Wednesday, December 23, 1998 – Underway to Isla de Cocos

G’day my friends

As we get closer to Cocos, you must all be finishing your Christmas shopping by now. STARSHIP should be dropping anchor by midnight at Bahia (Bay) Chatham, which looks like it may be a nice calm anchorage. So far the steam over has been very tranquil, with no more than five knots of breeze and hardly any swell to speak of – calm before the storm? Lets hope not.  

Since late this afternoon, we have had the pleasure of having the motor Vessel Sea Hunter side by side. The funniest thing happened. I was on watch and spied a familiar blonde figure on the bow! I mentioned to Ib that it could be an old acquaintance of ours from Australia. Raccoon eyes later, we established that it must be and sure enough it was not long before I was speaking to our dear friend Lynn Sutherland from Surfers Paradise in New South Wales, Australia, over the radio waves. Small world or what? A dinner date is already set….

The "SEAHUNTER" on the same route as we are.  Heading for Cocos...

Most of the day has been spent getting STARSHIP ready for some heavy diving. All the banks and tanks are full, video and still cameras posed to go and the vessel looks spick spanking clean. I failed to mention yesterday that we have a new part-time crewmember on board. He is a "Tico" (Costa Rican) and goes by the nickname of Monyo or Jose (real name). Monyo has been hired as a "decky" (deck hand) and to drive the tender allowing all of us to do much more diving. Cocos is Monyo's second home as he has worked this island for over five years and is known as one of the best "panga" (tender) drivers in the business. As a double bonus, it has allowed me to practice my Spanish. Cerveza porvavor! What do you reckon? Apt for the festive season or what?

Those of you who have never been round this way are probably asking yourself what may be so special about this island. Firstly, it is known as one of the premier diving destinations of the world due to its shark and pelagic fish action. It is not uncommon to see hundreds of schooling Hammerhead sharks (Fam. Sphrynidae) and Whitetip Reef sharks (Triaenodon obesus) not to mention masses of fish. It is also renowned for its fabulous waterfalls and lost treasures left by pirates, buccaneers and privateers alike. The island is a national marine park, though still prone to heavy illegal fishing pressures. Dr John McCosker hopes to collect some new fish species here as well as species that have never been collected to date. With these fish, he hopes to get a little closer to understanding the evolution and migration of fish in this part of the world. We are all very honored to be able to help him in his endeavor. We may even get a fish named after us! Just imagine a Starshipidae fish or even an Ibidaeus engineerus. The mind boggles.

Speaking of Ib, he has been busy all day trying to catch us dinner with absolutely no luck what so ever. However, just a few moments ago, we were blessed with yet another serene sunset and pilot whales. A good omen to what will be a great festive season. All of us from STARSHIP wish you a very happy Christmas Eve.

Regards

DJ, Michael, Ib, Niki, John, Monyo and Rich