Into The Indian Ocean

Upon arriving back in Darwin, I had one goal--to get going westward ASAP. Fortunately Twister is not a demanding woman--after scrubbing her bottom and replacing a couple of small bits of hardware, she's also eager to set sail.  The provisioning is also done, and we're set to depart for Cocos Keeling Atoll Wednesday morning (tomorrow). It's ca 2000 nm due west from Darwin.  As usual, I plan for 100 miles per day, so hopefully I'll arrive sometime around September 18. I'm starting to feel the pre-passage butterflies which by now is mostly a pleasant excitement as opposed to the pure nervous apprehension I felt before departing San Diego April 18 of last year.


Latest rough itinerary for The Indian Ocean:
Wed 28 August: depart Darwin --  Ca 2000 nm passage
18 Sept:  arrive Cocos Keeling
23 Sept: depart Cocos Keeling -- Ca 2000 nm passage
13 Oct:  arrive Rodriguez
18 Oct:  depart Rodriguez -- Ca 500 nm passage
23 Oct:  arrive Reunion Island
1 Nov:  depart Reunion Island -- Ca 1500 nm passage
16 Nov:  arrive Richard’s Bay
After Richard’s Bay, I plan to make 1-2 day hops down the coast to Cape Town where I hope to arrive by mid-December.

Fellow sailors Paul (on Rebellion) and Dino (on Hadar, with daughter Sasha) are going the same way as me to South Africa. Hadar departed today while Rebellion will depart within a week. Paul’s Australian visa expires shortly, so he will have to bypass Cocos Keeling (which is Australian territory) and sail ~3900 nautical miles directly to Rodriguez. It has occurred to me to do the same, but after 18-20 days at sea, I will most likely enjoy the stop at Cocos. Still, the passage to Cocos will be my second longest after the first one from San Diego to Nuku Hiva.  Apparently there is also an around-the-world organized sailing rally (23 boats I was just told) that will be going the same way, so there is potential for some crowded anchorages.
In addition to the minimal work necessary to keep the boat sailing the right direction, there is my guitar and plenty of reading material to keep me occupied.  I have also set myself the goal of becoming, if not proficient, at least conversant, for lack of a better word, in celestial navigation (I find it helpful to tell people my goals to keep myself accountable)


I don't have any reason to expect that the upcoming passages will be any more hazardous than my past ones (in other words, much safer than driving on Southern California Freeways, for example). If for some reason I disappear off the map, it is most likely because I found a lovely, undiscovered atoll and settled there. Anyway, to get to the point, there is nothing I would rather have been doing than what I have been doing the last 1.5 years, so no regrets.