Day 4 Indian Ocean 19 July 2008 Position: (7.45 am Cocos time) 14 02.29S 89 24.75E

The sea is a steely grey this morning and a lonely white bird is circling behind us before it heads off to wherever it goes. 30 knots blew consistently with gusts up to 44 knots (Force 7) yesterday. However the seas seem less confused perhaps due to some current going with us. We have experienced these sorts of winds before on ocean passages but not consistently for such long time. Southeast trades are normally less in the Indian Ocean - around 20 knots . We are pleased with the rig - the small poled out furled jib and staysail spread out like wings at the front of the boat pulling her along at a steady 6 to 6.5 knots. We are now using Fred the wind vane which is steering us nicely and is saving us power.

We are managing the rolling movement of the boat inside most of the time. However, occasionally an extra big wave will push us sideways which can send things flying in the cabin. The worst thing was when the glass lid of our big pan flew across the galley hitting the wooden pole and smashed to smithereens throughout the galley and the cabin floor. We had to pick up many long shards of glass in this heaving sea. Not fun. Another item that emptied itself in the bilge was anew bottle of toilet cleaner. Bill mopped up this foaming solution from the bilge under the chart table. I suggested we pour this down the toilet. Bad mistake... When Bill flushed it the electric pump stopped working. More expletives.... As the ocean heaved around us Bill pulled apart the toilet. Of course a rain squall came by at that moment and it was blowing 44 knots. I had to close the hatchway completely and have all 3 washboards in so we wouldn't get wet. Crawling around on the toilet floor, trying to do repairs isn't fun at the best of times. Poor Bill. After pulling apart the pump he discovered a small piece of glass... "Never put anything in the toilet unless you know what it is." will be a rule strictly adhered to from now on. After reassembling the toilet and cleaning up we enjoyed chilli con carne for dinner.

Now for the next exciting event.. At 8.45pm when Linda was on watch and the captain was enjoying a well earned rest and was just drifting off to lala land, there was repeated banging noise like a rope hitting something. Linda looked at the instruments and it was saying we were only doing 3 knots. Thinking we had accidentally turned into the wind she went out to investigate. The sails were behaving normally but we weren't moving much. After waking the captain the noise became louder and sounded like something banging and vibrating against the starboard hull. The captain donned his harness, grabbed the torch and went to investigate. Even though the moon was shining there were many dark clouds about and it was difficult to see. Conclusion - something had attached itself to Valiam's keel and was slowing us down. Bill turned the boat to the wind and we drifted for a while. Thinking we would have to 'hove to' until morning when it was light enough to see and perhaps Bill would have to swim in this sea to find o ut what it was. Not a pleasant thought. Bill switched on the depth sounder and it said '1 metre'. This did indeed confirm that there was something under the keel. Linda was imagining something with nasty bits of wood and nails and rope and checked there was no water coming in the bilge. After a nerve wracking 15 minutes whatever it was detached itself! Phew! Bill saw a dark shape float off in the distance and the depth sounder went back to normal. He thinks it was a fishing net with a float which could have been banging against the hull. Whatever it was sure slowed the boat down and now we were back doing our usual 6.5 knots. We expected to become tangled in a fishing net in the Philippines or Indonesia. Not out here in the middle of the Indian ocean more than 300 miles from anywhere! We had a discussion about the merits of different shaped keels. Valiam's is quite good and just has a round bulb at the front with the pointy bit at the back. The captain didn't want to turn t oo much incase it wrapped itself around the keel and we can't start the engine or it would foul the prop..

We had a small port to calm our nerves before getting back to our night routine. 9 days until we get to the friendly island of Rodrigues, fresh baguettes and a calm anchorage!

All well on board