Boats and Chores Rodrigues

Sailboats at anchor inside the reef at Port Mathurin.

Outboard wasn't working so we had to row to shore - fortunately not a long way! Thanks to Alfredo's help we cleaned the carburetor and soon had it working again.

Carol and Laura on "Secret Island"

Boats and Chores Rodrigues

June 15 2016

A few more boats have arrived this week, from the north, Sri Lanka, Chagos or the Maldives. They also have had their worst passages yet. Everyone is working on some project. Surprisingly, there are three Canadian boats. The other two are from NS and Goderich, On. The larger group that left Cocos after us should start to arrive Mon. The highest winds this week are Sat and Sun. We will start to look for a time to leave after that. 

We still haven't run out of projects to do on the boat. I'm still at the cupboard and boat cleaning, getting rid of salt water. Bob has been working on exterior rust and the green waterline.  Rob has worked a lot on the dinghy motor and now has that working. Most of the rest of the jobs have been repairing smaller things. Fixing the leaks will involve rebedding deck items and stays. We need to wait to buy the proper supplies, hopefully in Mauritius. The sails need restitching in a few places but hope they also will be ok until the next stop as they need to be taken off.

We have been up to the hospital for some minor things at the clinic. Medical, dental, and meds are free here, even for visitors. It was an easy process. One of the other boaters who went thinks they try to fix most things with a bigger or stronger dose of medicine than at home. We have both had haircuts. It has been 2 and a half months since the last ones! Rob paid $2 and I paid $6.

No Regrets has emailed about their arrival in Mauritius. They did get a spot on a rough concrete wall in Port Louis where you need to check in. They are looking at other options to leave the boat. You are required to have a skipper supervising your boat, but there are people you can hire to do that. Tim and their crew have both already flown home.