AUSTRALIA TO COCOS KEELING
(Across the Indian Ocean)

FRIDAY July 16,1988
At last I am now in the Indian Ocean. To get here I've had to sail through two seas - the Arafura Sea between Australia and New Guinea, and the Timor Sea. Now I am through all that lot, and officially in the Indian Ocean, which starts just south of the Indonesian island, Sumba.

But my joy is short lived. Ever since I left Gove Peninsular, Australia two weeks ago, the wind has virtually been just a feeble puff, reaching only about Force 4. The sails flap and flog. The days drift endlessly by - I am not even doing 100 miles from noon to noon. At this rate it is going to take me another 15 days to reach Cocos Keeling - yes it is still 1500 miles away!

SUNDAY July 17
This morning the wind stopped blowing - again!!! My noon sight gives me a distance of 106 miles sailed since yesterday. By 2pm a little wind had sprung up. Even that is enough to get me excited, so I put up the genoa, reef the main to let the wind through, took down the jib and tried for an east of windward course. Nothing doing. I then tried leading the genoa sheet aft; then forward; then through blocks; then poleing it out with my boat hook - all to no avail. All I achieved was wearing myself to a frazzle and getting completely frustrated.

Right now I am having second thoughts about going directly to Cocos Keeling - it's still 1 250 miles away; I am not even nearly halfway. Christmas Island at 700 miles away seems more attractive. I will decide later, as this darn snail pace journey progresses.

TUESDAY July 19
Another slow day on this wide open expanse of Indian Ocean. It's strange, but despite the continuous flapping of sails and slow progress, I am now no longer bored and managed to find enough routine things to keep me busy. Most mornings I do some writing and my noon sextant shot takes me an hour. Then in the afternoon I read a bit before taking a nap, and finally, coffee time in the cockpit and a bit more reading until dark.

Supper is going to be a treat: curry and rice. And even better - it looks as though the weather may change tonight as it has become overcast and the barometer hasn't risen from its 4pm low of 1015. Here's hoping!

THURSDAY July 21
At last!! I had a pretty good 24 hour run and now the winds seem to be holding almost exactly from the east. I've come about to head almost directly to Christmas Island, but I still don't know if I'm going to stop there. Christmas Island is 340 miles away. Cocos Keeling (on a more westerly course) is 840 miles. Slowly, slowly...

SUNDAY July 24
10:30am - Land Ho! Christmas Island just visible in the haze about 22 miles away. I'm pretty pleased with myself as I have been working only on a dead reckoning position. My last sun sight was yesterday noon...

I hope to pass Christmas Island while it is light. I don't think I will stop here though, but I am prepared to change my mind - especially when I see greenery after three weeks at sea. Birds are everywhere - often they seem very curious about my lure!

5:30pm: Well that was Christmas Island. At least I can say I've seen it. It was a nice break just to see the land and hear a radio station - as corny as that may sound.

Now on to Cocos Keeling.

TUESDAY July 26
I sat up for about an hour in the early hours just watching the yacht speed its way into the shimmering moon path on the sparkling water. Fishing has been awful - in fact non-existent. Yesterday, I put a new lure on - a nice red one, and when I pulled it in the only thing I caught was a plastic bag.

The wind is a blustery Force 5 and there are white horses all around me. I am heading just a point off downwind and occasionally a wave comes up behind and gives me a shove and I wind up surfing - an exhilarating feeling.

At last I feel that I am getting somewhere, and had my "three days before land" shave as my beard and neck hair have grown pretty long. It is good protection from the sun though. This trip has been my second longest already (my longest was 33 days but in that I did 3 500 miles) and already I am beginning to feel the uplift that getting close to land gives me.

THURSDAY July 28
Last night, at about midnight it really started gusting, I would guess a Force 6, and I had to get up on the pitching deck and put another reef in the main. Spent the rest of the night surfing over waves. Breaking through and being hit sideways - then screaming up to wind.

It's now a full-blown gale and as rough as anything. And I have to kill about 6 hours before heading towards Cocos Keeling - if my steering holds out. I am so tired! Didn't sleep much last night - tonight will be worse. It's too dangerous to heave-to in these breaking seas, so I will just have to tack all night.

SATURDAY July 30
After exhaustedly tacking backwards and forwards all night, I was about two miles from Direction Island when dawn broke. I managed to negotiate the open pass through the reef among terrific side waves and once inside, finally anchored, as I didn't know where to go.

The customs boat Madaka towed me into the shelter and I tied up alongside a mooring buoy about 30m off a truly beautiful beach. The crew of Madaka invited me for a welcome beer on the beach. At last... it was good to feel land again. After a few drinks, I collapsed into my bunk and just slept and slept...

THREE WEEKS LATER...
It seems to have taken me these last three weeks just to organize myself on Direction Island. I have one of the nicest spots, and now that the winds have eased it is very peaceful.

Money again is my problem here, as I didn't really intend to stay as long as I have. But I have sold a lot of African curios to some good friends I have met as well as my fishing rod, for Australian $250.

The maintenance of the yacht has been almost endless. Since I've been here I've replaced the reefing lines, halyard, jib hanks, the main sail slides and shackles and made up reefing blocks. But the main snag was the steering (again!) This time I lifted the whole back carrier system "found" some more stainless steel wire and redid the whole system.

When I arrived, I was the only yacht. Now there are 20 - including three South African yachts, "Eva Dene", "Nyati" and "Legend" - and the anchorage is very crowded.

As I am the "longest standing" yachtie here, I also somehow have got involved in helping the Australian quarantine service and have agreed to burn any excess rubbish left about. The system is that the yachties have a pit and have to burn their rubbish before throwing it in. But after all the recent arrivals and departures and subsequent parties on the beach, the rubbish problem is a bit of a hassle.

With the number of boats increasing all of a sudden, a lot of crew swopping is going on, and the gossip is amazing. At the weekends the people from West Island catch the boat across to Direction Island where all the yachts are moored, as the antics of the yachties are their main source of entertainment. Conversely, the West Islanders provide much amusement for the yachties.

There is a ferry organized on Wednesdays direct from Direction Island to the West Island jetty, and for 10 Australian dollars, a bashed up heap of a truck is laid on, which miraculously manages to get the yachties to the shops and back again. The trip itself takes all Wednesday. But on returning, now that the yachties have food and duty free booze (beer A$11.25 case, rum A$4.50 a bottle) the party doesn't stop for two days, going on into Friday when the West Islanders arrive. There really have been the most amazing festivities here. People certainly know how to enjoy themselves.

I've also become quite friendly with the famous Clunies-Ross family who originally settled on the islands, and last century were granted ownership in perpetuity by Queen Victoria. There are only five of them at present living here, John and Vikki and their three children. Although Cocos (Keeling) was bought in part from them by the Australian government, apparently for about A$6.5-million, the story goes that the family invested in a shipping company that went broke. They still live in the same historic "big house" on Home Island that has been owned by the family for generations, and supplement their income by accommodating weekly guests flying in from Australia.

The Malay community live on Home Island, and now the majority want independence. It could be an interesting concept of independence, as the Australians living on West Island provide virtually all employment and infrastructure on the islands.

ANOTHER THREE WEEKS LATER...

I am still here - for two reasons mainly. Firstly there has been so much that I've had to do on the boat for the long lonely trip ahead, and secondly the winds haven't moderated. Not to mention the great people and continuous round of parties!

The days, especially the last few have really been idyllic, but I really must go. I eventually got my clearance from Harry the Harbour Master. That alone is no small feat. Harry usually arrives to give you clearance but somehow forgets his official book or his stamps. Or else he doesn't arrive at all saying his boat is broken. Anyway I've got it.

You have to remember that time means nothing here. In fact some of the people have got so frustrated with the system - or lack thereof - that they have just weighed anchor and left in pure frustration without bothering about clearance formalities. In fact the usual answer by the quarantine guys to the question "how long can we stay" is "as long as you can stand it"

In all, its been a lovely time I've spent on Cocos Keeling. Everyone here is really friendly. For example, the supply ship Jon Saunders, which arrives every six weeks, once anchored off Direction Island instead of West island, and I met two of the ship's crew on the beach who promptly invited me on board for a barbecue. They even sent a dinghy to fetch me and the six other yachties still on the island, and we had a fantastic party, eating real meat for a change and being entertained by an Aussie singer who could actually sing.

SEPTEMBER 9
The time had now come to say goodbye. And with a Force 5 wind blowing steadily, Sunrise Star heads west towards Mauritius for the last part of my journey...