Cleone - Leg 17 Day 1- Rock and Roll

Plenty of wind, and awkward swells.

 

We were sorry to leave the idyllic Cocos islands, but on the other hand, we've a long way to go to Mauritius, and there's a limit to how often you can barbecue in the same place.  With the crowd we've got, the Skipper thought there was a real danger that we might have run out of beer.  It was only after we were safely on our way that Chris said that the Club on West Island had the biggest War Reserve stock of canned beer that he had ever seen, so provided we could have got the ferry, presumably this emergency was remote.  But getting to West Island from Direction Island was a trek at the best of times, and everything costs a lot in Cocos, so maybe it was just as well we left when we did.

 

As it is, we have had a breezy start, with a fair wind from the South East helping us on our way.  The swells are coming from the starboard quarter, so it has been pretty rolly.  So much so that even the mighty Kealoha has been dipping her boom in the water at times, which is a scary thought.  Cleone is at home in these seas, and being a ketch, her main boom is relatively short so that's not yet happened to us.  We are making good time (169 miles in the first twenty-four hours), though there is still a long way to go.

 

The weather has promised more of the same.  There is a total of 2400 miles from Cocos to Mauritius, so we have plenty of time to get used to the motion.  And the swells promise to get bigger the further into the Indian Ocean we go.  I will keep you posted!