Wednesday August 31st - La Reunion

August 31st.

We arrived at La Reunion shortly after sunrise. Most of the trip was a bit of a ride. Winds between 25 and 30 knots 12 - 18ft swells coming almost broadside. No Regrets was all over the place, so no lashing the tiller and falling asleep leaving the boat to sail itself. The saving grace was the autopilot which did a good job of keeping us on course but there was still a lot of motion and the seas slapping the bottom of the bridge deck between the two hulls would have scared me to death at times but Zeke didn't bat an eye lid, so hey-ho and on we go.

Despite all that it was a lovely clear night. No moon, clear skies full of stars,  It really is something special to be carried along over the open ocean under a hemispherical night sky with lots of wind and a lively sea. We raised the main with a couple of reefs and let her run. By daylight we had passed Tahawus and had been in touch with port traffic control.

Entry formalities were straightforward if protracted due to an out break of Foot and Mouth disease among the Island's live stock. All foodstuffs from Mauritius were confiscated to be burned. Boats that provisioned in Port Louis for the trip on to Africa lost a significant amount.

We expect be here for just under a week waiting for a favorable weather window for the next leg to Durban, about 1,640 miles as the plane flies, rather more around the south of Madagascar. We have a professional weather guy on hand to help plan the route, but forecasts are unreliable ten days out, which is very roughly when we will approach Durban and cross the Agulhas current.

Our satellite tracker is on, so you should be able to follow he board's progress here
http://cornellsailing.com/sail-the-odyssey/blue-planet-odyssey/follow-the-rally/track-the-boats/

Sorry about the lack of photographs. the internet  connections are few and far between and of limited bandwidth. I'll work on it.

Monday August 29th -Black River to Port Louis

Sunday August 28th. - Preparation
We spent Sunday getting ready to move the boat from Black River to Port Louis, the Island's principal town. One of the boat's dagger boards had been left for repair having been damaged by an encounter with coral. We found it didn't fit in its slot and arranged to have it shaved down. We spent the rest of the day getting in some basic provisions, getting familiar with the boat and trying to find wifi. The weather is unsettled, wavering from cool, sunny and calm to very windy, fogged in and rainy. These wet and episodes evidently known to the locals as God's Sneezes.

Monday August 29 relocate to Port Louis

We refitted the Dagger board, replaced a fuel tank sensor, removed a bird's nest from the roller furling gear and headed out through the gap in the coral into open water for the twenty mile run up to Port Louis.

It was wonderful. Plenty of good wind. Glorious and sunny alternating with cloudy wet and chilly. Low ocean swells running under us.

God's Sneezes pushed us along under jib only. It was a novel experience for me to be in a strong breeze on a sail boat that stayed level. A monohull would be over on its ear with the crew wedged in place.

The island is is very pretty from the water. Craggy mountains rising steeply about 2,000 feet from the generally level landscape.

Port Louis is a good sized industrial port. Large docks cranes, container ships, rusted fishing boats, large warehouses and grain terminals. The tourist basin is pretty full, most of us rafted out from the concrete wharf. Our sailing compatriots are all here, now just three boats; Maggie, Tahawus and ourselves No Regrets. We gathered for drinks. Zeke happy to see old pals, Nora & I happy to meet new ones.

Tuesday August 30th depart Port Louis for La Reunion.

The three boats  decided to head out around noon for the overnight leg to La Reunion. A midday departure intended to get us into La Reunion in.  daylight. Zeke headed out to deal with customs and immigration, Nora and I to see the town. The town is busy busy busy. There are police directing traffic everywhere you look, in fact there are police everywhere you look. The city itself is a mix of Tourist-Resort Modern, pretty quiet in the morning, Fairly Modern Business District, with plenty of local and international banks, Colonial Holdovers with plenty of charm even if does evoke the Colonial era. Around this inner core there is a vibrant local business district packed with small shops, traffic, street vendors that is pretty shabby. We ran across old and historic mosque tiled and bright inside with lovely woodwork.

The unexpected highlight were the markets and  old arcades. One very makeshift with stalls cobbled together with found materials. We tried to buy a bite to eat, but the vendor could not make change for a 500 Rupee note, a modest amount, less than twenty US dollars. There was also a large produce market in an older building where the goods on display were immaculate and displayed with great care. We picked up some samosas from a street vendor and got a coffee before heading back to the boat.

Zeke was back and not so happy after yet another encounter with officialdom. Not only are the rules and procedures different in every country, but they are different every day of the week. It was all sorted out in the end, as it always is but it does waste your time and suck out your humor and energy.

We all managed to leave around noon and as I write this we are three hours gone under partial clouds, moderate winds, running diagonally into the swells, which give a weird boat motion in a catamaran. 15 knot winds just forward of the beam have us sailing at around 6 knots with just the jib set.  we are proceeding at a leisurely pace. We have spotted our first whales. The overnight watch system is agreed at four hours - which is fairly long but much easier to manage given the enclosed pilot house, completely sheltered from the weather. The auto pilot takes good care of the steering duties.

Tahawus is beginning to disappear over horizon, Maggie is bring up the rear of our fleet of three. So we are on our way for real. So far, so good.

Mauritius

THE JOURNEY OUT

Boston's Logan airport was a zoo. Overrun with a diverse group of characters heading off to Asia and the Middle East, it is easy to imagine them in costume and fitting right into the Games of thrones.

The flight was packed. I weep for the fish that gave it's life for my supper. It was sorely abused by the Food Excellence Quality Process that rendered it an inedible brick. A poor woman behind me very noisily lost her lunch when the sensation of sitting upright did not square with the view through the window that told her the plane was cranked over on its ear affording a fine view of the Bosphorus far below. 

The approach to Istanbul showed a city that stretches as far as the eye can see. Ranks of concrete high-rises mixed in with battalion formations of four-decker apartment buildings. I regret that I didn't venture out for a look around the old city.  The prospect of three hour  security  lines and a very jumpy security force got the better of my sense of adventure. The airport itself makes Logan look like a hick backwater.

Mauritius is a good sized tourist resort island. At 780 square miles it is roughly three times the size of Anglesey (for my anglo readers), about three quarters the size of Rhode Island (for my American pals) and a whole lot bigger than Inishmore (For my sole reader in the Aran Islands). For those of you who inhabit the Realm of the Internet, far removed from the venal planes of mere national politics, it comes out at about 7.0439e+8 square smoots.

We are presently camped in a resort marina, where the choices seem to be swimming, eating or cleaning the boat. The weather is temperate and the breeze is soothing. It's nice. You would like it here. Nora, the third crew, member arrived yesterday and had the boat re-booted and aired out. We hope to push off in a day or two for La Réunion, about 100 miles southwest of Mauritius.