Pamina38 Weblog

Bazeruto to Richards Bay (10th Nov to 13th Nov) When the wind came round to the north, we set off on the last 500NM to Richard’s Bay, South Africa. As we all had to time our departure for high tide at 5.30am, we set off together and sailed in close proximity with other boats for the time since crossing the Atlantic in 2003. Rather than rely on our SSB net to catch up on each other’s position, we could now see the other boats and chat on the VHF. Not only did this make the passage more sociable, it also made it that little bit more interesting as the boats kept an eye on ‘the competition’. Pamina did well: having started as the last boat to leave the anchorage, we nudged ahead of the fleet (including Eagle Wing – an historic moment!). We took an outside line from Punta Zavora to Punta St Lucia, which (by good fortune) meant we avoided adverse current and were able to make our course as the wind shifted to the south, unlike the boats closer to shore. Our arrival into Richard’s Bay once ...

We started out sailing the rhumb-line from Cap St Andre to Richards Bay, but when a south westerly of 25kts was forecast we decided to divert to Isla Bazeruto in Mozambique. It was a good decision, as the forecasted winds increased to 35kts. Having had light winds for most of the passage, we knew we would still be at sea when the winds came, but were hoping to duck into safety before the worst of the winds arrived. During the night before our arrival we had 10 hours of wind in the 25-30kt range. We put-up the storm-jib for the second time this year – more to save some wear on the ageing Genoa than because the conditions necessitated it. We made good progress overnight, sailing at 6-7kts, and arrived at the cape at the north of Bazeruto at 9am on Monday 6th November, an hour before the flood-tide. Having made it to Bazeruto ahead of the worst winds, we were initially relieved but then surprised by the unpleasant conditions inside the bay - there was little shelter from the strong southe...

We arrived in Nosy Mitsio on 10 October and anchored off a long sandy beach that stretched across a large bay. At first glance, Nosy Mitsio does not appear inhabited, as the main village is in a neighbouring bay and there are only two settlements hidden by the shrubs beyond the beach. There are no roads, vehicles or traffic and from what we could see neither electricity nor running water. It was a wonderful spot to rest and dry-off after our cape rounding. The golden beach, deep green water, red earth and dry heat made us feel we had arrived in Africa. We stayed two nights at Nosy Mitsio and then headed south to Nosy Be (“Nosy” means island in Malagasy, “Be” means big) to meet with our friends. We sailed along the coast, making two stops at Nosy Sakatia, a small resort island off the West coast of Nosy Be, and overnighted at Nosy Tannikelli, just outside the entrance to Nosy Be. At Tannikelli we had rendezvoused with Eaglewing whom we had not seen since May 2005 and had been trying to ...

We greatly enjoyed our two weeks in Chagos. Now our preparations were completed and all we needed was some decent wind before heading off for Madagascar, our last stop in the Indian Ocean before arriving in South Africa. For the last two days, the winds had been light and in the south. We always want at least a couple of days with good winds in order to get a good start. On the third day the winds filled in as forecast and we were off on Friday 29 September. We left the anchorage off Takamaka Island and sailed quickly across the atoll for the pass. While I was standing on the bow as a look-out to check for coral, Henrietta put out the fishing-line. Before we got to the pass we hooked and landed a large trevally. About an hour later as we sailed south along the outer edge of the atoll, past the Saloman Islands, we caught a yellow-fin tuna. This gave us a great start on fishing and meant we could take in the line for a day or two. For simplicity's sake, our gear is basic, and not ver...

We arrived in Chagos on 16 September, after a pleasant if slow passage from Cocos Keeling. Due to the light winds preceding our arrival we missed Eagle Wing and Petrel whom we had been 'chasing' since leaving NZ by only a few days. They had stayed 6 weeks in the atoll and delayed their departure to meet up with us, but left for Madagascar in a good weather window before our arrival. Chagos is an island group that marks the middle of our Indian Ocean passage. The group is a British Indian Ocean Territory, whose indigenous population was re-located. Part of the island group is now leased to the US who maintain a large base on Diego Garcia, in the south of the group and the rest of the group is administered by a British representative located at the base. Diego Garcia is off-limits for yachts, even in a genuine emergency yachts are discouraged from approaching the base (assistance will be "considered"). Chagos is famous amongst sailors as being home to a semi-permanent c...

We left Cocos on Monday 4th September, having spent nine wonderful days enjoying the cruising life: snorkelling, sundowners, beach barbies and the odd chore. We were sad to leave, as Cocos had quickly become one of our favourite anchorages. Cocos is a 'fork in the road' for cruising boats in the Indian Ocean, as it is here that boats must decide whether to sail the northern route (via Chagos and Madagascar) or the southern route (via Rodriduez/Reunion/Mauritius) to South Africa. The distances for either route are roughly the same, however Chagos lies at 5� South, which puts it in the ITCZ (the doldrums), while Mauritius lies firmly in the trade winds. We chose to take the Northern route, mainly because Chagos is famous amongst cruising boats as being home to an almost permanent community of long-term cruisers who have 'colonised' the otherwise no longer inhabited atoll, often returning year after year or even settling for long periods (up to 18 months or more). At this ...

We were looking forward to our arrival at Cocos Keeling, as we had heard fantastic reports and were almost wondering how it could live up to its reputation. Cocos was discovered in 1604 and was often visited by sailing ships in subsequent years as it is located close to the trade-wind route from Australia to Europe. Its relatively wide entrance pass (1nm) meant that sailing ships could enter easily. The island was first settled in 1826 by the Clunies-Ross family who arrived to set-up a copra plantation and proceeded to settle the island with Malay labourers. As with all atolls, the islands are barely visible until you are quite close as there is little more to see than beach and palms. At the entrance to the lagoon the depth changes from ocean depths to tens of meters very quickly, with dramatic changes in the water colour. Darwin, in "The Voyage of the Beagle" (1831-1836), described the scene on entering the pass as follows: "The shallow clear and still water of the lag...