I arrived here on Thursday morning, June 13, exactly 9 days after leaving Medana Bay on Lombok, a reasonably quick trip of 1200 nm.
The weather here was nice the day I arrived but soon turned cloudy, windy and rainy and has pretty much stayed that way. Like the lagoon inside any atoll, it’s protected from the sea but with only a string of low-lying islands (motus) around the perimeter, some with palm trees, it offers essentially no shelter from the SE tradewinds or storm fronts that blow across the Indian Ocean.
The formal Clearing In process is streamlined here because the Australian officials come to your boat after you notify them on Channel 20 (the common channel used here) that you have anchored. The hassle comes because there is AU$10/day or AU$50/week anchoring fee which must be paid at the Shire office on Home Island, about 1.4 nm away from the anchorage at Direction Island. You can’t officially Clear Out of Cocos without a receipt showing the fee has been paid. 1.4 nm can be a pretty long ride in dinghy across shallow waters with numerous coral heads (bommies) in the relentless 20 kt winds that blow through here. There is a great, fairly new, inter-island ferry (air-conditioned!) but it only connects Direction Island with Home Island on Thursdays and Saturdays and the Shire office is closed on Saturdays along with everything else on Home Island except the grocery store Shamrocks. So as I write this I expect to take the Thursday ferry to Home Island to pay my fees and be on my way to Reunion Island Friday morning. Given the poor weather I would have left sooner except for having to pay the anchoring fee and get an official Outbound Clearance. Not having an Outbound Clearance from the last port can be a problem when trying to Clear In at the next port.
Direction Island itself is uninhabited but with a white sand beach and park facilities (shelters, BBQ grills, toilets, a historical trail with interpretive displays), it’s a popular day trip getaway for people on West Island where most of the local Aussie population lives. West Island also has a few small hotels and the airport. I really can’t see a big tourist appeal to Cocos when there are so many other places to go if you want a beach holiday. Maybe that it’s remote and rare is the appeal.
On a more positive front, I submitted all the required paperwork for arrival at Reunion Island. They responded that the documents were OK and they would have a berth for me at Titan marina when I arrived. It will be a refreshing break to get back to a well-developed place (fresh croissants!). I’m already creating a list of things I need to get in Reunion before moving on. I expect maybe 2 weeks there or longer depending on when a suitable weather window opens for making the passage around the southern end of Madagascar to Richards Bay in South Africa.
