whew! after sailing 2,000 miles in 16 days zephyr makes landfall at cocos keeling. after a long passage any piece of land - even hell itself - would be a welcome sight (not to say i don't love the sea and the sailing, but i need a little bit of earth to grab onto every now and then). so long as it's solid and stationary i'm down. that being said, cocos is no ordinary place. five tiny white sand islands speckled with palm trees. in the middle of nowhere. the water is as clear as i've ever seen. the fish life is prolific to say the least. i have 5 pet black tip sharks whom currently live under our boat. eventually i'll put up some purty pictures for ya'll to look on but right now, with the internet as such, it's out of the question.

we will be here another few days and then set sail for madagascar. it's only 3,000 miles. i'm running out books and that would be very, very bad. i've already resorted to reading the dictionary from time to time.

the passage from darwin to cocos was alright. a little bit of everything. we went from no wind and stifling heat to fresh trade winds and cooler temperatures five days out from the mainland. what can i tell you? at one point we heaved to in calm waters and were able to partake in a refreshing dip in the middle of the indian ocean. that was nice. we caught a few fish of course. i can make a wicked paella now after learning traditional basque style from some friends in darwin. my repertoire is steadily increasing!

okay i have to go do boat chores and such. i will write more later and put up some pictures eventually, but that may have to wait until africa. but for now, know that i am well and loving life while basking in the sunshine that drenches the beautiful cocos islands.