TOTAL MILES TRAVELED SO FAR ON SAIL to SEE EXPEDITION: 20,623 NM
THE LAST PASSAGE
Total Miles traveled on last passage – 3,612 NM
Miles traveled using SAILS – WIND POWER only: 3,409 NM
Miles traveled using SAILS & ENGINES together: 187 NM
Miles traveled using ENGINES – FOSSIL FUELS only: 16 NM
Ship Sightings: We passed many ships along this route. There is a known shipping route between South Africa and the Sumba Strait in Indonesia.
Animal Sightings in Indian Ocean: Humpback Whales, Flying Fish, dolphin
VOS Reports Filed: A record 16 VOS weather reports were filed with NOAA on this passage through our satellite communications!
Average Air Temperature: 80.6 f/ 27 c
Average Sea Temperature: 78 f/ 25.9 c
Strongest Wind: 30 Knots (knots are a wind measurement of Nautical Miles per hour)
Plastics Collection: Unfortunately, it was too rough to tow our plastics trawl during this leg in the Indian Ocean.
PASSAGE NOTES:
We departed from Bali with six on board - our family, Megan our new tutor and a crew member named Vince. Megan is Irish and is a Math teacher who also loves sailing. Vince is new to offshore sailing but seemed to enjoy it all very much after he got over some seasickness.
A few days from Bali, we crossed the longitude of 104 East degrees which is exactly halfway around the world from our home town of Oxford, Maryland. Now we are no longer sailing away from home but towards it.
We are about 300 miles from Cocos (Keeling), our first planned stop on this leg. So far, we’ve had splendid sailing with just enough wind to push us along at 8-9 knots and a full moon to light up the decks at night and no rain squalls.
Today is Sunday. I’ve just had a sea shower (a bucket of salt water!) and Captain Richard is making crepes. We had a few dolphins around the bow this morning so a good day at sea so far. So many flying fish have landed on deck and two even managed to go in hatches and ended up down below. The smell is not nice though Moonlight the cat doesn't seem to mind it.
We arrived in Cocos (Keeling) in the early morning. We had to anchor where yachts are required to be in the north part of the atoll in a small sheltered bay near Direction Island. Two days after we arrived, a steel schooner came in just at sunset. In the morning, we met the crew of the boat named “Shang Du.” They were from South Africa and had three teenage girls on board – aged 14, 16, and 18!
Direction Island is uninhabited but at one time it was a cable station connecting Africa with Australia and Asia via submerged cables. There were a few WW1 and WW2 battles fought nearby as well. A trail around Direction Island was signposted with lots of historical facts.
At the far end of Direction Island was a fantastic snorkeling area called the Rip. You could jump into a 2-3 knot current and let it take you past loads of fish, coral and giant clams. The current was almost moving too fast to see them but if you swam to the side and got a bit out of the strong current, you could enjoy the scenery. The water in Cocos is extremely clear.
Nowadays, Direction Island is just a nice place for the boat crews to go ashore and hang out. Many boats have made signs out of driftwood and other found objects. Molly and Megan made an Elcie sign to hang up with the other signs on shore. You can see the sign above our heads on the right.
Four main islands and many tiny islets make up the atoll of Cocos (Keeling). The dinghy ride to Home Island was a long and very wet 2 miles. This is where we had to go and pay the anchorage fees and where the store is. There is also a museum and post office. Along the way we passed an island that looked like the type of deserted island shown in shipwreck cartoons.
Before the Australians came and put in a small ferry service, the local population of people originally from Malaysia would get around from island to island using Jukong – beautiful, small sailing dinghies. There are still at least 40-50 of them around but now they are only used on special occasions, perhaps once a year.
The population of Cocos is about 600 with 500 living on Home Island and 100 living on West Island. Most of the population of Home Island are the Malay descendants of the original families brought in the early 1800s. They are Sunni Muslim and speak a Cocos dialect of Malay and English but definitely with an Australian influence. The women wear Hijab and full-length clothing which must get quite warm at times of the year.
The houses of Cocos were in tidy rows and everyone seems to have a boat and an ATV to get around. The Australian government is putting some money into Cocos Keeling. There is a bit of tourism on West Island with a dive shop and a hotel but not much more.
Finally, we had to leave on the 2000 NM passage to Rodrigues. The Indian Ocean is known for having stronger winds and bigger seas and this is what we had on the entire next passage – ten straight days of rough seas and winds around 25 knots. It was not too rough for sunbathing however!! It may not look like it but the waves were about 15 feet high when this photo was taken.
Again, we realize how much the Indian Ocean is full of flying fish. Every morning, there are at least a dozen on our decks that landed during the night. One came in the front door and landed at Megan’s feet during her watch. We are missing the full moon we had on the last passage however it means it is easier to see lots of stars. For the first few days we were on a shipping route and passed about 6-7 large ships.
We arrived in Rodrigues on Tuesday morning right behind three boats that had left from Cocos about four days before we did. This means Elcie is very fast. Every boat we met had the same experience of strong winds and rough seas. Our first night in Rodrigues was spent quietly at anchor in the harbor carved out of a coral reef. It was so nice to sleep all night. The harbor is small, only big enough for about 8 boats to anchor, but it is large enough for a cargo ship to come in and tie up. There was one there when we arrived. We all had to leave the harbor when the cargo ship departed so it had room to maneuver. Once it left, we were allowed to come back in and take a free space along the seawall.
It was great and very handy to be along the seawall for the rest of our stay in Rodrigues. The dinghy didn’t have to be used. The crew could come and go anytime. One day, Emma and Molly tie-dyed all the white shirts we had on the boat on the dock where they had space to work and running water.
The only tricky thing at the dock was keeping Moonlight, the cat, on board. There was a plot of tall grass not far from the boat and he was so eager to get into it. Several times he managed to sneak off and once we found him at the gate of the port! I’m not sure if he was trying to jump ship or just explore.
Rodrigues, like Mauritius, has a strong French influence and French is the primary language spoken though many people speak English as well. The population is made up of people of French, Indian, African and Chinese descent. Everyone is very friendly. There was a great market with most every type of fresh fruit and vegetable. I was so excited to see beautiful green lettuce and other salad ingredients that I filled our fridge with it. There were also lots of fresh herbs which are always nice for cooking.
While sitting at the seawall, we had some curious onlookers. One older gentleman, named James, was very chatty and we invited him aboard. He had a book that he has had signed by all the visiting yachts over many years. We found several pages from boats we know. We made an Elcie page for his book. The second day he came, he brought us eggs from his wife’s chickens and the third day he came, he brought us a beautiful papaya. James rode a Raleigh bike that was built in 1966. It was a classic!
We were able to spend two days touring around the island. Thursday, we took two buses across the island to a very large cave. A guide led us from one end of the 600 meter long cave to the other. We were given hardhats to wear as there were a few low spots and we were also given flashlights as there was no lighting in the cave. It has some beautiful crystal formations and the guide, named Paul, was very knowledgeable, giving the tour in both French and English. I learned quite a bit about cave formations – things I have forgotten since I took middle school earth science.
From the cave, we walked west on the coast for about an hour to a Giant Tortoise Reserve. Along the way, we passed many beautiful small sailing bateaux – or Pirogues. Some were out fishing under sail in the turquoise lagoon stretching out from the south coast. Unfortunately, we also saw much plastic washed up on the beaches, a problem that is plaguing most shorelines now. There was much less than in southeast Asia but Rodrigues is also more remote.
The tortoise reserve was very interesting. It is an attempt to repopulate Rodrigues with a species of tortoise that is very similar to one now extinct. This species had previously lived on Rodrigues in huge numbers – perhaps 500,000. The turtles they are raising are from Madagascar. They have two other types of Tortoises that are endangered elsewhere. It was a beautiful and well-funded facility. We were allowed to “pet” the tortoises and Emma and Megan even got a few selfies with them. They loved to have their necks rubbed under their chins and would rise up way on their stumpy legs when you did it.
On Friday, we took a different bus to the east side of Rodrigues and walked for about 3 hours on a path that traveled along the coast. There were several places to stop and swim and the views were fantastic. It was a holiday in Rodrigues and many families and groups were out enjoying the walk and swimming too. We passed one very large group of teens and leaders that had been doing a cleanup on one of the beaches.
The beach we stopped at the longest was called Trou D’argent (the Silver Hole). It was a white sand beach sandwiched between two limestone walls with a narrow entrance to the sea. There was shade along the sides of the beach. The water was cool and clear and with a mask, we saw fish we had never seen before.
It was a good stop in Rodrigues but it was time to head to Mauritius about 350NM away. This was an easy sail and we were welcomed to Mauritius by a mother Humpback Whale teaching her calf how to breach. They launched themselves out of the water over and over.
In Port Louis Mauritius, we had to clear in with the customs officials and then we tied to a dock in a marina for the first time since we were in Fiji way back in May. Thanks for reading our latest Logbook Entry. We’ll be back in a couple of weeks to talk about our next leg to South Africa. See you then!
WHERE WE VISITED: MAURITIUS
Independence: March 12, 1968 (from the United Kingdom)
Population: 1,286,000
Area: 788 Sq Miles / 2,040 Sq Km
Capital: Port Louis
Type of Government: Parliamentary Republic
Currency: Mauritian Rupee
Languages: English, French, Creole, Hindi, Urdu, Hakka, Bjopuri
Highest Point: Piton de la Riviere Noire 2,710 Feet / 826 Meters
Climate: tropical, moderated by Southeast Trade Winds, dry winters/hot and rainy summers
Natural Resources: arable land, fish
Agricultural Products: sugarcane, tea, bananas, corn, potatoes
Major Exports: clothing and textiles, sugar, cut flowers, molasses
Natural Hazards: cyclones
Country Flag: I had to make our Mauritius flag because we didn’t have one. It was not too difficult – 4 stripes – red, yellow, green and blue.
Interesting Fact: The dodo is the national bird, but you will only see it on the country’s national emblem or on souvenirs. This animal, which only could be found on Mauritius, became extinct in the 17th century. It's commonly believed that the dodo went extinct because Dutch sailors ate the beast to extinction after finding that the bird was incredibly easy to catch due to the fact it had no fear of humans.
