Rainy Day in Cocos Keeling

 

It's been hot and very humid for the past couple of days. Sometimes we get some sprinkles during the night, but you could say the days are almost liquid with humidity, palpable … except no real rain until today. There were torrential downpours during the night … the kind you expect in the tropics. They come on suddenly with a bit of wind to announce their arrival and then BAM. The heavens open up and empty all they've got, so that we can barely see the island or nearby boats. As quickly as the rains begin, they wear themselves out. The sun comes out for a few minutes, brilliant beams gleaming and reflecting off everything wet and soaked. The sky darkens again and the dark clouds gather together and the cycle begins once more. Judging from what I've read in the brochures, heavy rain during the days is not typical for the area, but then, those brochures were written by the marketing people who probably don't live here and are trying to promote tourism. Who wants rain on their vacation?

This is not a bad thing every once in awhile. Though David has swept the decks, there are still aluminum filings lurking here and there from his work on the whisker pole. A good, fresh water deck wash was definitely in order … thank you, Mother Nature. I've been using watermaker water for doing laundry. I'd rather keep watermaker water in the tank for future use on our upcoming passage, but dirty laundry has a way of piling up rather voluminously. The rainwater cistern ashore is empty from overuse by a full anchorage of yachties with an excess of dirty clothes to wash.

All through the night, I could hear water sloshing around in the dinghy where it's tied up just outside my porthole in the aft cabin. I kept thinking I'd have some rainwater for laundry. David's fastidious about wiping all the sand out of the dinghy when we go ashore, so I was imagining clear, soft rainwater and I wasn't disappointed. We have 5-gallon plastic, collapsible jugs aboard and I dug out a couple. In no time, I had them both filled and David provided two more. In all, 20 gallons of fresh water for laundry. Some items really only needed a fresh water rinse … those I just threw into the dinghy and let the dinghy motion take care of the agitate and rinse cycles. They'll hang on the line and rinse some more until the rain stops and the sun dries them … maybe tomorrow.

We have plenty of inside chores to do. There's all the usual cleaning, sweeping, meal prep, cooking, whipping of lines, checking on systems, writing blogs. And then, of course, there's napping. What better thing to do on a lazy, rainy day?

Captive Aboard at Cocos Keeling

We woke late for us (0715), early for Cocos Keeling (0545) … we've grabbed the 1-1/2 hour time zone change without a hitch. After a remarkably calm and peaceful night, despite the howling wind, we were all ready to embrace our new surroundings and get to work on the to-do list. First things first, however … I made a coffee cake and we sat in the cockpit to enjoy it along with our morning cuppa. We do have priorities on Nine of Cups.  

The wind continues to scream, but still, sitting in the cockpit was a delight. We are surrounded by startlingly clear and vibrant turquoise blue water. It almost hurts your eyes, it's that dazzling. We can see zillions of palm trees on Direction Island, in front of which all the rally boats are anchored. Home Island, the home of the resident Cocos Malay people is about 1.5 miles away and quite clear. West Island, the administrative center, airport and ex-pat Aussie hangout is quite hazy and about 5 miles away across the lagoon. We saw a pod of dolphins swimming near the boat this morning. Supposedly the swimming, snorkeling and diving are great here on calmer days though the dolphins didn't seem to mind the wind in the least.

We had thought to move into the inner lagoon in the lee of Direction Island today, but at least four more rally boats have arrived and only one has left to our knowledge, which makes for an even more crowded anchorage. We decided we were comfortable enough where we were in Port Refuge for the time being. Besides, the wind was still blowing consistently near 30 knots and we wouldn't be launching the dinghy today … more akin to flying a kite. We're content to be captive aboard Nine of Cups till the winds settle down (and maybe some of the boats leave the anchorage). There's definitely plenty to keep us busy.

David got right to work on his to-do list. First, the cockpit GPS which we just replaced about six months ago and which he just re-wired in Geraldton. It's toast, but we have several GPSs aboard … no worries, just not as convenient. Let's move on! Taking down the jib for repair in 30 knots, probably not. Ah, yes, the whisker pole. I helped him take it off the track so he could get the sail cover on and then left him to his own devices with instructions to take pictures as he went along. His goal is to cut off the broken bits of the aluminum extension pole, refit it and make it useable again. Knowing David, if it can be done, he'll do it. He's a great MacGyver kind of guy.

In the meantime, all our our salt-water sodden clothes have been rinsed in fresh water and another load of laundered clothes are holding on for dear life pinned to an aft clothesline that we rigged. In this wind, they should dry quickly if they don't jump ship first. The wind gen is putting out beaucoup amps and the watermaker is churning away, turning all that beautiful turquoise salt water around us into to beautiful drinking water for the tank.

The Federal Police never showed up today to check us in … perhaps too windy even for them or too busy with all the ARC boats?

Still … there are certainly worse ways to be captive.

Back Into the Swing of Things

Being back aboard Nine of Cups is wonderful, but it always takes awhile to get back into the swing of things. I've grown accustomed to throwing a load of dirty laundry in Mary's washer whenever I want, then tossing it in the dryer at my convenience. As I looked at the dirty laundry awaiting me on my return plus what clothes we've already managed to get dirty, I had to think about the laundering process a bit. First, amass the $1 coins necessary for the washer (4-8/load). Tote everything down the dock, put it in the washer, return to the boat. After 30 minutes, if it's a sunny day, return to pick up the wet clothes, tote them back to the boat and hang them on the line to dry. If the day's not sunny, put the clothes in the dryer, walk back to the boat, then check on them in a half hour and pump in some coins if they're not dry. This is not all that difficult, but it's certainly more time-consuming and labor-intensive than throwing a load into Mary's washer and dryer.  

Grocery shopping is a similar challenge. I'm doing the major provisioning by shopping on-line. We're provisioning for 90 days and since I've been away from Cups for a couple of months, I kind of forgot what was aboard, so I started from scratch taking an inventory and placed a large order with Cole's for delivery this week. In the meantime, however, we were running low on essentials like bread and eggs. While David was busy changing the oil and working on the rig, I headed down to the closest supermarket, Woolworths, along the Mandurah foreshore, a couple of miles away. Again, not too difficult, but a 2-1/2 hour roundtrip which cut into my day significantly.

Instead of jumping into the shower in our en suite bedroom at Mary's, we're walking an 1/8 mile up the dock toting all of our shower stuff to take a hot shower in an unheated public shower room. It's clean and neat, but not very private and certainly not warm when you step out all wet. Lord forbid, you forget your towel and have to walk all the way back to the boat … or worse, remember it as you're stepping out of the shower. I've done both. #$@#!!

On the other hand, I've been getting much more exercise and I'm back home, you silly galah. Quit complaining!