Monthly Archives: December 2007

Travel Summary April 2007 to December 2007

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United States of America to Australia

The maps show the approximate route Kosmos has made. These are straight “point to point” lines, and necessarily our exact path. For example we headed a bit more south on our first passage than the line shows.

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  • Dana Point, California, USA
    W117°41, N33-27
    Feb 27 – May 20, 2006
    commissioning process
  • Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
    W116-37, N31-51
    May 20 – Sep1, 2006
  • San Diego, California, USA
    W117-14, N32-42
    Sep 1, 2006 – Apr 28, 2007
    Trip to Catalina Island
  • Taiohe, Nuka Hiva, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia
    W140-6, S8-55
    May 19 – Jun 1, 2007
    Island tour, horseback riding, Marquesan Feast
  • Anaho, Nuka Hiva, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia
    W140-05, S8-50
    Jun. 1 – Jun.3 & Jun 27, 2007
    Hiking, swimming with dolphins
  • Fatu Hiva, Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia
    W138-40, S10-27
    Jun. 4 – Jun. 6 & Jun 28, 2007
    Hike to waterfall
  • Manihi, Tuomotu Islands, French Polynesia
    W146-02, S14-28
    Jun 9 – Jun. 19 & Jun. 29 – Jul. 1, 2007
    SCUBA diving, hiking
  • Apataki, Tuomotu Islands, French Polynesia
    W146-25, S15-20
    Jun. 19 – Jun. 25 & Jul. 2 & Jul. 6, 2007
    Kosmos stuck on a sunken sailboat, hiking, snorkeling
  • Noth Fakarava, Tuomotu Islands, French Polynesia
    W145-49, S16-04
    Jul 6 – Jul 19, 2007
    SCUBA diving, bike ride around island
  • South Fakarava, Tuomotu Islands, French Polynesia
    W145-24, S16-30
    Jul 19 – Jul 24, 2007
    Snorkeling
  • Tahiti, Society Islands, French Polynesia
    W149-38, S17-33
    Jul 25 – Aug. 6 & Aug. 10, 2007
    Heiva cultural festival, island tour
  • Moorea, Society Islands, French Polynesia
    W149.51, S17.29
    Aug 6 – Aug. 10, 2007
    Island tour, snorkeling
  • Tahaa, Society Islands, French Polynesia
    W151.20, S16.35
    Aug 14 – 16, 2007
    Island tour, snorkeling
  • Bora Bora, Society Islands, French Polynesia
    W151.45, S16.31
    Aug. 16 – 29, 2007
    Island tour, snorkeling
  • Suwarrow, Cook Islands
    W163-6, S13-14
    Aug 31 – Sep. 11, 2007
    Snorkeling, diving, visit to bird sanctuary island
  • Niue
    by W169-55, S19-00
    Sep 12 – 21, 2007
    Diving, cave explorations, island tour
  • Vava°u, Vava°u Islands, Kingdom of Tonga
    W174-00, S18-39
    Sep. 26 – Oct. 11, 2007
    Diving, island tour on a go kart tour, hiking, swimming with whales
  • Suva City, Viti Levu, Mamanuca Islands, Fiji
    E178-25 E, S18-07
    Oct. 12 – 16, 2007
  • Nadi & Lautoka Cities, Viti Levu, Mamanuca Islands, Fiji
    S17° 46 by E177° 23 & 17° 36S by 177° 27E
    Oct. 17- Oct. 25 & Oct 31 – Nov.1, 2007
    Island tour, helicopter ride, day visits to nearby islands
  • Vanua Levu, Mamanuca Islands, Fiji
    E177° 03, S17° 27
    Oct. 25 – Oct 27, 2007
    Hiking, diving
  • Waya, Yasawa Islands, Fiji
    E177° 08, S17° 20
    Oct 27 – Oct 31, 2007
    Hiking
  • Efate, Shepherd Islands, Vanuatu
    E168° 18, S17° 44
    Nov 3 – Nov 13, 2007
    Island tour, visit to volcano, waterfall
  • Aore and Espirtu Santo, Shepherd Islands, Vanuatu
    15° 35S, 167° 08E
    Nov 13 – Nov 19, 2007
    SCUBA Diving on WWII wrecks
  • Cairns, Queensland, Australia
    S16° 55, E145° 46
    Nov 21 – Dec 7, 2007
    SCUBA diving, boat haul out, animal sanctuary, butterfly sanctuary
  • Port Douglas, Queensland, Australia
    S16° 28 by E145° 28
    Dec 7 – Dec 11, 2007
  • Lizard Island, Queensland, Australia
    S14° 40 by E145° 26
    Dec 11 – 17, 2007
    Diving, snorkeling, hiking
  • Horn & Thursday Islands, Torres Straits, Australia
    10° 35S by 142° 14E
    Dec 18 – Dec 21, 2007

Bemo Tour of Kupang

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Christi slept for 14 blissful hours and woke up refreshed and feeling great. Eric slept for about 9 and woke up still feeling tired. We were supposed to meet Napa back at the Lavalon at 11:00. We figured we could get in a couple of hours of sightseeing first. By 08:30 it was so hot you would think you were in a furnace. Instead of sightseeing, we ran the air conditioning and enjoyed the cool until it was time to go.

Napa had said he would be by as soon as he was done with customs and immigration, about 11:00, maybe 12:00. He showed up at 1400 (2:00 pm) to let us know he thought it would be another hour.

While we were sitting there, we had been watching the public transit vehicles go by. They are low, small mini-vans called bemos. Normally, we pay virtually no attention at all to public transit vehicles, but the bemos are something of a spectacle. They are Continue reading →

Check In to Kupang

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The ride inside the channel was pretty. There were islands on all sides of us. As we got closer to the islands in the channel to Timor, we could see that, while there is a lot of foliage, it is actually pretty dry, with much of the shrubbery brown. From 10 miles away we could see the tall structures of the city of Kupang in the distance to the right. We could easily pick out a refinery, with it’s big smoke stack. All the other surrounding islands have few structures, maybe one or two low buildings here or there.

Kupang has a population of 350,000 people. The refinery must be on the edge of town. We passed the refinery and moved towards the heart of the city, looking for the anchorage. The shore line is pretty sad looking. There are a few extremely nice buildings, but most need some serious work, and a few are dilapidated shacks that look like they will collapse at any second. There are several half built buildings that you get the sense will never be finished.

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We were pretty sure that Continue reading →

Welcome to Kupang City, West Timor Island Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia

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10′ 9S by 123′ 34E – Yesterday the wind was erratic, and so was the ride. It would get calm, then rough, then OK, then calm”¦ you get the idea. This morning seas have been reasonably good. We rolled up 2,000 hours on the main engine, which is a lot of time at sea. Eric saw something in the water that he thinks may have been a whale. He saw a spray of water and a flipper, so he is not positive. We made incredibly good speed on this passage, running at 1500 RPM most of the time and averaging over 6 knots. This has been by far our best passage overall, but it also had by far the scariest moments at sea we have ever had. Kind of seems like an oxymoron if you hadn’t read the full story.

Land was already visible when the sun came up. We were passed through some of the smaller islands to the south of Timor. There were islands on both sides of us. They are pretty low. Some have some small hills, but nothing too big. They are green and we could see some big stretches of beach on many of them. The taller mountains of the mainland er, the much bigger island, at least, is visible behind the islands on our right. At 09:00, we rounded the corner of one of the islands and headed into Kupang, located on the southwest corner of Timor Island. The smell of land dirt and vegetation — was strong. It is a good smell.

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Australia to Indonesia – Day 6 & 7 with Squalls

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Yesterday the bird left mid-morning, after having stayed with us a good 20 hours or so. The bird was not a good houseguest and left quite a mess behind. Eric had a lot of fun cleaning it up.

We had another unique sunset last night. The horizon was cloudy, and the clouds were a blue-gray color. The sky turned orange-gold, and the color contrast of the blue and orange was quite pretty. The sky slowly darkened to an orange-red before turning pink in the last rays of sunlight, all still contrasted by the blue-gray clouds. The spectacular colors brought on another moment of awe at the wonders of Mother Nature. The moon is almost full and gives off so much light that you can’t see the stars.

Sea conditions were about the same as last reported, though they did get better for a few hours. Even at its rockiest, it still was a much smoother ride than in the Pacific. That is, until about 04:00 in the morning. All night there were several dark, ominous clouds Continue reading →