A Cruising Guide Map to Isla del Cocos
0147 UTC | 05 33.209’N 087 02.508’W
Chatham Bay, Isla del Coco
Good evening,
The blog today is given to you through an amazing cruising guide map. Crewmember Amy Kardel has created something that actually would have been incredibly helpful to me in the planning of this Cocos trip!
We spent last night in Wafer Bay with plans to explore the ranger station in the morning, after being assured by the rangers it was calmer there (debatable). We saw a beautiful sunset with a cascading waterfall as company, happily chomping on tuna poke and excited for a new bay to explore.
We were quite literally rudely awakened from this dream at 0600 this morning, when the big dive boat stood off our stern, honking away. Apparently the rangers had told them, as they entered the protected area, that they could have the buoy we were on. After some chatter with the rangers, it was established we had to clear out and, actually, we couldn’t come ashore to the station as it was changeover day. Whilst this may not have been the ideal wake-up, it did mean we had a lovely sunrise pootle around the surrounding area before heading back to Chatham Bay. Unsurprisingly, spending another day exploring this idyllic bay has not been a hardship. Two more waterfalls have been found, more birds and creatures spotted, and a different snorkelling site explored. Most impressively, it has allowed Amy to improve on her wonderful cruising guide.
We set ‘sail’ (unfortunately it looks a very engine-happy return trip) at sunrise, so our final night has been spent eating good food, ice cream (!!), and admiring the night sky above us.
// Mary
View more passage logs
Snag it or sweat it! Rolls Royce bunks, watches and fans
Today marks day 6 of one of the most epic passages I've decided to take on. There is something wildly exciting and equally calming about being surrounded by nothing but ocean. I get to watch the entire rhythm of the world shrink down to wind, weather, watches, and 10 humans trying to get a sailboat to another continent. I'm not sure if former bloggers have noted, but this passage is HOT as balls. We continue to laugh, learn, and sweat.
She’s a big ship on a much bigger ocean2335
We also have faced the fact that although Adrienne is a very big ship, she sails over a much, much bigger sea. We all recommitted to being more attentive - treating our watch as a verb not a noun. We might feel comfortable handling Adrienne, but we're not on cruise control and this is no highway. I had not realized to what degree sailing the open ocean requires a daily commitment to awareness, intention, and vigilance. I'm glad for all of us my tutorial was clear but relatively mild.
Day Four: The boat has figured us out
By day 4, things start to get into a rhythm that starts to look like a small community onboard. It’s when personalities start to flourish, when people start losing themselves and start to realize that they don’t really care about a lot of things! I’m pretty sure the disconnection from the internet starts aligning our inner selves. Clearly everyone has gotten their sea legs by now, and even the boat seems to have understood the type of crew she has now. I love to see how people start fitting into different roles with their peers and the boat itself.
