The Cosmos Adventure - News
Report From Joe Dorr -- Received July 23, 2002 CosmosJuly, 23, 2002
We had a quick and exciting passage from Cocos to Rodrigeus. We sailed 2,000 miles in eleven days and nineteen hours for an average speed of over seven knots. The winds averaged about 30 knots (about 36 MPH) and we had gusts of over 60 knots. Judging the height of waves is extremely difficult and wave height is actually unimportant if the wave interval is a large multiple of the wave height. Tall, short-interval waves that are breaking are definitely to be avoided.
The hardest winds came from the SSE. We were sailing WSW so the hardest winds tended to be right on our port beam, therefore hitting us broadside. Some of the waves crashed into the side of the boat with tremendous bangs. One evening, I sprung from my bunk, with the absolute belief that we had been hit so hard that something must be damaged. Nothing was. Later, we were hit by THE WAVE, which is documented from the view of each member of the crew. Everyone's experience with THE WAVE was different, so I am hoping each member of the crew will write of the experience as they saw it so we can put all of those together as one log entry on the web.
Before we left Cocos, four boats were planning to leave on the same day and join our radio-net. Cosmos left at 1630 hours and before then, only Up-Chuck had left. We ran our radio net each day at 0700 Zulu (1230 Cocos time). Only Up-Chuck and Cosmos were on the net, so the other boats must have altered their plans, as often happens in the cruising life.
Each day on the net we gave position, miles traveled, wind and wave conditions, any problems we have experienced in the last 24 hours, and a "true story". On one day, Frank, the skipper of Up-Chuck played us the Star Spangled Banner and on another day, Cosmos performed a newly composed theme song that is a modified version of "Take Me Home Country Road." The words go like this:
Almost heaven
Indian Ocean
Beam reach sailing
Blue water rolling
Live is old there
Older than the reefs
Younger than the moon beams
Shining down at me
[Chorus]
Ocean Road, take me home
To the place where I belong
Chesapeake Bay, Severn River
Take me home
Ocean road
I hear her voice
In the morning
When she calls me
Iridium connects me
With my home far away
And sailing down the road
She is telling me
I should have been home yesterday, yesterday
Repeat Chorus.
George did a great job on guitar and the three capable of singing did a great job. I filmed the performance for posterity.
Arrival at Rodriquez was a welcome event. Entry was easy and the anchorage is nearly flat calm, even though the winds are gusting up to sixty knots outside of our harbor. We toured the island by various means. Steve Hall, and Frank and Peter of Up-Chuck and I decided to rent motor cycles and took a ride the full length and breadth of the six-by-fourteen mile island. As we were just starting out on our motorcycles, I stopped at a stop sign, looked to my right and watched two motorcycles crash into each other at about 20 miles per hour. One of the fellows went somersaulting about 40 feet down the street. They stood up after the accident so no one was knocked unconscious. But I have no idea of what injuries they did have. Because I do not speak French I was in a poor position to lend assistance, compared to the way others that gathered, so we continued our journey. Of course my sensitivities to safety were heightened as I was riding my motorcycle in shorts, on the left side of the road, with a plastic helmet that wouldn't pass the tricycle requirements in the USA.
Rodriques was settled by slaves freed from the island of Mauritius. There is one major port town named Port Mathurin where about half of the population lives. The rest of the people have settled all over the island creating one-store towns and small farms. The people are hard working and friendly. They have very few resources, but do a lot with what they have. The winds blow hard across this island of many stone outcroppings. Most homes have small kitchen gardens or larger plots. The farmers raise goats and cattle. The island is steep-sloped like the hills of Tuscany and the farmers have created stonewalled terraces to collect and hold soil. Views are spectacular. Steve said many of the views remind him of Greece. It reminds me of San Geminanio on a turquoise sea.
We were planning to leave this morning and cleared health, immigration and customs yesterday. At six this morning, two members of the Coast Guard came by and told us the winds were expected to be up to 70 MPH, there is a high over the island and three lows surround it. They recommended that we postpone our departure. We now plan to leave tomorrow. Glad to have the time to send this report, which would not have been possible if we left this morning.
I haven't been able to send e-mail over the SSB since leaving Australia and I don't expect to be able to do that until we reach South Africa. The signal has to go from the boat back to Road Island where it is put onto the Internet. I guess expecting the signal to bounce all the way around the world is too much to ask. It is surprising that it was pretty reliable from West Australia to the East Coast of the USA.
Waiting for better weather in Rodriques, Mauritius.
Joe Dorr
Captain of the Cosmos
THE WAVE
I was sound asleep using earplugs when the wave hit. I didn't hear it. After it hit, I slid across my bunk and slumped against the bulkhead as the wave lifted one haul and then the other. The wave did not heighten my concern because we had taken so many and probably because I was asleep with my earplugs in when it hit. I lay awake and within a few minutes saw someone moving a few items around that had once again slid out of position. Then I saw George and Hilary working on the bathroom mirror. I later found out that it developed major cracks from one end to the other and they were putting tape across it to prevent shattering and scattering of glass. The mirror is mounted on an inner wall and must have cracked from the simple vibration cause by the wave's impact. The next day, I found a small piece of metal in the cockpit and realized it was a piece of one of a dozen clips around the edge of the dodger that fastens it to the deck. The dodger must have been hit directly by THE WAVE, and therefore the breaking wave had to come down from above ten feet from the surface and five feet into the boat just to reach the clip. To break the clip, it had to come down on
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