We released the mooring ball (actually four small balls) and bid farewell to Cocos Island just as the sun was rising. I would like to say that we had smooth sailing all day, but the reality was very smooth motoring. An attempt was made to pull out the Yankee, but that was an exercise in futility, and it was quickly pulled back in, so we motored on. This has been the most pleasant day of motoring, since the sea is very calm, almost perfect for water skiing. Relaxing in my forward cabin berth when off watch, I could hear the sea swishing along as Falken stayed very stable and flat.
After the evening meal, we shared our glums and glows once again. The only gloom was leaving Cocos Island. Glows included watching the Cocos boobies land on the bow pulpit. At one point we counted 21, with several of those trying to balance on the lifelines. Another glow was the simple pleasure of some ice cubes to fill our water bottles in the heat of the day. And of course, the peacefulness of moving along the Pacific Ocean with a great crew.
// Anne
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LAND HO!
The formula for distance to the horizon (in nautical miles) is the square root of the height of eye (in feet) times 1.15. Which means the easternmost island in the Marquesas, Ua Huka, which is 2,806 feet high, should have been visible at 60.9 nautical miles, at around 430 pm, ship’s time, this afternoon. We didn’t however factor in cloud cover.
Dolphin party!
Kate was about to yank the spinnaker’s sock down when I spotted a stampede of fins heading straight for us. ”Dolphins!”, I yelled back to the cockpit excitedly. Post dinner dish duty was halted down below for the show.
The pool is open!
We stopped the boat, got the ladder down and put out a line with a fender behind the boat. I love swimming in the middle of the ocean, and a bit scary when you realize its more than 4000+ m deep! Love it!
