We left Reunion on Tuesday the 21st with light winds which lasted for the first two days. It was calm seas and winds around 12-15 k so very easy. After that the winds kicked up and we had anywhere from 20-35+ for the rest of the trip to South Africa. We expected this wind which made for some lively sailing and good speeds averaging eight and a half to ten knots per hour. The good news is we arrived in South Africa at Richards Bay on the 29th in eight days and four hours and sailed 1429miles.
We are now tied up in Tuzi Gazi marina which has poor docks but a good location with restaurants all around the marina as well as a few shops. The town area is a ten minute ride away and yesterday we went there and got our sim cards for the phone and internet set up as well as some banking etc. Another yachty gave us a ride all around the area and found some places we can go to fix a couple of things on Kilkea II. The people that we have met here are very friendly with lots of advise on what to do and not to do while in SA. This part of the country is where many of the game parks private and national are situated the closest being just an hour and a half away. Our plans now are to rent a car and do some land touring of the parks and maybe a full blown safari once we get our bearings here.
On our sail here from Reunion we crossed a longitudinal line of east 36 10 65 degrees which is the same as we were at when in Turkey at Iskenderon on May 25 2007. So that means we have circumnavigated the globe!!! Well we did open a bottle of Champagne once we arrived here and now the next big thing will to cross one of our routes sometime next year which will close the circle. Our next move on Kilkea II will be to work our way very slowly down the African coast towards Cape Town, about 900 miles away, where we hope to be by Christmas.
Friday, October 31, 2014
Friday, October 17, 2014
Reunion pictures
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| Marian on one of our walks. |
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| hand dug tunnel which is part of the road 1834 |
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| the pictures cannot express the grandure |
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| waterfalls which are all around us |
Reunion
We enjoyed our time in Mauritius as we drove all around the island which has a number of high end resorts but if you go to them you are stranded in the resort as there is little outside them to go to. Lots and lots of sugar cane fields with a national park high up on a plateau. We did drive all around the island and back and forth across it in two days so have a good overview of the country. We spent a lot of time trying to get our sail delivered to the boat at the marina and did finally receive it after paying again for what we had already paid for, clearance etc. Just another form of tax or whatever you want to call it. The good news is the sail fit perfectly and when we used it all was good.
Leaving on Friday the 10th was the same as arriving with us having to go to the four government agencies and filling out forms before our outbound clearance was ok'd. This done we left for Reunion for a 24 hour sail. We arrived on Saturday morning to an island with mountains towering above us. We are now at Le Port as the marina on the south of the island in St Pierre is full. On the weekend here all things are closed, even the bus service on Sunday so we just did some walking and cleaned up Kilkea II. On Monday we rented a car for the week and have been driving around this most beautiful island. There are four calderas, one of which is still active, and reach up to 3000+ meters and the roads up inside them are amazing. The views are truly amazing, stunning, and inspiring. Ok maybe I going a little overboard but it is a great place for scenery and trekking which is the main thing to do here. We have seen sights that equal Princess Louisa inlet in BC and that is going some. Then there is the French atmosphere here with the good baguettes and cheese etc. So great scenery and food so we are happy to be here.
Now with all this joy there is a small concern as we have to travel on to South Africa and are watching the weather situation so that we can do the 1400miles without getting to beat up. This is not that easy to do here as the concept of wi-fi, pronounced wee fee, is not that easy to get onto. Right now we plan to leave next week between Monday and Thursday but between now and whenever the weather is right we will keep enjoying all that this island had so offer.
Leaving on Friday the 10th was the same as arriving with us having to go to the four government agencies and filling out forms before our outbound clearance was ok'd. This done we left for Reunion for a 24 hour sail. We arrived on Saturday morning to an island with mountains towering above us. We are now at Le Port as the marina on the south of the island in St Pierre is full. On the weekend here all things are closed, even the bus service on Sunday so we just did some walking and cleaned up Kilkea II. On Monday we rented a car for the week and have been driving around this most beautiful island. There are four calderas, one of which is still active, and reach up to 3000+ meters and the roads up inside them are amazing. The views are truly amazing, stunning, and inspiring. Ok maybe I going a little overboard but it is a great place for scenery and trekking which is the main thing to do here. We have seen sights that equal Princess Louisa inlet in BC and that is going some. Then there is the French atmosphere here with the good baguettes and cheese etc. So great scenery and food so we are happy to be here.
Now with all this joy there is a small concern as we have to travel on to South Africa and are watching the weather situation so that we can do the 1400miles without getting to beat up. This is not that easy to do here as the concept of wi-fi, pronounced wee fee, is not that easy to get onto. Right now we plan to leave next week between Monday and Thursday but between now and whenever the weather is right we will keep enjoying all that this island had so offer.
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Mauritius
We arrived in Mauritius on Monday afternoon just in time to get the four departments of government to clear us in! Yes Rodrigues and Mauritius are the same country but the rules are you have to do it both times as I guess it creates jobs for a lot of people.
The trip over was ok with 20k winds from the east, so right behind us which makes for uncomfortable movements on the boat and not much speed. The last twelve hours we motor sailed to be here before dark as they close the harbor at night to small craft. You have to tie up to a cement wall to do all the clearance stuff with no cleats or tie ups of any sort. We did this ok with the help of our bow thruster which makes maneuvering the boat fairly easy. When we left just before dark and tried to use it nothing happened! The electric engine whirled away but the propeller did not spin so it was with relief that when we arrived at the marina, again on a cement wall, that other friends from Malaysia were there to help us get tied up. We had a good nights sleep and started to work on the bow thruster in the morning. On the Amel boats you can drop the bow thruster and bring the whole unit up on deck. We did this twice with no luck so called Amel in France who, after a small meeting, told us what they thought the problem was and how to go about fixing it. This we did and they were correct. So now we needed a machinist to drill and put in a couple of new pins. We did this with the help of Rashid who is a taxi type of guy that seems to deal with the yachties that arrive here. He took us to a machinist who was very good and then all around town for different projects we had to do. It ended up that the bow thruster was fixed with the addition of two new bearings in the unit that were worn so now hopefully it is as good as new. Rashid also took care of our fueling needs as he had the jerry cans and a syphon and as we were on the concrete pier could drive the car to the boat and put on the fuel which was 100% easier that the last time in Indonesia. On Thursday, after washing the Kilkea II, we moved the boat off the outside wall and into the inside of the marina with a lot more protection from wind and waves.
Now you can see why we call world cruising "fixing your boat in exotic places". Friday we finally did a walk around Port Louis which has a mix of new and very old and run down shops and streets. Our sail is still not here, big surprise, so we will have to wait until next week sometime. We will rent a car and do a tour of the island for a couple of days so that should keep us busy before we can leave for Reunion.
The trip over was ok with 20k winds from the east, so right behind us which makes for uncomfortable movements on the boat and not much speed. The last twelve hours we motor sailed to be here before dark as they close the harbor at night to small craft. You have to tie up to a cement wall to do all the clearance stuff with no cleats or tie ups of any sort. We did this ok with the help of our bow thruster which makes maneuvering the boat fairly easy. When we left just before dark and tried to use it nothing happened! The electric engine whirled away but the propeller did not spin so it was with relief that when we arrived at the marina, again on a cement wall, that other friends from Malaysia were there to help us get tied up. We had a good nights sleep and started to work on the bow thruster in the morning. On the Amel boats you can drop the bow thruster and bring the whole unit up on deck. We did this twice with no luck so called Amel in France who, after a small meeting, told us what they thought the problem was and how to go about fixing it. This we did and they were correct. So now we needed a machinist to drill and put in a couple of new pins. We did this with the help of Rashid who is a taxi type of guy that seems to deal with the yachties that arrive here. He took us to a machinist who was very good and then all around town for different projects we had to do. It ended up that the bow thruster was fixed with the addition of two new bearings in the unit that were worn so now hopefully it is as good as new. Rashid also took care of our fueling needs as he had the jerry cans and a syphon and as we were on the concrete pier could drive the car to the boat and put on the fuel which was 100% easier that the last time in Indonesia. On Thursday, after washing the Kilkea II, we moved the boat off the outside wall and into the inside of the marina with a lot more protection from wind and waves.
Now you can see why we call world cruising "fixing your boat in exotic places". Friday we finally did a walk around Port Louis which has a mix of new and very old and run down shops and streets. Our sail is still not here, big surprise, so we will have to wait until next week sometime. We will rent a car and do a tour of the island for a couple of days so that should keep us busy before we can leave for Reunion.
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