Month: July 2020

06/07/2020

left Lady Musgrave Island at 8:30am. Heading to Great Keppel Island. Waves are relatively big, making the boat rolling a bit. I’ve checked everything before leaving except the water filter kettle, so it was not tied up. As a result, water spilt out and seep into the food cabinet below, which cause us cleaning up a lot, but I discovered more snacks.

J turned off the auto pilot and took the helm by himself. He seemed to have magic in his hand and could find the best angle to cut into the waves and then smooth out. After adapting to the rhythm of the waves, the 15-hour 90-nautical-mile voyage requires a bit of music, put on my headphones, tried to give the sea a tune. What music belongs to the sea and what is the rhythm of the waves? Was it Debussy’s impression of the sea, Blues, Jazz, Post-rock, Avant-garde or ambient…? The sea seems to be inclusive. Searching among old albums saved in my mobile phone, the first performer I invited into my virtual ocean stage was Miles Davis playing the album Kind of Blue, he truly described the various blues in front of me. I have heard Freddie Freeloader countless times. At this time, I was given the image of incomparable freedom… Then Muddy Waters told ‘You can’t lose what you ain’t never have’ Mazy Star’s lazy and sweet I’m sailin’, Alice Coltrane described the torrents with her harp, Nicolas Jaar’s ethereal sound collage… I was enjoying being an ocean DJ, hours passed. The afternoon sunlight dyed the foam pink, while waves were purple and blue.

In the afternoon, after bypassing some coral islands in the way, we tuned the course slightly to the north so we had wind pushing us from behind. J used the Spinnaker pole to support the jib, together with the main sail to form perfect goose wings. The boat traveled much smoother.

Arrived Great Keppel Island before midnight, well within schedule. Silently sailing into the small bay with much gentle wind, quietly dropped the anchor, we had some wash and went to sleep.

05/07/2020

Before lunch, wind became weaker, put on all the gears we jumped into the water, snorkelled to the closest coral group to the boat. The first time I watched the coral so close, I was amazed. It’s such a psychedelic garden, with small fishes swimming around it, and big fish coming in and out of the caves. This scene has only been seen on TV and in the aquarium before. Although it was noon, the water was still quite cold, and I still felt a bit cold in the diving suit. After returning to the boat, we ate a bowl of hot spicy shin ramen and felt warmer instantly.

After lunch, we re-anchored closer to the island, put on the snorkelling gears again, jumped on the motor dingy and came to a larger coral group, dive in the water again to start another psychedelic trip.

When the sun shines into the water, a rainbow-like grating is produced at the edge of the coral. As the water waves sway, the light is dazzling. Groups of fluorescent-colored fish kiss the coral’s tentacles. Many peacock-green short-tailed big fish spread their wings, flying under the water, sometimes gnawed at the surface of the coral with relish, and I can hear the munching sound, very cute. In this colorful environment, various creatures also try their best to develop into various shapes, and then choose a few exotic colors to put on, like they have the best imagination…

Passing by a huge rusty anchor, half covered by coral, it should be old enough to let that much coral growing over it, I wonder how it went pass all the layers of coral barriers and got stuck here.

We don’t have underwater camera, so I try my best to record everything in mind. I tried drawing a scene in the water based on memory in the style of children’s paintings, because I remembered when I was a child, I joined many A4 paper together to make a long scroll, and drew all sorts of fish going to a underwater palace for a big party, can still remember the feeling of being completely immersed in imagination.

The dinner I made was my first Waterloo. My plan was to stew the potatoes, carrots, cabbage and vermicelli together with the sauce of braised belly that had turned into jelly. After boiling, I tasted the sauce and found that it had turned sour, so I tipped it out and started all over again. The final outcome was not too bad.