SOUTH OF MADAGASCAR. 17th October

Well it has been eventful, despite a leisurely start on Friday 12th. We left after lunch in the wake of Contrails and Priscilla, all heading for Richards Bay. Our plan to go straight to Durban aborted shortly before take off when we saw a front heading in that direction. 

Contrails, reefed down in rough conditions south of Madagascar.

Friday Saturday and Sunday were slow. Sailing predominantly but only making 120Nm per day. Communication with Peri Peri Net each day on HF was indicating that a diversion via the south coast of Madagascar might be a good idea. 

Monday mid-day we diverted. There were heavy winds forecast but we expected to be too slow to get there and would therefore avoid them. As it turned out we were eventually picked up by steadily increasing Northerly winds and by the time we closed the coast we had traveled 300nm in 41 hours. Winds got to 30 to 35 knots and it was not uncommon to see 13+kn on the plotter as we skewed, barely under control, down the big following wave faces. Adrenalin pumping stuff we could have done without!.

The wind and sea built after dark and you know......they always say if something goes wrong ...it often has a domino effect. Well it did! Shortly after dark we had a wind shift and being in very close company... less than a mile from each other.... it turned pretty nerve wracking! Our wind instrument decided at this point to prove itself totally useless in every respect. 

We knew it was under reading because the evening before we had been running wild in 18 to 20 knots of wind with a full main and furler out only to find the other boats were seeing 25 to 30! No wonder it was fearsome! so having done the reefs and got that sorted we thought it was just the speed that was wrong. 

However when the wind shifted last night and we were unable to determine its direction, it took 4 or 5 accidental jibes in big seas at speed to discover it was completely lying about everything!!! 

Fortunately we had two very strong preventers deployed and they saved us from major damage. We only broke the vang block at the mast base which was lucky! Rattled our nerves and got us wet! Both the other boats were also struggling with their auto pilot and in close proximity to each other. We managed to get ourselves 3 to 4 miles clearance but our auto pilots both decided it was too hard!! We took turns to hand steer while the other secured preventers, and tried to control the jibes. 

The pilot problems were setting related but the manuals are not designed to be read in poor light in a wet cockpit whilst out of control! You first need a degree in Auto Pilot Manuals and Interpretation! 

Fortunately we managed to reprogram the older one (its manual being easier to interpret) and it eventually, happily took up its position on the helm again, freeing us both to concentrate on the myriad tangle of ropes we had now accumulated and knotted together in the cockpit. It was looking like a 1800s knitting work house.. only wetter.

By dawn today it was calm!!! Fickle wind! Now we are rinsing all the salt soaked stuff, repairing block, hoisting main again, making bread, cleaning up generally and best of all WHALE SPOTTING!!!! yeehaa! There are whales everywhere. breaching slapping and slipping under out keel..... 

Funny how you forget the bad bits!!! 

We heard this morning that the front on the African Coast will be crossing and making the approach to Richards Bay impossible until after Monday at least so we are heading to the South West corner of Madagascar to anchor and wait......so tune in for our next adventure!!!

----------

radio email processed by SailMail

for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

DEPARTED LA REUNION 12th October

Today 12th of October we left the dock to make the passage to South Africa at Durban or Richards Bay depending on conditions.

It's a 1500 NM passage, and the wind is expected to be light for the first few days.

Now it's fine, and in the lee of the island it's almost calm. We are motoring.

Contrails and Precilla left together an hour or so ahead of us on the same journey.

No more Internet ...see you in Africa!

Farewell Reunion

LA REUNION September October

LA REUNION

We have been in Reunion for three weeks now and unfortunately is time to say farewell. We've met lots of lovely people and made some good friends here. 

We launched without incident and all repairs seem satisfactory. The sail went to Ben, here on the handstand, for repair, following damage sustained in Rodreguis which Jon so tenaciously repaired by hand. It still looks fine but with a sail maker handy and reasonable price we think it's better to head on this last leg to Africa with everything in good condition. 

On Wednesday we booked a horse ride in Le Grande Etang National Park with Stephanie on 0692328668. Stephanie is the daughter of the owner of the Ferme Equestrian establishment which organizes several different equine tours. Location 21 5.92S 5540.44E She speaks excellent English and organized the ride for us. We chose a 3 hour ride and it was fabulous. Not at all pony trekking! Pretty fresh horses and not beginners horses. They do have beginners horses amongst the 50 horses there but we had asked for something a bit " interesting" and got it! The scenery is spectacular and for 45euro each we were very satisfied.

We met Robert Brian on the ride and he invited us to his palm farm so we called there a few days later and were loaded up with heart of palm which he chopped for us  and showed us round his property in St Rose on the eastern side. Barbara and Jim off Contrails had joined us in a car hire for a week and were with us on this and the rest of our fun expeditions.

Our tour of La Reunion was dubbed the Great Epicurean La Reunion Adventure! During the week we went to St Dennis again where we had found a great little patisserie just near the corner of Rue De Pasteur and Rue Juliette Dodu. There is an SFR store just down  Pasteur where you can purchase the SIM for your Ipad and  phone. Its not easy to get pre-paid here because there are not that many tourist  who are not French. Here the French tourists is in France and their phone works just the same. It's 3euro per min for us to call Australia though! Internet is 4 euro per hour whether you are downloading or not. The Do Do bar at the port here has free wi fi if you purchase a beer or wine or food.

St Pierre we had great lunch experience at Belo Horizonte 21 20.56S    55 28.47E good price and good food. The coffee shop on the beach side of main strip, Le Moana made decent coffee and were very friendly.

The marina at St Pierre looks scarey! It's narrow entrance is lined with reef and the turning area is tight. If the wind isn't blowing it might be Ok. Some boats have had nasty frights there.

Here at Le Port it's easy to get in but you do need a car to see anything, and this beautiful island has plenty to see. I think in Pierre you also need a car.  At Le Port the parking is easy and right beside your boat!

One day we did the drive around the perimeter, about 90 NM. It's very spectacular when you get to the lava flows which cross the road and flow down to the sea. They are cold now! The church at St Rose has  a church which stands in the middle of a lava flow. It split at the front door and went round to join again at the back and flow on! It's a pretty sacred site now and has some interesting colored  glass windows depicting the volcano.

The volcano trip was a great day out, starting from Le Port at 6am we drove for 2 hours through the spectacular countryside in the morning light stopping for those must have photos... of cows. The high plains is dairy country. Arriving at the volcano is sudden! You come round another of the 100s of switchback corners and there it is... laid out hundreds of meters below! Vast black desert scattered with rock.

We strolled about the old crater, which you can drive too, and got the photos then headed back towards the east coast to find lunch. It was a Sunday and the volcano was very busy with visitors. We were glad we arrived early.

The drive east to St Benoit is winding and beautiful. Vegetation on this side is tropical. The west is very dry, cactus and scrub.

 
We visited Robert again to take wine but were duly loaded up with machetes, and many fresh herbs after being served coffee. Not to be outdone we invited him to dinner if he can make it, but he was so busy he dropped in, looked at the boat and dropped off another machete for Contrails, had a quick cup of tea then headed off to St Dennis to visit patients. He'd had a big day of surgery in St Pierre doing implants etc. Robert s a dentist. A lovely guy and we hope to meet again!

Pascal, Myriam, Lisa and Pierre came to an Ozzie BBQ dinner aboard one evening which was loads of fun. Myriams first time on a boat! The children enjoyed the adventure and were also boating novices. We farewell them and wished them Bon voyage as they were flying out to South Africa for holidays.We will meet again.

The biggest day out was to Cilaos in the high mountains. We, Contrails and us, left at 8 am and negotiated the notorious narrow road through stunning mountains, the 400+ switchback turns and some scary single lane dark tunnels!  We made it in by 10 am. More eating at Chez Noe, for lunch,opposite the beautiful Tsilaos Hotel in the main street. Pascal had recommended it and we were not disappointed! We spent 5 hours exploring the area and climbed to several lookouts. Short climbs!  The big drive home was slower behind several buses, it felt safer!! Definite must do in La Reunion.

There are isolated villages here in deep ravines which can only be accessed in foot! Your feet! Not horse feet! So needless to say we didn't see them. We have it on the good authority of the group of young sailors here, that did do it, that it was worth it!  Oh well! Next trip!

As I write we await the return of the sail and are making preparations to depart for Durban on the East South African coast on Friday. Barring unfavorable weather developments. It's 1500 NM, and we are hoping for favorable weather at the notorious Agulas Current, which we have to cross, and which can be very nasty on a bad day!. The boat is in good condition and we've tuned the rig, repaired the sail, replaced the cutlass bearing, had the shaft checked, so there is not much else to do except hope for fair wind and flat seas!

See you in Durban! 

La Reunion Photos 

LA REUNION and UPS and DOWNS 21st September

We sailed out of Mauritius only 5 days after I arrived back from Perth. Although I did see something of Mauritius, it has a slightly threatening feel. Lots of groups of young men.. many dark...lurking about and a lot more Muslims. A lot of poverty also. I felt it was more threatening than anything we ever experienced in Asia.. Not as bad as North Bridge or Balcatta though! Apparently they have a big drug problem there now and they advise tourists to stay within the confines of their resorts!  

Predominately the island agriculture is sugar.  The low land is very harsh and dry with the vegetation sparse and comprising of cactus, yukka, screw pine, pandanus and coarse grass. we were anchored in Grand Bay in the north for a few days and caught up with Lady Amber and crew Peter, Rika, Helen and Ryan. Great hospitality and tremendous information on South Africa, their home, apart from Helen, a good ol Perth girl!  Hope to catch up in Cape Town.

Farmland on the Northern Coast. Sugar country.

St Louis, the capital has some great old buildings and the marina is well situated in the center of town amongst some lovely old buildings. There are no "fingers" in the marina, you just raft up to another boat if there is no space along the wall.  

Mauritius was first settled around the 1600s by the Portugese, then Dutch n French, and lastly English. The local language is mostly French but there is more english there than in Reunion. It gained its independence from Britain in the last 50 years.

Beautiful 1800's Creole home of friends Pasqual and Myriam, in the capital. St Denis.

 Mauritius to Reunion is 140 NM and we did it in 20 hours. It was pretty comfortable except for the cold! As we left Mauritius a yellow and green Budgerigar came aboard for a brief visit (Australian parrot in Western Australian colours ) and as we arrived in Reunion we were greeted by a pod of very big dolphins eager to surf our bow and play in the wake.

On a more local note... After spending 6 nights alongside Josi, some lovely German friends, we hauled out here in Reunion to replace the cutlass bearing. We had put in a new one in April but for some reason we are going to try to work out, it has worn terribly. We have been experiencing some pretty bad vibrations when motoring at more than 1800 revs and as its likely that we may have to do some serious bad weather motoring if it all turns too s.......t on the way to Durban, so we elected to get it fixed here.

The haul out is the cheapest we have ever had.... That's if our French translation is correct..maybe there's another zero in there somewhe
re! !
 

We will get the shaft inspected for straightness while it's out too. Perhaps we bent it somewhere... Hitting a log or something. 

UPDATE. no the shaft isn't bent but it's quite worn and needs replacing sometime... Not now. The Haulout , in and out, including hard stand for 4 days, props, power and water and some engineering expertise was $350A!  Cheapest on record! 

There is some superficial fiberglass damage on the keel as a result of our encounter with the " hard stuff" (uncharted reef) off Banka Island, Indonesia, so  we will repair that also, while we are out.

Anyway it's all good. Reunion Island is a fabulous place! It's France! The most stunning scenery and fun architecture and culture with the creole influence and fabulous French food!! That's a worry! Baguettes n croissants and terrine, pate etc! Oops!

Our friend Robert cutting us heart of palm for salad from his very own palm farm.

Our French is non existent, however we have managed to bumble along and have some very good laughs! Not many people speak any English but you can usually find someone willing to have a go!

At a restruant in Cilas with friends Barbara and Jim off Contrails. The Great Epicurian Tour of La Reunion

 Reunion is French governed and all laws French. There are all the french social security system etc so there is not the poverty. They do drive on the wrong side of the road though which is a challenge for David....cos he's doing the driving! The roads are often very steep and winding.. One we were on has 400 switchbacks in only a very few Kilometers... So its a bit of a challenge even on the right side of the road... to be fair!!. The biggest adaption to make is going for the gear stick on the right instead of the left! Would have been easier with an auto... But we weren't offered one and didn't think to ask.

The whole island is mountain.  Volcanic. A live volcano on the south of the island which erupts every few years, covering the road with lava. There are new sections to be built here and there. There are villages here you can only get to on foot. No roads in because it's ravine and sheer walls.  Around the perimeter of Reunion is a fabulous motorway. Fast and well signed, so it's only when you get into the mountainous interior that the driving is the most challenging.

Volcanic Lava feild at the actie volcano on the south of the island.

We have met lovely people and very friendly in spite of their reputation.. Self confessed I may add... We were invited into the home of a wonderful couple we met in the street, for a fabulous lunch with the family on Wednesday. Such a lovely surprise and such a nice family. French. He born in Paris, she born here but of very old 1600 French or Portuguese blood. Their home is in the middle of the capital St Dennis and is French Creole architecture, heritage listed, and just lovely. They have a size able garden and 3 dogs!,

We had hoped to entertain them on Sunday aboard but now we are out of the water it will be tricky. Maybe we will invite them to a picnic Aussie style somewhere.... Have to do some research on that. 

We hope to go horse riding over the weekend in some beautiful forest and lake country which I look forward to. The hard stand is very dirty and noisy... Like them all, only in this one there are people REALLY working! Unlike Asia where there is a lot of silence and snoring only, to be heard from the Malays!

David has just returned from a foraging expedition....baguettes, a couple of kg of tomatoes and same of potatoes and a huge avocado for just 2 euro. All local produce. He also got everything he needed for the boat, four 70mm  flat zincs and a shaft zinc and a heavy galvanized shackle for the anchor .. 35eu. So proving very reasonable price wise. There is a big boating community here. Beneteaus everywhere! Most things are available here on the hard. 

This church is considered a miracle because a recent lava flow split at the front doors, diverted round both sides of the church and re joined at the back to continue flowing on!!

The lifter is 40t and it was the easiest haul out ever. No need to remove forestay to lift, which is a big bonus. There are a lot of boats on the hard but mostly local. The major disadvantage with Reunion is that non EU boats can only stay in the country for 45 days or they must pay 15% of the value of the boat and import it, or leave. There are engineering workshops, a sail-maker, fiber-glass people, a small chandler, mechanical services both big and small, all here on the dock.

The marina is full, but arriving boats are given a place, either alongside the big wall or rafted to someone else on the wall. It's a bit messy climbing over another boat, and you really need a ladder to get up. It's possible without but easier with one. The first week is free and then it's about 20 euro per day...( To be confirm!) Electricity and water is free.

We hired a car for 21 euro per day, if you take it for a week, which we did, and we will extend that. 

A recent lava flow.

Many of the friends we have made since leaving Asia are either here now or still coming from Mauritius. It's been great catching up again and sharing all those great and not so great moments over a good Reunion beer. Paul and Marrietta on Nije Faam, Jurgen and Ingrid on Josi, left yesterday for Madagascar. We hope to catch up again somewhere in Africa. George FF on Tara came to dinner the other night and it was hilarious fun. He's French and has been sailing for 30 years. Now single handing for a long time. I offered to give him a haircut but he sais he wants to be a "bad boy" that's translation for rat bag!  He hasn't cut his hair since he started sailing! He's 65!

I must at this point thank Jon Choat our great friend and captain of Tweed, for coming to help David take Taipan from Cocos Keeling to Mauritius. We couldn't have been here now without him.

We plan to launch again on Monday, spend a couple of days checking things and choosing a weather window with the least bad look! Then we hope to sail direct to Durban and fly back to Australia to provide some more family support.

That's it for now from La Reunion 

LaReunion photos 

REUNION ISLAND 21st September

We are in Reunion Isl at Le Port.

Good run. 22 hours