During the night the winds were blowing up to 30 knots and continued to blow at 28 knots with 3 to 4 meters swells. The wind is right on our beam and the wave continued to bash up against us making watch’s a very wet and salty experience. I decided to turn Dragonsbane a little to the north so we could absorb the waves hitting the haul. As I slept in the forward V-berth the waves would hit with such force the interior wood panels would make a cracking sound. Dragonsbane is doing great with the current hammering from the Indian ocean and we are making good time. According to the forecast it looks like the winds will lesson and the swells should go down. I am having a great time and we have about 11 to 12 more days till we step on land.

Currrent Position: 14deg 46.3min SOuth, 86deg 58.5min East, COG 254deg-M, SOG 7.1kts. Sunny, WS 20 to 30kts, Swell 3 to 4 meters

Thanks,

Jacques & Crew

Once again the wind direction is in our favor for speed and comfort. Ok maybe not comfort but we are moving at a steady 7.7kts and Dragonsbane is not pitching as much. The problem with the wind on our beam and the waves more on our forward quarter is that the waves shoot over the deck. That means that all the deck hatch’s must be closed and the temperature inside Dragonsbane is 100 degrees F and rising through out the day. It makes everything a little bit harder to do as you just sweat all day long till about midnight when its cool enough to really sleep. On a good note we caught a another small Maha Maha and one got away after the hook ripped out, but I did get his upper lip.

Current Position: 14deg 02.8min South, 89deg 36.8min East, 01:10utc, COG 265deg-M, SOG 7.7kts, Sunny, Swell 2 meters

Thank You,

Jacques

The good news is that this morning I caught two little tunas but enough for a good dinner and Sushi rolls. Yesterday was exciting because the swells were large enough that you could sail down into the trough like you were driving down a city block looking at swells on both side of the boat. It was like sailing in tunnels with 4 to 5 meter swells. The wind was up and down between 20 to 30 knots and we all got knocked around the inside of the boat. I suffered a pretty big lump on my back after I fell into the edge of the galley rail. We are all looking pretty black and blue but making it across the Indian Ocean all the same.

Current Position: UTC 22:53 13deg 12.3min South, 92deg 26.3min East, COG 250deg-M, SOG 6kts, Swell 2 meters, Sunny

Thanks,

Jacques

Well we are underway for a long passage to Rodrigues Island. So far things have been good and the sea is lumpy as normal and the wind is around 18 to 25 knots with mixed in squalls of rain. We tried catching a fish yesterday but one popped off and we had to keep bring in the fish line because the booby birds kept trying to eat our flasher. We are all looking forward to a fish and some protein but for now its rice, beans, and noodles.

On another note our Garmin chart plotter ran out of mapping so I had to wire up my PC computer with CMAP charts to do our navigation with. It should be interesting using my computer instead of the chart plotter but really its about the same thing, you just don’t have the charts at your finger tips. Along with my computer software I am charting our progress on paper navigation charts as always but doing much more often to make sure we don’t bump into anything.

Current Postion: 12deg 09.6min South, 94deg 29.9min East, COG 252-M, SOG 7.6kts, UTC 00:53, Swell 2 to 3 meters, Squally weather

Thanks,

Jacques

After five wonderful days of swimming, and playing in the lagoon off Direaction Island, Cocos Keeling we are make Dragonsbane ready for our 16 day passage to Rodreguiz Island. It should take 16 days to sail across this stretch of the Idian ocean. As always I will post my updates via SSB for you to follow along.

Thanks,

Jacques

After 3 days 8 hours we made our 529 nautical mile passage to Cocos Island. We had a great sail underway and ran down lots of large 4 meter swells with mix squalls. We are in the lagoon anchored off Direction Island swimming off the back of Dragonsbane. Once again we have to figure out the area and see what to do as we relax for the next four or five days before we sails to Mauritius. It should take us 18 days to sail to Mauritius depending on weather and wind angle. So off to the rum first!

Thank you,

Jacques

As the wind blows we sail fast to Cocos Island but I don’t think fast enough. We still are riding out the 3 meter swells and averaging 7kts but our wind direction is not helping us. We have to jibe 20 degrees to port then jibe back 20 degrees to Starbroad losing 4 miles in each jibe. So with that in mind we will be arriving in Cocos Island around 20:00 hours tonight. But there is a chance we can still make it in time for the sunset and we will make it into the anchorage, we will see. 57 nautical miles remain.

Current Position: 23:53UTC, 11deg 57.5min South, 97deg 45.9min East, COG 280deg-M, SOG 7.7kts, Swell 3>meters, WS 25kts, Over Cast

Thanks,

Jacques

Had a fun day of big 3 to 4 meter swells rocking us all over and strong winds pushing us along at 7 knots. We also got lucky with a nice Maha Maha fish that I cooked up and served with corn bread. As usual it was fun getting your butt kicked around the galley as you cooked up a meal. Currently we are on track to arrive in Cocos Island at 18:00 but I am hopping to improve that time because I cannot enter the lagoon at night. The conditions of the lagoon are unknown to me and therefore I will have to stay out in the ocean for one more night, time will tell.

Current Position: 23:44utc, 10deg 57.1min south, 100deg 29.9min East, COG 259deg-M, SOG 7.3kts, Swell 2> meter.

Thank you,

Jacques

Underway again and on a true offshore ocean passage. After sailing out from under the shadow of Christmas Island we were welcome to solid 2 meter swell with 3 to 5 meter rolling swells mixed in for fun. The big swells heaved us up toward the sky and then gently lowered us down to earth. Gave us a bit of sea sickness but we are all doing well today. We are making good time averaging 7 knots and should arrive Friday night or early hopefully. I really hate having to heave-too outside the island waiting for the sun to come. But if it happens that way I will just slow our progress to arrive Saturday Morning. Other then rolling seas and great speed the cooking has turned into a bit of a combat cooking situation. Its at least entertaining watching Ben cook last night. He only lost his cookies once but his curry chicken turned out great.

Current Position: 00:02UTC, 10deg 56.8min South, 103deg 7.8min East, COG 256deg-M, SOG 7kts, Swell >2 meters, Sunny Skies

Thanks,

Jacques