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Exody - Days 254 - 259: Wahoo and Cocos Keeling



The line whirred out just after Marian had gone for a nap- she had set it to show willing but only a couple of boat lengths long and we were doing seven knots - potentially a little fast for fish. They say fishing is easy in the Indian Ocean - but anyway we were pleased to land a 4kg Wahoo - white meat as a change to the dark tuna flesh. Good four meals worth for us and we had the last batch, still good in the fridge, barbecued on the beach at Direction Island, Cocos Keeling last night Friday 25th September.

We caught the fish on Monday evening and a day later, with an hour and a half to spare before sunset on Tuesday 22nd, we crossed the finish line for Leg 10 and made our way into the sheltered transparent turquoise waters and pristine white sands of Port Refuge anchorage, ninth World ARC boat in. The wind had 'softened' a little in the final 24 hours but we had enough to make the whole of the second half of the leg under sail, latterly goosewinged. The sailing was excellent with moderate seas, increasing moon and reasonably consistent winds - we can only hope the rest of the Indian Ocean will be the same!

Three main islands out of about 27 in total make up the Cocos Keeling atoll with an interesting history of feudal stewardship under generations of the Shetland Clunie Ross family, one of whom still lives here. We are anchored off uninhabited Direction Island where there is an internet hotspot, solar powered and hanging from a shelter amongst the coconut trees, a good-sized communal barbecue and our last palm-fringed tropical paradise for a while. This was a critical communications hub during two world wars and the scene of Australia's nearby first naval victory in November 1914 when the Glasgow built Sydney outgunned the infamous German ship Emden. We dinghied round to 'snorkel the rip' at the east end of the island on Thursday morning - a three knot one way tidal flow into the lagoon- you jump out the dinghy and hang on to the painter and let the current take you over an underwater garden less than five metres deep full of tropical fish, some small sharks and giant blue lipped clams - amazing so we did it twice before breakfast!

The originally indentured (ie by Clunie Ross to work the coconut/copra estates) Cocos Malay community of a few hundred live on Home Island two miles away, now Australian citizens, following the Muslim faith and occupied almost entirely on government funded administration and projects. We learnt much from Ossie whose half day cultural tour of the history and relatively recent changes away from feudalism. Nearly all land and property is still owned by the government but there is very little local enterprise or commerce.

We then met Lloyd and Avril, the Australian couple who now own the Clunie Ross mansion of Oceania House and who offer tours of their own to those who knock the door! They are ten years into a careful and painstaking renovation and have found an appropriate home for Lloyd's large collection of architectural salvage and antique furniture. Originally built in the Scottish baronial style, it retains many original features in spite of being brutally 'adapted' as was the vogue in the sixties- the three storey tower and original staircase were lost along with the characteristic Scottish steep pitched roofs and gables, but much internal panelling and the original white glazed ceramic brick remain. The burmese teak and other local hardwoods have also survived nearly 150 years of the tropics well! Avril took us through the tales of the rise and fall of the Clunie Ross dynasty whilst Lloyd shared his collector's enthusiasm for everything from spitoons to staircases (he has more than 30 of these in store in Perth!).

Home island was a 30 minute dinghy ride away, carefully avoiding the coral heads and negotiating the path through the 'right' shade of turquoise! We'll be back there tomorrow Sunday to pick up our shopping order and raid their freezer for last minute supplies.

West Island is five miles away across the coral-studded lagoon and is the administrative and tourist centre of less than 200 mainly european Australians. It has an international-scale airport, originally built for wartime strategic defence reasons and at one time accommodating 1,000's of troops. We have not visited, preferring to spend time at anchor or ashore, tackling routine boat jobs, squeezing what internet we can out of the hotspot and simply enjoying the peace and the unbroken nights before our long haul across the ocean to Mauritius.

Today is Saturday 26th and we leave on Monday 28th.

Peter (Skipper)


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