Cocos (Keeling) — So Close to 200
Saturday morning, Andrea and I pointed the bow west and set off on the 550-mile sail to Cocos (Keeling), hopefully arriving in time to meet my cousin John, who is joining us for the next leg.
The passage started with another beautiful day of sailing. Conditions were good, the boat was moving, and I started getting dangerously optimistic about finally logging that elusive 200-mile day.
I came up eight miles short.
Apparently, averaging 8.3 knots for 24 straight hours is a lot to ask of a cruising sailboat. Who knew? Still, 192 miles was close enough to make me stare at the numbers and wonder where I could have found those missing eight.
The following morning, I decided it was time for the asymmetrical spinnaker.
I proceeded to hoist it with all the grace and confidence of someone who had never seen a spinnaker before. There was some fumbling, some rearranging, and probably a few words that aren’t in the sailing manual, but eventually it went up, filled beautifully, and carried us west at a very respectable pace.
By Day 3, it had been flying for nearly 50 hours. The wind began freshening toward 25 knots, so it was finally time to give the big sail a well-earned rest and bring out the jib.
As much as I enjoy a spirited sail, I am going to need that spinnaker for the upcoming passage to Mauritius. Turning it into several thousand dollars’ worth of colorful confetti somewhere in the Indian Ocean seemed like poor long-term planning.
On Tuesday at 13:55, we crossed the finish line at Cocos with an average speed of 7.3 knots for the passage. I’ll take that.
Of course, crossing the finish line wasn’t quite the same as arriving.
Next came the small matter of threading Okisollo through the reefs and coral bommies into the anchorage. Andrea took his position on the bow, pointing out obstacles while I tried very hard not to hit any of them. The system worked.
We dropped anchor in eight feet of ridiculously clear water, and within minutes two blacktip reef sharks arrived to inspect the new boat in the neighborhood. Apparently, we passed.
A quick dinghy ride ashore, a meeting with the Australian officials, a little paperwork, and we were officially cleared in. Now the fun could begin!
The next few days included giving Andrea his first introduction to scuba diving, dinner aboard Ganesha, a beach BBQ, game night aboard Okisollo, and eventually the logistical adventure of retrieving my cousin John from West Island.
Getting John to the boat required a long dinghy ride, a ferry, a bus and some creative transportation planning, and a certain amount of faith that all the pieces would eventually connect.
Andrea, Tom, and Kyle joined me for the expedition, which also gave us an opportunity to provision for the upcoming passage to Mauritius.
With roughly two weeks at sea ahead of us, fresh food sounded wonderful.
Unfortunately, the supply ship hadn’t visited Cocos for several months. The supermarket shelves reflected this. Our grand provisioning expedition quickly became a game of, “Well… I guess we can eat that.” The selection wasn’t exactly what we’d hoped for, but we managed to find enough fresh food to supplement the boat’s stores.
More importantly, we found John. So we’ll call that trip a success.
Now we’re back aboard Okisollo, riding out a 35-knot blow at anchor and getting the boat ready for Monday’s departure. The crew is assembled. The boat is provisioned. Everyone is excited.
And sitting just over the horizon is Mauritius—2,400 miles of Indian Ocean away.
Onward!
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