This last Sunday in Port Louis was, as I expected, one of the highlights of my trip. Francis came to pick us up around 10, spending some time first on Papy Jovial and telling us a lot about Mauritius over a glass of white wine. Then he took us to his house which is sitting right on Cap Malheureux, in a wonderful setting, with his only little marina, swimming pool an a great view over Flat Island.
And then around a delicious schrimp curry, the four of us, Francis and his wife Maryse, Olivier and myself, we continued the conversation and explanations about Mauritius. After that, we returned to the boat and spent a last quiet evening in Caudan.
Next morning, we went to the market for the last provisions. The market, not the supermarket. Lots of fresh fruits and vegetable, but we can only take so much that will keep on the boat. What a pity, as the quality and price of those veggies and fruits were really great.
Early afternoon, we had the visit of a senior customs officer, who was bringing back the salute cannon and the blank rounds that we had been carrying since Norfolk when Stew put it on Papy Jovial.
After we had signed all the papers, we got the cannon back, but the customs guy then asked us "when are you leaving ?" - Well I said, probably within 10 minutes, just time to cast off the lines.
Oh, in that case, we must seal the cannon.
Where ? We don't have any compartment on the boat that we can lock.
Well, it has to be sealed.
So, eventually, we sealed the damn thing inside the overn where we could put the customs seal around the handle to open the over.
Great fun.
The actual formalities at the customs house (health, immigration, customs again, coast guards) took a little less than 1 hour and by 15:00, we were under way, getting out of the harbour at 15:20.
It took us around 22 hours to get to Port Louis, good wind all the way except for the last 6 miles when the wind abruptly disappeared and we had to motor in.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Rain check
Up early on Saturday morning, one look outside, and all I want is to go back to bed. It's raining, but this kind of fine rain that is going to last all day, coming with a mist that guarantees no visibility.
So, after breakfast, I had to call the taxi and cancel. And then we devoted the day at some minor shopping, sorting out things here and there on the boat without real conviction. We went to the chinese district (the famous Chinatown) for lunch and went back to the boat not doing much.
In the evening, I took Ollivier to Pizza Hut, only because they have one table, at the corner of their outside patio, where the internet connection is good and free and I wanted to upload some pictures.
Never mind, tomorrow we are having lunch with my long time friend Francis who will tell us a lot more about the island than what we could learn visiting it on a taxi.
And since it rained all day, we could verify that the mast does not leak anymore and that the leaks from the portlights are no worse and no better than what we anticipated.
Life is good.
So, after breakfast, I had to call the taxi and cancel. And then we devoted the day at some minor shopping, sorting out things here and there on the boat without real conviction. We went to the chinese district (the famous Chinatown) for lunch and went back to the boat not doing much.
In the evening, I took Ollivier to Pizza Hut, only because they have one table, at the corner of their outside patio, where the internet connection is good and free and I wanted to upload some pictures.
Never mind, tomorrow we are having lunch with my long time friend Francis who will tell us a lot more about the island than what we could learn visiting it on a taxi.
And since it rained all day, we could verify that the mast does not leak anymore and that the leaks from the portlights are no worse and no better than what we anticipated.
Life is good.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
It's not over until it's over !
First we repaired Firmin, the windvane. We felt good. Then we had the shipyard work on the leaks, particularly the one where the mast goes through the deck. They worked three days on it. They lifted the deck plate, cleaned it real good, cleaned in fact everything about this deck plate, then they caulked it fresh with a good compound, then they hosed it down with high pressure water, no leaks. We felt good.
Then I find water in the bilge. Traced the source. Find that the dummy plug for the speedometer had an o'ring missing. Put the real speedometer sensor in place. It does not leak. Felt good. Went to lunch. Went back from lunch and found water again smelling urine. Did not feel good. We checked out the heads, found that the outlet was blocked, took it out. Found that it had holes in it and was bloked by calcaire. Cleared it. Went to town to find a similar hose. Put it back in place. Tried the head. It works OK and does not leak. Felt good.
That's where we are right now. For the first time we had dinner on board, convinced that at last, we got the better of the leaks. The drain from the chain locker is now clear, the sensor of the speedometer does not leak, the forward head works fine and does not leak. The passage of the mast through the deck at last seems to be watertight. But we know that only at sea we shall know the truth.
Meanwhile, we have been roaming the streets of Port Louis extensively looking for a hinge, an o'ring, a replacement hose for the head, etc . . . and we are beginning to know the town quite well.
The striking thing about it is the mixture of ethnicities, of cultures, of religions, all that in harmony and with everybody having one thing in common, the french language. I must say that it is quite astonishing to go to a chinese shop, with everything written in chinese, and hear the chinese shopkeeper talk to you in perfect french, just with a touch of Mauritius accent. And it is the same with a hindu waiter, or a blackman from Madagascar, or a white man coming from God knows where. Like in Rodrigues, almost every public sign is in english, but everybody speaks french. Strange !
It is very definitely a lovely place. Saturday we plan on visiting the southern part of the island, especially Mahebourg which would have been the capital if the french had had their way. This week end, there is celebration out there to commemorate the naval battle of Grand Port where the french navy had one of their very rare success against the british navy, 150 years ago.
We are still set to leave on Monday, although the weather looks like there is not going to be a lot of wind. We only have 120 miles to go, but the iron sail might have to come into play.
Then I find water in the bilge. Traced the source. Find that the dummy plug for the speedometer had an o'ring missing. Put the real speedometer sensor in place. It does not leak. Felt good. Went to lunch. Went back from lunch and found water again smelling urine. Did not feel good. We checked out the heads, found that the outlet was blocked, took it out. Found that it had holes in it and was bloked by calcaire. Cleared it. Went to town to find a similar hose. Put it back in place. Tried the head. It works OK and does not leak. Felt good.
That's where we are right now. For the first time we had dinner on board, convinced that at last, we got the better of the leaks. The drain from the chain locker is now clear, the sensor of the speedometer does not leak, the forward head works fine and does not leak. The passage of the mast through the deck at last seems to be watertight. But we know that only at sea we shall know the truth.
Meanwhile, we have been roaming the streets of Port Louis extensively looking for a hinge, an o'ring, a replacement hose for the head, etc . . . and we are beginning to know the town quite well.
The striking thing about it is the mixture of ethnicities, of cultures, of religions, all that in harmony and with everybody having one thing in common, the french language. I must say that it is quite astonishing to go to a chinese shop, with everything written in chinese, and hear the chinese shopkeeper talk to you in perfect french, just with a touch of Mauritius accent. And it is the same with a hindu waiter, or a blackman from Madagascar, or a white man coming from God knows where. Like in Rodrigues, almost every public sign is in english, but everybody speaks french. Strange !
It is very definitely a lovely place. Saturday we plan on visiting the southern part of the island, especially Mahebourg which would have been the capital if the french had had their way. This week end, there is celebration out there to commemorate the naval battle of Grand Port where the french navy had one of their very rare success against the british navy, 150 years ago.
We are still set to leave on Monday, although the weather looks like there is not going to be a lot of wind. We only have 120 miles to go, but the iron sail might have to come into play.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Back on my feet
With force anti-inflammatory and a lot of rest, I am back on my feet for this last week in Mauritius. So far, I have only seen the town and I can't wait to see a little bit of the island. I know it is going to be very very different from Rodrigues, still there is a lot to discover.
Where we are, the marina of Caudan, is like a little island of prosperity, with top notch hotel, shopping mall and expensive restaurants. It is isolated from the downtown area by 2 underpasses guarded bysecurity. The town itself is quite pleasant, again with lots of small shops and vendors, but unlike Rodrigues, big shops and banks as well.
Being unable to walk long distances, I have not seen a lot yet. Instead, I have been concentrating on the boat and today we can almost say that we are ready to go. The deckplate has been cleaned and lifted a few millimeters, just enough so that we could clean it real well and hopefully recaulk it tomorrow. Could not do it today as they was intermittent rain all afternoon.
I still have to learn how to post the pictures properly on the blog. The new trick is that instead of copying a link to the picture in Flickr.com, I now have to copy and paste the html language which does not seem to include whether it should go left or right. As a result, it goes in the center and the text does not flow around the picture.
Patience, patience . . . .
Where we are, the marina of Caudan, is like a little island of prosperity, with top notch hotel, shopping mall and expensive restaurants. It is isolated from the downtown area by 2 underpasses guarded bysecurity. The town itself is quite pleasant, again with lots of small shops and vendors, but unlike Rodrigues, big shops and banks as well.
Being unable to walk long distances, I have not seen a lot yet. Instead, I have been concentrating on the boat and today we can almost say that we are ready to go. The deckplate has been cleaned and lifted a few millimeters, just enough so that we could clean it real well and hopefully recaulk it tomorrow. Could not do it today as they was intermittent rain all afternoon.
I still have to learn how to post the pictures properly on the blog. The new trick is that instead of copying a link to the picture in Flickr.com, I now have to copy and paste the html language which does not seem to include whether it should go left or right. As a result, it goes in the center and the text does not flow around the picture.
Patience, patience . . . .
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Out of commission !
It hit me almost as soon as we tied up. At first, I believed that it would not last longer than the first night. But since we have arrived, I am almost paralyzed with a very painful lower back, and I feel totally useless. Even sitting in front of the computer for some time hurts me so much that I have to go and lay down for a while before continuing.
We still managed to have the windvane repaired and the exhaust pipe replaced. On Monday we should see some progress on the leaks through the mast.
Yesterday, I could not take it any more and I decided to bite the bullet and go to the local clinic. I spent there most of the day, had a CT scan performed, and ended up with a prescription 2 pages long. At first, I was tempted to throw away all those drugs, but the pain got me to take the anti-inflammatory and a gel to ease the pain. After two days, it seems to work a little bit. I still have tomorrow Sunday to rest and try to get rid of it but next week I need to be able to move.
The boat is now ready, but I want to visit the island a little bit and we still have to sail to La Reunion which is not far but still some 120 miles away, which we should do in probably 18 hours.
Blogger.com have changed their software and I have to learn from scratch how to post the pictures. The albums are still there, this had not changed, so to see all of them, it is best to go there. As for the blog, I will have to ask you to be patient.
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Papy Jovial express
Thanks to very steady and quite strong trade winds we did not waste time getting to Port Louis from Port Mathurin.We left at 9:15 on Sunday morning amidst squalls and showers, and very soon we found ourselves again in big southeasterly swell and 25 to 35 knots of wind. It was a bit taxing for the electric autopilot, as it would be for any autopilot having to steer a heavy boat on broad reaching and strong swell. But it did the job most of the time and we covered the 347 miles in 51 hours and 45 minutes. Through the water, we achieved an average speed of 6.98 knots, better than I ever did with Papy Jovial.
It took us almost more time to go through the formalities once in Port Louis. Slight exageration, as it was over in 2 1/2 hours, but it seemed like taking for ever. Health, Immigration, Customs, Customs again to search the boat, Coast Guards, and then almost all over again in the marina.
So here we are. We tied up in the afternoon at the Caudan Waterfront marina. Not an ideal marina as it is located by a parking lot and we have a constant flow of people talking, watching etc... But we have electriciy which will allow me to equalize the batteries, we have water and we are downtown.
In the evening, we were having dinner a Grande Baie with my friend Francis Piat, whom I had not met for almost thirty years, back in my working years with Shell. Very pleasant evening updating each other with our lives.
This week will be devoted to fixing the windvane, trying to fix the leaks, washing the boat inside and outside with freshwater.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
So long Rodrigues
So, we are off again, this time bound for Mauritius. But we are a little
sad to leave Rodrigues which certainly has been one of the most pleasant
stop on this voyage.
I bet that a great number of people have no idea that this island even
exists, and even more have no idea as to where it is located. And this
is a small paradise, roughly 12 miles long and 8 wide. It remained
desert until the end of the 18th century, the first settler being
Francois Leguat in 1691. Eventually, it was populated by freed slaves
from Mauritius and the descendants of those slaves constitute the great
majority of the 40,000 inhabitants of the island. There is however, a
small minority of chinese and indian shopkeepers who started settling on
the island at the beginning of the 20th century. The language used by
most is french and a local creole, but curiously enough, one of the
official languages remains english and all public signage is in english.
There is only one town, Port Mathurin, with about 4,000 people. The rest
of the population lives all over the island in small villages and
hamlets. In Port Mathurin, most of the public administrations and banks
are located, together with a great number of small shops selling almost
everything. No big shop or supermarket, but one can find almost
everything, except for what is specifically boating stuff.
We were of course tied up at Port Mathurin in the main harbour, which is
the only place where one can tie up. No facitlity of any kind there,
except a well sheltered harbour. No water, no electricity and of course
no showers, laundry, toilets, etc...
However, after some searching, we found a shop where we could take our
laundry and got it washed, dried and ironed. We also learned that at
certain hours and in certain locations, we could get free wifi from
public administration builings.
And more importantly, plenty of restaurants, some little tiny snak bars,
some looking like real restaurants, some event with live entertainment.
On Friday, we hired a cab to visit the island. Among other things, we
visited a park where a project has been started only a few years back to
resettle giant turtles which used to cover the whole island before it
was settled. Unfortunately, seafarers believed that eating the flesh of
those giant turtles would help them fight many illnesses and as a result
those turtles were totally exterminated on the island. Today, the
project counts more than 2,000 of them and it seems to be going well.
We also visited a large cavern, well organized and very interesting.
The remainder of the island is essentially devoted to agriculture and
fishing. There is a little bit of tourism, unfortunately not much. But
there are a few resorts to welcome visitors and there are 2 flights per
day out of Mauritius.
The one thing about which all visitors are unanimous, is the
friendliness and cheerfulness of the population. Everybody is smiling at
you and greeting you everytime they come across you. It really makes a
difference and we enjoyed our stay tremendously despite the fact that
this island does not have much to offer in terms of comfort and luxury.
But what a great people !
So remember where it is, and if ever you want to spend a couple of weeks
in paradise at a very affordable price, this is it !
sad to leave Rodrigues which certainly has been one of the most pleasant
stop on this voyage.
I bet that a great number of people have no idea that this island even
exists, and even more have no idea as to where it is located. And this
is a small paradise, roughly 12 miles long and 8 wide. It remained
desert until the end of the 18th century, the first settler being
Francois Leguat in 1691. Eventually, it was populated by freed slaves
from Mauritius and the descendants of those slaves constitute the great
majority of the 40,000 inhabitants of the island. There is however, a
small minority of chinese and indian shopkeepers who started settling on
the island at the beginning of the 20th century. The language used by
most is french and a local creole, but curiously enough, one of the
official languages remains english and all public signage is in english.
There is only one town, Port Mathurin, with about 4,000 people. The rest
of the population lives all over the island in small villages and
hamlets. In Port Mathurin, most of the public administrations and banks
are located, together with a great number of small shops selling almost
everything. No big shop or supermarket, but one can find almost
everything, except for what is specifically boating stuff.
We were of course tied up at Port Mathurin in the main harbour, which is
the only place where one can tie up. No facitlity of any kind there,
except a well sheltered harbour. No water, no electricity and of course
no showers, laundry, toilets, etc...
However, after some searching, we found a shop where we could take our
laundry and got it washed, dried and ironed. We also learned that at
certain hours and in certain locations, we could get free wifi from
public administration builings.
And more importantly, plenty of restaurants, some little tiny snak bars,
some looking like real restaurants, some event with live entertainment.
On Friday, we hired a cab to visit the island. Among other things, we
visited a park where a project has been started only a few years back to
resettle giant turtles which used to cover the whole island before it
was settled. Unfortunately, seafarers believed that eating the flesh of
those giant turtles would help them fight many illnesses and as a result
those turtles were totally exterminated on the island. Today, the
project counts more than 2,000 of them and it seems to be going well.
We also visited a large cavern, well organized and very interesting.
The remainder of the island is essentially devoted to agriculture and
fishing. There is a little bit of tourism, unfortunately not much. But
there are a few resorts to welcome visitors and there are 2 flights per
day out of Mauritius.
The one thing about which all visitors are unanimous, is the
friendliness and cheerfulness of the population. Everybody is smiling at
you and greeting you everytime they come across you. It really makes a
difference and we enjoyed our stay tremendously despite the fact that
this island does not have much to offer in terms of comfort and luxury.
But what a great people !
So remember where it is, and if ever you want to spend a couple of weeks
in paradise at a very affordable price, this is it !
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