke at the Experimental Farm

Interesting growing techniques

Padang

May 11, 2016

After a week in the Padang area, we are almost ready to set sail, hopefully later today. There has been so much work to do that we haven't done much in the role as tourists. The main anchorage is not well protected nor is there a good place to leave the dinghy. Wed to Sun we anchored in a neighbouring bay to the south, Bungus, that was much better. Unfortunately, it was an hour's cab ride to Immigration, and customs here wants to visit your boat on check out, so we needed to move.

Wed was the first visit to Immigration to renew our visas that expired Sat. After motoring from Bungus and the cab ride it was almost 12 when we started the process. Besides the upcoming 4 day long weekend they were taking a 2 hour lunch break and returning for 1 hour that afternoon. So they needed until Tues to finish that part. Luc spent the whole day Mon with No Regrets dealing with immigration, customs, quarantine and harbour master. They are not located near each other! He thought that with the practice and letting them know we were coming Tues, we could be done by noon. Without going into the frustrating details we were back at the boat by 6. Helen and Jim were also going through the same process so got some good visiting in. The Indonesian officials do not make arriving and leaving easy for you.

Bob arrived Sun and has already been a big help. We got vegetables at the market yesterday during some of the waiting times that involved only the captain. Also he has  helped with drop offs and pick ups at the dinghy dock as No Regrets and Gaia have been here. This morning he and Rob are working on reinstalling the bilge pumps. That is not a job to leave undone, although the plan was to do it yesterday. Besides that dirty job, the oil has been changed and a few batches of drain cleaner run through the head. We'll be happy to be done with the mess!

Just by riding around in the cabs, we have seen the unusual architecture of Sumatra. Many public buildings and businesses have roof lines that sweep upwards surrounded by intricate, painted wood carvings. The shape is to represent the horns of a buffalo involved at some point in history with fighting against Java. There is a museum downtown that we tried to visit Mon to find out more background. But Mon is their day to be closed. We did visit the large market there and a mall for some more shopping.

Last Thurs was the expensive shopping trip. There are 2 stores that sell supplies to the surfing charter boats. It was a great chance to buy products that we haven't seen locally, like butter, cereal, salsa, canned vegetables, cheese and beer. Each boat needed a car. We could hardly fit ourselves in the dinghy between the groceries.

Sat we took a day off the working and rented a car and driver with Tim and Zeke. The idea was to go up into the hills and visit a strawberry farm. After a long drive out of town (but not up) we found the farming area. But strawberries are not in season and the nursery area was closed-saw one plant. We tried another place that was also closed. All day it was raining. At least we could see why agriculture is a good industry. It was 4 before we found a place to stop for lunch. We ordered strawberry milkshakes! Despite the description of the day, we enjoyed seeing the sites beyond the boat.

I was chatting to an Indonesian woman waiting at Immigration for a passport renewal who spoke some English. She was saying that the last few years have been much hotter than usual. May be climate change, or El Nino.  As we travel south we will be moving into fall in the southern hemisphere and it should be getting cooler. By the time we reach S. Africa we may be wishing for some of this heat.

Overnight, 110nm, should get us to the Mentawai's for a brief stop. Then on to Cocos Keeling (an Australian Island) if the wind does not have too much south in it. That is just over 600nm more. Otherwise it is straight to Rodriques (an island belonging to Mauritius). The weather this weekend looks promising. We're anxious to get started.

Through the Telo Islands, to Siberut Island, and back to Sumatra

Being "canoed" in Patsi!

Scenic trip up the Tabekat River

Carol and Alicia  and drying spices

Local boys preparing coconuts for us

A big send off from the villagers

Maggie at anchor off the beautiful Cubadak Resort

Through the Telo Islands, to Siberut Island, and back to Sumatra

May 3 2016

Since May 1 we have been anchored off the small island of Cubadak, which is near Pedang on the Sumatra mainland. This is the first place that we have had internet access since leaving Lehewa on April 19. Time to get caught up the blogs! Today is Lauren’s birthday and May 1 was Ben’s 11^th birthday. We are certainly thinking about them and wishing them well.

From Sipika we followed a narrow channel through the islands in the Telos group down to a spot on the south end, Pasti’s.  A scenic trip but one that required motoring.  We anchored off another surf resort but did not go ashore. There was a  big surf running that day. We were “canoed” there quite a few times. This is a new verb for us. The locals come out in their canoes and try to sell you something or get a gift. Many are quite persistent. The guide book will tell you if you are likely to be canoed in a particular harbour.

The next day it was a long trip to the first of the Mentawai islands, Siberut. The anchor went down in a protected bay near the mouth of the Tabekat River. No Regrets was anchored there also but were leaving the next morning. It was good to have a chance to catch up with how their trip has been going, and also to discuss our ongoing plans face to face instead of by email. They are picking up a crew member May1 from the next Mentawai Island, Sipora. He has flown from France and they found his name from a crewing website.

We stayed an extra day so that we could take the dinghy up the river. We had heard from Gaia that it is a scenic trip and it was. Alicia and Alfredo (On Verra) came along. It is a narrow river with many side branches and overhanging vegetation. We were trying to find a town up river, but got on 2 wrong turns before finally finding it. But it was worth seeing, very clean and well kept, despite the poverty. There was a small store where they treated us to bananas and coconuts. We attempted a conversation, with many hand gestures, with a small gathering where one person knew a few English words. Alfredo lent a hand fixing a motor bike. Many of them followed us back to the river to see our dinghy. They were a friendly group. The islanders are mostly Christian compared to the Muslim mainland. They have a different ethnic background as well.

It was time to leave the islands and get to Pedang for our visa renewal. It is good we left lots of time as we have just found out that Thurs and Fri are holidays there. The visa expires on Sat but tomorrow is the last day the offices will be open until Mon. It was another overnight trip to get here.  Except for lots of lightening and fishing boats it was uneventful. We managed to sail slowly for 4 hours, but mostly motoring again. We are getting tired of the windless days, and there is no wind in the forecast for the next week either.

Instead of spending too much time in a commercial port, we are staying 15 miles south, off Cubadak Resort until Wed. It is a very beautiful area, clean water, and a resort that welcomes you to their grounds and dock. We still have a healthy list of boat chores that need going and it is a pleasant place to work. We took the dinghy several miles into a small town where we could get much needed cash, a cell phone top up and gas for the dinghy. In the evening we have gone in to dinner at the resort. Besides great food, it has been fun to talk to the staff and some of the guests. It is good to see a resort doing well. They are full this week.

Tomorrow morning we’ll get to Pedang, and hopefully finish with Immigration.

Sipika Island

Just across the Equator - for the third time

Carol - mastering the paddleboad at Sipika

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Sipika Island

April 26, 2016

On Sunday we had a great day of sailing for a change. We had a 60nm trip to this anchorage which is really stretching it under motor, but had a backup at 50nm. We got a 6am start and by 10:30 could sail. With flat seas and a beam reach and only 11 to 15 kn of wind, we could do between 6 and 8 knots which got us in early. In the afternoon we crossed the equator for the 3^rd time. This time we passed the scotch through us into the sea. The second time, in the fall, it was so stormy that we missed the actual crossing until someone called on the VHF. No Regrets was anchored one night in a bay they dubbed “equator bay” as they said they had one pontoon of their cat in the northern hemisphere, and the other in the southern.

Sipika is one island of many close together small islands called the Telos group. This is a favourite of cruisers and there were 4 boats here Sun night. There is a good surf break along the side of the bay, but it is very flat in the anchorage. The surrounding islands protect you from any seas that may build up. There is a nice beach ashore and a sand bottom for the anchor. Hardly anyone lives here so not many people trying to get something from you. There is a surf resort run by an Australian, but there are no guests this week, so not running the restaurant.

No Regrets was here working on their fresh water pump. Without it they can't use their watermaker. They finally got it started by turning it upside down! They ordered a new one that Bob will bring from Canada. Bob’s suitcase is getting heavier all the time as he is bringing a new bilge pump for us.

Yesterday we both got some practice on the paddleboard and a good swim. Today it has been raining all morning. The rain is welcome since it has been so dry and we were planning on staying another day anyway. I’m reading a book by Bernard Moitessier, a well known French, single handed sailor and writer. “Sailing to the Reefs” is his first book and part of it covers his trip across the Indian Ocean to Cape Town. It is either inspiring or frightening, depending on your mood!