Cocos-Diego Garcia

Map of this passage

Towards the end of the first day of the voyage between Cocos (Keeling) Island and Diego Garcia, Hohoq led the way with Dreamtime bringing up the rear. After a week without any school work and now 3 weeks behind, I hoped to catch up on this passage. The ocean was kind, and the wind gentle. Franda II was only logging 5.5 knots. This made for a manageable motion for me to sit at the saloon and get some study done. I had just started a new set of books and was quite enthused about getting it done.

Dad and I cooked steak, spuds, peas and beans for dinner. The masthead lights of Hohoq and Dreamtime were seen for most of the first night. Finally, by early morning, Dreamtime had taken the lead.

The three yachts were in contact on the HAM twice a day to check positions and weather and to know all was well with each other.

By Day 3, Franda II was alone again on the high sea, with no sails on the horizon. On the morning Sched, Mike acknowledged Rudy's birthday, wishing him fair winds from all onboard Franda II even though the sea was up a little and the sky overcast.

While I sat at the saloon table doing schoolwork, I had my foot in warm, salted water. The cut I got on my foot while on Direction Island had, as I knew it would, become a tropical sore. The warm tropical waters allow bacteria to multiply quickly. In the tropics, cuts become quickly infected if immersed in seawater often. So I sat with a painful foot, soaking in a warm salt solution to get it better.

The wind slowly dropped during the afternoon, leaving us sailing at 4 knots. Dad was supposed to get some fish out of the freezer for dinner but somehow managed to defrost pork instead. Dad is in charge of the freezer and never made that mistake, so perhaps he didn't feel like fish again. So Dad and I made sweet and sour pork for dinner.

Breakfast consisted of pears, yogurt, and leftover sweet and sour pork. Mum then changed the dressing on my foot; Stuart called out "Dolphins" just as she finished, and I excitedly hobbled onto the deck. Any distraction was a welcome one. The pod of dolphins contained about 150 leaping, speeding, sleek bodies. We sisters lay on the foredeck and had a great close-up view of them gliding 3 feet below. Exhibiting their young swimming alongside their mums under the bowsprit. It was an incredible show for the crew on board Franda II.

After the Dolphin's performance, I made a new batch of yogurt. The saved tablespoon of yogurt was placed in a bowl, and the 1 litre "Agee" preserving jar was washed. I heated the kettle and made up lukewarm water in the "Agee" jar, adding the required milk powder to make milk and then stirred in the tablespoon of yogurt. Wrapping the sealed jar in a hand towel, I prowled the deck, looking for a warm, sunny spot out of the wind. Finally finding one, I informed Stu, who was on watch, where it was, to keep an eye on it and ensure it stayed in a draft-free place in the sun. Not so easy to find on a yacht's deck.

I returned to my schoolwork, trying hard to catch up on the 3 weeks lost on Cocos. By late afternoon, with no chance of a rain squall, the family showered under the saltwater hose on deck, rinsing the salt off with a cup of fresh water from the cream can.

The following day, while tuned into the BBC (British broadcasting) for the news, the crew heard that in 1769 on that day, Captain Cook first sighted New Zealand. Here we were sailing as Captain Cook had done over two hundred years before. At least we knew where we were going and what we'd find. Thanks to Capt. Cook and others, we had Charts to follow. Mike would have the radio on daily to catch the BBC midday news. That is midday GMT(Greenwich Mean Time) in England, so it could be any time on Franda II, depending on where we were. Local time at GMT12:00 was about 18:30 in our present position.

Kathryn and I made pancakes for lunch, just for something different. After doing the dishes, we returned to our schoolwork, like many days out sailing, a relatively uneventful day. These are the days that one really wants at sea, but when out there, some excitement is good as long as it is not too exciting. It is not good when things go wrong, break, or the sails are ripped.

We sisters cooked Eggplant Erotica for dinner. Dad said he did not miss eating meat in this one vegetarian meal. We also made an apple crumble as the oven was already on. The rule on Franda II was that if the oven was being used, use the gas wisely and cook other things simultaneously.

Day 6 dawned with the look of rain. But it was well into the morning when Franda II finally found herself in the rain squall. The girls had been hopeful all morning with the shampoo and buckets at the ready. Unfortunately, trying to concentrate on schoolwork and watching for rain didn't help the morning pass quickly.

Finally, the rain arrived, and with it the wind. As we girls stripped off and went out into the rain, the other crew members were busy adjusting sails to suit the stronger wind and its different direction. Franda II was flying at 8 -9 knots, which added to the excitement and difficulty. Franda II was now heeling slightly, making balancing the buckets under the water flowing off the sails more challenging. The water flowing off the sails was also blown around, making it land in different spots. Luckily, the rain was keeping the waves small. Heavy rain tends to flatten the waves - not the swells, though.

With hopeful thoughts of the rain lasting, we wet our hair from the bucket and lathered it with shampoo. We were covered in goosebumps. Even though the average temperature was around 26°c, we were cold once wet and in the rain and wind. We helped each other to rinse our hair from a bucket. We were excited as the rain was still falling hard. Next, we conditioned our hair and then soaped ourselves. All this while running around to ensure the buckets and bowls were collecting water. The rain did not look like it was stopping, so we dragged Stu and Mike out for a shower. At that time, Mike had a nasty boil on his shoulder, so Mum covered it in plastic to keep the dressing dry.

We helped our brothers to wash their hair, delivering the water to them. When everyone was clean, the boys retired to the cockpit to dry while we continued to collect water and fill the cream can. Although by now, most of the salt was off the sails and the water was reasonably fresh, it never went into the main water tanks. Franda II carried plenty of water, and it was not worth contaminating all of Franda II's water supply.

After Kathryn and I made pineapple fritters for lunch and cleaned up, I sat at the table. I worked solidly at my studies until I helped Kathryn serve dinner, fish with a sweet and sour sauce. A good 5 hours of schoolwork.

Over the next few days, we put the little tent up on the foredeck as a rain catcher, but it didn't rain again. Kathryn and I did a morning of schoolwork in the tent, which was a change to the saloon. Another fish meal, this time fish and chips.

I needed to cut one of the last pumpkins up. However, it was too hard for me to cut with the knife. So I resorted to the axe. Keeping the pumpkin on the "bait" board on deck was challenging. I used the bait board as it was bigger than the chopping boards. If I missed and cut the teak deck, the consequences didn't bear thinking about.

The pumpkin was pleased to feel the sun's heat on its skin again. It had been nestled below the waterline under the galley floorboards since Sydney. Which was a long dark six months ago. I was small and strong for my age, but still, the axe was hefty and the handle too long. The pumpkin kept moving on the board as if knowing its life was ending. I was terrified of damaging the teak, but judging the motion of Franda II (and the pumpkin), I brought the axe down, splitting the pumpkin in two.

That night, we sisters cooked a roast. A chicken leg and wing each, spuds and pumpkin. And yes, as the oven was on, we also cooked two apple crumbles and a tea cake.

We were still at sea when I finally became a teenager. My family gave me a small book on Australian Aboriginal myths - The First Sunrise. Position as recorded on the cover page "Indian Ocean 7°30'S 75°30'E" It still has a place on my bookshelf. Both Freya and Tina wished me Happy Birthday on the HAM schedule.

The British Indian Ocean Territory of Diego Garcia was finally sighted the day after my birthday. The Chagos Archipelago is made up of over 60 small islands. Hohoq was already in and anchored, and Dreamtime was entering the lagoon. Franda II still had 7 km to travel up the side of the lagoon and another 5km across the top before finding the entrance to the coral lagoon. It was edging on dark as we motored towards the navigational beacons at the entrance. A squall hit us, reducing our speed to 2 knots. We edged forward, searching for Dreamtime's masthead light. At least one advantage of this being a United States Naval Support Facility is that the entrance is large. Also, there are no bommies in the lagoon, making a night approach safe. With Dreamtime's masthead light in sight amongst the stars, Franda II anchored nearby. Tina rowed over to say happy birthday and give me a bag of lollies.

No locals were on the islands, just US/UK military personnel and support crews. The local inhabitants were deported to Mauritius and Seychelles between 1968 and 1973.

The previous day's late arrival at Diego Garcia meant that Franda II's crew spent the morning making her ship shape.They coiled sheets and covered the sails. I managed some school work before Customs came out in their launch and cleared us in. Franda II was having some issues with her VHF, Hohoq had issues with their Ham, and Dreamtime had engine issues. Customs were asked if they could organise people to come out and fix the problems. Tina and I went ashore for an afternoon swim and play on the beach.

Finally, some USA Navy personnel arrived by boat to try to fix Franda II's VHF and Hohoq's HAM. The HAM was fixed, but Franda II's VHF needed a part they did not have.

The Forces "guys and gals" enjoyed watersports and picnics for recreation. There was not much else to do. A story was told that a group had been out picnicking. They had taken the Boston Whaler to an island, pulled the bow onto the beach and dropped the anchor onto the sand. The anchor was tied off short. They then went exploring. When they came back, there was no boat. The dinghy lifted when the tide came in, and her anchor left the sand, allowing her to float away. They jokingly said, "If you find it, we don't want to know - insurance is organising us another".

I again did my day of schoolwork in the morning, and then Tina and I rowed ashore and swam. It was a very shallow beach. We had brought a picnic lunch and a treat: a can of Coke. The Coke was ceremoniously buried in the sand to keep cool. Never to be found again. Another lesson learned!

A group of yachties walked to an old house to explore it. Tina and I explored the shower and discovered water still came out of the shower rose when the tap was turned. Tina's mum snapped a photo of us both in the shower. It shows the side of Tina looking on. The centre of the focus is me and my dimpled smile. My sun-bleached long hair is loose around my face, covered by a peaked cap. A small blue halter top is tied at the back, covering my flat chest. My exposed midriff is brown and encircled in a string, to which my precious pocket knife was tied. Long, skinny, sun-browned legs sticking out of baggy shorts and leading down to a pair of slip-ons. One heel casually half out of the shoe. This photo sits on my desk, one of the few I have of my time sailing. Tina had paid for a copy in Le Grau du Roi(France) and posted it to me.

Some Navy engineers came out to look at Dreamtime's engine but could not fix it. Tina and I were ashore on the last day, enjoying the water and beach. We returned promptly when Dad whistled. He had a loud whistle that he had perfected when mustering sheep in Mangakino, NZ.

We returned to our own yachts, which were stowed ready for departure with anything loose packed away. Isle Sudest in the Egmont group part of the Chagos Archipelago was the next port of call. It is still part of the "British Indian Ocean Territory " and only 41 km away. Franda II left around 16:30 and was again the last to leave. There was no hurry. Our next anchorage should be less than 8 hours away, and we did not want to close the reef in the hours of darkness.