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 the very calm conditions to motor over to Horsburgh Island (at the entrance to the lagoon). We did not go ashore, but saw the WW2 big gun that was to protect the entrance to the lagoon in case of a Japanese invasion. We also went to Turtle Beach (no turtles) on Home Island and a lovely trip over to Prison Island. Prison Island can be walked around in about 5 minutes. It\’s a small, lush tropical setting with sugar white sand beaches inside the lagoon. A lovely day all in all.
Bruce/June and crew aboard s/v \”Ainia\” left this morning for the North of Madagascar direct. Their route will initially take them south of here and keep them away from the unsettled squalls which would be following us to Chagos if we left today.
Hence, we\’re on \”weather delay\”. It seems that if we wait 24 hours (possibly 48), we\’ll be back in settled average trade winds for our journey. Of course, weather is always subject to change! There is a very strong low pressure system right off the Antarctic coast at the moment. You ask, why should that concern us? The long tail on the front (which is very weak up in our latitudes) is causing unstable, moist air to mix in which will cause squalls. This is rainy/dry, windy, no wind and a bit aggravating after awhile. As my Mom used to say, \”discretion is the better part of valor\”, so we shall sit.
Standing by for weather window…May take another day trip to West and Home Islands.
KIT, Scott and Nikki