05 32.812 N 087 03.790 W
After a good night’s rest on a mooring in Chatham Bay, we had a visit from one of the park rangers to give us an overview of the island’s rules and regulations. His visit turned into more of a tour than an official visit, which we appreciated. All our passports were stamped with the coolest stamp ever, a graphic of a hammerhead shark.
We split into two groups: one went to do a hike up to the ranger station, and one went snorkeling around the bay, switching the groups after lunch.
Hiking up to the ranger station on the zig-zag trail gave us stunning views of the clear waters of Chatham Bay. The pristine forest was something to experience; it seems like it has not been touched for hundreds of years. The trail starts and ends at the mouth of the Lievre River, which has a small waterfall and a pool to cool down in, which was welcomed by all after the long hike. Rock carvings along the river left by ship captains and explorers dating back to the 18th century were very interesting and started many conversations about treasures being left on the island.
The park ranger referred us to two different spots for snorkeling: one at Manuelita Rock, famous for hammerhead and tiger sharks. The second spot was a reef close to Chatham Bay Beach. No hammerhead or tiger sharks were spotted, but many other species were enjoyed during the snorkeling sessions. Lots of sea life around the reefs with great visibility. Everyone enjoyed the snorkeling sessions, even being a bit nervous about the predators this island is known for.
We moved FALKEN to a mooring in Wafer Bay late in the afternoon. Once moored, we enjoyed another evening of good food and conversation.
This was truly a remarkable day in a remarkable place. Cocos Island touched all of our souls today, and will stay with us forever.
// Jakes (Johann Koekemoer)
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Turning the corner
Yesterday found Falken on a Northward course, still heeled to port, climbing and falling over waves. Sunrise this morning found Falken in an entirely different condition, one familiar to her, but not yet to the current crew. And then a truly magic moment, a pod of dolphins at least fifty members strong came to dance on Falken’s bow wave. We are now joyfully headed northeast, on course toward our eventual destination of Prince Rupert. Falken has turned a corner.
Onwards and upwards
Today is set to be the calmest day of our trip so far, waves subdued, wind veering off more south-east, light clouds. What an exhilarating ride it has been, beating upwind non-stop directly north for 6 straight days! What ahead of us is a mostly downwind sail to Prince Rupert, but a very exciting one. This makes it an interesting few days going fast and closely watching the weather, and I’m very much looking forward to it. The crew is happy, everyone seems to be getting good rest, enjoying watches and time in between.
Quadruple digits!
We are still headed north away from Hawaii, though today we have started to veer ever so slightly east. Speaking of miles, we hit quadruple digits today and are currently 1051 nms into our journey to Alaska. The sea state continues to calm down, and the famous North Pacific high is just out of our reach. The next few days will be a delicate dance of riding the outskirts of the high while avoiding the pesky low pressure systems that are dancing nearby. In his very wise words, we need to get north but not too far north, stay south but not too far south, continue heading east but not too far east, and avoid going west but also stay west.