If we had a rearview mirror on this boat, Christmas Island would have been solidly in the frame for about two hours yesterday, and then it was just ocean as far as we could see.
Christmas Island is the top of what they call a volcanic seamount. The highest point sticks out above the ocean at 361 meters, and the whole island is about 135 square km, 19 km in greatest length, 14.5 in greatest width.
The island was uninhabited until the late 19th century. A huge guano deposit, thank you birds, made phosphate mining very attractive, and instantly the Britts annexed the island. They were very good at that. They imported people from Singapore, British Malaya, and China, and down to business, they went.
The Japanese invaded the island during WW2 to supply Japan with phosphate. Still, that supply turned out to be very limited because of the war.
After initially being administered by the UK Colonial office, the island was later administered by Singapore, also under British rule. It wasn’t until 1958 that it was placed under the authority of the Commonwealth of Australia.
The island has a rather diverse population, with a strong Malay and Chinese representation and only about 13% of the population being Australian. The population was 1,843 in 2016. The official language might be English, but it is not the most widely spoken. There is Malay, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Hokkien. Seriously, Hokkien? I had never heard of Hokkien. It’s a Chinese language. And one gets pleasantly awoken by the call to prayer in the morning, the largest religion on the island.
I’m on night watch now, making good time toward Cocos Keeling, our next destination, exactly 443 nm to destination. We are really knocking those miles off right now. Wind of 20 – 28 knots, only under reduced genoa. That means we don’t have the main sail up and only use the sail upfront but partly rolled up. Right now, only 70% is exposed to the wind. A rather rough sea though, with lots of things flying through the cabin.
For people not all that familiar with sailing. Depending on the waterline’s length, each boat has a theoretical maximum speed. I’ll be happy to get into that in a later post. But for now, reducing sail does not automatically mean reducing speed. Or, in reverse, putting up more sails will not make you go any faster when you are at your maximum speed. Just put more strain on the boat.
It is now just Steve, the captain/owner, and myself on the boat. Marco flew out from Christmas Island yesterday afternoon. He had some issues with our routing and timing, and he had some personal issues to deal with on top of that. He left on good terms. I prefer just the two of us. I like the quiet time by myself. Although, of course, the watches are longer or more frequent. But I’m okay with that.
And what’s in a name? Christmas Island. Lamest naming ever. In 1643 Captain William Mynors named the island when he sailed past it on Christmas Day. What a story that is to tell.
