Remote Islands

[Catamount]

Originally Posted by Charlie

Cool Catamount. I've heard of Attu but where are the other two? (Sable Island, and Rockall)

Sable Island is a big sand bar that lies at the edge of the continental shelf off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada. The sailboat Merrimac ran ashore there in 1999, ostensibly because the island was not shown on the plotting chart they were using for their transatlantic crossing.

Rockall is an isolated rock about mid-way between Ireland and Iceland out in the North Atlantic Ocean.

[Charlie]

Originally Posted by Kanani

Hi Charlie,

Here is how I do it.

I use Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket to host my pictures. I download any pic that I want to post. After the pic is downloaded, you will find a link like this:
(IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v333/wkavery/Viewofanchorage.jpg[/IMG)

You just copy that link and paste it into your post. When you finalize your post, the pic will be there.

You mean like this

Thanks Kanani.

[Kanani]

Originally Posted by Charlie

You mean like this
Thanks Kanani.

I'm impressed Charlie.....you're a quick learner...

One tip though. Click on that pic in your album, go up to "edit"/ "Resize" and resize it down one or two sizes sizes.

[Stillraining]

Originally Posted by Kanani

That was the coolest part of the whole thing. We could call anywhere....no charge.

Donald Trump or Bill Gates must have been marooned there for a week end..had it installed and forgot to disconect the line.

Nice Site Cagney...thanks for the link

[Kanani]

Originally Posted by Stillraining

Donald Trump or Bill Gates must have been marooned there for a week end..had it installed and forgot to disconect the line.

OK...OK!!! Here's the rest of the story:

Cocos Keeling is an Australian territory. They use this island for their animal quarantine station for any animals entering Aust from another country. If you look at the GoogleEarth pic (12.11S 96.49E), you'll notice, on the other side of the island group, there is what looks like an international airport in the middle of nowhere.

It seems like the employees that work at the airport and quarantine center use Direction Island for their recreation. The phone booth was installed there for their use. I suppose the employees have free telephone service as part of their benefit package. Although, it was nice of them to allow us to use it.

Sorta takes all of the charm out of the story huh...

[starfish62]

Originally Posted by cagney

If you like this thread you will like http://www.oceandots.com.
Try this picture of Beveridge reef as a sample of many amazing satellite photos.

Cool site! Thanks. It looks like the fishing boat that had grounded there in 2006 can be seen opposite the pass.

[Stillraining]

Yes it does...please take the punch line back..it was more fun not knowing...

Ok dumb question..is the pass navigable ? can you get your boat in the lagoon?

[Kanani]

Originally Posted by Stillraining

Yes it does...please take the punch line back..it was more fun not knowing...

Ok dumb question..is the pass navigable ? can you get your boat in the lagoon?

stillraining,

I'm not sure who you are referring to but if you are asking about Cocos Keeling, the pass is navigable and well marked (at least it was). I don't know how the 2004 tsunami effected the island.

If you are referring to the Beverage Reef photo....I haven't been there but yes it is navigable.

[Hud3]

Sable Island, mentioned by Catamount, is the island that the 41' sloop, Merrimac, fetched up on during a passage from the U.S. to Europe. The story is that the skipper was plotting his course on a hurricane chart of the Atlantic that didn't show Sable Island.

[Charlie]

Now I remeber readin about Sable Island. There was an article in Crusing world about it last year or the year before.

[TAREUA]

I can confirm everything Kanani said about Cocos, including the phone and the great underwater life. There were huge fish tucked under a ledge about 10 or 15 feet down, and however it is that animals know they are in a preserve, would let you drift by very close without spooking. As I recall there was an Australian Island, and then an island I think of Malaysian heritage (?) and a little ferry that connected the two. All the cruising boats were invited to a traditional wedding that included amazing costumes and make up for both bride and groom and a procession thru the little town, and a feast. All this happening on this remote speck in the Indian Ocean made it seem very unreal.
Also while we were there a French couple brought their boat in the pass right at dark and got too far off the channel and ended up stuck in a bad area of low water and coral. It took a couple local boats to get them towed off and to the anchorage the next day. When they finally got the anchor down and could relax I ran over in the dinghy with a gift of a loaf of bread my wife had just baked and a bottle of wine. It turns out they had made the passage with out stopping from New Caledonia. They had been out a looong time. It was gratifying back on my boat to watch them having a quiet glass and some bread and butter before they slept for about two days. Later, upon reaching the Seychelles, I had just taken off my gloves from setting our anchor when an inflatable flew across the harbor toward us, and I thought, wow, customs is a little tight here, but it turned out to be the Frenchman who had raced out from the yacht club as soon as he saw our boat come into view. He had two ice cold beers for us.