The Cosmos Adventure - News

Report From Joe Dorr -- Received July 8, 2002

Cosmos

July 5, 2002

Dear Cosmos Webmaster,

We had 1,500 miles of ideal sailing from Broome to Cocos Keeling.  We sailed with the wind on our port quarter for 150 miles out of Broome.  We then went wing and wing the rest of the way to Cocos.  We ran an engine only two times in the 10-day run and then only to desalinate water and charge the batteries.

We saw whales on this passage!  At 1700 (5:00 PM) on the 25th of June, we spotted the first one, but were soon surrounded by whales that ranged from 15 to 45 feet long.  They swam with and around the boat, in a fashion similar to dolphins, but they were much too big to swim in the bow wave like dolphins.  Instead, they swam up behind the boat, sometimes crossed the stern, swam by, and sometimes crossed the bow.  Several dived under the boat, and a couple took a definite interest in the electric generator turbine that we tow 100 feet behind the boat.  We have had sharks strike the turbine (some boats have lost turbines to sharks), but the whales evidently were just curious.

We were delighted to watch the whales swim around the boat.  Having watched the dolphins come very close to the boat and never hit, I had no concern that the whales would hit the boat, even though some came within ten feet.  We got some great pictures(OK so they are not suitable for the Discovery Channel, but I was pleased with them) and those are already on the site in "Pictures."

The whales looked like they were having great fun.  They often spun around, and I got one picture of a large whale upside down.  Evidently, they regularly swim on their side to feed, and don't hesitate to make a full revolution.  After reviewing Hillary's porpoise and whale ID book, I believe that we saw Bryde's (pronounced Brooda) whales.  To be sure is very difficult because at least four species have very similar features. 

We also passed a major landmark (actually seamark) enroute.  At 1700 on the 27th of June, we passed over longitude 103 degrees, 30 minutes East.  That is 180 from Annapolis, Maryland, the home port of Cosmos.  Therefore, we passed the half-way point in our circumnavigation.  To celebrate, we wrote two notes and put them into separate corked bottles and tossed them overboard.  We hope someone will find the notes and post their name and location to the web site.  Based on our chart of prevailing ocean currents and winds, the bottles are likely to travel over three thousand miles to just before the coast of northeast Africa, but then turn further north, go past the entrance to the Red Sea and turn south east and come ashore around Bombay, India.  The route would be very circuitous, but such are the ways of the wind and the seas.

Our only disappointment on this passage was the time of our arrival at Cocos.  We arrived two hours after dark, and because of the tricky set of close-quarter turns around shoals and reefs that required to get to safe anchorage, it was necessary to stand watches offshore all night and wait for the sun to rise.  Once the sun rose, the entry into the lagoon was quite simple.

Our stay here has been an absolute delight. I had planned to stay in Cocos for four days.  We are now in our sixth day, planning to stay two more days, but wishing we had time to stay longer.

Cocos is an atoll of seven major islands, but only two are inhabited.  The history is fascinating, so if you have time, visit a web site that can give you at least a summary.  The entire atoll was uninhabited when found by Europeans.  John Clunies Ross moved here in the 1800s, started a coconut plantation, and ended up owning the entire atoll.  The Clunies Ross family sold the atoll to Australia for $6 million dollars in 1979,and the Australian Government now operates it at an expense of $60 million dollars per year.

Home Island is populated with 500 people that used to work the copra plantation of the Clunis-Ross family.  West Island is populated with 150 Australians doing work-tours of a couple of years' duration.  Only 30 percent of the people on Home Island work and the rest are "on the dole."  And a very good dole it must be.  They live in great houses, drive their ATVs everywhere.  They appear to have a very easy life.  The vast majority of the Home Islanders are Muslims.  Prayer time can be heard over most of the island.  No Australians are allowed to live on Home Island, except the Australian medical personnel.

To get to Home Island, we have to take a very rough dinghy ride across the lagoon.  On our first trip across, we forgot our bailer.  Our dinghy took on so much water due to our five-people load, that we were very relieved when we had crossed the rough waters of the lagoon and arrived in the protected waters of our destination.

West Island, where the Australians live, is comprised of an airport, housing and supporting structures. To get to West Island, we have to take a very wet dinghy ride to Home Island, then a 30-minute ferry ride to West Island, and finally a 15-minute bus ride from the ferry dock on the north end of the island to the town on the south end.  The government is trying to expand tourism, but the cost to build, operate and visit the island is so great that only about ten tourists are on the island at any one time.  While we have been here, only two tourists were in Cocos -- besides yachties -- and they happened to be two Americans from California.

Life is not all play on Cosmos at Cocos.  We needed to do some laundry, so we inquired of the customs people. Darren, the guy in charge, said to go to the bank on West Island and they would help us.  So the next morning, off we went crossing the rough lagoon, getting splashed and soaked at 6:00 AM as the sun was rising over palm trees, taking our dirty laundry to the bank.  There must a witticism about customs and laundering and a bank in there somewhere.

Cosmos is moored 50 feet off the uninhabited Direction Island.   Direction Island is the getaway island of the Cocos.  The island is about one mile long, and on the shore inside the lagoon, is one long sand beach.  There is an open picnic pavilion on shore in the middle of the beach, and Australians from West Island come here often to camp, swim and picnic.  Actually, the yachties use the pavilion more than the local Australians, and we haven't seen anyone from Home Island here.

At the north end of Direction Island is the main entrance to the lagoon; at the south end is the Rip.  The Rip deserves a complete story on its own, and I will try to get one of the other crew members to write about it, but I must say at least a little.

The Rip is a 200-foot wide, 2,000-foot long pass between the ocean and the lagoon. The pass is only three or four feet deep in most places, fish and coral are everywhere, and the water runs across the top at 5 to 10 mph.  Disney cannot build a better ride than this. We hike out to the ocean end of the pass, put on our snorkels and fins, and step into the flow.  As you walk out, you tell yourself that you must be crazy.  Sharp coral, rapids, sharks, why am I doing this?  Then you stick your mask into the water, and a complete world, unseen from above, appears.  Beautiful rock ledges, fantastic coral, and all sorts of sea-life are right below the surface.

Sometimes I grab protruding, dead coral-rock that comes within reaching distance and hang on to look around.  As soon as I grab a hold, my legs swing around downstream, and I feel like a piece of twine caught on a stick in a strong wind.  Sometimes I go head-first downstream and extend my hands over my head.  I start laughing into my snorkel because I imagine myself to be Superman flying over streets and rooftops of coral watching schools of colorful fish swimming in and out of the buildings below.

Today I was hanging on to a piece of rock, and watching a five foot black tip shark harassing a bunch of fish and backing them up to a large pinnacle.  While I watched the one shark, suddenly from around the pinnacle came another shark to grab a fish distracted by the first shark.  I don't know if sharks hunt in pairs, but these two certainly looked like they had a method.

As I said earlier, we arrived here on the July 1.  I bought some fireworks before leaving the States and last July 4th, we were at sea with no way to discharge them.  So this year I was determined to see them go off.  I thought what better way to make them legal than to invite the police and customs officials.  We wrote invitations to the other yachties, the police and the customs officials, and within hours every Australian in Cocos considered himself  invited.  Before we could even deliver the invitation to the police, Peter, the medical technician, told Hilary that he was coming,  but none of us had invited him. 

Within a day, I was getting apologies from people I had never met, telling me either that they couldn't come, or they would come.  Well, we had a great turn out.  The police and customs people came.  Remember, there are 150 Australians on Cocos.  We had forty-some of them on the beach on July 4, including John George Clunies Ross (third generation descendant of John Clunies Ross) who brought his family, and lots of additional fireworks.  Check the web for some pictures. George Hotz and John George Clunies Ross had a great time playing pyrotechnic.  They were at the end of the ferry dock, and I could hear them laughing from another 100 yards up the beach.

The Aussies have a reputation for being strong partyers.  I ended the night lying in my cabin in Cosmos, listening the Aussies singing the Star Spangled Banner over and over.  I was awakened the next morning to fireworks being set off on shore. 

Every night there has been a gathering on shore, and we are always invited.  It seems silly to take the dinghy 50 feet to shore, so we wrap our shirts in a towel, and while holding the towel above our heads, swim ashore.  When the evening's get-together ends, we swim back, climbing out of the water clean and ready for bed.  What could be better?

Well, all good things must take a hiatus, so we are leaving Cocos on Monday.  Customs is going to be short-staffed then, so they cleared us today (Friday).  They were nice enough to come 10 miles across the lagoon to save us the wet dinghy ride to Home Island, and then the 30-minute ferry ride to West Island where their office is located.

The next passage will be 1950 miles to Rodregues, an island belonging to the country of Mauritius.  There are only six boats on anchor today at Destination Island, but by complete coincidence, one of them is leaving tomorrow and three (including Cosmos) are leaving the next day -- three are bound for Rodgregues.  We have agreed to use 8149khz on the single side band radio at 1200 hours each day to form a radio net to report our positions, weather, and any problems.  The SSB radio signal will go thousands of miles, so we don't have to stay close to stay in touch.  It will be nice to have other sailors to talk to during the passage.  If you have time, listen in. That frequency is 8149khz.

Joe Dorr, Captain of the Cosmos

July 7, 2002

Today was my birthday, and I only mention this as the entree to a dessert.  This afternoon, Anders and Steve went ashore and collected coconuts.  Steve and Hilary pried the meat from the coconuts and Anders baked a coconut cake with coconut icing.  It was served with five and five candles to the tune of Happy Birthday.  What a lovely and thoughtful crew. And what could be better in Cocos Keeling?

Joe Dorr, Captain of the Cosmos