Wow! What a rough but fast ride that was!!

I left Port Louis around 11am Saturday in near-calm conditions and arrived off Port des Galets ("Le Port") by 8am Sunday - nearly 150 mls in twenty-one hrs, averaging just over 7 knots. Winds backed from SSW 4-5 soon after leaving Mauritius to S6 by evening & SE 6-7 as we approached Reunion (being around 25kn, gusting over 30kn, most of the evening & night) with a swell which increased as the evening wore on and was regularly breaking on deck and into the cockpit. We really heeled over as each large wave passed & were also hit by breaking crests which caused quite a few things to fall about down below (Note to self: check those items are secured before start of next long passage to S. Africa!!) I had also omitted to close off the dorades, not expecting such a rough passage, so we shipped some water down below also... a lesson not to be forgotten for future ocean passages, however short...

As I finally took in a 3rd reef at 4am, I was drenched from head to toe by a mass of water! But it did reduce our heeling a bit without reducing our speed by much. At the time, the impressive volcanic slopes of Reunion were in sight, made clear in the darkness by village lights & the almost-full moon. I was concerned to ensure I stayed well offshore until daylight, partly in case of chart error - which turned out to be around three miles out in the case of the northern coast - until arriving just off Le Port, when it was suddenly spot-on.

On arriving, the Capitainerie was closed (Sunday!) and the nearby visitors' dock was busy but someone kindly found me an empty slip to come into. Everything here is so French!! Almost as soon as I was docked, I went down below to catch up on sleep - I'd been awake from about 3.30am.... I understand that the formalities here are minimal - unlike in Mauritius where the need for Customs & Immigration paperwork led to my departure being delayed by quite a bit due to certain officials not arriving until later in the morning.

I was pleased to have finally got to the Public Market before leaving Port Louis - a crowded, lively place crammed full with piles of inexpensive fresh fruit and vegetables- I even found some broccoli there! And on Friday evening, all the cruisers got together for an enjoyable time - this time on 'Bowtie Lady', who also made the passage over to Reunion at the same time as 'Nereida'. A lot of the other boats are bypassing Reunion to make directly for S. Africa where we hope to meet up over the coming months.

All the people on the dock here in Port des Galets have been extremely friendly - and given my French a good testing! One lent me his water hose so I could give 'Nereida' a thorough freshwater rinse and another offered to help with my shorepower connection, seeing I had a problem with that. The evening was rounded off very nicely by finding a little restaurant a short walk away in St Denis serving delicious but inexpensive Madagascar food - it got quite crowded with friendly locals who were very happy to chat to me.

Ganga Talao- Hindu temple in Mauritius
Originally uploaded by svNereida

Friday 26Oct07

Busy day yesterday working on fuel system, having spent Tuesday changing the engine oil and filter. (I'd also discovered, whilst looking around the engine compartment, that an engine mount nut was sitting beside the mount - completely adrift...!) I'd started with simple refuelling of the port tank from jerry cans & thought I'd better drain starboard fuel tank filter to check for water - found lots of water and dirt also so decided I'd better change the filter and clean the housing and sight glass,
all of which took quite a time. Then did the same for the other (port) fuel tank filter - in doing that, I discovered that the fuel intake pipe was splitting - so that meant it had to be cut back and re-attached.

Fortunately, having lots of other cruiser friends around meant I had no problem getting help pushing the pipe back onto the slightly over-sized fitting - not something I could have managed by myself! My helper was Heiko from 'Stenella' who, with Dianna & their two boys Stefan & Oliver, had invited me over for a fish meal that evening, along with the other cruisers from Cocos Keeling who are now all in Mauritius - very sociable evenings I'm having just now!! I'd spent all day with the smell of diesel
fuel, so it was nice to clean up and relax in company!

Today, I've spent a lot of time at the Internet cafe - but never enough time to do all I want... then I've a few more boat jobs to do, ready for leaving for Reunion tomorrow. I'd hoped to make for St. Pierre but if the expected SW swell is too bad by the time I get there on Sunday, it won't be possible to enter the harbour & I'll have to to the 'Le Port' (Galets) instead - I'll head for St Pierre initially & hope...

View from extinct volcano in Mauritius, 24Oct07
Originally uploaded by svNereida

Wed 24Oct07

Took a day off to go on a day tour around southern Mauritius to see something of the island - towering, steep mountains, with lush greenery on their lower slopes, sugar cane galore, an extinct volcano crater filled with greenery and bright red cardinals flitting around, a fascinating tour around the tea processing plant in the plantation at Bois Cherie, fields of pineapple, a sacred Hindu site beside a lovely lake shrouded in mist (it rained hard frequently while up in the mountains!), two impressive
waterfalls cascading a long, long way down the mountainside, rainbow-coloured rocks,...ending at a bay with a lovely beach backed by trees before returning to Port Louis past salt pans and lots of beach resorts. A very enjoyable day - I was impressed with the variety of plants and trees all around and the visits were all worthwhile in their different ways.
Tomorrow, it's fuelling and boat jobs and another visit to the Internet cafe to try to upload some photos while I have good access...

Mauritius

Had a lovely final sail down towards Pt Louis from the north of the island in bright sunshine. I took the pole down & was able to broad reach for a few relaxing hours until needing to get ready for the port entrance. I didn't have too much trouble finding the markers for the beginning of the channel in towards the Customs quay, took the sails down & contacted Port Control, for the second time, on the radio. When I saw the high, unfriendly quayside, I was happy that two cruisers had come to help
me by taking my lines - it would have been difficult to manage tying up by myself to the few rings high up, especially with the offshore wind. As it was, I managed to manoevre close to the wall & pass my lines up to them, before using one of the big tyres hanging there to climb up the quay.

Five o'clock on a Saturday evening was perfect timing for the most speedy filling in of forms I've ever encountered1!! Quarantine, Customs, Immigration, Port Authority.... lots of forms - but also lots of help from the officials to fill them in quickly. So I was able to move over within twenty minutes to the marina dock nearby (another concrete wall!) where there were a few more forms to fill in at the office- all was completed & I was settled in by twenty to six - amazing!! Then it was a sociable
Saturday evening get-together for the crews of five boats (3 of us single-handers). Two were boats I'd spoken to on our 'Cocos' Net but not previously met face to face. Unfortunately, while we were chatting, some lads came by & kicked some of our sandals off the dockside & into the water - my favourite, comfortable Reefs included... we retrieved one sandal but mine had disappeared from sight... Later, some of us went over to a nearby bar/restaurant for the England/S.Africa Rugby World Cup final
- no (allowable) tries and all the score coming from penalties - but a very all-out, hard-fought game. Pity we lost.... Late to bed.... & late up next morning - but it was Sunday....

Sunday 21st Oct

Had a lovely long shower, using heaps of water!!! Then warped the boat along the quay so it was beside a power point before setting off to explore a bit - Mauritius is quite different from Rodrigues in that it's larger, far more up-scale & they've recently developed the harbour area - so there are lots of 'eateries' of all kinds & shops selling a wide variety of goods, as well as supermarkets to complement the street and public (indoor) markets. I wandered up Farquar Street crowded with street
vendors - fruit, veg, DVDs, clothing, shoes... & finally crossed over to the big bus terminal before coming back via the Post Office and an Internet place - with a fast connection - wonder of wonders!!

When I got back to the boat, I gathered that one of my sandals was floating in the water nearby - we managed to retrieve it with a boathook - but so far, no sign of the other. The rest of the afternoon was spent tidying the boat & sorting out a shorepower problem (turned out the cable & plug were corroded) before we all got together for more socialising - on "Nereida" this time. To wrap up the evening, I went for dinner with a couple of others, on the way, passing a live jazz band - an excellent
dancing opportunity... but no-one was dancing! I soon had a little girl for a dancing partner - we had a great time and I later chatted to her Mauritian parents. After dinner, as we were walking back to the boats, there was a marquee with the sound of music coming from it - an Urdu group from N. India were performing excellent, lively songs with accompaniment to a very enthusiastic audience - great stuff!! Mauritius has many people of Indian origin whose forbears were brought to the island as
indentured labour to work the sugar-cane plantations after the slaves originally working them were set free - & transported to Rodrigues...

Thurs 18th Oct

Everything went fine this morning, with very friendly farewells to everyone & no hiccups over paperwork! I was up well before 6am, cast off around 6.30 & was away after the big supply ship around 7am. I kept looking behind for the transit (showing the line to take through the outer reef) as I left - but both triangular structures are painted white & they've just put up white marquees behind the front one for this weekend's agricultural event in Port Mathurin - so it wasn't possible to see it at
all! But I made the exit through the reef without too much problem, even though the ship was way too fast and far ahead of me by the time I'd raised my mains'l. The wind had been gusty in harbour & I left raising the sail a bit too late to stay close behind the ship as intended!

The wind was excellent all day & overnight - I was making 7-7.5 kn regularly - SOG! Swell is big but not too bad..

I'd had a nice 'Mine' (noodles with chicken & vegetables) at a little inexpensive lunch place by the Tourist Office yesterday and came away with a 'doggy bag' - so that made a simple, tasty lunch for today!

Fri 19th Oct

Still making great time goosewinged - while the wind holds up... it's forecast to lessen by tomorrow. I've been under full canvas since this morning when I realised the wind was down to around 15-18kn. Swell is still fairly big at around 3m or so - & being on almost a dead run we're often rolling quite a lot which isn't too comfortable - but it's not all the time! Weather has been fine - sunny with quite a bit of light cumulus & high stratus.

I've made use of my new 'preventer extension' line to run it through a jammer & then optionally onto a winch via a block on the quarter - so I can keep the preventer nicely tensioned now without it taking up winch space all the time.

I also sewed tape onto the little courtesy flag kindly sent to me via the Quay Superintendent on Wed night by Mariana of the Rodrigues Tourist Office - so I'm now flying that ready for my arrival in Mauritius (which Rodrigues is part of).

Another job has been re-laying the frayed end of one of my favourite mooring lines - it was looking very sorry for itself..! More whipping to be done to complete the job.

A great 24hr noon-to-noon run, measured from midday GPS positions: 165 n.ml. (173 n.ml. by the log) By 4 o'clock this afternoon, less than 130 n.ml. to go to Port Louis on Mauritius - so looking good for an early afternoon arrival, even if the wind drops.

Wed 17th Oct07 I found the reef nearby...!

I knew the weekly supply ship was due in & I'd have to move very early in the morning to allow it room to manoevre when docking. The dock superintendant had promised to give a wake-up call to make sure there was no problem - so by 6.15 I was up & soon after let lines go & moved away to the far side of the harbour area with the intention of circling around until the big ship I could see approaching in the distance was safely docked.

All went fine until I went close to what I thought was a crabpot which I tried to keep my propeller well clear of.... 4m depth suddenly became 1.4m.... and I found myself aground on the reef edge.... seems that the crabpot was a 'marker buoy' warning of the reef very close by! Oops!! Revved up the engine & slowly tried to edge my way off - but wind and current were taking me further on.... eventually, the Coast Guard inflatable came by, took a line from me and passed it to one of the two tugs also circling who pulled me free.... phew!!
So much easier to have the friendly crew of the tug (who'd been inshore of me on the dock & knew me) help me rather than struggle unaided - no guarantee I'd have freed myself although I think I might have been doing so - but at a snail's pace...!

I'd expected a large ship - but this was enormous!! During all this, the weather had turned horrible and we were all drenched in heavy rain with strong gusty winds. But by 7 o'clock, the ship was docked, taking up the greater part of a very long dock, and we were all able to return to the far end of the dock - two tugs, 'Bowtie Lady' and 'Nereida' all rafted up together in a very small area!!

Then came a visit to Immigration to organize, as I thought, Clearance ready for Thursday morning departure .... Oh no! Not so simple - they insisted that it had to be done on the day of departure...... despite the fact that Customs weren't normally available until after 7 or 8 o'clock and the ship was scheduled to leave at 7 a.m. - which meant that, again, we all had to be clear of the dock so it could get away unhindered... Complications.... finally resolved by a very kindly Customs 'chief' who made lots of phone calls & arranged for his official to see us early without the normal 'out of hours' charge - around 6a.m., as soon as Immigration have been to complete their Clearance formalities. The Coast Guard will also be coming by at the same time. So hopefully,I'll be able to follow the ship out through the reef on the basis that where it goes, I can safely follow! (To be honest, having got in OK, I should be able to leave OK ... and it's quite a wide reef opening... and I now know where the transit is that I couldn't find when entering last Saturday)

Then I did final shopping, said farewell to helpful Mariana at the Tourist Office (who later sent me a Rodrigues/Mauritius courtesy flag to the dockside), visited the local Internet centre (to find it kept going down & was painfully slow), walked up the steep road to the Weather Centre for a useful and highly interesting visit there and finally got a bus over to the lovely sandy bay fringed with reef at Cotton Point on the far NE side of the island - worth a second visit, even if only a short one.

So I'm now all set to leave for Mauritius - assuming there are no more hiccups over the 'Clearance Out' paperwork before leaving!!..... I'd better got to sleep!!

Mon 15th Oct

Walked around Port Mathurin - good to see it busy with shops & lots of street market stalls open, bustling with people - after sunset, the town 'dies'!! There's no-one around....!

Having visited several places, I discovered my reading specs were missing - major disaster!! Of course, I re-visited everywhere - and eventually they turned up - found on the ground outside the Tourist Office (lovely, helpful, good-English-speaking girl in there!)

Investigated hiring a scooter to tour the island - none available, so finally decided to take the local bus (19rupees) out to Point Cotton, on the far NE of the island to see the countryside en route, passing over Mt Lubin on the way, and see what was out there - excellent decision! Beautiful tamarisk wood backing onto a lovely white sand beach with the occasional black granite (basalt?) rock sticking up and waves breaking on the reef nearby. I had a lovely swim (my first for a very long time!) & relaxed on a lounger under palm-trees in the nicely-designed resort hotel pool area until the 5 o'clock bus (last one) left. At least that was the plan, until I discovered my camera was missing.... the bus driver was so understanding & helpful - "Go to the hotel - I'll wait".... Yes!! I'd dropped it while changing to return... "Il n'y a pas des voleurs ici!" (we don't have thieves here) he told me proudly when I returned triumphantly, waving the camera.... I enjoyed the scenic ride as the sun was setting, with lots of locals playing football after the day's work, everyone relaxing outside their houses & lots of 'Caribbean' music played onboard the bus as we wound our way over the mountains back to Pt Mathurin...

Tues 16th Oct

Had to move berth on jetty away from tug - they'd mended their engine & needed to test it... so it was a matter of walking the boats back to a nearby floating metal dock off the concrete jetty - big enough but very close to shallows astern... fine so long as no movement astern! But VERY early tomorrow (Wed) will have to move away from jetty completely whilst the weekly supply ship manoevres around & ties up to the jetty. Once it's safely in, we can come back to berth again - until it leaves on Thursday, early morning, but then we'll leave for Mauritius anyway - hopefully following the ship out, so no problem knowing which way to go out through reef!!!

Today was partly also spent sewing a reinforcing connection (stitching was coming undone) between a maintrack car and the sail, organising some laundry to be done (there's no laundry here so you have to find a local who's willing to do it for you!) but eventually getting out by local bus over the mountainous interior around Mt Lubin to see the southern coastal region of Rodrigues. Interesting to see how people live here and southern reef lagoon area had lots of lovely wooden double-ended fishing boats - with option to raise a simple sail to help them go downwind. Very dry land just now - they need the rain of the wet season. Later walked over to Baie des Huitres (Oyster Bay) which is a short distance to SW of Port Mathurin - a lovely bay with fishing boats but not a lot else - so walked back again.

Interestingly, because this used to be a British colony, they drive on the left-hand side of the road and all official & road signs are in English - but they mainly speak Creole or French - so it's been enjoyable practice for me chatting to them!

Sun 14th Oct '07 ... Rodrigues Day!!

Arrived safely in Rodrigues yesterday around 3pm after an excellent night & day of sailing in 25knots, gusting 30knots, although having had a slight worry getting through outer reef with being unable to see the transit. Seeing swell crashing onto reef close by at one point and then an old wreck nearby shortly after was, to say the least, a bit disconcerting - and no-one answering on VHF16 to give advice was also not helpful. Fortunately, I was in the correct general area and with the sun out and
'eyeballing' it using the sea colour, I was able to get back into deep water and come through eventually to the marked entrance channel - from then on it was simple and I even had the CG meet me finally as I got close to the jetty they wanted me to tie up to in order to clear formalities. A big concrete jetty with only a few rusty bollards did not look inviting to tie up to but two tugs were alongside, with 'Bowtie Lady' rafted to one of them - so I opted to raft up to 'Bowtie Lady' with the bonus
of quick clearance, very friendly officials being promptly on the scene, and the ability to step onto land for the duration of my stay here. (The tug inshore has engine problems and won't be moving for some time to come.)

It then turned out that this was a holiday weekend because Sunday is Rodrigues Day - celebrating 5 years of the Rodrigues Assembly. So by soon after midday, I was seated in the Stadium, ready for the music, dancing, poems, speeches (of course!) and general enjoyment of the scene... I think all of Rodrigues must have been there! Certainly, all uniformed personnel seemed to be. Great fun was had by everyone - watching or taking part! I'm writing this as the football match is about to start .....
bye for now - must go & watch it!!

12thOct07

Today was very pleasant & sunny again & was mainly spent passage-planning and checking info on forthcoming landfalls. Have had to motor-sail occasionally, to ensure landfall timing, but now under sail alone - much more peaceful!

Hoping for daylight landfall at Rodriguez tomorrow afternoon (Sat). If wind stays overnight as it is now (20-25knots), we'll be fine. Need light for reef approach & entry into harbour anchorage at Port Mathurin. No decent electronic charting, so it's back to paper ....and eyeballing it!

Seas have increased this evening - getting 'bashed' occasionally with bigger waves. But stars overhead, so hope this good weather continues for at least another day!

24 hour noon-to-noon run: 156 n.ml.

11thOct07

What a fabulous day today has been! Superb sailing in much less swell than up to now - I spent a little time on deck in the sun, soaking up the warmth, listening to the sounds of the approaching waves and 'Nereida' gliding through them. Very few clouds around.... lovely stars in a clear sky last night also. I still can't get used to seeing Orion & Taurus upside down, though!

Still not completely sure of making Rodriguez before nightfall on Saturday - wind has died down, often to below 15kn now. I poled out genoa around midday, with wind having backed to ESE, and it would only take us to drop below 6kn SOG for a time to mean having to heave-to & wait for first light Sunday. Will just have to make best speed I can & see what happens - wind may pick up a touch tomorrow, according to weather forecast, but may come too late.

Another relaxing day of reading & writing & some gazing around at the ocean while I sip my tea or coffee... talking of which - it's teatime now....

Noon-to-noon run: 158 n.ml. 341 n.ml. to go

Wed 10thOct07 Yet another good sail today!

I was up well before dawn, watching bright Venus high in the East as the sky began to lighten - when "Crack!" - it sounded as though we'd been hit by a stone! 'Surely not!", I thought..... no, it was a big flying fish which had landed in the cockpit and was flapping about frantically! I took pity on it and threw it back into the water before returning to gaze at the sunrise.
The day has been another good one for sailing, with generally few clouds around and bright sun, although early on I let out the 2nd reef since the wind seemed to be dying - but it soon got back up & has been consistently around or over 25 knots. The seas have continued to be big & fairly rough & the occasional extra big one with a slightly breaking crest really catches us and slams into us. Fortunately, they're coming onto our port quarter - glad they're not on the beam!
I've been reading quite a bit and generally relaxing.... so not much more to report except that I'm pleased to be on this passage with its good winds and not heading for Chagos - 'Trudel' have been motoring for two days now in light winds, at around 6S (we're now at 18S) & had hoped to have arrived in Chagos from Cocos by now - but it looks as though we'll all arrive at our destinations this weekend, even though their distance to travel was much less.

Noon-to-noon distance (from noon GPS positions): 155 n.ml. Distance to Rodriguez: 499 n.ml. at noon

9th October '07

Well, today has been a great day of sailing in lovely bright sunshine - yet again!! The wind has been up around SE 23kn (force 6) all day and, although the seas have increased accordingly (4-5m), they've not been too bad - just the usual lurch as we're hit by rather bigger waves than before..!! But not too often - just enough to keep me holding on tightly to be safe whenever I move around.. & strapping myself in when in the galley (my 'bumstrap' there has seen a lot of use recently!). We're generally
making over 7 knots - excellent speed! - with 2 reefs in the mains'l, full genoa, broad reaching. I should definitely make Rodriguez by Saturday, at this rate.

The SSB radio emailing side of things is getting rather time-consuming - difficult to get a connection with shore stations (that are now quite a distance away) that's good enough to send & receive weather info & emails without having to give up the attempt because transfer of bytes is way too slow - gets very frustrating at times. It's mainly radio propagation (sun spot cycle!) that's the problem now, although I've also been having a problem with the computer instructing the radio via the modem
- the modem connection has often failed & I'm now putting that down to low battery voltage - when I start up the engine to charge the batteries, voltage goes right up almost immediately - and I find the modem is soon behaving better & the radio is usually able to transmit OK. That doesn't mean I'm any further forward in getting a good connection though - transmitting is just an essential first step!

The good achievement of today is that I finally got around to doing the whipping I've been wanting to get done for ages - my "mains'l preventer project" uses two short lengths of rope which I'd measured out carefully & cut on the way to Bali from Darwin - so you could say I haven't exactly pushed myself to finish the job up to now!! All four newly-cut ends needed whipping to stop them from fraying when in use - so that's now done. I got so enthusiastic that I then looked around for other rope ends
to whip - and found several sheets, reef lines and the main halyard - all now done in an assortment of coloured whipping twine to match the rope - very pretty but also far more seamanlike!! A very satisfying afternoon's work!

I decided to reward myself with steak and onions for dinner while it was still light after our usual, sociable evening radio 'net' was over - at 7.20pm, "Nereida time". Because I'm not adjusting my ship's time until I get to Rodriguez, sunset is getting 'later and later' - tonight it was after 8 o'clock according to the time I've been keeping (Z+7). We're now at 74E which is actually five hours ahead of Greenwich ... so really my clock should have been reading about 6 o'clock, which is right for
sunset here in the tropics. When I reach Rodriguez, which is at 63E (4 hours ahead of Greenwich, or Z+4), I'll have to adjust my ship's time by 3 hours to keep local time!

Today's noon-to-noon actual run (from GPS noon positions): 156 n.ml. Distance to Rodriguez at noon: 654 n.ml.

Sun 7thOct07 - Thanksgiving in Canada - hope you all enjoyed it!

It's been a really mixed day today - one moment clear blue sky and lovely calm sailing, then suddenly there's a grey cloud nearby, wind (and seas) are up - do I reef or not...??? If I do, doubtless it's all over very soon & I have to let it out again... but good exercise, I suppose!! And if I didn't reef, I'd probably be wishing I had....! Very difficult to keep the boat going at a good speed in these mixed conditions.

Not a lot else to report, been rather lazy, in fact, pottering around, clearing/cleaning, reading, almost getting on with the whipping I've been promising myself to do(!).. but I have finally managed to source some local weather info - so that's good.

Another busy radio 'Net' in the evening with more boats joining in - all good fun & very sociable! 5 of us singlehanders, 3 couples and one with a family of four - and 1 or 2 other boats about to start off on passage from Cocos & so also joining in.

24hr run to midday: 167 n.ml. by log (148 from GPS posns)

Mon 8thOct07

Had a shock last night when I popped my head up into the cockpit to find not only was it raining.... but there was a boat close astern of me, not too far off my starboard quarter - felt like a re-run of two nights ago...!! I couldn't figure out what it was doing - saw several lights (close enough that they were reflected in the water!) but no navigation lights - so didn't know for sure which way it was going. Felt it was stationary and was quite relieved when the wind got up well enough for me
to put on good speed and sail away from it - its lights receded slowly into the distance - yet another fishing boat?.... from where??.... Indonesia or India or Sri Lanka?... or from the Mascarene Islands I'm headed towards?... Could have been from any one of those or even further way, although it looked relatively small - definitely not a cargo ship. I was pleased when its lights disappeared over the horizon!

It was another very 'bumpy' night with the seas consistently around at least 4m and regularly crashing into us - so another rather disturbed night's sleep. I find that having two reefs in the main works quite well - enough canvas to make reasonable speed most of the time in the good winds but not too much that we were over-canvassed when the wind picked up around the frequent rainclouds.

We seemed to clear the rainclouds by mid-morning and I enjoyed a bit of warm sunshine - I'd had to put on a fleece earlier!! Now we're back into rather cloudy conditions, but no dark squall clouds around just now.

I had to do quite a bit of cleaning and washing - with the banging & crashing, several items had jumped off the gimballed stove top & spilled so the galley area is, once again, for the moment, nice and clean & I've some washing hanging up to dry in the saloon!!

24hr run to midday: 161 n.ml. by log (152 from GPS posns) 810 n.ml. to go to Rodriguez.

(Can't understand why we seem to have current against us when it should be with us - begin to wonder if log needs re-calibrating - despite having done that in San Diego earlier this year.)

Sat 6thOct07
Well, I had a rough night's sleep - constantly woken by the boat heeling right over on being hit by big waves. After the first few hours, the frequent heavy rain stopped although the seas kept rushing over the decks - no flying fish to find this morning (except for one small one trapped in a deck drain) - they'd all got washed overboard again soon after landing!! I kept just two reefs in the mains'l - the conditions weren't quite bad enough to warrant putting in a 3rd reef (max. apparent wind seemed to be ~28kn - top end of a force 6) and I wanted to keep our speed up in the big seas, but the genoa was furled in an equivalent amount. We bounced around in the swell but kept going fine on a beam/close reach in S/SSW winds.

I kept feeling grateful that I'd noticed the wind seeming to increase when I did. In fact, initially it had veered, rather than actually increase, although that made the effect on the sails the same as it increasing - I was lucky not to have left getting the spinnaker down any longer than I did! As it was, I had to get the pole down & then nearly went parasailing as I tried to get the sock down over the 'chute with the wind by then veering even more AND increasing - took some determination (and shouting!!) not to let it beat me - that would have led to disaster! As they say, "All's well that ends well"! But I was pleased to have a ready-made dinner waiting.... the stir-fry tasted even more delicious second time around, in the circumstances!!

Gradually, over the morning, the skies lightened and the sun eventually got out. I let out the genoa - the wind is still up in the low 20's but from abaft the beam now (ESE/SE) and we're still making good boatspeed - around 7 knots. The swell is gradually lessening also but is still quite big and knocking us from time to time. Come nightfall, the sky was clear overhead & full of bright stars - all constellations 'upside down' to me, of course!!

Tonight's SSB radio 'Net' on 8173kHz was really busy - around 8 boats took part, including two who could only hear what was being said (I gave what weather info I had to one who cannot get it any other way). Two more had just left Cocos Keeling today, one had just arrived there but hopes to leave in a couple of days' time, and the rest of us were already on passage, with one just arrived in Rodriguez. There were probably other boats in the anchorage listening in, as well! During the Net, we exchange positions, weather info & general chit-chat!! I expect to meet up with those boats I don't know personally as yet - either in Mauritius or in South Africa - everyone is headed that way for November/December, and most will be crossing the S.Atlantic from Cape Town some time later.

Noon 24hr run better than I'd expected with the overnight fast run... 157 n.ml. by log (152 n.ml. by GPS posn). Nearly halfway to Rodriguez.

Fri 5thOct07 'Chute flying!

Pleasant - but slow - Tradewinds sailing! With wind down to barely a force 3 (around 8kn from ESE), I finally got the 'chute up to help us along - initially had to abandon the attempt with E wind too far astern (didn't fancy a spinnaker wrap around inner forestay, and anyway it kept collapsing) but by midday, wind had veered just enough to have another go. After untangling the odd line, it was hoisted successfully at second attempt by 1.30pm... always takes me such a long time to prepare it & then hoist it, with so many pitfalls to avoid!!

Just after 11pm last night, I suddenly heard a motor close astern - rushed up on deck to see a relatively small fishing (presumably) boat with bright alternate white/orange lights along its side - but it was also showing navigation lights. I reckon it came close out of curiousity, to see what boat this was, because it soon went off on its way northbound - to my relief.... always a concern since you never know, in the middle of the ocean, if their intentions are good or bad...!! No A.I.S., of course,and probably not showing up on radar either. They must have seen my tricolour swinging about in the swell.

This morning has mainly been taken up with playing with the asymmetric 'chute, after getting up late, & playing with the WindPilot which doesn't seem to like the very light wind on a near run, so I'm back on autopilot - had hoped not to be, since it takes a fair amount of battery power. Generator start motor has packed up I'll have to run the main engine for charging now - pity!

Other big achievements of the day include collecting a paltry two flying fish off the decks, throwing overboard a complete, unretrievable, very smelly, white cabbage (so much for my hope-for cabbage salad for lunch!!), changing a watermaker filter, happily listening to the fridge working away from time to time with none of the start-up problems it had previously.... and generally enjoying an extremely pleasant, relaxing, sunny day. I do so love hearing the slight rustle of the spinnaker as we gently & quietly sail along in calm seas under a bright sun - magic!! (I try to ignore the fact that we're making a mere 4.5-4.9knots SOG just now! At least it's in the right direction...)

I'm writing this munching a lovely fresh carrot (at least they keep beautifully in the fridge), in between my usual lunchtime quesadillas (made with an excellent Australian wax-coated cheddar), looking forward to a fresh NZ apple & a mandarin (also good 'keepers' - out of the fridge). And soon it'll be teatime...! Last night made an excellent beef, red pepper & noodles stir fry (thanks for the beef, Mandy!!). Food becomes increasingly of interest on a long passage - especially when it's calm!!

Looking forward to a bit of reading once I've 'posted' this .... although, on second thoughts, I've still some outstanding whipping I've not yet got down to, in connection with my new mainsail preventer 'project'... maybe do a bit of both, since no great rush.

Hope you're all keeping well - do email me with your news from time to time!

Noon 24hr run down again to just 129 n.ml. by log (135 n.ml. by GPS posn) - expect it to be even less by tomorrow noon!!

1262 n.ml. to go to Port Mathurin, Rodriguez, at noon. ETA 14-16th Oct, depending on wind! (Had been hoping for 13th - but winds too light now)

LATER Hopefully, with wind slowly increasing from now on, should get back to previous good 24hr runs! Presume seas will pick up in line, but mustn't complain!!

Wind has already increased now from a couple of hours ago - must keep an eye out to take 'chute down in good time!!

LATER: ......... went up on deck(4pm)...wind had veered...so furled genoa..pole down...'chute down..(JUST managed with rising, veering wind...with a fight!) bagged... down below... wind up & veered more... grey clouds ahead & around.... reefed main.. & again.... unfurled some genoa.... waited & made tea .... bang!...(pressure had dropped 3mb since 1200) "Nereida" got an excellent freshwater wash!! Heavy rain & 20kn winds ahead - so 25+ apparent! Seas built up quickly, of course!! All a bit different from earlier today....!!

Still rough & grey & windy, but will send this now ...

Thurs 4th Oct

Another lovely, relaxed day's sailing in sunny, calm conditions, goose-winged under full canvas. Only 18 flying fish on deck this morning!

Just been pottering about, getting some small jobs done... fridge is working fine without any more input from me, except for spraying bare metal I could see with anti-corrosion liquid - just as well, since I couldn't undo the spade connector I wanted to remake!

Having a problem with my Winlink connections - the Pactor modem I'm using seems to be misbehaving on certain frequencies/stations so only getting through rarely. Glad I've the alternative of Sailmail, which has greater choice of frequencies to use, so I'm managing to connect OK for now.

Not a lot to report - 5-day weather outlook is excellent, although wind may die a touch in a day or so, but then should come back up nicely again for following few days.

Time for a mug of tea, sitting out in the cockpit, gazing at the sea... and my navel... & reflecting on life.....

24hr run down a bit with some lighter wind: 152 n.ml. by log (137 from GPS posns)

Delighted to report all is well with my AIS - after re-setting signal threshold, cargo vessel "Furness Hartlepool", heading from Perth to Suez on passage to Hartlepool, UK, showed up at midnight, setting off alarm & showing that everything was working OK, both on the stand-alone Nasa Marine AIS display and also on the even more informative Nobeltec charting software on the laptop - excellent news!! So I can avoid use of radar....

Grey, overcast & showery just before dawn, with lighter wind from E, but by 8am, sky cleared & wind got up a touch from ESE - I'd organized genoa pole in readiness but held off lifting it... genoa was just abut OK without.... but finally, by 11am, had to raise it - so very much better with it than without -speed & stability much increased. Ended up having a fabulous, relaxing day with sun & far calmer seas after midday than up to now. We're safely over the N-S 'Ninety East Ridge' where the sea bed zooms up to around 1000m from 5000m - supposed to be reason for bad seas in the area - but not this time!! I'd been getting worried about possible bad weather on this passage - so it's been that much the nicer to have had such an unexpectedly lovely sail today ... plenty of distance to go yet for the weather & seas to turn nasty!!

Flying fish overnight tally stands at a record 52 after this morning's collecting round on deck ... there were scales everywhere!! But no fish big enough to be worthwhile eating - even as ceviche!

Unfortunately, I also found a bolt end on deck, close to the furling gear. Looks as though it's from one of the greasing access points on the furling drum, so hopefully not a major worry - think it's sheared off with the regular collapsing of the sail over the last day or so (should have raised genoa on the pole when I first thought about it!). Something to add to the joblist.... Another thing, which I may do tomorrow if it stays reasonably calm, is to look at an electrical connection on the cable to the fridge fan - I've been hearing the fridge constantly trying to switch on.. and failing - I'd been putting it down to low battery voltage but puzzled since often battery OK. Anyway, I've found today that by twiddling a particular power lead connection when it's trying to start,... start up it does! Behaving like a bad connection so I'll re-make it & see if that solves the problem - should be a very simple, quick job.

With wind down to around 15kn, rather than regularly over 20kn, speed, and hence daily run, has been, & will be, down - just 159n.ml. by log today (142 from midday GPS posns) - but that's not so bad!

What a lovely day! Clear sky, swell down & sea much gentler (hardly any of the tumbling crests on steep waves of Monday to knock the boat about), wind lessened so we're not going quite as fast... but still making around 6-6.5kn, so that's fine. Shook out the first reef early this morning so full canvas now.

Feeling refreshed after a good sleep, despite jumping up & down a few times - had radar on 'watch' & it kept objecting loudly to clouds that got too close - no ships seen this night!!

Picked up 21(!) little flying fish off the decks & finished the last of my Bali mangoes for breakfast - yummee!

Had a look at my weather info - looks as though that 'near-gale' warning rec'd yesterday (SE ~40knots) relates to a system that should (I hope) have its strongest winds between 30&40deg S - well S of me, although it might well generate a fair swell heading my way by end of week - we'll see. Winds on my course over next few days look unchanged from present SE Trades at 15-25kn (they do tend to vary quite a bit in strength).

I'm hoping that maybe my system setup has been the cause of my A.I.S. problem - I went in to the setup to see what settings I had & found my threshold for the signal was way higher than it should have been - I've lowered it but won't know if it's working until I see a signal on-screen (or hear the alarm go off) - frustrating to have no way to test it at present with no boats within range - 'Bowtie Lady' is over 55mls away so no help there! Running radar all night really chews up power - had to run my generator this morning. I forgot about option to let it 'catnap', just waking up every so often to take a look around...

Later: Well, today has been altogether excellent & enjoyable, with good news in my emails to complete a nice day! Seas a little up this afternoon, but still OK & wind still from East - would be better if veered a touch to ESE again to put us on less of a run - but I'm not complaining too loudly! Forecast looks good for next 4-5days - if grib files are to be believed.

Have just started up radar on timed transmit - wakes up every 10 mins for 20 scans & then goes to 'sleep' again in between - less power consumption that way.

Would be nice if a ship came within 16miles to test if A.I.S. is working or not - would save radar use if AIS were seen to be OK.

24hr run today: 165n.ml by log (148ml by GPS midday posns)- quite a noticeable foul current at present. 1676 n.ml. to go.

Had an excellent start to the passage yesterday, leaving around 1030am after hoisting & stowing the dinghy & outboard. There are quite a few boats at anchor off Direction Island now and we had a very sociable final barbecue Sat. night. So the farewell, as Mark of 'Swanya' led 'Bowtie Lady' & 'Nereida' out through the reef, got VERY noisy - lots of hooting & tooting from a very nice group of people.
The wind was good, the sun was shining & the swell only picked up very gradually, so it was a lovely sail well into evening. The swell became a bit uncomfortable at times, but mainly not too bad and over Monday has actually felt better - big (~4m) but regular. The wind has been up & down a bit but mainly ESE/SE around 18-24kn so we've made good speed, broad reaching nicely.
The main problem I've had is that my A.I.S. unit suddenly decided not to function while leaving Cocos Keeling so I can no longer see ships around (up to 32 mls away) on the display - which badly affects my sleep pattern and will mean having to put on my radar, with its greater power consumption. Peter on 'Bowtie Lady' called me up twice in the night to let me know of two ships heading our way, although, being faster, he is gradually forging ahead of me so that won't work for much longer. I found myself very tired this morning after the disturbed night (& not enough sleep before leaving!), and when I tried to see if there was anything obviously wrong with the AIS wiring I ended up having to admit defeat - not easy for me to do!! Having triumphantly re-connected a tiny power lead which had come adrift behind the display unit, I found that made no difference... I tried bringing my laptop on line to use the excellent A.I.S. function in the Nobeltec program - but no signal was coming in. I tried going in to Hyperlink unsuccessfully, but confirmed the lack of signal with my multimeter on the coax cable from the VHF smart-splitter - both to the display unit as well as to the PC - although every now & then, it seemed I was getting some data flow (a variable mV reading) - but not most of the time - most puzzling. I still have to undo the coax connection from the 'smart splitter' to see if there's any dullness or corrosion there - so often on boats, that is the cause of the problem when electrics fail.
So I ended up well after midday needed a good rest...!! I then had a very belated breakfast in the fresh air, gazing out at the sea & sky - very pleasant, especially after overnight rain... In fact, at one point, under a raincloud, the wind died almost totally last night (I got quite wet!) & I even started the engine - but within twenty minutes or so the wind came back up to over 20kn again... so back out with the furled genoa & let out the main.... good sailing!
By sunset, cloud had gathered, but it's not too overcast & may go, as often happens, with nightfall.
At 1200 GMT, the boats presently on passage have a 'sched' on 8173 to exchange news & as other boats leave Cocos to make passage, they'll join in - should get quite sociable! So I'll sign off for now....

Midday 24hr run was around 166n.ml - not bad!

PS Just been informed near-gale f'cast for area just to S of path tomorrow - hopefully, we're on outer edge of it, so won't get the strongest of the winds - will keep you posted!!

Saturday 29th Sept07
Checked out with Customs (Police here) in West Island, Cocos Keeling, on Thursday - involved a very wet, long dinghy ride to Home Island, a ferry trip between islands and a bus trip from ferry to the Settlement where the Police Stn is situated - took the entire day to get back to 'Nereida'. My next leg is nearly 2,000mls to Rodriguez, near Mauritius, & will take around a fortnight... forecast looks quite good - for first few days at least!

Yesterday (Friday) I walked around Direction Island (where the yacht anchorage is) - covered in coconut palms & surrounded by white sand beach on inside and coral reef on outside - with lots of flip-flops washed up from the Indian Ocean! I found a nice piece of driftwood which I used to make a name-board on Saturday for "Nereida" & hung up in the beach 'shack' where we meet & have our occasional barbecues. I painted it white, with the boat name, my name and the date in black - looks good & should hang there for several years as a memento... took me all day to make with chisels from the toolbag.

Later I snorkelled the 'Rip' - fast inflowing current through a gap in the outer reef took me into the lagoon over reef & sand - quite a few big and colourful fish - and my first ever octopus seen in these parts! After that, someone produced badminton racquets & I enjoyed a game on the sand under the palms - all in all, a great day of relaxation!!

Tonight was our farewell barbecue - 3 boats leaving tomorrow (Sunday) and several others leaving later this week, headed also towards S. Africa - we hope to meet up somewhere there later this year.