Entering the Back of Beyond….. 27 September 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere) Dear F&F, Last night we anticipated another bit of breeze so we took two reefs in the main and kept up the full genoa. The wind never came. By midnight, we\’d shaken both reefs out and the wind has steadily dropped into this morning at […]
Entering the Back of Beyond…… Read More »
Day One to Chagos….. 26 September 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere) Dear F&F, The first few days are all about getting your sea legs and tummy back. I\’m doing very well for only 24 hours out of Cocos, we\’ll see how Nikki is when she wakes up. She was working on her celestial navigation last night which
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Half Way Round….. 25 September 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere) Dear F&F, The weather ahead was my concern yesterday. There was a system of weak low pressure cells along our route. For the most part, these were knocking the wind speed down so much, we might not be able to sail very effectively. I have more diesel
Half Way Round…..Departure – Cocos to Chagos Archipelago Read More »
Weather Delay…Cocos Island Dear F&F, We did some relaxing and touring around in the dinghy yesterday awaiting the latest weather to see if we\’d be off today for Chagos. We tried to find the local (one and only) Dugong here at the western edge of Direction Island, but no luck. We then took advantage of
Liquid Gold….. September 21-22, 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere) Dear F&F, Well Peter and I of s/v \”Mango\” topped up our fuel. The Co-op at Home Island charges $2.42 Australian per LITER! That\’s about $9.30 per GALLON US. So 21 gallons (80 liters) cost 200.00 US! If you think you\’re paying a lot at the pump, try
Cocos-Keeling Island….. 19-21 September 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere) Dear F&F, We arrived at Cocos-Keeling Island after an exactly 3 day passage from Christmas Island. It was uneventful and a nice sail. Upon arrival, we noticed the 150 Australian Customs vessel and two small boats which had come in with boat people from Sri Lanka. Apparently, the
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Nice day at sea….. 18 September 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere) Dear F&F, The last 24 hours of sailing has been some of the steadiest and sublime I\’ve yet experienced in a long ocean passage. The swell is 3 meters from the south (10 feet), but it\’s a 10 second period swell with little or no \”seas\”
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Bye, Bye Christmas…Onward to Cocos-Keeling…… 17 September 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere) Dear F&F, We spent our last day at Christmas Island doing some emailing and interneting as we\’re getting close to being truly \”off the grid\”. We do expect some wifi at Cocos, but that\’s it for up to 6-8 weeks. We did a driving tour
Bye, Bye Christmas…Onward to Cocos-Keeling…… Read More »
It\’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas….. 13-15 September 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere) Dear F&F, We arrived at dawn on the 13th having just passed our friends on s/v \”Ainia\” who left 28 hours before us! We had a record 235 mile day as we benefited form a lovely 2-3 knot current pushing us here.
It\’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!….. Read More »
Sailing Along…..Reflections….. 11 September 2012, (Eastern Hemisphere) Dear F&F, On this ominous date, I am reminded of how big events can be in this world, yet how small we are out here floating upon the vast Indian Ocean. The voyages this season will have \”Beach House\” putting on some real mileage. To recap.. Our first
Sailing Along…..Reflections…… Read More »