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
Seasickness
But maybe, I thought, with some drugs I could stay ahead of it. The first 48 hours I felt horrible. But luckily with 3 health care professionals on board and in a very encouraging environment, my body found its way. Anyway, someone offered me a patch (unavailable in Canada) and someone else gave me some pills for nausea and now I feel much, much better.
Dolphins and Bioluminescence
We had a good run with the sails but weather has changed and we are once again chasing the wind. Everyone is getting a chance to practice helming in big swell; starting to get a feel of the wind and water and how it pushes and pulls the hull. A pod of dolphins came to visit at night, splashing in the bioluminescent water, and again in the day, dancing in the bow wake. For now enjoying the calmer sea state and falling asleep to the rumble of the engine and the gentle whooshing of the water on the hull.
Greetings from Lala Lemonshark
The brave crew is toughing it out and staying cheerful despite being tossed around. The engine is off and we are true sailing-main and jib. In the first 12 hours we saw two pods of Orca and four humpback whales, two of which were 20 yards off the starboard beam!