Logbooks:

Panama to French Polynesia
Caribbean to Panama
Denmark to Caribbean
Scandinavian Summer 2017
Winter (and a baby) in Copenhagen
Azores to Copenhagen
Cape Town to the Azores
African Coast (Durban to Cape Town)
Southern Africa Overland 2015
Indian Ocean (Broome to Durban)
Darwin to Broome (Kimberley Coast)
Townsville to Darwin
NZ to Townsville , Australia
NZ 2014-15 Part 3: North Island
Fiji to New Zealand
Fiji 2014 Part 2: Lau Group
Fiji 2014 Part 1: Suva to Savusavu
New Zealand to Fiji
NZ 2014 Part 2: North Island
NZ 2014 Part 1: Southland & Fiordland
Hobart to Bluff, NZ (March 2014)
Whitsundays to Hobart
Brisbane to Whitsundays
Maintenance Log

Indian Ocean (Broome to Durban)

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A quiet week in Durban

Date:

Dec. 1, 2015, 6:17 a.m.

Coming into busy Port Durban was a real shock to the system, as we approached the AIS lit up with dozens of huge cargo ships anchored outside waiting their turn to come in. We spent the afternoon weaving around the incoming and outgoing boats on our approach, after a year of sailing quiet waters it was mayhem! Tourist fishing boats came into the mix and as we got right in close day tour boats and sailing yachts. It was a fine Saturday afternoon and after some poor weather everyone seemed to be making the most of it. The harbour control tower was not a single chap but a team, lighting up several radio channels, orchestrating this chaos like air traffic controllers. As we puttered forward slowly in line, we saw pilots getting winched up by helicopter from the cargo ships, they did not even bother pulling them aboard, instead left them dangling like a tea bag as they whipped them straight over and onto the next ship requiring a pilot. We even saw a helicopter hovering at the level of a ships bridge, leant out having a conversation! We were surrounded by a huge amount of commercial port infrastructure and in the middle of all this big-ness was a fleet of tiny Optis racing.

The large but very shallow port has few channels and the Port Controllers work hard to keep them clear. As their own escort boat was busy, the team in the tower got an incoming charter boat to escort us into the marina. If it was full there is a small amount of room in front where we could anchor but banks rise out of nowhere at low tide so you do have to get your position just right. Thankfully for us, almost all the international boats had left on that mornings fine weather window to head south, so the international dock which was three boats deep 12 hours ago was completely empty. We tied up as the afternoon shadows were getting long, it was too late to phone customs and immigration and you do not walk around Durban after 5pm so we’d have to wait until the morning to get a local phone card arranged.

Durban is a much bigger city and port than we had realised but it still has a nice relaxed vibe and we enjoyed a quiet week after the big passage. The marina is well run and ‘Adri' in the office has the magical gift of making things happen. She will arrange the right taxi, sort out your laundry and point you in the right direction for everything if not call them on your behalf. The Point Yacht Club and Royal Natal Yacht Club are at opposite corners of the marina and are incredibly welcoming to the foreign Yachtie. They hand you two weeks free membership on arrival and the Royal even gave us a little welcome pack complete with a bottle of wine! Both serve excellent and inexpensive food an we’ve had fun meeting the local members and the remains of the international fleet.

Clearing in was clumsy but easy enough. A guy came to our boat on Sunday, then we walked about 1km down to the customs and immigration offices (same building different entrances,) to complete the paperwork. On Monday two young and polite policemen came to do a cursory inspection of the boat but as they explained we had already been here to long for it to have been worthwhile, so they just came aboard to fill some paperwork and left. On Sunday we wandered down to the beach front, you could have been in Rio. The street was lined with high rise apartments and the esplanade sculpted with generous paved pathways, amphitheatres, pools, playgrounds, restaurants, market stalls, you name it. The whole thing was seething with a mass of humanity all in their fashionable sunday-best. It had such a great vibe.

We um-ed and ah-ed over whether or not to move south quickly but it seemed that between the ARC boats and the many international yachts, all the southern marinas were fully booked out. Durban on the other hand had plenty of space, was inexpensive and seemed secure. So we turned our plans on their head and quickly decided to leave the boat here while we did and inland tour. A 4x4 car with rooftop tent was expensive and booked out this time of year so we bit the bullet and jumped on an overland truck tour. We were admittedly reluctant to join and organised tour but with the last minute nature of our trip and being timed over christmas it seemed by far the best way. After all the miles we have worked hard to cover this year, finishing it by letting someone else take the wheel, cook the food and work out where to go sounded rather appealing.

We got the boat into a proper berth and packed her up, threw some things in a bag, scrabbled together some last minute flights and were winging our way to Victoria Falls Zimbabwe before we had even managed to tell our family that we would be in the middle of the Namibian desert, out of phone contact for Christmas. As we were crossing boarders, another yacht gave us the great advice to obtain a letter from the marina stating that our boat was kept here just in case. We never needed it but it is certainly prudent to have and the wonderful Adri had it knocked up in a matter of minutes… as well as booking an airport shuttle for us.

*A big Thank you and our apologies to dear family and friends who contacted us while we were away concerned as to why we were not blogging, I am catching up with things now and will be in touch, hope you all had a great break over the holidays and Happy New Year!*

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Entering Durban Port

Date:	Nov. 28, 2015, 3:30 a.m.
Position:	29 46.00 S, 31 15.00 E
Speed over Ground:	6.0
Heading (True):	260.0
Wind Speed (kts):	5.0
Wind Direction (True):	180.0
Sea state:	Slight
Swell (m):	1.5

We've made it! We're currently motoring into Durban Port about 2 hours away from the breakwaters. Conditions are calm except for a swell still rolling in from the south.

This will be the last communication until we get a local sim card or wifi network.

Apologies for the delayed post from yesterday. We were unable to contact a station to get messages in or out over the past 36-hours. It might have been weather-related. Scott, thanks for contacting SAMNNET he passed on the message to us over the radio this morning. All well on board. Looking forward to some good sleep once we are safely inside the harbor. no-footer

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Reunion to Durban - Day 12

Date:	Nov. 27, 2015, 6 a.m.
Position:	29 56.00 S, 33 5.00 E
Speed over Ground:	6.0
Heading (True):	300.0
Wind Speed (kts):	35.0
Wind Direction (True):	180.0
Sea state:	High
Swell (m):	4.0

We've had the most unbelievable past 24-hours of weather. Last night we hove-to about 1-hour before the front was forecast to pass over us. As we watched the clouds roll towards us we noticed that the clouds had an eerie red glow to them that was not due to the setting sun. It was heading right for us. Then we saw a few bolts of lightening coming from the glow.

It all started of with a bang (literally) last night when the front passed over us with the most intense electrical storm we've ever seen. Another boat reported similar electrical storms when they were struck about 2 weeks ago and report that it was "bright with light more than 50% of the time". I would say that that is almost an understatement. You could have easily read a book under the perpetual glow of lightening. Most of it was high sheet lightening but a few bolts came down to sea level, one was a bit too close for comfort as we heard it slap the water only a few meters away.

The electrical storms lasted most of the night from around sunset to 2am. During that time the southerly wind shift had not happened as forecast and winds were still around 15-20 knots from the north. The longer than expected northerly winds pushed us further south than we would have liked, right to the bottom of our "Triangle of Happiness". At 3am the wind switched to the south. It took an hour or two to pick up but then it started really pumping. It was blowing a pretty steady 30-35 for the rest of the night and morning.

Our "Triangle of Happiness" area seemed to work really well. Using the grib files we identified that triangular area as a region where there was slack water (no currents) so the likelihood of abnormal waves was reduced. Similarly, the gribs indicated that if we were any closer to shore then, not only would be be starting to get into the Aghulas current, but the wind would be a bit stronger. Our logic was confirmed when another boat checking into the morning sched, they were only 70nm SW of our position and were running downwind with 50-knots of wind. Don't get me wrong, it was no walk in the park in the Triangle of Happiness but I think we were much happier than they were as it seemed that they had found the Polygon of Misery. The slack-water in our triangle seemed to moderate the sea so even though it was blowing a gale the sea-state was quite tolerable and Tuuletar rode the waves beautifully in a hove-to position with just a bit of mizzen sail out.

At around 10am it seemed like the conditions were easing a bit so we started making slow progress broad-reaching basically under bare-poles with just a tiny bit of the headsail furled out to increase windage forward. I have to give another big mention to the Hydrovane self-steering gear here. It was incredible. Under bare-poles the boat is very unstable downwind (due to all our windage aft, dinghy, davits, etc,) and even steering manually is a real challenge. The Raymarine autopilot had absolutely no capability in those conditions. However the Hydrovane was able to maintain the boat running downwind with almost bare-poles in very solid conditions, and it did it beautifully.

The conditions were gusty for the whole day. The lull that enticed us to get moving again turned out to be only temporary. When we moved out of the north-western end of our triangle this afternoon the skies cleared up but the wind thought it would have one last go at it. Man did it blow. For the past few hours its been a solid gale with wind steady at 35-knots.

When we moved out of our triangle we started getting some south-setting current (which we expected), but we seemed to find a region of a meandering eddy where the south-setting flow was very intense. This was not expected in that region and did not show up on any of the grib-files or current-models. The effect of the 35-knots against, I estimate, a south-setting current of 3-4 knots created the most massive seas I have ever seen. The whole attitude of the sea changed. I have never reported "high" seas in any log entry but I would think that these were what one would call "high seas". Probably 4-5 meter waves on the bigger sets with quite short and deep troughs in between.

We had a moment of panic when the waves started to crest and break around us. I was very nervous of broaching in those conditions it felt like the boat could be rolled severely. We quickly handed in the headsail and rounded up to lie ahull. The slick created from our hull moving through the water calmed the seas and Tuuletar rode the waves beautifully. To put the conditions in perspective: after we lay ahull and were drifting with 4-5m breaking seas and 35-knots of southerly wind... we were still going to windward at 1-knot! In those conditions we should have been drifting with the wind and waves at between 2-3 knots which makes me estimate the current in that patch at around 3-4 knots.

Fortunately our direction of drift seemed to take us towards the edge of what seemed to be quite a small anomalous region of current. The sea-state improved quite quickly and, although the current was still south-setting, we weren't making windward progress anymore. We got the tiny bit of headsail out again, re-set the hydrovane and continued on our way. The forecast is for conditions to decrease overnight and we could be reduced to motoring again tomorrow... which is hard to imagine at this stage. The final challenge is for us to make some northing against the south-setting current so that we are not caught south of Durban when the wind shifts to a northerly tomorrow afternoon. If that were to happen then there's a good chance you would simply miss Durban and the next option for safe harbor is 280nm south at East London.

Looking back I imagine that we might see this as some of the most intense, even interesting, 24-hours of sailing we've ever had to do. Negotiating strong currents, winds and seas we had to pull out many of the heavy-weather sailing tricks to get through it comfortably. Hove-to, laying ahull, running under bare poles and fore-reaching to windward at times. When handled correctly and taking things slowly, Tuuletar rides those conditions beautifully at sea and we never once felt at all in danger. Cat even made a nice chicken curry dinner while we were hove-to in the strong current with high seas!

We are only about 100nm from Durban now, if we can keep up good progress overnight then we should be able to hopefully reach Durban by tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon. no-footer

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Reunion to Durban - Day 11

Date:	Nov. 26, 2015, 6 a.m.
Position:	30 12.79 S, 33 34.13 E
Speed over Ground:	4.0
Heading (True):	220.0
Wind Speed (kts):	22.0
Wind Direction (True):	30.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	1.0

We're so close to Durban now, only 130nm, but it feels like a long way off with a low-pressure system moving through tonight with bad weather. Latest forecast is that we'll have gale-force winds for about 12-hours starting in about 2-3 hours from now. We have moderate northerlies at the moment but squally and overcast conditions. I don't suspect we'll have to use it but I have moved all the gear for deploying the sea-anchor inside and ready. I have not pre-rigged it with break-away cable-ties but I should be able to set it up within a few minutes if required.

We've had a very slow day of sailing because we wanted to set ourselves up in the "Triangle of Happiness" as we have chosen to call it. This is a triangular region which is not too close to the shore that we are in the Aghulas current and get the worst of the wind-against-current but also not too far away that we are in a north-setting counter-current. We're also far enough offshore that the winds should be a few knots less. We'll heave-to shortly and drift until it passes over us. Once we are in the thick of it we'll assess whether its sailable and we should make progress. If not then conditions are forecast to moderate starting around midday tomorrow so we can hopefully be on our way by then.

There will be southerly winds for the following 36-hours until Saturday night so our "Triangle of Happiness" is ESE of Durban so that we can crack off an reach in across the Aghulas current Friday afternoon and Saturday.

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Reunion to Durban - Day 10

Date:	Nov. 25, 2015, 6 a.m.
Position:	29 2.38 S, 35 5.61 E
Speed over Ground:	6.0
Heading (True):	245.0
Wind Speed (kts):	16.0
Wind Direction (True):	40.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	1.0

We continued motoring last night through calm conditions that persisted right through this morning. It was good actually to have a breather and a get some good rest after the previous few days (and before the next big slog starting tomorrow). Cat slept for about 7 hours from 0700 to 1400!

This afternoon around 1400 we turned the motor off and started broad-reaching with a full mainsail and genoa. We had a wonderful smooth afternoon of sailing. At sunset now we've reefed down the mainsail to a #2 reef as the forecast is for northerlies to strengthen somewhat overnight.

Tomorrow the northerlies will pick up ahead of our next front which should hit us around sunset. We've decided to head as far as we can south over the next 24-hours. The reason is because we don't want to cross the line of 32.5-degrees longitude as the forecasts show that that area near the coast will have the worst winds and waves (30 knots gusting to 40). We've got a waypoint we're trying to reach at around (30 30S, 33 30E) where we will heave-to when the front passes over. The forecast for that region is 20-30 with gusts to 35 for around 12-hours after the front passes over. We'll probably stay hove-to all of tomorrow night and then try to make progress again on Friday after midday. From that point we have the options of: a) trying to reach to Durban or b) run off to Richards Bay.

All going well we should make it into one of those ports Saturday night sometime. Forecast for that time is light variable winds.

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Reunion to Durban - Day 9

Date:	Nov. 24, 2015, 6 a.m.
Position:	28 10.89 S, 37 32.56 E
Speed over Ground:	5.0
Heading (True):	70.0
Wind Speed (kts):	14.0
Wind Direction (True):	225.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	1.0

Another tough slog of a day into the wind. We've still managed to make 100nm but each mile drains the energy out of us. The forecast indicated that the wind would swing south this morning and we had high hopes of being able to make good speed reaching westwards. Unfortunately that didn't happen and it was bitterly disappointing having to continue to slam into SW winds.

Again I thought it was just because our boat didn't go so well to windward, but this morning on the radio the other boats reported in that they had cracked off and headed quite far north. We had managed to hold on to a good part of our southing and did not lose much ground to them at all. Its true we don't go the best to windward, but we've seen on other ocean-passages that few cruising boats go well to windward. I'll have to give Tuuletar a bit of a break on my criticism of her windward-performance.

We persisted most of the past 24-hours on a port tack with staysail, mizzen and a tiny bit of headsail rolled out. This afternoon when we hit about 1.5 - 2 knots of adverse current we just decided enough was enough and broke our cardinal rule of motoring into head-winds. (Normally we avoid doing this because its so inefficient and the boat slams hard into the wind and chop, previous experience has taught us that boats that try to motor into it generally gain quite little in the long run on an ocean passage.)

However, I must admit, it was glorious as even making 4.5 knots against that current felt like a luxury by that stage. We actually were motor-sailing at about 20-30 degrees off the wind with the mainsail-only up. This gave us the best speed and comfort factor and headed us directly towards Richards Bay. The boat rode the sea beautifully and we both managed to get some good sleep on our off-watches.

Unfortunately, unless we pick up a miracle current, its looking quite certain we won't make it into Richards Bay before the next big blow comes through on Thursday. We're now trying to make as much progress to set ourselves into a favorable position for that one. Ideally I would like to be SE of Richards Bay about 100nm (or East of Durban about 80nm. We'll probably have to write-off making any progress for Friday because it might be a bit windy and we might stay hove-to until Friday afternoon or evening. However if we can get south far enough then we have the option to run downwind to make it into Richards Bay.

Forecast is for winds to finally swing eastwards tonight but also lighten off to less than 10 knots so we're keeping the motor going for now.

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Reunion to Durban - Day 8

Date:	Nov. 23, 2015, 6 a.m.
Position:	28 17.38 S, 39 36.55 E
Speed over Ground:	3.5
Heading (True):	70.0
Wind Speed (kts):	22.0
Wind Direction (True):	225.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	1.5

Its been a pretty tough 24 hours. We've only managed to scrape out 76nm since the squall yesterday plying as best we can to windward. The swell came up overnight and working to windward against 2-3m swell is tough work.

Last night during during the squall we had pretty steady 30-35 knot winds and we were drifting with just the mizzen up to keep us pointed to windward. The mizzen-sail footer which holds the furling gear decided it was just too much and all 18 rivets holding it to the mizzen mast broke off. I think part of it was old corrosion of the rivets and partly the load. Cat said the sound of it was like a giant zipper being undone (probably by the gods before they take a massive dump on you).

Fortunately it got snagged on something and didn't completely fly away otherwise we would have had a major issue on our hands because its in-line furling with the mast and the halyard is integrated to the furling gear. Cutting it loose from the top of the mast is impossible and retrieving a flogging sail-with-furler in 35-knots would not be easy. In any case I was able to grab it and strap it down with ratchet-straps and then actually use the furler to still furl the sail away.

We then continued for the past 24-hours with staysail only. It was extremely difficult to make any progress to windward without a working mizzen to kick the stern around and point us to windward. Never the less we managed to stay just in front of the wind.

This afternoon was a beautiful afternoon with the sun out and clear skies. The wind was still on the nose but moderated to 15-20 knots or so. I was able to get the rivet-gun out and Cat and I spent the afternoon re-attaching the mizzen foot and furling gear. We made new plastic strips to keep the stainless steel away from the aluminium mast and we coated all the rivets with Duralac to hopefully reduce corrosion into the future. At the end we were pretty chuffed with our extreme boat repairs while working to windard.

We're back sailing along now to windward with a working mizzen. The mizzen sail just gives us a little bit extra stability at angles of apparent wind less than 60-degrees. Without it the boat has to fall off, pick up speed and then round up again.

There was a black cat with half a tail which was prowling around our dock in Saint Pierre marina, La Reunion. It spent most of its time on our friends boat "Sirena" and they ended up having simultaneous engine and battery problems while there. The coincidence of both engine and battery having issues at the same time was too great to ignore. We joked about the superstitiousness of it with Sirena.

The night before we left I woke in the morning to find that that cat had slept on our boat and was walking off the back deck. Hopefully whatever it does comes in threes because we've had our share with the: 1) spinnaker halyard; 2) water in the engine; and now 3) mizzen sail step.

Who said sailors are a superstitious lot?

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Reunion to Durban - Day 7

Date:	Nov. 22, 2015, 6 a.m.
Position:	28 47.26 S, 40 58.24 E
Speed over Ground:	1.5
Heading (True):	70.0
Wind Speed (kts):	32.0
Wind Direction (True):	180.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	1.0

The front passed over us about 1 hour ago. Its blowing a stiff breeze. We're currently hove-to with mizzen-sail only up pointing us to windward. Conditions are quite comfortable as there is not much swell and the sea-state is quite calm considering the conditions. The sea is building however and it remains to be seen how rough it will get. The squalls are quite strong but I don't think our wind meter is correct nor capturing the squalls.

All well on board, a boat this morning reported that the worst of the squalls lasted for about 3 hours so hopefully we can get on our way again in an hour or two, otherwise we might stay like this for the night and re-assess in the morning.

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Reunion to Durban - Day 6

Date:	Nov. 21, 2015, 8 a.m.
Position:	28 1.66 S, 43 1.67 E
Speed over Ground:	6.0
Heading (True):	240.0
Wind Speed (kts):	3.0
Wind Direction (True):	340.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	1.0

Very light variable winds all day today ranging from southerly through easterly and now north-westerly. The wind dropped to almost nothing in the morning so we motored a few hours until sunrise. Then we had the spinnaker out most of the day and cruising along very comfortably at 5-6 knots in 7-8 knots of wind. Unfortunately this afternoon its too cloudy and looks too volatile to carry the spinnaker throughout the night, the breeze is forecast to pick up around midnight so we're motoring until then.

We considered just going slowly but we figured its best to knock off miles now while the going is easy because the forecast for the next week is not pretty for us and every mile will be pretty hard-earned. Tomorrow we're forecast to pass through the first of our share of frontal-systems. This one shouldn't be too bad as we're still 600nm from the coastline and it should have lost a lot of its energy by then. If there is too much lightening then we might disconnect electronics and radios thus I might not be able to send a log entry for tomorrow (Sunday).

Tomorrows front is forecast to be quite short-lived and then by Sunday midnight we should be back to moderate sailing conditions with 15-20 knots of breeze. Unfortunately its forecast to be from the SW and right on the nose so we might not make much progress the next few days. Then there's another frontal system forecast developing on Thursday/Friday next week when we might be closer to Richards Bay (if we've managed to win some miles to windwards). That one might give us a bit of a workout with 30-40 knot winds but still nothing excessive or dangerous in the forecast. This is shaping up to be a bit of a tough 600 miles though... we always had a feeling we would have to pay for the easy 700 miles we've done up until now.

Cat says a big thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes especially to African Affair's early morning rendition of Happy Birthday sung over the SSB.

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Reunion to Durban - Day 5

Date:	Nov. 20, 2015, 6:30 a.m.
Position:	26 53.76 S, 45 18.43 E
Speed over Ground:	6.0
Heading (True):	240.0
Wind Speed (kts):	17.0
Wind Direction (True):	60.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	1.5

It was Cat's birthday today. You would think that my birthday present for Cat would be a working engine, but the big reveal today was something much more special... a hot shower (our engine also heats our water). Of course, don't forget she also gets a luxury cruise through the Indian Ocean. Needless to say passage birthday's are not the most fun. Unfortunately as Cat was born on a cyclone shoulder-season it has doomed her to be passaging from a tropical to a sub-tropical destination during her birthday (these are also the most notoriously difficult passages to make). Last year it was Fiji to New Zealand, this year its Reunion to South Africa.

We just received a batch of emails and well wishes as this email is going out. Thanks to everyone who sent a message through, we'll read through those tonight.

We really can't complain about the weather at all so far on this passage. Aside from the 24-hours or so of calm conditions near the start we've had almost perfect sailing conditions otherwise. Today we found the positive current in the early hours of the morning and picked up a 3-knot current assistance. Along with a following wind of 15-20 knots all day, we've been running with full main and goose-winged genoa making 7-8 knots most of the day.

The sea state up to now has been very slight and flat and we were starting to wonder if we had left the worst of the Indian Ocean behind us between Cocos and Rodrigues. However, a reasonable swell came through today and did the normal thing where it went 90-degrees to the wind and sea and made everything really lumpy for a few hours. That the Indian Ocean we know and love. Its starting to settle back down again now as the sun sets. We've also reefed down as there might be a little bit of catabatic wind come down from Madagascar for a time tonight so we're just taking it conservatively.

Forecast is for conditions to ease overnight and we'll be back to calms again tomorrow. Those calms should persist until we get our first frontal-system come through on Sunday. Unfortunately that is forecast to be followed by SW winds on the nose, so we're heading slightly south of the rhumbline in anticipation for that so we can crack off and reach northwards. no-footer

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Reunion to Durban - Day 4

Date:	Nov. 19, 2015, 3 a.m.
Position:	26 18.43 S, 47 57.47 E
Speed over Ground:	3.0
Heading (True):	240.0
Wind Speed (kts):	6.0
Wind Direction (True):	350.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	0.5

It's alive! Thanks to great advice from sv Sirena as well as all the boats on the morning net we have managed to purge the cylinders of water and get the engine firing again. There were a few nervous moments when we did oil change, drained the cylinders and then turned the engine and... nothing. Fortunately it just required a lot of patience and perseverance and it finally started firing again. Cat was beaming when she said that that will suffice for her birthday present for tomorrow.

Conditions calmed right down today so we hove-to to work on the engine most of the day. I think I mentioned that going up the mast in the open-ocean was one of the scariest things you could do... well... working on a diesel engine in the open-ocean is hands-down the most uncomfortable thing you'll probably ever have to do. The thought of bobbing around in the open-ocean makes most people a little queazy... add to that a hot confined space, covered in oil and the smell of diesel and bilge fumes... mmmmm... not my favorite.

We're now just giving it a test-run motoring against a terrible 3-knot counter-current. The current carried us backwards a fair way while we worked on the engine. We seem to be stuck in an eddie that I can't pick up on either the RTOFS or OSCAR models. Very frustrating because you're not sure which way to go to get out of it. We're just trying to head west in the hope that we'll get out of it sometime tonight. no-footer

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Reunion to Durban - Day 3

Date:	Nov. 18, 2015, 3 a.m.
Position:	25 24.95 S, 49 36.08 E
Speed over Ground:	5.0
Heading (True):	245.0
Wind Speed (kts):	18.0
Wind Direction (True):	20.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	0.5

Things took a turn for the worse for us last night. We have got salt-water in the engine again. I have a feeling that we might have done some damage this time as we can't get it started. We've looked at options for turning back or changing plans. Returning to Reunion is not really an option as there is a cyclone bearing down there. Madagascar is less than 100nm away but sailing conditions to approach the ports are extremely challenging. The weather still looks good to be able to sail the remainder of the passage to South Africa so we are proceeding as planned. We'll aim for Durban as we could sail in there on an Easterly and there are good marine services for repair. That said, Richards Bay or even Maputo, Mozambique are backup options.

Aside from this, the wind and sailing conditions have been close to perfect. We haven't made must distance because we took a dogleg almost 90-degrees south after getting a weather update. Conditions would have been quite blowy closer in to Madagascar and then we would have encountered a front right when we were in the middle of the Madagascar current. Instead we sailed south today and we've only now turned to resume our original heading. Tonight we should cross the Madagascar counter-current over the next 10-hours or so.

The salt-water infiltration was a different method to the last times. We were just turning the engine on for a routine reefing of the mainsail when I could hear a lot of water flowing into the bilge. Conditions were still quite calm but we were on a starboard tack, it seems that despite the exhaust-flap, u-bend and everything else in the exhaust line it is possible for very large amounts of water to siphon up the exhaust under just the right conditions. I think when we arrive in South Africa we'll need to do a complete overhaul of the engine and re-plumb the entire raw-water loop from scratch as there are just too many ways that water can currently make its way into the engine. no-footer

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Reunion to Durban - Day 2

Date:	Nov. 17, 2015, 3 a.m.
Position:	23 53.42 S, 50 49.81 E
Speed over Ground:	5.0
Heading (True):	245.0
Wind Speed (kts):	5.0
Wind Direction (True):	20.0
Sea state:	Slight
Swell (m):	0.5

They say cruising is "long periods of utter boredom interspersed with brief moment of sheer terror". Today was one of the boring days with motoring now for 24-hours in less than 5 knots of wind. Very calm and flat conditions.

Now here comes the terror: The only exciting thing that happened in the day was when the wind came up ever so slightly so I thought I'd run the spinnaker for a while. Unfortunately as the halyard was going up with the spinnaker it touched the forestay and managed to snag the snap-shackle and release it. Fortunately there was so little wind the spinnaker mostly dropped to the deck. However we then had the problem of our spinnaker halyard being stuck up at the top of the mast. Normally I wouldn't worry about it and we just wouldn't run the spinnaker for the rest of the time, but we also use the spinnaker halyard as the primary belay cord in case I ever have to go up the mast in a real emergency. I felt like it was very important that we had that halyard handy just in case. We also knew that it was now or never, as this was definitely going to be the calmest we'd get on the passage.

Needless to say that going up a 17m high mast in the open-ocean is not something I am keen to do again. No matter how calm it is you're swung around on a 17-meter long lever arm which multiplies the motion of the boat 10-times near the top. Its awful. I don't love heights, but I imagine this is about the closest you'd get to rock-climbing in an earthquake. On top of everything the halyard we did use for my belay was not the best option so I didn't want to test it. I just kept thinking of those stupid motivational memes on Facebook that say things like "Do one thing every day that scares you"... the person that writes those things had clearly never been in this situation. no-footer

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Reunion to Durban - Day 1

Date:	Nov. 16, 2015, 3 a.m.
Position:	22 56.10 S, 53 19.33 E
Speed over Ground:	5.0
Heading (True):	245.0
Wind Speed (kts):	10.0
Wind Direction (True):	340.0
Sea state:	Slight
Swell (m):	0.5

We've had almost perfect sailing conditions for the first 24-hours of this passage covering 135nm which is not bad for light winds. We had to motor into a light SW sea-breeze for 4 hours after departing Saint-Pierre yesterday. Once we were clear of the seabreeze and somewhat out of the lee of the island we had clear skies and around 15 knots of breeze from the East. The seas are incredibly flat and there is almost no swell.

We sailed the Easterly on a broad-reach for the first half of the night and then the wind swung more NE so we goose-winged the full genoa and main. This morning the wind dropped away to less than 10 knots from the North so we had a good 6 hours or so of reaching under spinnaker. The wind is now from the NW around 10 knots so we are close-hauled with full rig.

Although in theory we could crack-off to stay on the rhumb-line we are staying north as we head towards Madagascar to avoid a large region of adverse current. We'll turn south when we are within 80nm of Madagascar which puts us in a region of slack-water and where other cruisers have reported the most benign sea-conditions.

Our friends on African Affair ended up deciding to stay behind due to last-minute weather advise from their weather-professional. A strong frontal-system is due early next week which will give us a working. Ourselves and Sirena did not see the conditions as dangerous at this stage (although also not comfortable) so we decided to proceed. We could see Sirena on our AIS most of the night but they dropped away in the early hours of this morning when they were last about 20nm behind us.

Ahead of us by 1-day is a US boat called Chesapeak and ahead about 2-days is a French boat called L'Embreille. no-footer

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Departing La Reunion

Date:	Nov. 14, 2015, 10 p.m.
Position:	21 20.67 S, 55 28.59 E
Speed over Ground:	0.0
Heading (True):	230.0
Wind Speed (kts):	5.0
Wind Direction (True):	270.0
Sea state:	Slight
Swell (m):	0.5

Unfortunately we have to move on from La Reunion. Not by choice, we were planning to stay here a few more weeks, but the Gribs are showing a potential cyclone brewing up near the Chagos Archipelago and coming directly our way over the next 14 days. It may not become a full-blown cyclone but its a bit of a reminder that we are still in a cyclone region and should keep moving.

Our time here has been absolutely fantastic, it has definitely been one of the highlights of the Indian Ocean. This little part of France in the Indian Ocean is, I imagine, a bit like the "Hawaii of France". Incredible volcanic scenery, wonderful people, beautiful reefs and surfing and kitesufing spots right near the marina!

A lot of people made a fuss about how expensive it is here but we found that to be a complete myth. Yes you pay a little more for SOME things at the supermarket (but not much), but some other things are less than Mauritius such as French alcohol and cheese. However all that is trumped by the very cheap marina and diesel fuel. The marina is the cheapest we've ever stayed at (and the other boats agreed) and the fuel is the cheapest we've paid for diesel at $0.99 euros per liter (~$1.50 AUD). If the Aussie dollar was not so weak at the moment it would be one of the most affordable destinations we've ever visited!

Conditions the past few days have been very calm with fantastic clear skies, and very (very) hot. It is forecast to stay like this for the next 2-3 days while we approach the southern end of Madagascar. We have got the spinnaker out and ready but even then we might have to do a fair bit of motoring.

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Important Info for Passage Reunion -> Durban

Date:

Nov. 14, 2015, 3 a.m.

We have customs coming tomorrow (Sunday) morning at 7am to clear us out. As usual for a big passage here are a few important notes regarding communications and safety.

The passage from La Reunion to Durban South Africa should take about 12 days at a 5.5-knot average. It is unlikely we will go faster than that and it could actually take longer if we heave-to or have wind on the nose for a while. If a minor miracle happens and we have good/favourable weather as we approach Durban then we will consider turning south in the Aghulas current and trying to reach East London or Port Elizabeth for our landfall.

The weather is forecast to be a mixed-bag: Calms at the start when we depart Reunion Island; Windy and gusty around the infamous south-eastern tip of Madagascar; more calms once we are south-west of Madagascar; then frontal-systems will hit us with a frequency of 3-4 days as we close the South African coast. Winds are forecast to be mostly from the eastern-quadrant varying from SSW to NNW.

None of the forecast weather systems look to be creating dangerous winds, however there is a front forecast for next Monday the 23rd which we are keeping an eye on. It is very likely we will get a lot of rain, lightening, massive swells and a period of gale-force winds from the south. Hopefully we will only have to take one or two of these weather systems on the chin.

PLEASE DON'T BE ALARMED IF WE DO NOT ISSUE OUR REGULAR DAILY POSITION REPORTS. As we are using our SSB (HF) radio to send email and the South Africa station does not always work. The station was out of order the past few weeks, but we have just heard from a boat passing south of Madagascar who is now reporting that it is working well (as of the 1st Nov 2015).

---------- SSB RADIO SCHEDS AND INFORMATION: ---------- The cruisers have been using 6227kHz at 0300UTC for communicating. The propagation has been surprisingly good as we have been able to communicate with boats approaching Durban. The previous boats also maintained a listening watch at 1430UTC and this could become a full-sched if others are interested. A backup frequency of 12353kHz is proposed for longer-range communications after each sched. A boat near Durban used to communicate with two boats south of Reunion at around 0330UTC on 12353kHz and reported that transmission was much clearer.

The Madagascar Net for the northerners is at 1400UTC on 6646kHz. I don't think there are many of those boats left though.

The world ARC cruising boats were using the same frequency of 6227kHz at 0500UTC to communicate amongst themselves. They have all arrived in Richards Bay now though.

Info forwarded from sy Gambit is that the SA Maritime Mobile Net (SAMMNET) is fully operational. Daily at 0630 & 1130 UTC on 14316 (USB) for high seas. Then 0635 & 1135 on 7120 in LSB-mode for coastal water from Richards Bay around the coast. Controller on 14316 is Sam (callsign: ZS1SZM) based in Simonstown. Controller for 7120 is Graham (callsign: ZS2ABK) based in Port Alfred. Note that this is technically an amateur radio net however if you are not ham-licensed you can email your position into zs1sammnet -@at%$- worldonline @#dot^% co $#dot(* za in the morning before the net. You can of course also make contact in an emergency under the ruling that a yacht at sea can use any means to communicate in case of an emergency. I had success listening in to boats on 14316 at 1130UTC from Grand Baie in Mauritius. I could hear boats checking in from the Mozambique channel.

The Peri-Peri Net is functioning but the net controller transmits often from his yacht in Durban marina so the signal is not great. Frequencies are 8101kHz (apparently not so good) and 12353kHz (better) at 0500UTC. An old website mentioned that they are also on 16531kHz (occasionally) but that is not confirmed by sy Gambit. The website also mentioned that there was a listening watch at 1500UTC but this was not confirmed. I have not had success receiving any Peri-Peri Net transmissions from Grand Baie, Mauritius.

Cape Town Radio broadcasts weather information on 4375, 8740, 13146 (USB) at 1015, 1330 and 1815UTC. I had success receiving the 1330UTC broadcast on 13146kHz from Grand Baie, Mauritius.

Cape Town Radio guards 4207.5 6312 8414.5 12577 and 16804.5 kHz for radio DSC emergency calling. Subsequent radiotelephone distress and safety traffic succeeding the original DSC alert is conducted on simplex on: 4125 6215 8291 12290 or 16420 kHz.

Narrow-Band Direct-Printing telegraphy system (NAVTEX 518 kHz F1B Medium Range) is used for the transmission of navigational warnings and important information to ships. Cape Town, Port Elizabeth and Durban Radio have allocated transmission times. The highlighted time slots combine the coastal weather bulletins and navigational warnings in force. This has not been confirmed by anyone. Like the radiofax I am not sure if this is still operating. Cape Town Radio 0020 0420 0820 1220 1620 2020 Port Elizabeth Radio 0120 0520 0920 1320 1720 2120 Durban Radio 0220 0620 1020 1420 1820 2220

---------- SSB EMAIL AND SAILMAIL ----------

The African Sailmail station has been working sporadically. Up until today (1/11/2015) nobody seems to have had luck contacting it, however sv Iona contacted and transmitted emails with good connection today from the southern end of Madagascar. I must assume that the station was down for some reason and only came back online today.

In lieu of Sailmail I have set up a WinLink account (amateur HF radio-email network). And I had good success connecting to WinLink stations and sending and receiving test-emails, from Grand Baie, Mauritius I had success with:

- ZS0JDE on 2015/10/20 17:47:31 (UTC) 14088.2kHz - ZS1RS on 2015/10/28 12:33:35 (UTC) 14105.5kHz - ZS1RS at 2015/10/28 12:42:32 (UTC) on 21117.5 kHz

The applicable Winlink stations for this passage are:

ZS5PMB, Durban, South Africa - 14109.500 KHz C91PM, Maputo, Mozambique - 7044.500 KHz, 10114.500 KHz, 14114.500 KHz, 21114.500 KHz ZS0JDE, Pretoria, South Africa - 14088.200 KHz, 14115.500 KHz, 14117.900 KHz ZS1RS, Cape Town, South Africa - 7046.500 KHz, 14105.500 KHz, 14109.000 KHz, 21117.500 KHz V51PJ, Southern, Namibia - 3590.000 KHz, 7048.000 KHz, 10148.000 KHz, 14104.000 KHz, 21117.900 KHz

---------- GRIB WEATHER FORECASTS: ----------

We will rely heavily on GRIB files for both wind and current information. The GRIB files are requested through saildocs by sending an email (using either Sailmail or WinLink). The gribs are requested by sending an email to query@saildocs.com with the following two lines in the body:

send RTOFS:15S,40S,0E,70E|0.3,0.3|0,24..336|CUR,WTMP send GFS:15S,40S,0E,70E|0.5,0.5|0,6,12..336|WIND,PRESS,TCDC,WAVE,HGT,APCP

The RTOFS line will send you a grib-file with the currents and the GFS is wind (WIND), pressure (PRESS), waves (WAVE), 500mb pressure (HGT), cloud-cover (TCDC) and precipitation (APCP). Obviously when you are at sea you can adjust the lat/lon (15S,40S,0E,70E) and the resolution (0.5,0.5) as well as the amount of forecast hours (0,6,12..336) so that you get a reasonable-sized grib file. I tend to get one larger-scale one every other day (2.0-degree resolution) and then one smaller-scale one the other days (about a 3-degree box area at 0.5-degree resolution). At sea I normally get the forecast out to 120 hours in 12 or 6 hour increments and for the GFS model I will only get WIND and PRESS and possibly TCDC and APCP.

So, for example, this code will send a large-scale but coarse resolution grib file showing the weather in the region for the next 2 weeks (file size is 22kB):

send GFS:20S,35S,28E,56E|2.0,2.0|0,12,24..336|WIND,PRESS

Similarly, this code will give you a small region with greater resolution for your area (size 28kB but can be reduced to 7kB if you change the resolution to 1.0,1.0):

send GFS:25S,28S,42E,47E|0.5,0.5|0,6,12..120|WIND,PRESS

Note also that its possible to even further reduce the size of your grib files by requesting a "moving grib". In this case you simply append your speed and heading at the end of the code like this "...|5.5,260". This will give you a grib file for which each forecast period is a box with a shifted bounding region so the box "follows" your boat. I tend to NOT use this method however as I prefer to see the weather for a static region as its easier to comprehend. So, for example, this grib would be a moving grib:

send GFS:25S,27S,42E,45E|0.5,0.5|0,6,12..120|WIND,PRESS|5.5,260

The RTOFS current-files are pretty small anyway, so this file from Reunion to southern Madagascar covering half the passage is only 22kB:

send RTOFS:20S,28S,42E,56E|0.3,0.3|0,24..336|CUR,WTMP

Current files do not need to be requested everyday as ocean currents tend to evolve very slowly. I would expect that you would only need to request RTOFS files once or twice while on passage.

If you want to view the current-file (RTOFS) then zyGrib will NOT do it. Download qtVLM (Google it) and it allows you to open the RTOFS files. You can also "combine" the GFS and RTOFS grib files in qtVLM so you can see them through the same interface or even overlaid. Be warned though: qtVLM is not he most user-friendly bit of software in the world... once you get used to it I quite like it though because it is a very effective routing software.

You can also request a SPOT FORECAST in one location. The following example is for 14 days in 6 hour increments for: wind, sea-level pressure and waves for vessel moving at 5knots heading 260.

send Spot:28.0S,40.0E|14,6|WIND,PRMSL,WAVES|5.0,260

---------- TEXT-BASED WEATHER FORECASTS FROM OFFICIAL MET-OFFICES: ----------

For a map of the weather regions check here: http://www.gmdss.org/metareas.html

High seas forecast for METAREA VII, E OF 20 E (East of South Africa up to North Madagascar) - INCLUDES COASTAL WEATHER REPORTS FROM SOUTH AFRICA AND REUNION METSERVICE.

send http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/data/raw/fq/fqza81.fapr..txt OR Send met-7E

High seas fore for METAREA VII, W of 20 E (South Africa West Coast): send http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/data/raw/fq/fqza83.fapr..txt OR Send met-7W

High seas fore for METAREA VII - COMPLETE (ABOVE TWO COMBINED):

send http://weather.noaa.gov/pub/data/raw/fq/fqza31.fapr..txt OR Send met-7

GMDSS high-seas forecast for METAREA VII (from South Africa Metservice):

send http://www.gmdss.org/bulletins/METAREA7.HIGH_SEAS_FORECAST.1330.1413111717863.html OR Send Met.7

GMDSS Coastal Waters Forecast for METAREA VII (from South Africa Metservice):

send http://www.gmdss.org/bulletins/METAREA7.COASTAL_WATERS_FORECAST.1300.1412591711924.html

------

We have not has success receiving any RADIOFAX transmissions and I must assume that South Africa has ceased transmitting radiofax data.

We will also rely on VOICE-BROADCASTS from South Africa once we are south of Madagascar (frequencies outlined above in the SSB section).

---------- DISTRESS SIGNALS: ----------

In case of emergency we will transmit our EPIRB signal as well as a digital distress signal on the SSB radio via DSC. Our SSB radio automatically transmits digital DSC distress signals on the standard DSC distress frequencies. The digital DSC signal propagates further than standard voice signals and is more likely to be picked up by Cape Town Radio which maintains a 24/7/365 watch on DSC frequencies.

---------- SAFETY EQUIPMENT: ----------

6-man Viking Liferaft (in service until 11/2016) with water for 3-days 2-jerry cans of additional water 1 primary EPIRB (3 days battery life) 2 personal EPIRBS (1-2 days battery life) 1 person AIS beacon (1-2 days battery life) 1 ditch-bag with food and water for about 10 days plus space-blankets, fishing equipment and other survival gear Assorted in-date flares and signals (parachute, meteor and smoke) and many assorted out-of-date ones

---------- PASSAGE PLAN: ----------

We will likely have close to trade-wind conditions with SE-to-NE conditions until the southern end of Madagascar. All boats say that they will give Madagascar a wide berth of 150nm, but they all end up cutting the corner if the weather is good. We'll probably do the same.

Once south of Madagascar the sailing is sub-tropical and appears similar to transiting the Tasman sea from New Zealand to Australia. The weather is a mixed bag but still generally comes mostly from the SW through to East and North. Frontal systems approach head-on and there's not much you can do to avoid it. We'll stay north around 26-27 degrees South to hopefully avoid the worst of it and then turn down towards Durban as we close the coast.

If a particularly bad front comes through then we'll try to find an area with little current and heave-to.

---------- BOAT CONDITION: ----------

The boat is still in a good condition with no major breakages since we left Darwin. The fridge and freezer keep hanging in there but could die at any moment.

I had a little scare when I checked the transmission oil the other day and found it to be quite low. I've spent a day down in the engine room checking the engine; cleaning out the heat-exchangers and running the engine while checking for oil drip-or leaks from around the seals and gaskets but have not found any leak. We've motored a few hours now with no noticeably oil loss so I'll flag it as something to keep an eye on.

The rigging (particularly the forestay) is looser than I would like and I considered tightening it when we had some calm days in Reunion. However I ended up leaving as-is because its carried us just fine for the past 8000nm and I'm thinking "if it ain't broke then don't fix it". I used also used a Loose Tension gauge to roughly calculate the tension in the various stays of the rigging and they are all at or around the recommended tension in terms of percentage of breaking stress.

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A week of exploring Reunion

Date:

Nov. 11, 2015, 8:34 a.m.

Between some stiff winds, rain and a but of work to get done it was a slow start to the week. However we did manage a bit of sight seeing as the weather improved in the latter half. We shared a reasonably priced hire car with our German friends and have been having fun zipping around the place in a little Peugeot (when in Rome...) that does 30-90km/h in second gear.

The scenery is quite something and we have been taking turns fetching Pain Au Chocolat (Chocolate Croissants) from the nearby boulangerie (bakery) so that we can get an early morning start and see the highest sights before the daily cloud build up. Our French has improved enough so that we are able to order these and Mark even managed a conversation with a mechanic. Otherwise we are finding a number of people would rather use their poor English than suffer our dreadful French. We had been told the locals would not be as friendly as the Rodrigians, which is true but we have still found many people to be really welcoming. Last night while celebrating the birthday of a 4-year-old cruiser we met a few locals on the beach and Mark got to practice his French with a very pretty native. ;)

With our priorities in order, our first tourist mission was to find the local Wine up at Cilaos. A delicate Rose and a fruity white that was just shy of being sweet along with a very friendly and knowledgable chap were found at the Masion des Vin di Chai de Chilaos. We scooped up our haul and found some great local creole fair for lunch at the bright yellow Chez Moiré on the main drag (I will double check the name and edit later). After that we ventured up through the forests to the lookout. Here we could view the whole 'cirque.' It was an incredible road to drive up and back down the steep remains of a volcano and into its crater via some tunnels to find these little villages up here, well worthwhile. Despite the strange gearing arrangement the little Peugeot did us proud.

We also drove through the bottom of the recent lava fields just before they plunge into the sea on one day, and up to the the top of the world's most active volcano another. It is unfortunately a little too active at the moment to go and stick our noses over the rim to see the glowing red lava but perhaps there will be another opportunity later.

Along the way we've seen a fair chunk of the coast and little creole villages which are all very picturesque. At times it felt like we've been driving through Austria, France, New Zealand, Spain and even West Australia. The diversity of the natural landscape is pretty amazing for a tiny Island way out here. A little local festival was on next to the marina over the weekend so we've even gotten a bit of bonus cultural experience as well. The fusion of Sega and line dancing, performed by a large and well orchestrated group of enthusiasts was a definite highlight, along with live music and street food.

Mark has so far resisted the temptation of the nice barrelling wave just next to us as a local surfing hero was taken by sharks just last month... The kitesurfing might tempt him out however, we'll see. We are starting to prepare ourselves so that we are ready to take off if a passage window presents itself but will not be rushing out into a sub-optimal window as we are rather enjoying it here.

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Berthed and cleared in at St Pierre, La Reunion, France

Date:	Nov. 3, 2015, 8:11 a.m.
Position:	21 20.66 S, 55 28.59 E

After a fantastic overnight sail we are tied up in the marina at St Pierre on the South of Reunion Island, France. Yep, France and it totally feels like it, from the architecture to the renaults. They cleared us into the country in record time and we are now enjoying our two free hours of internet a day (a general public service provision!) Gilbert the Harbourmaster and Marina manager could not have been nicer, between his limited english and our very limited French we managed to get everything sorted out. We are now awaiting our friends who are sailing in just behind us to enjoy a drink together to celebrate the easiest passage between two countries we have ever experienced.

As we left Mauritius (about 10am) a lovely 18 knot breeze carried us to the South of the island past several game fishing boats who kept deliberately dragging their lures under us! They seemed certain that we were trying to sneak all the live marlin in the country out by hiding them in the shadow of our keel. Mark was ready to hang over with a machete and start collecting lures.

Unfortunately our lovely breeze died and we motored in glassy flat seas for the next 6 hours. As evening came on the wind finally joined us again for a magnificent sail all the way to Reunion. We could see the lava glowing on the South East coast from about 35nm away, a very exciting sight. Then the moon later joined us and washed out the glow.

By dawn we could see the magnificent volcanos of Reunion with European villages tucked into ravines around their skirts. The very gentle swell was still creating an impressive display against the black cliffs which caused concern for our passage into St Pierre, a notorious bar crossing next to one of the best surf waves in the island. We need not have worried though, in the conditions it was fairly straightforward, well marked and the worst we delt with was a strong current.

Now all we have to do is find a nice bar which we seem to be surrounded by.

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Departing Mauritius for Saint Pierre, Reunion Island

Date:	Nov. 1, 2015, 9 p.m.
Position:	20 9.61 S, 57 30.05 E
Speed over Ground:	0.0
Heading (True):	220.0
Wind Speed (kts):	12.0
Wind Direction (True):	60.0
Sea state:	Slight
Swell (m):	1.0

So this is weird to say: we'll be in France tomorrow. Well a French Department at least, but we'll be flying a French flag and speaking the language so for all intents and purposes we'll be in France.

We've just cleared customs in Port Louis and we're pushing off the customs wharf in 5 minutes. The passage is 150nm from Port Louis down to Saint Pierre on the southern side of the island. The entrance to Saint Pierre has a bar-crossing that can get a bit "hectic" as another cruiser explained to us, but the swell is low at the moment and the wind is coming from the northerly quadrant so we should be fine.

If anything goes wrong and we can't make it in by tomorrow then we might miss our opportunity to enter because a 5m swell is being pushed up from South Africa on Wednesday/Thursday. In that case we'll head around to Port des Galets on the NW side where we can hopefully get a spot.

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Rafted up in Port Louis to clear out

Date:

Nov. 1, 2015, 5:53 p.m.

Reluctantly we pulled up anchor after lunch today and had a glorious sail from Grand Baie down to Port Louis where we are rafted up on the customs dock waiting to clear out tomorrow morning. Mauritius and the many people we've met here make it hard to tear ourselves away. Indeed we were keen for another week here but the weather forecast is such that we'd best be on our way if we want to see Reunion. We have had an extremely full dance card, managing just the bare minimum of sightseeing amongst our hectic social schedule.

Last Friday afternoon some thoughtful friends threw us the keys to a car they weren't using so we took off South to see a bit more of the island. The sugarcane flats are interrupted by these amazing, steep volcanic formations through which we wove as we headed for the centre. At Trou Aux Cerfs we enjoyed a quick 20 minute stroll around the crater lake in the heart of an urban sprawl. From there we could enjoy views over most of the island. We also found a little model ship factory and shop which is one of Mauritius’ famous exports. We seriously debated where to fit the 1:40 Endeavor on Tuuletar. Beautiful workmanship.

Everywhere we drove we came across historic and modern sugar mills, usually with an elegant colonial chateau nearby. We pierced the beachside rim of resorts to see the South coast and check out the kitesurfing locations. Rodrigues would probably be a better spot for the sport except for the fact that there is a line of impressive barreling waves to play in over here. Mark had been looking forward to a forecast which promises him some nice winds. Even in the light conditions there were kites everywhere. A quick detour through some rainforest ended in a closed attraction as we approach the end of the day, so we set off home via Port Louis. We had dinner at Luigi’s behind the Yacht Club, on a local recommendation, good inexpensive food and generous serves will likely bring us back there.

Last weekend's forecast promised thunderstorms so we kept plans simple. Mark has been putting in a huge effort on the software business. The humidity was really building up Saturday, so we were expecting some decent rain but we only received light showers in the afternoon, not uncommon we are told. We were glad to put on linen outfits purchased that day to survive the hot, sticky conditions. We visited a friend's magnificent home set amongst the lush bush to watch the Rugby, drink their excellent wine and eat Australian beef! The recently built house is a very open modern tropical design, draped in a high lightweight roof, grounded by cool earth coupled concrete, it was a thermal relief to be in. The breeze sauntered through the indoor/outdoor spaces which featured a beautiful use of timber and concrete detailing. Not to mention the enviable styling, did I mention how good the shopping was over here…

In spite of the forecast there were fair conditions Sunday. We were regretting having cancelled a day sail with friends out to nearby small islands but consoled ourselves with getting some work done and heading back to the Beach House bar/restaurant to watch the second Rugby semi final with a huge crowd of yachties. We adopted the most adorable quartet of french kids who were sporting Aussie T-Shirts from their recent holiday to Sydney. So we had to watch our p’s & q’s but it was terrific fun and good to see the Aussies through.

Monday we got some work done before having a lovely home cooked dinner with local friends. It was really interesting to hear about their perspective of life over here, particularly as they have lived in Australia also and can make astute comparisons. Meeting local friends has really helped us to feel like we have gotten to understand Rodrigues and Mauritius well considering the short amount of time we've spent here.

Tuesday we got out for our daysail and had a riotous time with a hilarious group of South Africans we’ve met over here. They introduced us to the dangerously drinkable combination of local Green Island rum with Orangina (fizzy orange juice.) It was a bit blown out so instead of getting out to the islands we hopped up and down the protected West coast instead.

Yet more local friends treated us to a terrific home cooked meal featuring traditional Creole fair, magnificent. On another night we enjoyed company at the Yacht Club and met a few of the members. We also dined at an Italian Restaurant which during the day is the Europecar office. The food was magnificent, best in the North several of our local friends have assured us. Certainly the best we experienced and if you could restrain yourself on the wine it was not badly priced. Otherwise some boat maintenance has kept us busy.

Too late we found out about the 3 day around the island yacht race (with heavy partying at each nights stop.) It sounded like such a fun was to see the Island that we did have a pretty serious discussion about joining in with a couple of the other cruisers but we would have had just 12 hours to prepare and then have missed our window to Reunion.

It is a long weekend here and the weather has been glorious, showing off beautiful Mauritius at it's finest. It is a really interesting place, entirely different from Rodrigues. With a majority population of Indian decent and a very dominant Tourism industry, the place is more shiny and bustling. It is much bigger and so has all the big city problems alongside the fabulous amenities. The gap between rich and poor seems more pronounced than Rodrigues, due to the extreme wealth on display here, not greater poverty. You might get quietly ripped off a little if you are not a savvy bargainer but the touts and such are much softer than other parts of the world and you won't experience too much hassle here. The creole culture is less celebrated, we have been told there is more status related shame and so unlike Rodrigues we have not seen Sega dancing in the streets and found great creole food on all the corners. Beyond the flash, ubiquity of the resorts the architecture is dominated by concrete boxes of the Indian style painted in garish colours. A few elegant creole and colonial examples remain but these are generally official buildings and grand chateaux maintained for the tourist industry. Nevertheless, it is easy to slide into the wonderful lifestyle here. Indeed, one of the boats we are in company with have been looking very seriously at real estate and the possibility of settling here. We are all hoping they find something that has a nice guest room...

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Touristing...

Date:

Oct. 23, 2015, 5:37 a.m.

We have been knocking off a few of our chores of both boat and business varieties, over the last couple of days and exploring a bit more of the Grand Baie area. Clothes shopping is dangerously good and one of the cruisers discovered a small men’s store who told him they we about to halve the price of their beautiful linen pieces. All boats in the bay were present just after they opened on sale day to denude their shelves.

The yacht club is lovely, with free temporary membership for a good period of time, we are enjoying the bar with it’s perfect turquoise view. Dinghies can be tied and safely left with a stern anchor at their little concrete jetty, they have nice showers and serve a good lunch as well as breakfast which we are yet to try. We have met a few local contacts in there now who have been giving us some recommendations to explore. We were however a little slow on the hire car and have missed out on the well priced ones, maybe next week. In the meantime we have benefited from the generosity of our cruising friends who go the last car and yesterday piled us all into it to do some sightseeing.

We decided to visit the Chateau Du Labourdonnais, The botanical gardens and the L’Aventure Du Sucre (Adventure of Sugar.) The expense of entry to the Chateau De Labourdonnais was a bit of a surprise and after a big night before, we were just not up for the rum tasting. The house is however in excellent condition and indeed is a grand example of colonial creole architecture. You could view the exterior of it from the restaurant if you wanted to but if you had a tight schedule in Mauritius I would possibly skip this one. We then drove through the plains of sugar cane to get to the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Gardens at Pamplemousses. We had lovely balmy weather and after a few days spent mostly onboard, were enjoying the ramble through tropical species and lilly filled ponds. In hindsight a baguette and cheese picnic would not have gone astray. The only downer was seeing the tortoise enclosure which looked somewhat sad after the experience at Rodrigues.

With the way everything worked out we ended up enjoying an very good lunch at L’Aventure Du Sucre before going to visit the museum & factory there. If your one of those people who likes to read every sign you’ll need to allocate the better part of the day, for it is a very in depth look at the history of sugar, slavery and colonial life on the island. Explorers, progressive administrators, pirates and workers were all celebrated in various displays. It was instead a rather small piece I found most affecting. Very easy to miss, tucked discretely in a corner, it was a string of elaborate glass trading beads, four of which would have been used to purchase a slave. The interactive exhibitions have been set up well for kids but our group of big kids enjoyed the sugar and rum tasting at the end best. It all cost rs350 each (about AU$14.) By the time we finished there we were all exhausted and I think we’ve had our fill of such structured tourist activities for a while. We set off for home but no true cruiser could drive past the hardware store without a quick stop for something or other, so we now have a kitchen tap that no longer leaks.

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Mauritius, home to the best supermarket in the world

Date:	Oct. 18, 2015, 6:04 p.m.
Position:	20 0.67 S, 57 34.50 E

No seriously... Best. Supermarket. Ever. Now to you land lubbers that may not seem like something worth getting excited over, but for us provisioning is a major thing. Over the last two years we have only had a couple of brief stops in major centres and when your car is a dinghy, stocking the pantry can be challenging. Often I trek far and wide to secure suitable groceries and we have to be prepared to be fully self sufficient for months at a time. In remote places, I have traded the strangest items for fresh produce and so you may begin to see why we, and indeed all the other cruisers are so damn excited about Grand Baie Super U. Not only is there a HUGE supermarket a short walk from where we can leave our dinghy but they have an AMAZING range of African, European & Australian goodies. (The only disappointment was a lack of NZ's Whittakers Chocolate but we are OK for now, I still have a reasonable stash hidden onboard.) To celebrate this amazing bounty, one of the boats gathered up a huge variety of European specialty cheeses and a global range of fine wines and we all proceeded to indulge in the making of a hangover.

This morning (later than planned) we went in to check out the Bazar and have a quick look around the town. It is pretty surreal to be in such a developed tourist place out in the middle of the Indian Ocean and it made us realise how long we've been on the road less travelled. We were not really prepared for the dazzling bustle of Mauritius after the lazy relaxed vibe of Rodrigues but you can certainly see the appeal. With a nice clear day we got to enjoy the turquoise water of the large shallow bay, the jagged lush backdrop of the mountains and the friendly fun of the people. Here, you do have to haggle a bit and there are a lot of touts, so you need to keep your wits about you, but really compared to a lot of places it is pretty tame. There is a phenomenal array of inexpensive, high quality clothing stores, which could be rather dangerous...

After a chance exchange on Facebook with an Italian friend, we learned that an acquaintance had moved here. A few minutes later we were on the phone with them! It turned out we could just about see their waterfront house from our boat, so we dinghied over to their little beach to sip cocktails and watch the Argentinians get up in the Rugby world cup quarter finals. Magic.

For game two, we had arranged to meet with the other cruisers at the 'Beach House,' a beachside bar which sported a huge outdoor screen floating in the water. From this cool joint we were able to overlook our yachts and park our dinghies right in front. Not bad eh! The boys split a 'giraffe' of beer (3L in a chilled, pour your own container,) as we watched Australia scramble to overcome the Scots. It was a lively crowd and a load of fun. We also met a bunch of delightful South Africans as we were dragging our dinghy up the Beach to the bar. When they heard our accent they immediately asked if we happened to be from 'Let's Go' we nearly fell over. No, we said but they will be here any minute! It was their turn to fall over. For one was a ex vice-commodore of a major Yacht Club in the Cape Town area and had been told by a yachting friend to keep an eye out for them arriving in South Africa later this year. The world just gets smaller and smaller!

Needless to say, we are really having fun here so far and are looking forward to the next couple of weeks.

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Cleared in at Port Louis and heading to Grand Baie

Date:	Oct. 17, 2015, 9:16 a.m.
Position:	20 9.57 S, 57 30.03 E

Port Louis is a big dirty commercial port with limited facilities for the sailing yacht. With the added complication of the world ARC boats having booked out all facilities our intention was always to clear and head straight to Grand Baie. Our friends did precisely this yesterday and said clearing in was a quick process that only took them 45 minutes. We were not so lucky...

We arrived to find the small amount of concrete wall available for tie up, packed with boats waiting to clear in or out. Tied onto a fencepost, with no cleats in sight and being rafted several deep right around the corner from the water taxi drop off is a nightmare of hull smacking wake. We arrived at 0900 to find that the other yachts had been waiting for 2 hours for the immigration officer. It was a further two hours before he turned up, cleared everyone in half an hour and then complained about having to wait 15 minutes for a boat who could not have fitted alongside earlier. He had clearly had a very bad day. Health, Customs and particularly Coast Guard were lovely and professioal but we were very glad to get out of there. Perhaps we will just see Port Louis by land.

We are now heading up to Grand Baie with Aussie 52' former racing yacht Let's Go and we have finally worked out how to beat them. For as we head straight into the wind it turns out they only have a 38hp engine...

When we arrived at dusk last night the surreal outline of the moutains was only just visible through thick cloud and bushfire haze. This morning it was also still a bit cloudly and obscured but that has all lifted and we can enjoy the rather spectacular landscape as we head up the coast. The lowlands featue a lot of buildings and the beaches along the coast we've seen are fringed with resorts. The local beats carried accross the water to us and went on long into the night. We were even treated to some fireworks. Round island and its neighbors up at the Northern tip were very impressive in the sunset. Rising in steep windswept volcanic forms. We are very much looking forward to a relaxing cold drink at the Grand Baie Yacht Club.

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Anchored in Baie aux Tortues, Mauritius

Date:	Oct. 16, 2015, 3 a.m.
Position:	20 5.08 S, 57 30.43 E
Speed over Ground:	0.0
Heading (True):	80.0
Wind Speed (kts):	0.0
Wind Direction (True):	90.0
Sea state:	Slight
Swell (m):	0.0

The run from Rodrigues to Mauritius was probably one of our best ocean-passages ever. There was close to zero swell the whole way and the sea-state was very smooth considering the fact we had a steady 20-25 knots of wind most of the way. On the second day we goosewinged the full genoa and double-reefed mainsail, set the hydrovane and then didn't have to touch it the rest of the way! The wind very politely came from the ESE, E and then ENE so that we were able to track almost exactly along the optimal-calculated route according to wind and ocean currents**.

After the normal Indian Ocean evening rain and squall we had crystal-clear skies and a steady 20-25 knots with 1.5 knots of ocean-current assistance which allowed us to run over 100nm during the night! On the final morning we had only 65nm left to go. We ended up passing between Gunners Quoin and Grand Baie exactly on sunset. We coasted down the lee side of the main island throughout the dusky hours and dropped anchor in this little bay 3.5nm north of Port Louis around 7:30pm. Port Louis itself is closed throughout the night so we couldn't enter there, and we probably wouldn't have tried to enter anyway due to the large number of unlit ships out the front (unlit but they do show on AIS). We generally never enter an unfamiliar port at night and prefer to either drift offshore until the morning or anchor in an open-bay with a gradually sloping bottom.

It was uncomfortably dark as we approached this bay, however from various soundings we made on the passage around the island as well as the position of AIS targets we were able to establish that the charts were pretty accurate. Even then, we just edged in extremely slowly (~1 knot) and dropped anchor at the first depth we felt we could easily manage (16 meters). The soundings on our depth-sounder corresponded well with the depth on the charts and the bottom came up quite gradually, but its always still stressful anchoring in reefy waters at night knowing that there is fringing reef either side of us only 100-200m away. A braver person might have gone in further by why risk it?

We'll get up and enter Port Louis tomorrow morning to clear customs, and then head straight up to Grand Baie where all the other boats from Cocos and Rodrigues are (we chatted to them on VHF as we passed a few miles out the front at sunset).

**Note: We use the open-source qtVLM software to do our routing calculations and, now that we have developed an accurate "polar" for our boat parameters, we find it is remarkably accurate in calculating our passages. It has always been accurate to within a few hours even on long passages like Fiji->NZ, NZ->Townsville, Cocos->Rodrigues and it was exactly spot-on for this last passage from Rodrigues to Mauritius. The trick is in "tuning" your polar to match not only your boat sailing performance but also your "style" of sailing. After a few years of "tweaking", our polars quite accurately represent the way we sail now (cruising mode). If anyone would like a copy of our polars then just send me an email or comment here. I might post instructions for using qtVLM if there is any interest also.

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Good run so far

Date:	Oct. 15, 2015, 6 a.m.
Position:	19 48.00 S, 60 22.00 E
Speed over Ground:	7.0
Heading (True):	290.0
Wind Speed (kts):	22.0
Wind Direction (True):	100.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	0.5

We've had a great run so far with very smooth conditions. There is not really any swell to speak of and the actual sea-state is quite calm considering the 20-25 knots of wind.

We had the usual little bit of confused seas for the first 10nm after we left Rodrigues, the wind was also a bit fickle and varied from ENE to SE. Interestingly, there is a regular line of cloud which extends NW from Rodrigues, and once we passed south of this line of cloud the wind became more established from the SE and felt more like the "real" ocean-wind. This line of cloud seems to draw-in the other clouds for miles around so at sunset we had perfectly clear sky above with trade-wind clouds a few miles to the south and the Rodrigues-cloud a few miles to the north. The sky above us was so clear it looked like a Broome sunset!

We were able to double-sail reach with staysail and full genoa and double-reefed mailsail most of the night. Unfortunately, as is normal here in the Indian Ocean, it seems to want to rain every night. I can hardly think of a night where it hasn't rained at least a little bit. With the rain it got a bit squally so we reefed down the genoa and that affected our speed a bit as we were plodding along at 4-5 knots in the early hours of the morning.

In the morning it cleared up again and the wind swung more ESE to East so we goosewinged the full genoa and double-reefed mainsail and have been on that tack all day heading WNW and making a comfortable 7-knots or so.

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Departing Rodrigues

Date:	Oct. 13, 2015, 11 p.m.
Position:	19 40.75 S, 63 25.16 E
Speed over Ground:	0.0
Heading (True):	270.0
Wind Speed (kts):	21.0
Wind Direction (True):	120.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	2.0

After a fantastic 10 days or so in Rodrigues, its time to move on with cyclone season looming we have to be in Mauritius to await weather windows for South Africa (possibly via Reunion briefly).

Fine sunny weather today with a fresh breeze of 20-25 knots from the SE. We have 350nm to Mauritius which will take around 2.5 to 3 days. We'll likely be poled-out with full almost full genoa and double-reefed mainsail the whole way. We had awful rain and squalls last night but hopefully that is cleared up and we can stay in the sunny-patch!

Unfortunately, because you can't clear out of Rodrigues the night before and stay on anchor for an early-start the next day we are probably going to arrive Friday afternoon or early evening. Hopefully we can find an open-bay in the lee of the island where we can drop-anchor for the night, but otherwise we'll just do our standard technique of drifting in the lee of the island for the night.

We have still not yet been able to get the sailmail station for South Africa and the station for Brunei is extremely weak. We will unlikely be able to issue daily reports while on this short-passage so you'll hear from us when we arrive in Mauritius on Friday night or Saturday morning (our mobile SIM card should work there so we'll have internet as soon as we arrive).

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Pun in Rodrigues...

Date:

Oct. 12, 2015, 3:57 a.m.

Rodrigues is going to make us fat, the food here is fantastic, the fresh produce even better. After the Wednesday races we had dinner with the growing Australian/Canadian contingent at a pizza place. It was the best pizza we've had in a long time. With the exception of anchovy, I am usually anti seafood-on a pizza, it always seems like a such a waste of the fruits of the sea, but the smoked marlin with lemon... wow. We washed it down with the great local beer and a fine selection of South African wines. Desert was served with a hit of the local rum flavoured with vanilla bean.

On Thursday we loaded our toys into a hired truck and piled in with a few other cruisers to go Kitesurfing on the other side of the island. You can catch a Rs25 ($1) bus but between a few of us and with all the gear the guys decided to grab an inexpensive car. Forget swim-up-bars, Mourouk boasts a kite-up-bar on a picturesque white beach. So while the boys took turns on a 17m kite in the light winds, we sampled the drinks menu. In Rodrigues, 9:30am is emphatically not to early for a cocktail I am told.

At this point of the island the lagoon swells right out to create a large playpen of turquoise perfection. The boys did have to share with a few elegant Pirogues (traditional local fishing boats) an one other kitesurfer. The food at the bar was good, especially the pork which is basted in honey & spices and cooked over charcoal to smoky soft, perfection. We also have it on good authority that just behind the big Mourouk hotel is a smaller one called Bakwa which serves excellent food.

The light winds continued Friday so we headed to see the Giant tortoises. To be frank this sounded a little kitsch and we had originally omitted it from our itinerary, but everyone who had been kept recommending it. So we relented and were not disappointed. The two part tour also included a wander through a large cave, though this second part is very well done, we did find it too drawn out. The Tortoises however, are well worth the trip. Their picturesque 'enclosure' is a natural canyon created by a collapsed cave. It has been painstakingly cleared of invasive plant species and is now home to around 2000 huge beasts through whom we are allowed to wander. They have trained their human pets very well to give them scratches under the chin and behind the forelegs. They in fact love it so much they would amble right to-ortoise (*get it*) and stretch out their long necks expectantly. Mark was particularly smitten by how cuddly they were and could not seem to make it more than a few meters at a time without stopping to pat them. He was the most reluctant of our party originally but the friendly tortoises drew him right out of his shell... Subsequently he was the last of the tour group to emerge out of the enclosure but you know, slow and steady...

We had arrived too late for the first tour and so enjoyed lazy lunch at the restaurant. Some of the dishes were a bit average but the conocono salad (conch as we later discovered) and an Octopus in coconut dressing, both from the entree menu were excellent. We had asked the waiter for his recommendations but he was afraid to stick his neck out...

Saturday is the big market day, there is nothing like the promise of fresh organic watercress after two weeks at sea, to get you out of bed before 6am with a smile. Well, me anyway, Mark was quite happy to sleep through the mayhem of obtaining the best vegetables and freshest meat. There were also some great food carts, I enjoyed the spicy 'gateaux piments' snacks but we were also introduced to a donut that oozes sugar syrup when you bit into it, Mark might even get out of bed for that one if we are here next Saturday. As the morning progressed and with my provisions safely back on the boat, I went back to check out the handicraft sections filled with beautiful woven products.

That morning we were all informed that we would loose our coveted dockside location as the Coast Guard ship from Mauritius was coming along with the Prime Minister for the Rodrigues Day celebrations on Monday. So we quickly completed our dockside chores, farewelled the flocks of baby butterfly fish along it's edge and headed out to the anchorage. After all that we were glad for a quite night in.

Sunday turned out to be the opening of Octopus season and included a local festival at Baie du Nord, so we headed over to check out the street food, dancing, music and of course see who had managed to catch the largest octopus that morning. Indeed the reefs had been covered with fisherman clearly vying for the honour. We however were a little slow to secure a taste of the main attraction, with all the stalls selling out rather fast, which sucked... So instead we came up with an 8 point plan to avoid the long arm of the law... (with the PM in town the place is crawling with police and traffic is blocked in parts) and head back for lunch at the Blue Marlin. It has an excellent reputation which is well deserved. The smoked Marlin salad and the Octopus salad were sublime. The Lemon tart looked phenomenal. Later that evening we hosted our local friend for dinner and served Kangaroo, Marie Claude seem to enjoyed it but her neighbour could not bring herself to try such a cute and cuddly animal - if only she knew! While their tasty but cuddly tortoises were eaten to extinction our numerous and feisty kangaroos make a much more sustainable meat meal.

PS. Blame Mark and Karl for all the bad puns.

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Spoilt Again!

Date:

Oct. 7, 2015, 12:03 p.m.

This year we have been blown away by fabulous hospitality from local connections in NZ, Townsville, Christmas Island and now all the way over here in the little Island of Rodrigues. A family friend has gone out of his way to introduce us to one of his very good friends who in turn has spoilt us rotten. Having a local contact like this really helps to grease the wheels, indeed some people prefer to explore and discover things themselves and we fully respect that. However this year we are trying to cover some large distances, leaving us less time than we’d really like in most places. So to us that local introduction is very, very much appreciated.

Marie Claude a Mauritiuan of European decent, bought property in Rodrigues back in the 70’s. She picked us up at the wharf and we enjoyed a nice drive up to see her farm on the ridge overlooking Riviere Coco. We got to know her and found out more about the contemporary history of the Island. From her farm she now runs 'Miel Victoria' and is the main honey producer on the Island. Rodrigues is famous for it’s top quality honey, so in addition to a friendly lunch and drive around the Island, we got to see one of the more popular tourist attractions over here, her Bees.

Miel Victoria is open Mon-Fri (0800-1600) & Sat (1000-1400) you do not need to book in advance, just turn up and her friendly staff will give you a tour of her little set-up. You can purchase Honey, confectionery, cosmetic and pharmaceutical goods at the little Boutique where you may also leave a donation for the experience if you choose. We can HIGHLY recommend the Fondant, made to Marie Claude’s Grandmothers recipe. The honey itself very much lives up to its reputation. A bus to La Ferme should be able to drop you there, just past Petit Gabriel, if you don’t have your own wheels.

After taking leave of Her Royal Honey-ness and her keepers, we enjoyed the most fantastic, flavour-packed Creole feast at Marie Claude’s private residence. Her late husband was an Architect so I (Cat) was having a ball checking out his work, a gorgeous modern interpretation of environmentally appropriate, african colonial. The residence is a series of pavilions which ramble along the ridge capturing outdoor rooms, breezes and spectacular views. Of Swiss extraction, he had a fantastic sense of light and space, some of his detailing using the local and the found were just brilliant. Later we stopped to see the nearby Cathedral of Saint Gabriel, an impressively large structure which most of the congregation actively participated in the building of.

We then drove to many points along the South East of the Island, doing some fun 4WDing through rural areas in ‘Moby Dick’ Marie Claude’s big white truck. She has pointed out some of the best walking trails and attractions which will keep us busy for the next few days along with the world famous Kite Surfing at Mourouk. There is rumour of a festival this weekend which would be fantastic!

The island is small at only 8x18km but it certainly does not feel so, the volcanic land mass folds into a series of valleys and spectacular formations. You can walk everywhere and not get lost as you will always be able to find the sea and the ridge, if not a friendly local to direct you. We came across a goatherd who was sat on a tree stump, with a switch, tending a large flock and asked him for directions. It could not have been more picturesque - except of the fact that he was dressed like an American rapper!

Crime, though not unheard of, is very low in Rodrigues and the accommodation made for yachts and their dinghies is guarded 24/7 at no cost, enabling one to be very relaxed and enjoy the place. The locals usually speak English and seem to enjoy us slaughtering Creole/French. Signs and instructions will often be issued in a mix of Creole, French and English, note that it is however a MIX of each and not a full translation in any language!

All the locals are so friendly, I have really been loving rambling about the little town in search of supplies and creole architecture. A baguette will cost you the equivalent of 20 cents and you can get great produce at the markets (best on Saturday and to a lessor extent Wednesday) as well as the supermarket. I stick to the female market vendors generally who I find are less likely to add a high ‘white-tax’. I don’t mind paying a bit more than the cheap local prices but it is not nice to be totally fleeced. It is not common to bargain here, that is an Indian tradition that we will apparently come across in Mauritius.

This afternoon the cargo ship Anna left the dock and so we had a hilariously fun race with the 12 boats here, to the outer anchorage (to get out of her way) and back into the inner basin to see which of us got one of the 6-7 dockside berths! It was strictly pirate racing rules, which means anything goes. With 135hp, we managed to get our preferred spot at the Eastern end of the dock, which is most protected, though several boats made for the Western end which is in range of the free WIFI. On that basis I have no idea who won but Canadian single hander Jim on Haulback claimed start line honours while catamaran African Affair certainly earned handicap honours for doing the whole thing with a glass of wine in hand.

Really looking forward to a few more days here or perhaps weeks...

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Arrived safely in Rodrigues

Date:	Oct. 4, 2015, 3 a.m.
Position:	19 40.82 S, 63 25.26 E
Wind Speed (kts):	6.0
Wind Direction (True):	140.0
Sea state:	Slight
Swell (m):	0.0
Track to here:	Download

We arrived safely in Port Mathurin, Rodrigues at about 3pm local time. The shift, squally wind and rain did not give us a break right up to the end. 15nm out we were stuck in calms, then squalls, then poled out and having to gybe several times to make it. We could have motored in the final bit but it was quite rewarding to know that we had sailed the entire 2000nm. We used 0.5 gallons of fuel to depart and enter the ports at either end. We also had to only run the generator 3 times, using about 10 liters of unleaded fuel, which was pretty impressive considering that we had such overcast conditions.

When we arrived at the dock all of the cruisers from Cocos Islands were waiting on the concrete wharf to welcome us and help take our lines. This was much appreciated as our bow-thruster battery had died and thus is out of action. We came alongside without a problem though. We had been warned by one of them over the radio that the charts (CMaps and Navionics) are both offset incorrectly by varying and significant amounts. This is correct, only use the charts as a guide and use the visual aides to enter port. The charts show we are currently moored in the carpark of the wharf.

The various officials jumped straight onto the boat (which we were quite impressed with because it was Sunday). We first had the health and quarantine officials, then coastguard, then we went to a little office near the wharf and did immigration. Tomorrow we'll see the customs officials and make the various small payments required. It was all very smooth and easy and the officials were very friendly.

We could not connect to sailmail yesterday and I doubt we will be able to connect from inside the harbour so these posts might be delayed a few days until we get a local SIM card and internet connection sorted out.

When we arrived the other cruisers told us that they had had some of the worst rain on record 2 days ago which we seem to have just missed (or maybe we didn't and we were just used to it raining every day at sea). All in all it was a good passage, we didn't have any overly strong or dangerous winds but the amount of rain and overcast and squally wind was quite tiresome by the end. We can't complain though as the wind was favourable the whole way and it was a relatively quick run.

Now its time to get some rest and sleep for longer than 3 hours... what decadence!

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It was all going too well

Date:	Oct. 3, 2015, 3:30 a.m.
Position:	19 27.00 S, 65 36.00 E
Speed over Ground:	6.0
Heading (True):	265.0
Wind Speed (kts):	20.0
Wind Direction (True):	70.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	2.0

The weather has been overcast and gloomy for the past 3 days now and it is starting to get tedious. The wind is also squally and shifty and is coming from a more North-East direction which is rather unusual. The downside of that is that it is pretty much directly behind us so its an awkward dead-downwind run to Rodrigues. When the wind shifts sometimes we just go with it and let it take us off course but, as we are nearing our destination, when we think its starting to establish itself from a particular direction for a few hours then we'll make a gybe and try to keep on our bearing for Rodrigues. Due to the fickle conditions we have done a lot of gybes over the past few days.

In the midst of one of these gybes (and remember its still quite a rolly/bouncy sea) we had a bit of a drama this morning. One of the most dangerous parts of the gybe is the 5-seconds or so between when I take off the "preventer" to the time I can secure it safely before the gybe. The preventer is a block and tackle which prevents the boom from accidentally gybing to the other side - an accidental gybe can cause the boom to swing with deadly speed and force across the boat destroying rigging, windows, fibreglass, peoples heads and pretty much anything else which might get in its path. If a gybe happens during this 5 seconds the preventer is attached to the boom then we have the addition of a lot of rope and heavy tackle flying around attached to the end of an unstoppable deadly high-speed, heavy lump of metal. Like some ghastly medieval weapon.

We always knew this was a big risk and we always take care to ensure that we are heading across the wind while we are handling the preventer. Unfortunately however, if you can imagine something that can go wrong on a boat then its not a matter of IF it will happen but simply WHEN. Given the stochastic nature of sailing and the seas then, with enough miles, waves, rolls and lurches then, eventually, everything imaginable that can happen WILL eventually happen (along with so many other things that are unimaginable). This is the nature of Murphy's Law of the sea and the sooner you reconcile yourself with this fact then the happier your sailing career will be. There are many things now that break in the course of duty and Cat and I just look at each other and shrug saying to each other, "well that was always going to happen sometime"... and then reach for the backup system.

This morning was one of those moments to the extreme. Everything was going smoothly and then during the 5-seconds I was trying to secure the preventer a large awkward shaped wave completely picked up the stern and tossed it spinning us a full 90-degrees. The devil could not have timed it more appropriately. The wind caught the backside of the mainsail and it went off with the loose preventer flying off with it (fortunately without me still attached to it - I managed to fling it clear of me). It wiped out everything mounted on top of our wheelhouse which was the primary GPS antenna and the ships horn. Just sweeped it clean. One minute they are there and the next minute gone.

We were very lucky (and we both knew it) as the preventer could have snagged around one of my limbs and I would have been dragged over the wheelhouse (and/or overboard) with it breaking all manner of limbs in the process. The peventer could also have snagged on a part of the structure of the wheelhouse itself and done actual structural damage to the boat. Similarly the loose blocks could easily have smashed a window, wrapped around some rigging or any manner of other things and we could have had some major damage on our hands.

I quickly scrambled to secure the boom and then we both required a quiet moment to contemplate what had just happened. I think we were both in shock.

We have many (many) backup GPS systems on board so losing the primary GPS was not too big a deal, other than the fact that it is connected to our AIS system and helps calculate our closest point of approach to other ships. Of course, if you have followed this blog (and/or are a sailor) then it would come as no surprise that all this happened right when 3 very large cargo ships were within very close proximity to us. We seemed to be passing a through a shipping lane. We had barely seen a ship since our last dramatic night nearly 1 week ago and before the system was wiped out we knew we had 3 we needed to watch out for right when our detection system goes down. Furthermore, even these large ships disappear in the troughs of these high seas and of course, it happens to be raining rendering visibility to less than 2 miles. For most people these coincidences would seem providential, but I think all sailors reading this would understand that it was just the way it was always going to be. This was the most poetic combination of events, and at sea poetic elegance always triumphs over statistical probability regardless of the unlikeliness of the situation.

We happened to be on a direct collision course with one ship. Before we could fire up our radar, we managed to see it when we both crested waves, through the haze at about 2 miles off (which is very close for a large ship) we simply rolled up the jib and rounded the boat to windward with mainsail only. This pretty much puts us into a hove-to position. The ship passed less than 1-mile off (which is VERY close - you can wave to people onboard) while we managed to assess the damage and sort out a repair. Fortunately by some small miracle, neither the broken horn pieces or the antenna end were washed overboard. So after a bit of epoxy, splicing some wires and, of course, the required amount of duct tape* the GPS was back in action. I think the ships horn is a lost-cause though.

The day went on after this without a problem. Conditions overcast and us rolling downwind poled-out with 2 reefs in the mainsail and 2 in the genoa.

As a final note: we have passed many ships over the past 24-hours. One of them also passed within about 1-mile of us and was called the "New York". Interestingly, the Indian captain actually called us up on the radio to have a nice chat. He was just curious as to where we had come from and where we were going and asked us if everything was ok. I have no doubt that if we had have said things were not ok then he would have rendered every assistance possible. This, combined with our experience last week with the chatty captain in the middle of the rain, as well as reports from other cruisers with similar experience, makes me think that the ship-captains along this route in particular are on average very helpful, obliging and friendly people. Maybe it is the remoteness of this ocean and relatively few yachts. Maybe it is the Chinese and Indian captains feeling happy on their homeward stretch and in their home waters. Most of them seem to be doing very long-haul trips to Brazil and further so perhaps it is just the isolation of the voyage. Whatever it is, it is very comforting to feel that you are never far from friendly people and possible assistance.

* If you have followed this blog you will probably also know that, when something happens at sea you should never worry or stress because you KNOW what the solution is. The solution is duct tape - you just have to figure out the methodology.

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Rough night

Date:	Oct. 2, 2015, 1:30 a.m.
Position:	19 8.00 S, 68 18.00 E
Speed over Ground:	6.5
Heading (True):	270.0
Wind Speed (kts):	20.0
Wind Direction (True):	90.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	2.0

Last night was one of the most uncomfortable nights we've ever had. After sunset the wind picked up as per forecast to a steady 25-knots with gusts to 30 in overcast conditions. The problem seemed to be created by the interaction of the huge southerly swell with the sea brought up by this more easterly wind. The 2-3m sea running perpendicular to the 3-4m southerly swell created very peaky, almost pyramid-shaped waves. The boat would fall into very steep troughs and then get suddenly spat out again. This was not helped by the fact we were running directly downwind with goosewinged rig which gives us almost no stability. The rolling motion was incredible. We considered changing sails and gybing downwind however this would have added a lot of extra miles and slowed down our velocity made good. We were making good speed and the situation wasn't dangerous at all, just very very uncomfortable. This morning around sunrise the sea seems to have become more ordered and, although we haven't changed rig and the wind has only dropped slightly, we have had a pretty comfortable day. We were able to catch up on the sleep that neither of us got the night before.

Interestingly, most of the other cruisers mention having similar experiences where things can be going along just fine and then quite suddenly get very uncomfortable for 6 to 12-hour patches. It surely has to do with the combination of the currents, wind-driven sea and the large "pulses" of swell which come up from the south.

We feel like we are on the home-stretch now. The gribs indicate that we'll have these same winds persisting throughout tonight and then starting to ease tomorrow. If the forecast holds we look like we might just be able to sneak in before sunset on Sunday afternoon. We need to do 130nm per day for the next two days to make it.

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Big swell

Date:	Oct. 1, 2015, 3:30 a.m.
Position:	18 56.00 S, 70 41.00 E
Speed over Ground:	6.0
Heading (True):	270.0
Wind Speed (kts):	20.0
Wind Direction (True):	120.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	3.0

The wind picked up last night and we started to get back up to around 6-knots with a poled out full mainsail and genoa. In the morning the wind shifted quite southerly so we started broad-reaching with the staysail and full genoa. The introduction of winds with this high-pressure system brought a prodigious swell from the SSW. The bigger sets would be 4m or so at least. As the day progressed the wind shifted more and more Easterly as the high moved to the south of us, until we couldn't reach anymore and had to succumb to poling out the mainsail with 2-reefs in it and a single reef in the genoa. The large swell hitting us on the beam is making it incredibly rolly though which is not very nice.

Connection with the sailmail station in Brunei is now noticeably slower and more tricky to connect. We'll probably only send shorter posts for the last few days and we won't receive any mail until we arrive at Rodrigues Sunday night or Monday morning.

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Painfully slow

Date:	Sept. 30, 2015, 1 a.m.
Position:	18 32.24 S, 73 24.39 E
Speed over Ground:	4.0
Heading (True):	260.0
Wind Speed (kts):	12.0
Wind Direction (True):	80.0
Sea state:	Slight
Swell (m):	1.0

The wind stayed light all last night and today and swung more northerly to East-North-East and around 10-knots or less. We have been plodding along with just enough wind to keep the sails full as we run directly downwind with goosewinged mainsail and full genoa poled-out. We're actually on a starboard tack now for the first time since we left Cocos.

We've only just been able to scratch out 100nm in the past 24-hours (a 4-knot average). I'm still hoping the wind might build overnight, but if these calm conditions persist for much longer then it is doubtful we will get before sunset on Sunday in which case we'll start to think about timing it to arrive Monday morning.

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Very pleasant but slow

Date:	Sept. 29, 2015, 2 a.m.
Position:	17 57.68 S, 74 59.42 E
Speed over Ground:	4.5
Heading (True):	260.0
Wind Speed (kts):	12.0
Wind Direction (True):	90.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	1.0

The wind gradually dropped throughout last night but we were able to maintain 6 knots of boat speed with our full genoa, staysail and triple-reefed mainsail combination on a very very broad reach. The wind swung more and more easterly throughout the day which was great for heading south and we took advantage of it. The skies have cleared up and we actually have had very nice conditions all day.

We are now 1-degree south of the rhumb line which gives us about 10-degrees of angle that we can "crack-off" if/when the wind starts to blow strong again on Thursday which should (hopefully) make things more comfortable. Also, being further south we are closer to the centre of the high-pressure systems so (in theory) the winds and seas should be a bit more moderate. Rodrigues is now bearing about 261 true from our position which should be a nice broach-reach if the wind goes SE as forecast.

Around midday the wind went fully easterly to East-North-East and we were just going too far south on a broad reach so that our velocity made good was too low. We poled-out the full genoa and goosewinged with the full mainsail and we're now plodding along downwind with very nice conditions.... just very slowly at 4.5 knots or so. Hopefully the wind will pick up again tomorrow as forecast and we can start to pick up speed. We need to do 150nm days to get there by Sunday, otherwise it will be Monday that we arrive.

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White knuckled or wallowing

Date:	Sept. 28, 2015, 2 a.m.
Position:	16 54.43 S, 77 7.50 E
Speed over Ground:	6.5
Heading (True):	250.0
Wind Speed (kts):	20.0
Wind Direction (True):	115.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	1.0

We've had squally overcast conditions overnight but the wind stabilized this morning to a steady 20-knots from the South-East, however the cloud cover mostly remains. The seas remained fairly high this morning and as we were making our way through the squalls it was either "white knuckled or wallowing" which becomes tedious after a short time. We've been happy to just have a few hours of consistent steady wind and our mileage today of 150nm reflects that (compared to barely 100nm yesterday).

Our plug from yesterday seems to be holding nicely. We're on a broad reach with 1-reef in the genoa, staysail and triple-reefed main.

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That sinking feeling...

Date:	Sept. 27, 2015, 2 a.m.
Position:	15 48.35 S, 80 2.26 E
Speed over Ground:	6.0
Heading (True):	250.0
Wind Speed (kts):	17.0
Wind Direction (True):	115.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	1.0

A lot of action can happen in 24-hours.

Last night we seemed to have hit the center of the frontal-type weather system which was plaguing us that day. It finally started raining buckets and the wind died off and started coming from every which way with very squally conditions dropping to near-calms and gusting up to 25-30. We have a quite full moon so we could see the clouds and rain, but I'm not sure if that was to our advantage as it just shrouded the whole situation in a eerie moody gloom and made the sky foreboding. In the driving rain and squalls, and after a pretty tough day of sailing, we just didn't have the energy left to start tacking and gybing every 10 minutes to follow the wind. We kept our staysail and triple-reefed main rig which we were using all day and just let the Hydrovane steer us around every which way until the wind figured out what it wanted to do and we got as much rest as we could. At one stage we had north-westerly winds and we were on the same tack (we have been on for one week now) but we were heading back towards Cocos!

In the middle of this ships start popping up on AIS. Of course we haven't seen any ships all week, but the one time we just want sea-room to drift around in the zero visibility rain and squalls we have 2 ships coming on direct collision courses for us (they would have passed less than 0.5nm). I think I've mentioned before that Murphy's Law originated in the maritime industry. To top it all of one of the ships was actually a ship towing another ship (or oil platform or something huge) so they occupied about 2nm of sea-room. We managed to gybe and move away from the towing vessels but the other one came at us during a lull and we had little boat speed. At about 3am in the morning we hailed him on the radio to see if he could veer slightly to starboard to avoid us. The Chinese captain happily obliged and then struck up a friendly conversation. He was very curious to hear about what we were doing and he was excited to tell us about the time he travelled to Australia. All in all it was very nice albeit bizarre exchange considering the weather and situation we were in.

By sunrise the squalls seemed to have subsided and the wind took on its regular SE direction and consistency, but this time slightly more East of SE which has allowed us to make southing towards the rhumb line. We rolled out the full genoa, maintaining the staysail and triple-reefed main and started to glide along quite comfortably as the rain had calmed the seas overnight. We were getting back to relaxing and reading thinking all our problems were over until... I noticed the bilge-pump coming on quite regularly. Sometimes after a big downpour we get some minor leaks to inside the hull (through deck-fittings etc.) which might trigger the bilge pump to go off, but the pump was coming on quite a lot now and a lot of water was being discharged over the side. There is something very visceral about thinking the boat is taking on water and suddenly one becomes very focussed. I lifted the aft cabin floorboards which gives me the quickest access to see the bilge. Lots of water in the section under the shower compartment. Tasted it... Salty... Not good. We had a leak coming from outside the boat, it didn't originate from inside or it would be fresh.

I manually pumped the section and then observed which way the water seemed to be flowing in. It was coming in from behind, the only through-hull where water could enter from back there was the rudder. The rudder! I felt like all my worst nightmares were coming true. I had overhauled the rudder and lower-skeg in New Zealand in preparation for this trip, partly because this sea is known to put a lot of stress on your steering gear and also upon hearing that a boat was lost in this area 2-years ago because their lower-skeg support broke loose and the unsupported rudder ripped a hole in their hull. Within a few seconds the aft-cabin bed was ripped apart to get access to the rudder packing. Water was coming in at a fair pace, but it was immediately clear what the problem was. The rudder upper-bearing grease nipple which is used for pushing grease into lubricate the bearing, had, for no particular reason, decided that today was to be its last. It had broken away from the bearing leaving a hole about 7mm across. Nothing seemed to have knocked it (I'm always careful to not pack things near it) and it seems to have just dropped off on its own accord. There was a lot of long term rust at the base, leading us to suppose it had been knocked askew and patched at some point in the boats distant history. Fortunately problem was quickly solved. Cat promptly whittled a cork from a wine bottle (a rare thing these days and much prized) down to make a little plug which did the job perfectly. Now dry, we then packed it all around with Selleys "Knead-It" (a 2-part putty). And then wrapped the whole thing in duct tape (as every good sailor generally does.) This stopped the leak and the putty and duct-tape should do a good job to ensure the bung doesn't come out and/or leak around the edges. We've been running with it all day and it seems fine so far.

As we packed up the tools, congratulated ourselves for averting any immediate crisis and glanced at our instruments we realised the event had taken place at almost precisely the half way point of our passage to Rodrigues, proving that the powers that be have a great sense of humour.

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Rain squalls and lots of wind

Date:	Sept. 26, 2015, 3 a.m.
Position:	15 8.81 S, 81 24.69 E
Speed over Ground:	5.5
Heading (True):	250.0
Wind Speed (kts):	28.0
Wind Direction (True):	135.0
Sea state:	Very Rough
Swell (m):	2.0

This morning we had overcast conditions and the wind built at around 6am. Since then our apparent wind speed has rarely dropped below 25 knots, we have had rain 50% of the time and squalls over 30. The seas are quite rough and significant by now, but at least they are large enough that we are riding them well enough. We have been down to our staysail and tiny triple-reefed main all day.

As a side-note the gribs show 10-15 knots at the moment. Clearly we are in a large weather system which the gribs failed to resolve. I'm not sure of the benefit of actually getting the gribs anymore as they have tended to get the direction wrong and if they can't resolve weather systems like this then they don't have much use. The gribs consistently show anywhere between 15-25 knots from the SE, but you don't need a grib file to tell you that that is the average weather at this time of year here.

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Cocos to Rodrigues Day 5

Date:	Sept. 25, 2015, 2 a.m.
Position:	14 17.49 S, 83 56.82 E
Speed over Ground:	6.5
Heading (True):	250.0
Wind Speed (kts):	22.0
Wind Direction (True):	150.0
Sea state:	Rough
Swell (m):	2.0

The wind dropped last night to a wonderful 15 knots or so and the seas correspondingly calmed. We ended up having a very smooth night while we glided along at 7-knots or so.

This afternoon the wind picked up again to 20-25 knots and the seas are becoming rough again. The past few days we have been running off north of the rhumb line in anticipation of the wind backing to the east however after 3 days of waiting for the wind to turn easterly we have given up hope and now we are reaching across the wind to make some southing.

We are reaching with a triple-reefed mainsail, staysail and tiny piece of genoa. Given the conditions the ride is still fairly smooth.

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170nm day

Date:	Sept. 24, 2015, 2 a.m.
Position:	13 37.05 S, 86 41.52 E
Speed over Ground:	7.0
Heading (True):	270.0
Wind Speed (kts):	22.0
Wind Direction (True):	135.0
Sea state:	Rough
Swell (m):	1.5

You don't get miles for free when you are sailing. Speed comes at a price. Its either slow and comfortable or fast and rough. I personally prefer it when it is calm and we are plodding along at 4 knots doing 100nm per day, but at that pace this passage would take 3 weeks. At our current pace we will do it in 2 weeks but it is bouncy.

We've had a pretty steady 20-25 knots all day today. When it first picked up in the morning it was quite nice because the seas didn't have time to get up, but its been windy all day and the sea is getting quite rough. We are on a broad reach with triple-reefed mainsail, staysail and two reefs in the genoa. In these conditions we could probably go much faster but this seems to be the pace that puts the least stress on the boat and maximum comfort.

The hydrovane is again proving that it's worth its weight in gold on a passage like this. If we were using our electric Raymarine autopilot we'd be having to run the generator every day to top up the batteries and the noise of the electric pump running 24/7 would be unbearable. At least with the hydrovane we pretty much just set it and then find the most comfortable place you can on the boat to lie down and rest or read a book.

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A quarter of the way around

Date:	Sept. 23, 2015, 2 a.m.
Position:	13 15.95 S, 89 35.43 E
Speed over Ground:	7.0
Heading (True):	270.0
Wind Speed (kts):	18.0
Wind Direction (True):	135.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	0.5

Today is a bit of a milestone. We are nearly one-quarter of the way from Cocos to Rodrigues but, more significantly, we have crossed the line of 90-degree longitude. This means that from our time in Fiji where we briefly crossed the 180-degree line we are now also one quarter of the way around the world by longitude. It will be close to St Helena Island that we will cross 0-degrees which will mark half-way around.

With almost perfect sailing conditions over the past 24-hours (albeit a bit light) we have had a very comfortable day. With light conditions last night through to this morning. We both slept very well thanks to a very steady wind of around 10 knots and we were able to sail confidently with full mainsail and genoa on a broad reach. Our average speed suffered somewhat as we only managed around 4.5 knots overnight. As a result we have only done 127nm in the past 24 hours.

The wind picked up to around 18-20 knots at midday today and has stayed steady. The seas are still quite flat with little noticeable swell. We are now sailing with double-reefed mainsail, staysail and full genoa making around 7 knots on a broad reach.

I'll send this post later than usual as we are currently taking advantage of the smooth conditions to run the generator on the back deck to top up the batteries (the generator and battery-chargers interfere with the HF radio). This is the first top-up since we left Cocos which is pretty good because we are only getting solar-power in the morning due to our sails casting a shadow over the panels in the afternoon.

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Slow but comfortable

Date:	Sept. 22, 2015, 2 a.m.
Position:	13 9.07 S, 91 45.68 E
Speed over Ground:	4.0
Heading (True):	260.0
Wind Speed (kts):	11.0
Wind Direction (True):	100.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	1.0

137nm in the past 24 hours. The wind dropped away last night and swung more easterly as forecast. Overnight we continued following the wind around on a broad-reach which allowed us to keep our speed up around 6 knots, however by the morning we were heading quite south of the bearing for Rodrigues.

This morning at we unreefed the mainsail and goosewinged the full genoa on a pole, which allowed us to head back down the rhumb-line. The wind continued to fade throughout today and this afternoon we have been plodding along at 4-knots or so. It's painfully slow but at least we have perfect clear skies and relatively calm seas so we've had a comfortable day of relaxing and reading.

The gribs indicate that the wind should start to pick up again tomorrow morning so we can get back to faster sailing (but more rocking and rolling).

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Good first day

Date:	Sept. 21, 2015, 1 a.m.
Position:	12 30.89 S, 93 58.35 E
Speed over Ground:	6.0
Heading (True):	260.0
Wind Speed (kts):	17.0
Wind Direction (True):	135.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	1.0

We got off to a good start and managed to cover 156nm in the 24 hours since we left Cocos. Its now sunset and we have covered 174nm (note that time given above while on passage is UTC time). We took off yesterday after lunch in a pretty steady 20-25 knots. As we got out of the lee of Cocos Islands there were some rough patches which I suppose was due to diffraction of waves around the atoll but once we were about 20nm out the seas became more regular. The angle of the wind is awkward with it being right on the border between a broad-reach and having to pole-out the sails. We have managed to get away without using the pole with the staysail and 1-reef in the genoa with a tiny triple-reefed mainsail. The wind dropped off overnight so we took the reef out of the genoa. We are heading slightly north of the rhumb line so that we can avoid using the pole if the wind swings more easterly.

It has been pretty comfortable however, because we are on such a downwind run, there is not enough wind pushing on the sails to stabilize the boat so we are rolling and bobbing along downwind, especially every now and then when a big set of waves come. I believe this is par for the course though. The wind is dropping off now and is forecast to get very light tomorrow (10-knots on the gribs) so we may only scratch out 120nm tomorrow. The upside is that the seas are calming down and the ride is quite comfortable at the moment.

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Departing Cocos Islands

Date:	Sept. 19, 2015, 10 p.m.
Position:	12 5.46 S, 96 52.95 E
Speed over Ground:	0.0
Heading (True):	0.0
Wind Speed (kts):	20.0
Wind Direction (True):	120.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	0.0

We're off! We are leaving slightly later than planned. Its 12:30 (midday) local time here in Cocos. Sunny with some slight cloud cover. The gribs indicate that the wind will reduce overnight.

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Important Info for Passage Cocos->Rodrigues

Date:	Sept. 19, 2015, 2 a.m.
Position:	12 5.46 S, 96 52.95 E
Speed over Ground:	0.0
Heading (True):	0.0
Wind Speed (kts):	17.0
Wind Direction (True):	135.0
Sea state:	Slight
Swell (m):	0.0

As we are preparing for the passage from Cocos (Keeling) Islands to Rodrigues here are a few important notes regarding communications and safety. It seems like we'll very likely depart Cocos early tomorrow (Sunday the 20th) in the morning.

PLEASE DON'T BE ALARMED IF WE DO NOT ISSUE OUR REGULAR DAILY POSITION REPORTS. As we are using our SSB (HF) radio to send email and the nearest reliable station for sailmail is in Brunei then it is very likely that we may have difficulties sending and receiving emails, especially as we get closer to Rodrigues. We have just heard from a boat who lost sailmail contact about 3-day out from Cocos so we may well not have email contact for the majority of the passage.

BOAT CONDITION: Yesterday I dived on the boat and checked the condition of the hull. Everything looks good. The antifouling still looks as new as the day we went in the water in New Zealand in April. The PropSpeed which we had painted on the prop in New Zealand is quite worn off and I probably wouldn't worry about doing it again in the future as it has only lasted 6 months (however we have motored over 1000nm in that time - and maybe the silty/seaweedy water of the Kimberley didn't help). The rudder skeg support and lower bearing is still solid after the work we did on it in NZ, the upper-bearing still has the small amount of play in it which we decided not to fix in NZ. Even with this small amount of play the rudder stuffing box is not leaking much at all, we got perhaps 2-3 cups of water since Darwin. I'm not happy with the amount of play in the joints of the Varifold folding propellor but there is not much we can do about it here and I don't think it is a safety-concern (but something to keep an eye on).

We have only used 2.5 gallons of fuel since leaving Christmas Island which means we still have around 270 gallons in the tanks. This could give us a motoring range of close to 1500nm if we go slowly.

The fridge and freezer seem to be back to behaving themselves (for now). We have been running the water maker 2 hours per day to top-up the water tanks and have pretty much a full tank of water (850 liters). Cat has prepared frozen passage-meals for more than 2 weeks.

PASSAGE PLAN: We anticipate having winds ranging from 15-25 knots south-easterly which we will be sailing on a very broad reach. Under these conditions we should be able to average 6-knots. In this case the 2000nm passage should take around 14-days. When we did a similar length passage from Opua to Townsville the passage took nearly 15 days. We rarely average less than 5-knots on a long passage so I doubt the passage would take longer than 17 days.

SSB RADIO SCHEDS: There are several SSB radio scheds which have been organised between the boats travelling from Cocos to Rodrigues. We will be checking into the sched in the 8MHz band at 0045 and 1130 UTC time (0715 and 1800 Cocos time). (I won't give the exact frequency here because some boats travelling north to Madagascar in "pirate areas" may check into this frequency and, although we are not going into those areas, they may be sensitive of us sharing details of the radio sched.)

There are several boats on either end (Cocos and Rodrigues who are either about to leave or have just arrived) who check into these radio scheds. At any time currently there are also about 4 to 6 boats en-route also on this sched. Across all the boats we are able to communicate across most of the Indian Ocean.

In case of an emergency and we are out of email-range the best method to contact us is through this network of boats on the sched. We also were able to communicate on the 8MHz band from Broome to some boats which were almost arriving in Rodrigues, so there is a chance that a good radio in Western Australia could make contact with boats in these sheds. Another options is the police in Cocos area always able to contact the boats here so the Cocos Police could be asked to pass on a message to the boats which could raise it on the SSB sched.

There is a backup frequency on the 4MHz band for close-range communication. And another 4Mhz sched at 1400UTC for boats travelling from Rodrigues to Mauritius.

WEATHER FORECASTS: We will attempt to get most of our weather through RadioFax from the Australian VMW station. The BOM issues synoptic charts for the entire Indian Ocean and also the southern-hemisphere which covers our area of interest. Here in Cocos Islands we are still able to receive Australian BOM RadioFax transmissions clearly from the VMC station on the east coast. Therefore I believe we will have RadioFax coverage all the way across to Rodrigues.

We will also get GRIB files through sailmail (email) for as long as we have sailmail reception (which we will likely lose early in the passage).

We also have RadioFax frequencies for South Africa, India and Kenya however until now we have not been able to receive any useful synoptic charts from these stations yet.

Useful web-links for the weather (which we may access via sailmail) are: http://www.bom.gov.au/wa/forecasts/whighseas.shtml http://www.bom.gov.au/wa/forecasts/cocos-islands.shtml http://metservice.intnet.mu/forecast-bulletin-english-mauritius.php http://metservice.intnet.mu/probabilistic-forecast.php

We also get some weather information passed on from boats in the daily scheds.

DISTRESS SIGNALS: In case of emergency we will transmit our EPIRB signal as well as a digital distress signal on the SSB radio via DSC. Our SSB radio automatically transmits digital DSC distress signals on the standard DSC distress frequencies. The digital DSC signal propagates further than standard voice signals and is more likely to be picked up by Australian Wiluna station.

SAFETY EQUIPMENT: 6-man Viking Liferaft (in service until 11/2016) with water for 3-days 2-jerry cans of additional water 1 primary EPIRB (3 days battery life) 2 personal EPIRBS (1-2 days battery life) 1 person AIS beacon (1-2 days battery life) 1 ditch-bag with food and water for about 10 days plus space-blankets, fishing equipment and other survival gear Assorted in-date flares and signals (parachute, meteor and smoke) and many assorted out-of-date ones

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A trip ashore.

Date:

Sept. 17, 2015, 11:15 a.m.

Considering how isolated CKI is, facilities are excellent but you are anchored remotely from them, in an idyllic island lagoon next to the best underwater spots… Can’t have it both ways! Usually it takes a very wet dinghy ride to get to Home Island. Where you can anchor at the little Beach North of the jetty (not the adjacent slipway) or alongside the North side of the Jetty itself, if you tuck close to shore out of the way. Don’t cut the corner on the way there or you may discover the remains of a wall built some time ago to promote the recovery of the turtle population, (of whom you will see many along the way.) At home island you will find the Shire office, museum (ask for the key at the shire,) post office, police station, Supermarket and other small traders. The super-friendly Australian Federal Police who run the customs operations out here gave us a useful information pamphlet when clearing us in (at no cost.) Home Island is where the majority of the population reside, over 400 people of mostly Malay origin. It is a compact settlement you can walk around. There is an occasional restaurant but generally you’ll have to get lunch from the supermarket.

Over at West Island about 160, predominately ex-mainland Australians live in a more sprawled manner. To get there you could take a very long, wet trip in the dinghy or for $2.50, catch the ferry from Home Island, then a further $0.50 gets you on the bus into the tiny town. West island has a supermarket, the Tourist information centre, some gift shops, a post office, cafe & restaurants, golf club, yacht club and an art gallery but the latter two will require you to hire Bikes/Cars/Scooters to get there. We had our heart set on a pair of scooters only to discover the hire shop was closed on a Thursday… Bugger. By the time we got our required paperwork done to clear out we would have missed the closing time for the art (Barge) gallery. It was a great disappointment as we have heard it is excellent but as with everything here it is not convenient for yachties. The purchase of alcohol can only be done at the Cocos Club, which opens at 5pm, well after the last ferry, talk to the staff at Maxi’s Cafe for a work around. Speaking of which all the locals and other yachties recommended Maxi’s where you can chill out with a burger whilst lolling around in a beanbag staring at the Indian Ocean.

If you really wanted to make the most of touring West island you could consider an overnight stay otherwise it can be a little difficult. In hindsight we should have hired a car immediately but by the time we worked that out we’d already run out of time at it was pointless. Opening hours/days and ferry timetables are understandably erratic and do not match up well for those of us coming from Direction island. Again we were very glad to have stocked up with fuel, food & alcohol in Christmas Island before coming here, as the minor inconvenience of not getting to see the things we wanted, may have easily turned into the frustration and challenge of trying to obtain things we needed. I now understand another boat's dramatic lament at not stopping at Christmas Island when we explained what it was like there.

All the locals are very friendly but due to the inconvenience of anchorage location really CKI is all about enjoying the natural beauty surrounding the anchorage, the company of the other yachts at the BBQ and rainwater facilities that our $10 per day or $50 per week anchorage fees cover. There is also an excellent paid WIFI, so while we could not go and hang out with the locals at quiz night down at the Cocos Club, at least we are connected to the world in some way.

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Fun in CKI

Date:

Sept. 13, 2015, 3:04 a.m.

A rather neat thing happened yesterday, we got impromptu visitors. We have been recently lamenting the fact that our guest bed is unoccupied in this beautiful place and while our guests did not sleepover it was terrific to be able to share a bit of this. A chance email from one of Mark's former students mentioned a couple of his colleagues were over here on business and so we were able to arrange for them to come visit on Saturday morning before they took off. As the designated yacht anchorage is quite a ways from the two small settlements it was a bit tricky getting them out here but in very good humour, they endured a soaking in our small dinghy in order to make the visit work before their flight.

I believe they found it worthwhile, they were sporting big grins for most of the day and I think it was a good break from their weeks work. Though a little out of the way, a visit to our anchorage at Direction Island is high on the 'to-do' list for all tourists to CKI. We went for a snorkel through 'The Rip' and were lucky enough not to have an insanely strong current for what turned out to be one of the guys first snorkel. I had done the short, fast and fish-packed run a couple of times yesterday while Mark was out Kitesurfing and it really is fun. One of our guests got some cracking shots on the GoPro, getting far closer to the sharks than I would have ever dared!

It was a very windy day so they boys did not have much luck spotting manta rays at their usual feeding station but all in all we had a really fun morning together. As usual, in the afternoon we wandered into the shack to enjoy the sunset and socialise with the other cruisers. Discussions inevitably turned to the passage to Rodrigues with a rather favourable weather forecast for the next week. While we'd love to linger a bit longer in this relaxing place, it is very tempting to join the pack leaving on these very nice looking winds.

Earlier in the morning, one of the other cruisers and I endured a soaking as we ploughed the dinghy into the 20+ knot winds, 1nm around the lagoon to Home Island, for it was provisioning day... There was some conjecture as to what time the shops opened but with fresh vegetables disappearing fast we decided to risk going in early. We arrived around 8am as planned but our hearts sank as we saw how quiet the town was. You could have heard a pin drop and for a moment it seemed like 10am may have been the opening time after all. Then, out of the corner of my eye I noticed a Malay women with a big shopping basket, scurrying towards the supermarket, doing the shuffle-run as allowed by her traditional Islamic dress. Brilliant! So off we went to gather fresh produce. It is eye-wateringly expensive, (although meat appears to be subsidised,) but with no restaurants or pubs nearby our entertainment budget gets to go towards basics. I did however put back the nice looking bunch of grapes at $22! I am glad to have stocked up at Broome and Christmas Island. While it is well stocked here, it is highly inconvenient and slightly more expensive that Christmas Is. (execpt fuel which for some strange reason is 10cents per litre cheaper.)

We have now pulled almost all the toys out of the V-berth and are having fun with all the watersports. it looks unlikely that we'll get a surf in but we are also having to get some business work done amongst the play. The local Shire have kindly installed a paid WIFI hotspot at the Direction Island shack. How good is that? Remote paradise with fast internet.

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Cocos Keeling Islands: you will feel better here and want to stay longer, it is a scientific fact.

Date:

Sept. 11, 2015, 2:30 a.m.

Why you ask, well because this is the land of blue. Impossibly rich shades of mesmerising blue stretching from one horizon to the other. Yep, it’s colour theory.

Scientific studies show that most people associate blue with openness, peace and tranquility. Not only will you feel this, you will tangibly find all of that here in spades. Open friendly people like the Parks ranger who offered to drive us around on a quick tour of Home Island in her lunch break yesterday, after we had spoken to her for all of 20 seconds! Not to mention the big Malay Smiles, you just do not pass someone without a salutation in these parts.

Indeed a quick trip to look at the excellent little museum at home island (the Shire will give you the key to let yourself in to this little gem - donation box at the door) will demonstrate how even in times of war this is a place of peace and tranquility. There is a highly reverent but also somewhat amusing account of the Emden-Sydney engagement in WWI. While the lives lost at sea are a huge tragedy the interactions on land between the Islanders and their (brief) German captors will give you the warm and fuzzies.

Furthermore, a scientific study involving different colour rooms demonstrated that party goers stayed in the blue room longer. Being the last Australian stop on the circumnavigation ‘milk run,’ many a foreign yachtie has overstayed their Australian visa here. We have just too big an area and too wonderful a coast for them to fit it all in within the bureaucratic timeframe allowed. On one hand it seems almost cruel that this place is the finale but on the other hand you may not end up seeing any of the rest of Australia if you landed here first...

Finally there is the point of health, "researchers have repeatedly shown that bright white light has the power to mitigate depression and other maladies of mood. An emergent recent literature suggests that blue light may be particularly potent for such applications.” (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2831986/)
The Great news is Cocos Keeling has both bright white light bouncing off the powdery soft white sand AND blue light in abundance so you cannot really go wrong here on the mental health side of things.

On the physical health side there is the obvious allure of balmy protected lagoon waters packed with colourful marine life (just incase you are getting bored of blue,) to keep you active swimming, snorkelling, SUP-ing, surfing, fishing, boating, Kitesurfing etc etc. Indeed, all parties aboard Tuuletar were much healthier once the skipper finally got to go kitesurfing after a one year absentia from his favourite pastime. Back on the scientific side, Blue light is shown to reset the human circadian rhythm with the greatest efficiency and having your body clock correctly set is, in turn, linked to combatting many diseases. Perhaps this land of blue could be just what the doctor ordered.

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Anchored at Direction Island, Cocos Keeling

Date:	Sept. 9, 2015, 2 a.m.
Position:	12 5.45 S, 96 52.96 E
Wind Speed (kts):	7.0
Wind Direction (True):	135.0
Sea state:	Slight
Swell (m):	0.0
Track to here:	Download

After a slow night last night we managed to still arrive here at 10am averaging about 4-5 knots overnight. The entrance is wide and deep and there are even port and starboard markers to guide you in. The reef under the starboard marker looks like you shouldn't go there but the water clarity is excellent and it looks worse than it is.

There are a total of 12 international boats here at the moment. Our friends from Windarra (USA) which we met in Fiji last year happen to be here which was a great surprise. We cleared customs within 20 minutes of anchoring and they were over to our boat and we went straight out swimming and snorkelling with several large Manta Rays. A very nice start to our time here.

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70nm to Cocos

Date:	Sept. 8, 2015, 3 a.m.
Position:	11 49.90 S, 98 4.01 E
Speed over Ground:	4.5
Heading (True):	260.0
Wind Speed (kts):	12.0
Wind Direction (True):	80.0
Sea state:	Lumpy confused
Swell (m):	1.0

The wind dropped away last night and we slowed down to a 4-knot average early in the morning. We were running directly downwind with 2 reefs in the mainsail goosewinged with the full genoa. We did not let out more mainsail because in the morning just before sunrise the weather got extremely moody. We have very heavy rain around 8am in the morning which lasted about an hour. Banks of cloud brought through squalls with each squall having a significantly different direction, up to 50 degrees off and fluctuating between 10 knots up to 25. Rather than continually gybing the main and poled-out genoa we just followed the wind around wherever it took us which gave us a very poor velocity made good.

Around midday the skies cleared and we got a very nice steady 15-knots from the East. We took out the reefs in the mainsail and made some good speed throughout the day averaging 6-7 knots. Now around sunset the wind is dropping off and it might be a painfully slow final 70nm to get to Cocos. The sea-state is not bad but with swell and sea coming from all different directions and very little wind we are rolling/wallowing around and the sails are starting to flog. We're still making 4-5 knots so hopefully we'll make it there by midday tomorrow.

We're not keen to put out the spinnaker tonight as there is cloud building around us again and we might get a repeat of last night. But maybe tomorrow if the wind keeps dropping off. Ran the Honda generator on the back deck today to top up the batteries. Due to the fridge being in its final death-throes it is consuming a lot of power. We're just hoping that it hangs in there until South Africa. Tried fishing this afternoon at sunset as we are down to our final piece of smoked mackerel from the Kimberley. No luck this afternoon but we'll try again for a big pelagic at fish-o-clock in the morning.

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Running downwind

Date:	Sept. 7, 2015, 2:10 a.m.
Position:	11 24.19 S, 100 22.89 E
Speed over Ground:	5.5
Heading (True):	260.0
Wind Speed (kts):	17.0
Wind Direction (True):	100.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	1.0

We have managed to cover 154nm in the past 24-hours which is surprising because we have spent most of today going quite slowly with small amounts of sail due to the variable and overcast conditions. At this rate it seems like we might arrive Wednesday morning and, hopefully, we can clear into Cocos at the same time as the two other French yachts that left Christmas Island a few hours before us.

The wind decreased last night and shifted much more Easterly than forecast. We slowed to 5-6 knots and started reaching in a SW direction because we were too lazy to get the pole out in the middle of the night. This morning we poled out the full genoa and goosewinged the full mainsail however I was too nervous carrying that much sail in the gusty and overcast conditions. We reduced to 2-reefs in the main goosewinged with the full genoa poled-out. It is very slow in the lulls (4-5 knots) but we are surrounded by patches of rain and the wind is squalling to 25-knots periodically. We'd prefer to go slowly and sleep/rest/read well rather than be constantly stressed-out about the next squall that is coming along.

A quite good swell came through today which I believe is the remnants of the large swell that they had down in Margaret River this weekend. Fortunately for us the swell seemed to work to clean-up the sea state and made the sea somewhat more ordered. We are getting the occasional large roll but mostly it is comfortable. We have all our hatches and doors open and still haven't got any sea-water on deck.

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Off to a good start

Date:	Sept. 6, 2015, 2:10 a.m.
Position:	10 47.92 S, 102 54.12 E
Speed over Ground:	7.0
Heading (True):	260.0
Wind Speed (kts):	23.0
Wind Direction (True):	130.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	1.0

Its sunset now and we've managed to cover 166nm since leaving Christmas Island yesterday afternoon (about 26 hours ago). We've managed to average about 6.3 knots. We probably could have covered more ground if we let the mainsail out but we were making good speed as it was and if we went any faster we'd be arriving there Tuesday in the night! We have 360nm to go to Cocos so even if we only average 5 knots from here on we should arrive there before sundown on Wednesday. We are hoping to keep the pace up though and arrive Wednesday morning.

We're on a broad-reach with 14-18 knots of apparent wind on our port quarter at 120-130 degrees. We've carried the same sail since leaving yesterday which is a triple-reefed mainsail, the inner staysail and the full genoa. The reason for this is that we are trying to carry as much sail area forward as possible. The sail area forward balances our windage aft and the boat basically sails itself. We just have the hydrovane running to help the boat along its course.

Conditions have been more variable than I would have expected. We got off to a slow start yesterday as it took us about 10nm to get clear of the fickle winds in the lee of Christmas Island. This morning we sailed through our first rainstorm since May in the Tasman Sea. The wind squalled up to around 30 knots but only very briefly and we were able to run-off without a problem. We have to watch for squalls now though as we are clearly getting into tropical/rainy climates and the Indian Ocean is able to rain and kick up a squall anytime. Conditions remained overcast all day with wind in the 20-25 knot range but sometimes gusting up to 30 for a few minutes and other times dropping to 15-20 for a while. The sea state is about as good as it gets for a solid 25-knots of wind, if we keep up a good speed we ride it quite well and comfortably. We haven't got any water on the deck yet aside from the rain this morning. If the wind drops off as forecast it could start to get a bit rolly until we put more sail area out.

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Departing Christmas Island

Date:	Sept. 5, 2015, 8 a.m.
Position:	10 25.73 S, 105 40.07 E
Speed over Ground:	0.0
Heading (True):	0.0
Wind Speed (kts):	20.0
Wind Direction (True):	135.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	1.0

After a fantastic 5 days or so on Christmas Island we have to leave to Cocos Islands. Its about 530nm and should take around 4 days or so. Hopefully we will make it there before sun-down on Wednesday, otherwise we might have to spend Wednesday night drifting outside the reef.

The weather is forecast (by the gribs) to peak at 20-25 knots tomorrow morning and then gradually reduce to around 10 knots by Wednesday. Hopefully there will still be enough wind about on Wednesday to make good speed, but it might require the spinnaker again so we've kept it handy.

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So much more than a detention centre...

Date:

Sept. 5, 2015, 5:16 a.m.

I am just penning a quick post as we prepare to depart Christmas Island for Cocos Keeling. When we arrive there in (hopefully) 4 days time I will add a bit more to this post but we have had such a hectically good few days that we've run out of time. The weather forecast is such that we had best be on our way even though we'd just love a few more days. A huge thank you to our local friends and well, all the locals really who have been so welcoming and have truly spoilt us rotten. We've given the French boats a sporting head start of a couple of hours.

ADD:

Christmas Island is a truly unique part of Australia and you could not claim to have seen all the diversity of our country if you missed coming here. It is important to part the curtain of mining dust and look beyond the modest and often shabby exteriors of the township. You will be delighted that you did, this place has become one of our favourite stops in just a few short days. This is in no small part due to a local connection we were so lucky to have but in talking to the other yachts that stopped there, I can confirm my own suspicions that you'd still have an incredible time here without such a contact.

Joining the Hash House Harriers for a run through the jungle and boozy BBQ was a hoot. On our last outing with our local friends, they took us to see the blowholes and one of the most picturesque beaches I’ve seen. It required 4WD access but the road had recently been upgraded so we had a very civilised tour through some of the best rainforest yet. On the way to the blowholes we stopped to enjoy a climb into the centre of an ancient strangler fig. The host tree having long since rotted away, created a chimney up through the centre both eerie and majestic. As we emerged from the car at the end of the road we were greeted by the bone rattling rumble of the blowholes. They were not in full swing (best to visit at high tide) so I was actually able to take out the camera and get a couple of photos. Normally you could count on a soaking and I imagine they must be huge. They were still very impressive and the vista across the craggy black limestone shoreline is quite something.

Nestled amongst those ominous looking cliffs is Dolly beach, which you want to visit at low tide. The easy 2km walk through the jungle slowly turns to coastal species and suddenly you are emerging through a thick fringe of coconut trees onto the white beach. A small lagoon created by the rocks makes the perfect plunge pool. Large Robber crabs rule this beach and you’ll see them in every fantastic hue. Take your coconut cracking tools to enjoy refreshments. On the downside you will also see the beach littered with flotsam & jetsam predominately from South East Asia. Later we visited another spot which has the unfortunate reputation of being the most polluted beach in the world. It had recently been cleaned up so the washed up plastics were only knee high. It was one of the most heartbreaking things I have seen. A beach strewn with an enormous number of thongs, bottles and plastic toys, something to consider next time you go to purchase such things. As I was beach combing/wading through trash I found a small plastic toy seashell. Oh the tragic irony.

Before we departed one of the final and coolest things we did was snorkel out to the edge of the drop off and gaze down into the deep blue of the Java trench, a must do for all visitors! With the dive operator on holidays we did not get to go to some of the caves and drop offs that we’d herd so much about but the snorkelling is so very good and accessible it is difficult to feel hard done by. We were too late getting organised to get Roti at the cafe in Kampong. You have to get there for breakfast on Saturday morning as they are very popular! We also never got that round of golf so we have many excuses to come back to this amazing place. Hopefully sooner rather than later.

Clearance Proceedures for Christmas Island (CI): Our experience

The following is a write up of our experiences to assist with understanding the process for small yachts and should obviously be checked against the latest official sources of information for updates.

In spite of us sailing from the mainland to another Australian territory, the movements are treated as an international departure/arrival. On the surface it seems overly beurocratic and inefficient, which it is, but there is a little more to it. This proceedure arises in part due to the delicate situation of refugees attempting risky travel to CI via old fishing boats from south east Asia and in the problems with protecting the border of such a large and sparsely poluated country. America is the land of the 'free' but we on the otherhand are the land of the 'fair' and this means that the individual sonetimes copps an inconvenience such as this in the interests of fairness to anyone in, or travelling to here. It takes a little time but attracted no fees (unsure if that is the case for those coming here directly from overseas) and we found all the staff were incredibly friendly and helpful.

We cleared out of the Australian mainland in Broome with permission stop at Rowley Shoals for a few nights on our way to Christmas Island. We provided the customs team in Broome with a rough itinerary via email which served this purpose as well as acting as advanced notification of our arrival in Christmas Is. Do confirm with them that your advanced notification has been considered given as the procedure may be different if clearing from another port.

Do not forget to book your mooring at Rowley Shoals, if stopping there, (highly recommended if the weather suits!) Which is done through DPAW (Department of Parks and Wildlife.) This did not cost anything either and was completed promptly, by a phone call and few email exchanges over the course of 24 hours. Again the DPAW team in Broome provided some great information on the area and were very helpful. It may also be worth contacting the Harbourmaster at CI, there are limited moorings for yachts and the destination is growing in popularity as a rally stop. He will find a spot for you even if you are unlucky enough to be there at the same time as a large fleet but the courtesy of making contact ahead of time will put you in a good position and may make it less likely that you'll have to raft up with other boats.

Expect to get buzzed by the customs aircraft as always, when in close proximity to the Australian mainland maritime boarder. As you approach CI you may, like us, recieve a visit from an Australian Warship as the area is heavily patrolled. We had contacted the Harbourmaster prior and so we had permission to pick up a mooring of our choosing in the South West end of the cove. Otherwise hail 'Port control' on channel 16 or 82 but remember he can get a little busy with commercial traffic.

Then we tried to hail 'border patrol' on 16 or 82 for customs and immigration, but they are small team here and were busy at the airport. If you have an Australian telstra SIM you can phone them or if you don't the Harbourmaster will do it on your behalf. About an hour later the Border Patrol team radioed us to advise they would be attending our vessal shortly. The proceedure is to wait onboard until you have been cleared in by customs and immigration performed by border patrol officers. It was quick and straightforward. Unlike mainland Australia where a biosecurities team will also board and inspect your vessal, at CI this is done ashore. We continued to wait onboard as directed for another hour until border control contacted us to advise that the biosecurities officer was waiting to meet us at one of the gazebos at the end of the jetty. We dinghied ashore with our documents and she completed the paperwork explained rubbish disposal proceedures at CI. A few short minutes later we were finished and all clear to visit CI and our other yachting friends.

Clearing back out is a cinch, in fact we already have our documents in case we clear out this weekend. All we have to do now is radio border control as we depart to confirm we have left. If we elect to stay on the team said this would be as easy as contacting them. Brilliant.

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I wonder what a little shack on the cliffs costs...

Date:

Sept. 2, 2015, 9:05 a.m.

(Warning longish post with some facilities info for other yachts considering a visit)

Yesterday was chores day and with the very kind lend of a car whilst our local friend was out fishing, we had the boat fuelled and the groceries done by lunchtime. We were lucky to have a calm day with little swell, it can be quite bouncy in here, the only downside to this lovely little cove. The fuel station opens at 9am and is not too far a walk North. Located right near the Information Centre and the Supermarket on the lowest plateau "The Settlement". At $2.85/l we were grateful that we only needed a few jerry cans worth. We have been told that if there are enough boats or quantity to warrant it, it is possible to get the fuel truck to come straight to the jetty.

We had a good chat to the harbourmaster, whose office is upstairs at the South end of the green shed at the end of the jetty. Underneath are the showers and toilets which are free and open 24-7. Our mooring is $10/day and you can leave your (inflatable only) dinghy tied up at the Jetty on a small set of stairs with a checker plate platform on the North side. (Be sure to secure your dinghy around the back of the platform under the jetty, out of the way as many others, including boarder control & the Navy, with much larger vessels also require access. No need to lock up.) Quarantine staff were happy for us to dispose of rubbish in the blue bins located along the foreshore on the condition that it was double bagged. They also informed us that we would not be able to dispose of rubbish at Cocos Keeling so to make the best of it here.

The information centre opens at 0800 and is an absolute gem, the team in there are terrific and you will find everything you need in amongst a plethora of Red Crab paraphernalia. It is in theory, possible to walk to most services on the island, and although it can be steep and hot, the main reason you won't is because the locals will often pick you up along the way. It is considered quite safe to hitchhike here. There are also two hire car operations which we have been told are quite reasonable but likely booked out at the moment due to the Twitchers being in town. The hospital is reported to be excellent and seem to baulk at charging yachties.

Signage to shops can be a little wanting, correction: completely wanting. Best to ask a friendly local to point you in the right direction. Humble looking, unmarked sheds turn out to be Aladdin's Caves, such as the well stocked hardware store and Boong’s smaller grocery store. (Both on higher terraces.) Trading hours are of the tropical variety, allowing, quite rightly, for a generous afternoon siesta. Currently, usual hours are 0900-1200, reopening 1600 until it suits.

The island’s composition is such that commercial agriculture has never been successful, a tad ironic given that they mine phosphate here! As such, fresh food comes in on the monthly(-ish) barge or a fortnightly(-ish) flight. Freight costs add a hefty mark up to some items but you will be able to get everything you require. If like us, you are here between provision arrivals you may have to do a bit of hunting amongst the supermarket and other small food traders to build up a reasonable supply of fruit & vegetables. Those heading on to Coco Keeling from here would be well advised to make the effort to do so however, judging by the reports we have received from yachting friends ahead of us, it is much more convenient and slightly cheaper here. (It is also FAR easier to get fuel here but currently 10 cents a litre more than CKI.) The island does have duty free status which makes spirits in particular, very cheap.

On Monday night we enjoyed a $25/head all you can eat Chinese buffet which was great value and good quality. Otherwise eating out here is understandably expensive, we did also enjoy nice food at the Rumah Tinggi Tavern overlooking the cliffs at The Settlement.

Phone coverage has been pretty good using an Australian Telstra SIM but it is not 3G so no internet on your smartphone. We are able to get WIFI internet from the boat for $65 per week or you can use the WIFI at the Information Centre for basic needs. There is a Westpak Bank located behind the Post Office, where you can also get money out. I have not yet been able to uncover a laundromat.

There is one roundabout which most islanders need to drive around to get anywhere. Naturally this has evolved into an info hub and is lined with chalk boards advertising upcoming events, job opportunities and community notices. All lettered in large font to be read as you circle slowly past them in the car. It is the sort of thing that epitomises the lovely little close knit and robust community here. If the weather allows we might stay until Saturday night and treat ourselves to the outdoor cinema (BYO cushion advised!) I also take great delight in the complimentary dive flags for those taking a dip in the cove where we are moored and we are constantly surrounded by swimmers and divers.

Speaking of swimming… After all the chores were done I put on my bathers and was just about to jump in when I saw our friend turn up with his neat yellow hobie trimaran. I ducked ashore to help him get set up but he had the smart little fold up craft rigged in a jiffy. So out we went for a fun little whizz around in the breezy afternoon. When the wind died it had those nifty pedal paddles and we worked our way back in so that Mark could have a turn. While the boys were out sailing I finally got my snorkel on and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon in raptures with the amazing coral and fish surrounding our mooring. I had seen three species I’d never seen before I had even let go of the boat!

That night we had drinks with our French friends as they were due to depart today, however, halfway through the evening they announced that they were going to stay on as they are quite nearly as charmed with the place as we are. When driving around with them every second word out their mouths has been ‘incroyable’ whilst every other word was ‘Oh-la-la!’ Which I think sums this unique place rather well.

This morning I wandered into town on the hunt for a few more fresh provisions. I had herd there was a shortcut up to the highest “Drumsite” settlement, known as the zig zag. I knew it would be steep but I was only planning a small bag of goods and figured I’d do well for the exercise anyway. I headed to the information centre to try and find out where this old and largely disused path was. There, I met a lovely local that I have now had several pleasant chats with. She flat out refused to tell me where to find the pedestrian track and stubbornly directed me to her car. I must admit that it was a bit further than I had reckoned so I was very grateful and very glad to find a treasure trove of fresh goodies up at Boong Trading. Once I get the laundry done and Mark finishes his computer work, we will be able to relax completely.

This afternoon our wonderful local friends, to whom we are becoming more and more indebted, took us out to the West of the island and the beautiful Hugh’s Dale Waterfall. It is small but exceedingly pretty and a nice walk on excellent Parks & Wildlife infrastructure, through some beautiful rainforest. The canopy is more open than usual as there was a cyclone only 18 months ago but it is recovering well. We enjoyed a picnic at a lookout and along the way we have been learning a lot about the fascinating History of this place.

Their neighbours, also part time yachties, joined us and we had quite the party. It seems that we’ve been roped into Hash House Harriers (sort of a cross country running/socialising club) and though I doubt my atrophic legs will thank me for it, it does sound like a fun way to enjoy some more rainforest exploration and meet more of the natives. It appears we also need to squeeze in a round of golf, a BBQ, a hike out to the beach, the cinema and at least one dive before we are allowed to depart. Now who said this cruising lifestyle would be relaxing!

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Arrived in Christmas Island

Date:	Aug. 31, 2015, 1:29 a.m.
Position:	10 25.73 S, 105 40.06 E

Overnight we continued to make good speed and arrived at Christmas Island with the dawn. Currently we are moored in Flying Fish Cove awaiting customs clearance. We were visited by an Australian warship overnight and had to dig our paperwork out of the ditch bag to give some particulars. Other than the Navy's friendly visit and receiving a solid bouncing over their bow wave, it was an uneventful and fast evening sail.

As we pulled into the cove we saw another yacht moored and could not believe our eyes when, as we got closer, we realised it was our French friends Urambo, last seen in Opua. They espied us just as we'd worked out it was them and we received a cheerful welcome on the radio, what a nice start to the day.

ADD:
Before we got here more than one person asked why we would go to Christmas Island, after less than 12 hours here I wonder why you would ever consider missing it!

Dubbed the Indian Ocean Galapagos, we have been immediately treated to the most amazing tour of this highly unique place. On approach the land rises sharply out of the sea in a series of craggy terraces, like a model-makers island. The Indian Ocean pounds against black cliffs and the subsequent sea-mist drapes moodily over it, enhancing the aura of mystery about a place we know too little of. The island is far more colossal than we expected and has a looming presence rising high, straight out of a 5000m deep sea. It feels like the very sort of place where you would come across the likes of King Kong. The air is thick with large sea birds; three types of comical boobies, two types of elegant tropic birds; and the unmistakably piratey frigate birds. The numbers of all which can not be exaggerated. We later learn that it is 'bird-week' and the place is awash with twitchers come to see the rare endemic species.

As we rounded the Northern headland signs of civilisation appear with some impressively large phosphate mining infrastructure and a collection of tropical buildings in a riot of styles from bygone eras. These exist on various terraces and we later discover the settlement is generally split into three levels.

Our generous hosts, fellow WA cruisers with a stunning bali-pavillion style house here, spent the rest of the day taking us (and Urambo) on a trip around this raw and unusual place. We darted between cultural sights and the rugged wilderness. At one moment we are having G&T's at a tavern that exudes colonial languor and the next we are scrambling down into a limestone grotto pool. All the while hearing about the fascinating history and current challenges of this strange outpost.

Crabs are everywhere except on the menu and you have never seen them treated with such reverence. Impressive beasts they are too. The infrastructure and effort gone into their preservation is heartening. The birds nonchalantly sit next to you and we walk right up to fluffy boobie chicks without realising they are there before mother squarks a warning. Among the multitude of flora and fauna that are only found here is the giant pandanus which reach up to 30m. The condition of the rainforest is superb even in this, the driest time of year.

We are far closer to Asia than Australia now and the population mix has long reflected this, not to mention the cuisine. The people could not be more friendly, from the customs and quarantine teams who spent as much time informing us of the tourist activities and the sights not to be missed as they did on the officious tasks, to every shop keeper and local we've bumped into so far. This is a no fences, no locks, no frills, no bullsh*t kind of place and it is delightful.

We have been completely blown away by the raw, gargantuan beauty of this island and we have not even made it into the water yet. For surrounding us currently is some stunning reef in clear waters which we are told boasts a unique hybrid mix of Asian and Australian species in a pristine environment. And then there is the heart-stopping drop off, straight down into the deepest of blues, which we can see not far off from our boat...

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Fast day

Date:	Aug. 30, 2015, 2:30 a.m.
Position:	10 45.25 S, 106 59.51 E
Speed over Ground:	7.0
Heading (True):	290.0
Wind Speed (kts):	18.0
Wind Direction (True):	120.0
Sea state:	Moderate
Swell (m):	1.0

We have made good progress in the past 24-hours covering 157nm and we are now only 80nm from North East Point of Christmas Island. At our current rate of progress I expect that we will be rounding the point at around 7am in tomorrow morning and be at Flying Fish cove not long after.

The seas settled down overnight last night and became more regular and ordered from behind us. We would have covered probably another 10-20nm this day if the wind had not faded away last night. This morning the wind picked up to an extremely steady 18-knots from behind and we maintained 7-8 knots with full main and genoa goose-winged. Conditions were as close to perfect as you can get on the open-ocean with the boat moving swiftly and very little rolling in the ordered sea-state. The motion of the boat all day has been sublime.

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Found the wind

Date:	Aug. 29, 2015, 2 a.m.
Position:	12 0.91 S, 109 19.09 E
Speed over Ground:	6.5
Heading (True):	305.0
Wind Speed (kts):	18.0
Wind Direction (True):	120.0
Sea state:	Moderate confused
Swell (m):	1.0

137nm in the past 24-hours, we seem to have found the wind as well as a helpful current.

The wind picked up enough last night for us to drop the spinnaker at around 10pm, for what was hopefully the final time. We poled out our genoa and full main wing-on-wing and plodded along last night at 4-5 knots, until this morning when the wind started picking up to 15-20 knots and the strangest thing happened...

At around 9am we came across 6 Indonesian fishing boats which were tided end-to-end on what appeared to be mooring in the middle of the Indian Ocean. We turned on our depth sound thinking that they might be on an uncharted shoal or bank but given the charts show 3000-5000m depth in these areas we must presume the huge mooring was attached to a sea-anchor. They were directly in our path which given the entire expanse of ocean, was remarkable, and we had to divert around them. The AIS also lit up with several ships, including the Japanese flagged Shohomaru, marked as a pleasure vessel but looking much more like the research type. A few miles later we crossed through some confused seas and into the aforementioned favorable current. As we did so the sky was thick with shearwaters all around us and there were several large boil-ups around us with dolphin-sized tuna leaping out of the water. Due to our sail configuration we unfortunately did not have a line out.

Our speed then increased to 7-8 knots which we managed to sustain for most of the day. Obviously the fish activity (and hence the fishermen) marked the confluence of some tidal streams which we are now the beneficiary of. We keep disturbing huge flocks of flying fish, the quantities of which we've never seen before. They are quite a sight skimming the waves on mass and it seems only fitting as we make our way toward Flying Fish Cove.

The large swell we had the past couple of days has reduced and a equal-sized cross-swell from the SE has come into the mix. Unfortunately with the wind increasing this has all created a rather confused sea which is causing a lot of rolling as we progress downwind with gooswinged main and genoa. At least its fast but be careful what you wish for though.

At this rate it appears we will be arriving at Christmas Island sometime during the daylight hours of Monday. If we keep up a 5-knot average it will be the late afternoon but we are hoping to maintain closer to 6-knots which will put us there mid-morning.

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Spinnaker Run - Day 5

Date:	Aug. 28, 2015, 1:30 a.m.
Position:	12 57.52 S, 111 28.54 E
Speed over Ground:	4.5
Heading (True):	305.0
Wind Speed (kts):	10.0
Wind Direction (True):	120.0
Sea state:	Slight
Swell (m):	2.0

Another 100nm day, progress is painfully slow in continuing calm conditions with winds around 10 knots from directly behind us. We have not had to motor today but we have been plodding along at 3-4 knots most of the time. Its extremely comfortable but just very slow work.

Last night the wind picked up so we dropped the spinnaker and went wing-on-wing with the mainsail and jib making about 5-6 knots for a few hours. Unfortunately it was shortlived and the wind died again throughout the night until we were plodding along at 3 knots or so. In the morning we put the spinnaker up again but it was only just enough wind to stay full and kept us going at 3-4 knots. This afternoon the wind picked up 1-2 knots and our speed is 4-5 with the spinnaker.

Two fishing boats far off last night and today. Still a large swell from the SW. The gribs are indicating that the wind will pick up a bit from here so fingers crossed today might be our last spinnaker day.

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Spinnaker Run - Day 4

Date:	Aug. 27, 2015, 1:30 a.m.
Position:	13 44.40 S, 113 1.52 E
Speed over Ground:	5.5
Heading (True):	315.0
Wind Speed (kts):	12.0
Wind Direction (True):	135.0
Sea state:	Slight
Swell (m):	2.0

We only managed 100nm in the past 24-hours (a 4-knot average) due to the calms. We carried the spinnaker most of last night but the wind dropped to 2-3 knots again at 5am this morning so we took it down and motored for a few hours. Wind came up again mid-morning around 10am so we ran directly downwind with very light breezes making around 3-4 knots. The wind picked up this afternoon to around 10-12 knots from directly behind which is allowing us to make 5.5-6 knots with an apparent wind of about the same.

We've now consumed 7 jerry cans of diesel. Saw another smaller group of sperm whales. Passed very close to an Indonesian fishing boat, we were on collision course and had limited maneuverability due to the spinnaker. No response on the radio (they probably don't have one). I was about to throw it to windward and flog the spinnaker when they made a hard turn and passed 100m or so off our stern. We were glad that they acknowledged us and seemed to only want to get close in order to wave and see the boat up-close with spinnaker running, which must look a sight. We exchanged waves and smiles and they continued on their way towards Java.

Very impressive swell ran through today from the south. 2 meters on average but much larger waves on the bit sets. They didn't affect us at all due to their extremely long wavelength, but it was fun observing them and I imagine that there are some very happy surfers currently in Bali and Java.

The breeze looks more set in and conditions look more like "trade-winds". We have fluffy trade-wind clouds and the wind is swinging more from the east. Up until now it felt very much like we were still in Western Australia's climes with clear skies and classic Broome/Darwin-like sunsets. On that basis we feel confident we'll be able to sail more - so we installed the Hydrovane rudder. That was the most exciting part of the day as we decided we could do it while moving at 5.5 knots through the water. It worked surprisingly well and we managed to have it on in the few minutes. The Raymarine autopilot is off (he was starting to complain bitterly about having to steer downwind) and all is calm and quiet on board. The Hydrovane is keeping our track downwind much better and gives a much smoother ride as well as being silent. With a little luck we'll hopefully we'll get a good nights rest with it coming up to full-moon (so it stays well lit and easy to see clouds/squalls/weather and work on deck) - and no annoying autopilot noises.

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Spinnaker Run - Day 3

Date:	Aug. 26, 2015, 12:30 a.m.
Position:	14 33.56 S, 114 33.75 E
Speed over Ground:	5.0
Heading (True):	300.0
Wind Speed (kts):	7.0
Wind Direction (True):	150.0
Sea state:	Slight
Swell (m):	1.0

It is so calm. Actually today was more motoring than spinnaker-ing. Last night the wind picked up to above 10 knots and for a while we were cruising along with perfect conditions making 6 knots with full rig up (genoa, main & mizzen). At around 3am the wind started fading away again so we hoisted the spinnaker again to try to squeeze the last little bit of distance out of the wind. At around 5am we had to concede defeat as the wind dropped to around 3 knots and our boat speed to less than 2. We turned on the motor and motored for most of the morning. The wind has picked up again a little this afternoon and we are back to spinnaker and mainsail making about 5 knots.

We passed many Indonesian fishing boats last night and today. One passed very close off our stern and seeing it chug along noisily really made us feel like we are making progress away from Australia. Actually we are 350nm from Bali and nearly 500nm from Australia so we are closer to Indonesia now than anywhere else. There are many more large tankers plying the route between asia and the mining ports of Western Australia than I had ever imagined. I had heard of the iron-ore ports being some of the busiest in Australia but I didn't realise that it was to the extent of, literally, lines of ships appearing on your AIS. The logistics are amazing in that the mining enterprises have almost succeeded in creating a sea-based conveyor-belt to transport iron ore around the clock to asia... all this while I hear on the BBC world service via the HF radio that the China stock market crashed 8% on Monday and shocked global markets.

The only other company today aside from the fishing boats and takers was a very large group of sperm whales which, due to our slow speed we were unable to avoid and went straight through the middle of (or more like they swam around us).

Its hard to describe the ocean like this. It looks the way it does in a movie when they try to depict a boat sailing along in ideal conditions (if only they portrayed how rarely the sea is like that in reality). The surface of the water is very calm (hence slight seas) but there is always a very long swell (1.0 or so). The swell is very long wavelength so you barely notice the swell when your sails are full of air and you are cruising along happily. However if the wind drops too much then the swell will start to rock the boat and without air to fill the sails they start to slap against the rigging. This is a very annoying situation to be in and at that point we take in the spinnaker/genoa or whatever we have up, sheet the mainsail very tight into the center and start to motor.

It costs money in terms of wear on the engine, oil, filters and of course diesel fuel consumption when we motor but you have to weigh that cost against the comfort of wallowing around in the ocean with sails flapping and making a noise. Aside from the comfort factor, it also costs money to do that because you have thousands of dollars worth of sail fabric and ropes flapping around and wearing out against the rigging. We also consider the state of the batteries, if they need a charge and if we need to make water which are all best done when you are trying to motor somewhere so you put maximum load on the diesel engine. We also have to consider that we want to get to South Africa before the cyclone season and every day spent bobbing around in the ocean is potentially a day of good weather (or a whole weather window) that we might sacrifice over the coming weeks.

With all that in mind, and given the forecast I had hoped to get to Christmas Island on a budget of 8 jerry-cans worth of diesel (40 gallons or around 150 liters). Given the cost of diesel in Christmas Island and the effort to cart it down to the boat that seems to be a good compromise. We have just past 6 jerry cans. I'm really hoping that today will be the last day of having to motor as we are approaching the line on the gribs (weather forecats) where we will start to get consistent 10-15 knot South-Easterly winds.

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Spinnaker run - Day 2

Date:	Aug. 25, 2015, 1 a.m.
Position:	15 21.28 S, 116 16.46 E
Speed over Ground:	5.5
Heading (True):	305.0
Wind Speed (kts):	10.0
Wind Direction (True):	180.0
Sea state:	Slight
Swell (m):	0.5

The wind picked up slightly after sunset last night and with clouds on the horizon we elected to pull in the spinnaker to sail with a full rig. It was very comfortable though our speed dropped with the wind, slowly over the course evening to probably average around 4 knots.

In the morning we raised the spinnaker again and have had a nice run since, very slow at first this morning but now building to 7 knots speed-over-ground currently. As the evening approaches we are experiencing the same slight strengthening of the wind and so will likey take last night's approach again. A shame really as the motion of the boat is so splendid and we are covering good ground. Unfortunately however, what we would gain in physical comfort and speed, would be offset by the anxiety of being caught by a sneaky overnight wind squall with too much sail out.

A customs aircraft buzzed us a couple of hours ago and that has been the sole event of note in a nice relaxing day, long may it continue

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Reaching under Spinnaker

Date:	Aug. 24, 2015, 1 a.m.
Position:	16 17.36 S, 117 51.94 E
Speed over Ground:	5.0
Heading (True):	335.0
Wind Speed (kts):	5.0
Wind Direction (True):	160.0
Sea state:	Slight
Swell (m):	1.0

Desperate times call for desperate measures. We've got the spinnaker out.

We started off motoring yesterday from Clerke Reef as conditions were glassy and we had to charge up the batteries and make some water anyway. About 8pm the wind came up from the south at about 8 knots and we were just able to sail along with full rig (genoa, main and mizzen) at about 4 knots on average with the odd gust getting us up around 6-7 knots. Around 4am the wind dropped away and we ended up just drifting with the main up to stabilize us in the swell. The wind was forecast to come up from the SE this morning (which is what we were waiting for while drifting) but it never happened. The sea went completely glassy so we turned on the motor again and did a bit more distance while we got the spinnaker ready.

The winds are forecast to be quite light for the next 500nm or so, and if the conditions we had at Clerke Reef and this morning are anything to go by then we could be motoring most of the way to Christmas Island. We have enough fuel to do this (and some) however refueling at Christmas Island with jerry cans and relatively expensive fuel would be a burden both physically and financially. So while we were drifting this morning we got the spinnaker out of the v-berth. We have never used the spinnaker before because conditions have never been light and stable-enough to warrant getting it out. If we had calms in New Zealand it was typically very short-lived and we would just motor through.

At first we gave it a go in the glassy conditions and it just sat there like a limp plastic bag. We spent about 4-5 hours motoring through the glass and then we could notice the water surface had a tiny ripple on it. We stopped the engine and noted the wind speed was 4-5 knots from the SSW. We tried hoisting the spinnaker again and it was glorious. 4-5 knots seems to be the bare minimum to get it filled with air. We sheeted it in close-hauled as our apparent wind came around on the beam and then forward of the beam slightly... we were making 4-5 knots in 4-5 knots of breeze. Unfortunately, due to the wind from the SSW, we had to head much more north than the bearing to Christmas however the gribs are indicating that there is a little more breeze north so hopefully that might take us up towards more wind. This afternoon the wind has shifted slightly more to the SSE and we are broad-reaching at between 4 and 6 knots at times towards Christmas Island. We seem to be able to go at about the same speed as the wind, so when a little gust of about 6-7 knots comes along we pick up and start ripping along at 6-7 knots also.

One of the best things about the spinnaker is how smooth the ride is. Due to the large amount of sail area aloft there is practically no rolling or movement of the boat. It feels like we are just floating along above the water surface. We have to keep a close eye on it though because if the wind picks up to above 10 knots or so then things could get hectic. There is not a cloud in the sky and considering how stable conditions have been for the past few days we are thinking of carrying it overnight, we'll see how we go and make that call at sunset though.

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Departing Clerke Reef

Date:	Aug. 23, 2015, 1:40 a.m.
Position:	17 8.81 S, 119 11.16 E
Speed over Ground:	6.3
Heading (True):	300.0
Wind Speed (kts):	5.0
Wind Direction (True):	200.0
Sea state:	Slight
Swell (m):	0.5
Track to here:	Download

Talk about saving the best for last, today we spent the entire morning free-diving and aqua-blading on the outer reef. We got out pretty early today as we had calm conditions and a neap tide, so could make the passage in the dinghy at any time. We dinghied out to the outer mooring where the Parks & Wildlife vessel had just pulled up to do some maintenance work. We chatted briefly with the friendly team then took off in the glassy waters to take turns Aqua-blading. For those of you unfamiliar with the activity this involves hanging onto an aerofoil towed off the back of a slowly moving dinghy. You can dive and steer by turning the blade.

Although one can feel a little like sharkbait, it is terrific fun, you can see a lot of reef and due to your fast approach get to see MANY more fish. The shy and larger fish don't seem as bothered or do not have time to evade you. On this calm day with the impossible water clarity we experienced, it was pretty magical. The outer reef is phenomenal, the variety, quality and quantity of both fish and coral unparalleled.

The coral looks like an endless shag-pile rug of rainbows. We free dove and drifted almost all the 2nm back down to the passage over the course of nearly 4 hours. We had been planning to possibly dive but with the absurdly calm conditions it was just as good free diving, so we elected to save ourselves the set up time and just enjoy. There were turtles, manta rays, reef sharks and plenty of large cod, unicorn fish, trevally etc etc. We swam though swarms of fusilers and clouds of anthias as we listened to the whale songs.

We have only once at Gau Island, Fiji, experienced better water clarity. The variety of coral was impressive, lacking only the multitude of soft corals that you see in the Somosomo Strait, but in perfect condition. When diving the inner lagoon we had seen evidence of cyclone damage but not so out here. In certain locations the fish were rather curious and came up to us, in other spots they were decidedly unfussed and let us rather close.

The surface of the water was so flat that it was like looking through a sheet of glass into the scene below. I could even manage to identify species of tiny fish from a meter or more above water as we traveled over the top of them. It was quite impossible to judge depth which made for a nerve racking exit from the lagoon that afternoon in Tuuletar.

As we came back to the boat we wondered how we were going to get ourselves out. We decided to do the Southern passage and Mark was going to survey in the dinghy first. Before he had set off though we saw that the Parks and Wildlife vessel was coming in and we began to track them on the AIS to help create a route. How very clever of us, we thought, lets see which path the experts in their very large boat take first. We had to wait for the tide to turn anyway. Unfortunately however, the P&W team were struggling to find the channel themselves and had to abort several times. This was the fist trip out this season and they were getting spooked by the water clarity also. So Mark took off to assist with his leadline and was able to recount some information to them that we had gathered on previous swims through the passage we did a couple of days ago. With our tender and theirs on the job working from opposite ends we were able to determine a track and they were soon safely inside.

It was somewhat comforting to know that even the experts found this passage a little unnerving. It was extremely comforting to know that in spite of the mind blowing clear visuals to the coral bommies below, they never had less than 5 meters of water under them. We exchanged brief pleasantries as the tide turned and then got moving to catch our ride out. We made just one error as we exited.... we failed to film the experience. The colour rendering of the coral underneath made you week at the knees but it was beautiful, not to mention smothered in fish.

So we farewelled Rowley Shoals and are so grateful that we elected to stop over. Many thanks are due to Chris and others who encouraged us to do so, as well as to the kind weather for its part. We are now pointed at Christmas Island and hope to be there in about 8 days. Unfortunately the calm weather that made the reef visit so terrific means that we will have to motor a little but you can't have it both ways I suppose.

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Clerke Reef - Day 2

Date:	Aug. 20, 2015, 11:20 p.m.
Wind Speed (kts):	5.0
Wind Direction (True):	200.0

Still here and loving it. Today we ventured further out the passages armed with our "aquablade" which is an 800mm long foil that I made in NZ which we can hang on to while we tow ourselves behind the dinghy. The idea came from Wonderlust who had one when we met them in Fiji. When you tilt the blade you can dive rapidly and fly along underwater and around the reefs. Very cool. It is perfect for here because we could tow ourselves through the in-flowing current of the passages. We also did a few extreme drift-freedives where we just jumped in the passages at full flow. In one breath you can cover about the entire length of the 0.2nm long passage.

We spent the afternoon walking on the sand cay admiring the amazingly tame unique tropic birds that this place is also known for. Many were brooding on the beach. Afterwards we just waded in beach for most of the afternoon. We returned to the boat in time to have our Matso's Ginger Beers on the back deck at sundown while we watched our whale friends who are still hanging around.

I would go so far as to say that this place is currently whale-infested. We have identified 3 or 4 pods. One group is your standard garden-variety Humpback whale which we are used to. The jury is still out on the others. But what is impressing us the most is one particularly large solitary beast. It is by far the biggest living thing I have and probably will ever see. He came quite close to us (say 150m away) when we were drifting outside the reef in the dinghy yesterday but if we turn on the motor he dives and wont be seen for a long while. We are now quite sure he is a blue whale. The tail fluke is the classic whale shape about 4-5m across (Cat thinks more), greyish-bluish-black color, he spouts lorry-truck sized spouts of flume perfectly vertically in a classic inverted cone shape. If fact often we look up and think there is a ship approaching from the horizon and then grab the binoculars only to realize that it is a water-spout from this beast. This afternoon he was very far off the reef, over the horizon as we could only see his spout, but when he dived the tail fluke was obvious and massive on the horizon. The tail-section alone shown on this dive must have risen about 6-8m out of the water so I would estimate he would be about 4-5 times this length.

The weather has been incredibly stable with the wind alternating between 5-7 knots for 3 days now. It is absolutely perfect weather for being here. However, the gribs are indicating that this is set to continue for another week or so which will create issues for us sailing to Christmas Island. We have enough fuel to motor the entire way but re-fueling in Christmas will be an issue. We might have to do a week-long spinnaker run?!

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On a mooring in Clerke Reef

Date:	Aug. 19, 2015, 11:20 p.m.
Position:	17 17.10 S, 119 22.07 E
Wind Speed (kts):	5.0
Wind Direction (True):	200.0
Sea state:	Slight
Swell (m):	0.0
Track to here:	Download

We have to start by saying: if you are the sort of person who loves pristine coral reefs and atolls then you should definitely NOT come to the Rowley Shoals. For it is the standard by which all other reefs will forever be measured against and found wanting. It will indeed ruin you like it has for us. We are done for coral atolls, I can't believe anything will ever come close to this again.

I don't think its possible to quite convey the scene I'm seeing even as I write this post. We are the only boat sitting in 90 square kilometers of turquoise water surrounded by a very dense reef system. If I look out the door and into the water there are swarms of fishes of all types schooling under the boat. Outside the reef there are spouts of water being thrown into the air from the extremely large whales we encountered while exploring the outside reef in our dinghy earlier today. The whole scene is quite surreal.

We arrived outside the front of the reef at 4:30am as planned. The tidal effect subsided as we dropped off the 200m contour into deep water about 40nm before getting to the shoals and we kept up a more consistent 6kts. The wind has been extremely well behaved and did not get above 7-8 knots and, although it was on the nose, it was not enough to affect our speed and it was a very civilized evening. After we arrived we drifted about 1nm off the reef until the sun rose and we could see what was going on. At about 6:30am we motored in closer to the reef (about 0.2nm) outside the passage and dropped the dinghy. I went into the passage with the dinghy armed with the tablet-computer and the lead-line in order to survey the passage (see final paragraph on dinghy-survey method).

The reports about the passage we received are true. We were at low-water when we dropped the dinghy and there was a pretty clear difference in water level between the inside lagoon and the sea-level outside. The entire 90 square kilometers of water inside can only escape through TWO (2) small passages and they are simply not enough. It was a strange sensation actually motoring in the dinghy "uphill" about perhaps 1-2m to arrive at the inner lagoon. The water flows out with immense speed, a little less than maximum speed on our dinghy so perhaps around 10 knots or so. The water keeps flowing out until the tide comes up to meet the level inside which seemed to be about 1.5-hours after low.

The water clarity is otherworldly. I don't understand how it stays so clear given the strength of the tidal currents. We could start to make out the bottom at around 50-60m depth. As you approach the passage in the dinghy it seems like you'll hit the bottom but you are still in 30-40m. When you are in the passage at low tide you are surrounded on both sides by dry reef and in the passage you can see as many fish as you would on an excellent dive anywhere else, and that's while you are still in the boat.

I stress that there are TWO (2) passages as opposed to the ONE indicated in the WA cruising guide and on the Navionics and CMaps charts. Both are either side of where the channel is actually indicated on the charts, one to the north and one to the south. The MAIN passage is the southern-most one. You can really only identify either channel when you are directly in front of them. We did not go far enough south to find the southern one from the sea. I entered in the dinghy up the northern passage which is much (much) more narrow but seemingly a little deeper. I don't think a catamaran would be able to do the northern passage as they would not fit the width.

After about 1-hour of surveying the passage by dinghy (while Cat was drifting off the reef), I reconciled (incorrectly) that the northern passage was the main one. I couldn't find a way from the inside of the lagoon through the maze of drying reef to the southern-most one. Later when we were snorkeling around the area we found that there is a dog-leg on the inside which obscures the passage from the inside. In any case, I had found a deep-enough track that would get through to the moorings from the northern passage but it was highly technical and very very (very) narrow.

After returning to the boat and considering the results of the dinghy-survey it became clear that we should try to do the passage at low-tide which is not-optimal. If we waited for the right time around high-tide then we would have the sun in our eyes and it would be harder to identify the passage. The water was beginning to go slack but still flowing out the passage at about 2-3 knots which was perfect as you needed to have good speed through the water to maintain accurate steerage. I can't stress how incredibly narrow the northern passage is.

We started motoring in with the big-boat at around 8:45. If anyone is considering doing the northern passage in the future I can only recommend that you put out a clean pair of underwear beforehand and ready a full glass of your favorite stiff drink. You'll be needing them both after you've completed the most intense 15-minutes of your boating career. Once we were in, we are committed as it is impossible to turn around, as the width is less than the length of our boat, anyway with a 2-3 knot current flowing you would not be able to. Stay to the southern side in the straight-section and then stick to the northern side as much as you can around all the bommies until you get to deeper water of the lagoon. And by close I mean: be prepared to lose a layer of anti-fouling - if things go wrong you can jump onto the reef and fend off.

I can't really give useful pilotage information here or waypoints because margin of error while making the passage is less than probably most GPS systems have (1m). In any case nobody could ever steer that accurately to a track so waypoints are a bit irrelevant. We'll definitely be going out via the wider southern passage at high-tide, but if you have to enter at low-tide due to daylight-hours and visibility then the northern passage is something to consider (if you are in a monohull) as it MAY be deeper than the main passage and at least the passage walls are highly visible.

The fish life and coral formations around the northern passage are extremely intense and it makes for a very exciting start to the trip. We went through with a large vanguard of huge bright aqua Parrotfish. Anyway, as soon as we had got over that little episode we were both into our swimmers and straight into the water at a spot near the moorings called "The Aquarium". The abundance of fish was truly impressive and, what struck me more, was that it was quite different species of coral and fish from what we were used to in the Pacific. There were many recognizable species but a lot of it looked very foreign. The fish also reacted differently and were almost ambivalent to our presence. A small white-tip reef shark immediately came up to say hello as soon as we jumped in and just hung around us the whole time. None of the fish swam away as we approached them.

After the Aquarium we ventured outside the reef in the dinghy. Conditions were completely glassy and, although we weren't quite brave enough to start properly freediving on the edge of the 500m deep outside-wall of the atoll, we stuck our heads in the water and drifted around admiring the clarity and number of species.

While we were eyeballing some bigeye trevally who had swum right up to check us out, we were startled by the eruption caused by some rather large whales who'd popped up nearby. They are a type of deep-water species we have not seen before around the coast. We thought they might be blue whales for one was very large, the tail fluke dwarfed our dinghy, maybe about 4-5m across.

If anyone is interested: the method I use to survey in the dinghy is to leave the track recording on the tablet's Navionics Application. When I find a coral bommie or obstruction that looks questionable I take a sounding with the lead-line and then, if it is something we should avoid, I will do a circle around it in the dinghy. This gives me a track with many circles on it and between the circles should be a safe passage. I then did a rehearsal of the passage about 4-times in the dinghy to ensure I knew the various turning points around reef patches inside and out.

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70nm from Clerke Reef

Date:	Aug. 19, 2015, 12:30 a.m.
Position:	17 37.30 S, 120 37.20 E
Speed over Ground:	7.8
Heading (True):	280.0
Wind Speed (kts):	5.0
Wind Direction (True):	315.0
Sea state:	Slight
Swell (m):	0.0

We set off at 1am last night as per planned. The sea-breeze dropped away and we had completely glassy conditions throughout the night. We motored averaging 7.5kts with a favorable current until sunrise. During the day the wind has averaged about 5knots (still very calm) and has swung from the south to the east and is now almost on our nose from the NW. Unfortunately the dream run with the current was tidal-related and when the tide turned it slowed us down to 5kts, so even out here 100nm offshore there is a tidal effect of 1.5 kts or so. We tried motor-sailing for a while but our apparent wind was so much on the nose that it was hard to keep the sails full.

Its very calm at the moment and its hard to believe we are 100nm from land. I'm impressed at how quickly the sea became clear as I thought the silty/murky water stirred up by the large tides around the Kimberley coast would extend further offshore. We have incredibly clear water currently as we can see jellyfish, large pelgic fish and dolphins under the boat for a long way down. The sea is a fantastic deep crystal blue color and, after the past few months of coastal-cruising in murky/tidal waters, it makes you happy to be back out in the deep blue.

The gribs have been remarkably accurate for this stretch of coast and I would go so far as to say that I would favor them over the BOM coastal forecast for this area. The problem with the BOM forecast for this stretch of coast becomes obvious when you realize that the section of coast they are issuing the forecast covers the same distance as from Brisbane to Sydney, and there is arguably more variation in the landscape and climate over this region than on that stretch of coast. The gribs on the other hand have predicted the wind direction and strength, even in very light conditions, to a very good degree of accuracy. They even do a reasonable job of getting the morning and afternoon land/sea-breezes right.

We are probably about 12-hours away from Clerke Reef and it looks like we'll arrive there around 4 or 5am tomorrow morning. The gribs are saying that this wind will move more on our nose and pick up another 5-knots or so. It might get a little bumpy for the last 10-hours or so as we motor directly into 10-knots of breeze.

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Departing Broome

Date:	Aug. 15, 2015, 4 a.m.
Position:	17 59.97 S, 122 13.00 E
Speed over Ground:	0.0
Heading (True):	0.0
Wind Speed (kts):	10.0
Wind Direction (True):	290.0
Sea state:	Slight
Swell (m):	0.0

Another milestone. Another logbook. This is going to be a big one as it will hopefully cover the entire Indian Ocean from Broome, Australia to Durban, South Africa via: Rowley Shoals; Christmas Is; Cocos Is; Rodrigues; Mauritius; and Reunion. 5,500 nm in total, over a quarter of the earths circumference. And we want to try to smash it out in 3 months. We are about to turn the intensity up to 11.

This was always going to be the "rip the band-aid off" time for us. Granted we get to see some cool places along the way but the mileage that has to be covered is vast. Apparently that is the Indian Ocean for you: vast, sparsely populated and boisterous sailing conditions.

Our first step though is getting out to the Rowley Shoals where we have a mooring waiting for us inside the lagoon at Clerke Reef. We have just cleared customs at 1430 today and they were nice enough to let us stay on anchor until the afternoon sea-breeze dies off so we can get a good start throughout the night and early morning. The land-effect created in the lee of Australia extends for nearly 200nm offshore so we'll have to motor pretty much to the reefs before we get clean trade-winds.

The Rowley Shoals are famous for being some of the most pristine, untouched reef systems in the world. They are also famous for being the coral atolls with the largest tidal variation in the world. This combined with the warm south-flowing current (also odd for a southern hemisphere west-coast) which brings up to 30-degree water down from south-east asia creates a unique marine environment with an unbelievable variety of corals and fish.

However, its not without its challenges. They are 160nm offshore and we will very likely be the only boat out there as it is rare for cruising boats to stop by, so there is nobody to help you if you get stuck on the reef. The passages into and out of the lagoon are tricky and with very strong tidal flows which you need to shoot at midday, high-tide slack water. I have heard reports that during spring tides you can clearly see the difference in water level between inside and outside the reef and the narrow reef passage can look like the Horizontal Waterfalls (...yuk). Also the winds need to be very light because at high-water you are just sitting in the middle of the ocean as the reef sits a few meters underwater during spring high tides.

Our plan is to depart tonight as soon as the westerly sea-breeze dies off. We'll try to cover as much distance as possible to get away from the land and hopefully avoid the full brunt of an afternoon sea-breeze being on our nose tomorrow. The 160nm should take us around 30 hours, so if we leave at midnight tonight we should be arriving there around 6am Thursday morning. We'll then just drift off the reef (maybe do some trolling for some Yellowfin Tuna) while we wait for the daylight, tides and current to get just right for us to enter the reef. This should happen around 2 or 3 pm on Thursday.

If we get out there and the reef passage looks too dangerous or the winds are more than forecast then we'll have to abort mission and just keep sailing on to Christmas Island. Similarly, if the winds come on the nose too much and it just gets too hard to make it there then we'll also abort mission and tack north to head up towards Christmas.

To make all the timing work and due to the light winds (and winds on the nose), we are expecting to have to motor the whole 160nm to Clerke Reef. We are carrying 4 extra jerry-cans of fuel on top of our 1000 liters in the tanks. The 4 extra jerry cans should cover most of our fuel use to Clerke Reef so we can top-up our tanks again there and head off for Christmas Island on Sunday with full tanks.

On Sunday the winds are forecast to come up again from the SE at 20-25 knots (say the GRIBS) so we should get a good start towards Christmas without having to motor.