I hope my mother doesn't read this

Sometimes at sea and thousands of miles from land I see some things that you wouldn't believe, some of which I feel blessed for seeing and others I wish weren't there. On this passage from Cocos to Mauritius alone I have seen two sharks of decent size. One of which was by chance as I was looking out of the cockpit and saw something going the other way about 8ft long and shark shaped, the other when I was on deck alone and the fishing reel went mad as a few metres of line spun out very suddenly at high speed. Because the lure wasn't far out the back and as I was reeling in I could see what I'm sure was a shark in the wave behind the boat. It took one more bite at the lure then let go and swam off. I think I'm glad it did because having a shark on the back of the boat is really going to upset it and I'm not sure I'd want to go anywhere near it to get the hook out. Next up of things at sea was just today at about 1100 miles from Mauritius and the nearest point of landfall. It is not unusual in the Indian Ocean to come across pirates but they are normally further north and not usually this far out to sea, so when I noticed a boat not very far away I immediately called Bry and Tosh up to have a look. There was a fishing boat about 80ft in length, flying the Indonesian flag and sat at sea anchor. Sights like this can feel a bit unnerving. As we got closer and started to pass this vessel it was apparent that there was no fishing gear on board and the whole boat felt a bit lifeless bar a few young men on the aft deck. From my experience in this area of the world I would put it down to either immigrants in a broken down boat or sat there waiting for a drop from one of the numerous big cargo ships out here of drugs or people. Maybe they were just innocently fishing. We will probably never know and in a way I'm glad that we didn't find out, I just wish these obstacles weren't out here because a boat of that size sat to a sea anchor is not in a position to be able to get out of our way and I'm not sure how well lit at night they would be if at all. 

Paradise

Our passage from Bali was in a beam on swell, rolling the boat but in plenty of wind so much speed the whole way. This would always be my preference over smooth but slower. Our route to the Cocos Islands took us directly through Christmas Island along the way, both of these places are Australian principality so just calling in to Christmas Island for a look around wasn't really an option with having to clear in and then out with customs and immigration although I've heard through other sources that the locals are best described as 'local'. A couple of days further on and an atoll appears over the horizon, always with palm trees as the first sight, we are at the Cocos Islands! It was apparent immediately that this was a special place and our first encounter being the most curious, laid back and show off dolphins we have seen on this voyage so far, with a lot of underwater and above surface displays from them. The main anchorage for yachts is at the north eastern tip behind Direction Island because the rest of the huge lagoon is uncharted and shallow in most places. Upon anchoring we were greeted by more of the local wildlife in the form of a curious turtle and lots of black tip sharks.

Being one of the first boats into the anchorage was definitely a bonus as we got to see it in all of its glory. 

There is a bit of history to go with the islands including the falling out of the founding Australian business partners, one of whom was banished to the duly called Prison Island for 3 months until leaving on a ship. This was a small but great place in itself and a few of us had sundowners there

One of the highlights of a stay was a ferry laid on by Oyster World Rally organisers, Debbie and Eddie, which took us to the International Champagne Festival on West Island. This is the largest island of the group but still with only a few hundred residence and all very friendly. The evening was in the local pub which conveniently for the locals is also the shelter in an event of a cyclone.

October 19 also brought with it Bryony's birthday. Especially after my birthday ten days earlier I know how important it is to have everyone around and have a good time, so with the help of the girls on Lush, Audrey hooked me up with a delicious cake and Lucy did some Cocos themed artwork on one of my crew t shirts which I then got signed by a few people with birthday wishes. The previous evening I had had a fair bit of champagne so the morning of the 19th was less than subtle as I was blowing up balloons with the occasional one bursting in my face. All in all a great success and thanks to everyone involved. Next stop Mauritius

Indonesia

What an amazingly bustling, hectic place full of friendly people. It was in Kupang that we cleared in through customs and obtained our cruising permits allowing us to tour the islands. In kupang there was also the Oyster party which featured most of the top figures in the city to greet us all along with some excellent local food and drink for the evening. Unfortunately I had two mishaps that evening. One at the start when I drove our tender through a mooring line for a small local fishing boat which cut it and the boat drifted off slowly, in my defence the line was about 100 ft long and under water, luckily the boat was recovered quickly. The second was when I got back to Proteus a bit later than Tosh and Bry, walked into the corner of the cockpit table and fell on my right knee twisting it badly. This would put me in a lot of pain and nearly out of action for a week or two. It still isn't fully recovered now three weeks later. Arranged by our top Oyster representative, Debbie was a trip up to the local orphanage. Along with this were many toys to play with including pen and paper. These kids didn't have anything and the boys even had to sleep on the floor! So off to the bed shop on the way to buy mattresses for them to sleep on. It was even apparent that the staff hadn't been paid for months so a donation was made to help them too. There is a bit of corruption in Indonesia and it seems bizarre how the police can afford a new shiny helicopter in comparison!

After Kupang we made our way up and round the North of the islands which is by far the most picturesque route full of beautiful bays, beaches and reefs. This took us round to Rinca in the Komodo reserve, home to many thousands of Komodo dragons. We took a tour along with others from Amelie, Spent, Sulana, Wolfhound, Purusha and Serendipity. This took us a long way round the reserve where we found Water Buffalo and the Komodo dragon. One buffalo was having a bad week and had been bitten by a dragon and was in the long process of slowly dying.

Next along was a trip to Gilli Air, a party island and fun place.  Once more there were a few Oyster yachts here and we had a big dinner ashore and a snorkel in the afternoon to cool off before up early to leave for Bali.

The sail to Bali was brilliant with good breeze, an interesting crossing across one of the busiest shipping straights in the world (not very daunting for anyone who has been across the English Channel on a busy day) and the sight of hundreds of the local, outrigger fishing boats going the opposite direction to us

Now tied up in Bali International Marina. This isn't as glamorous as it may sound and I may have had too higher expectations for the marina after hearing its name but the staff were very friendly and helpful and the bar was good. Bali is by far the most manic place I have ever visited, even more so than Kupang. The absolute highlight being a few of us jumping on new 250cc Kawasaki dirt bikes and heading inland up the mountains. This turned out to be an incredible way to see the island although Tosh and myself with very similar riding experience (neither of us can actually remember the last time we rode a motorbike) really did over sell ourselves to the tour guide and told them that we had ridden thousands of times and it as all good. So we set off and after a few metres were on the beach riding at high speed on the sand and over technical rocky outcrops. At this point it was running through my mind that I was massively inexperienced for this and there was almost certainly a massive crash going to happen imminently. As soon as I had excepted the inevitable I felt a lot easier and just got on with it. The tour took us through rice paddies, dirt tracks, hill sides, public roads and into the centre of Bali about 1000m up. The guides were excellent and encouraged a bit of rowdy behaviour so there was plenty of over and even undertaking, wheel spinning, donuts and wheelies plus a couple of crashes thrown in for good measure

This was some of the most fun I have ever had!

Another trip into Bali and to Kuta where the Bali bombings took place a few years ago. There was no everdince of any blast I could see, just a huge contrast from the inner of the island which was green and luscious to streets of knock off shops and bars and restaurants here, all pleasantly there to the soundtrack of a big ocean swell lapping up the steep beach.

9 October, my birthday. After much trying to persuade Tosh not to leave, I was at sea for the first time on my birthday. This was not the best fun I've had and I've decided to miss it out and do it again somewhere else.