Mauritius Week Two

Outside the Market

                                                                                

Park commemorating Mauritian history

Old Immigration Depot

                                                                               

Cathedral with citadel on hill behind

Mauritius Week Two

July 10 2016, at home

We continued to enjoy being in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius. The tourism office and sites are not advertised very well so it took awhile to track down some of the more interesting places. I guess most people are on tours.

There is a Unesco World heritage site along the harbour called Aapravasi Ghat. It is the former immigration building where the indentured workers first disembarked and went through their few days of getting checked in. It has been rebuilt as a museum. When the British government abolished slavery in their colonies, they chose Mauritius for what they called the "Great Experiment", ie the use of indentured labour to replace slaves. Its success there led other colonial powers  to adopt the system.

We spent a morning reading all the details and history in the museum. The museums have been free which I enjoy because you don't feel you have to read everything in one day. There was some abuse of the system over the years, but pressure from abroad kept improvements happening. Most of the population of Mauritius arrived this way between 1834 and 1920.

We also visited a small natural history museum. There were many displays of the fish, insects, plants, animals of the area. There is a citadel on one of the hills in town built by the British. The climb to the top gave a great view of the city. Today it overlooks the horse racing track. Being a Saturday, we watched a few races. We have walked enough streets now to have found the Chinese and Indian areas, and seen much of the old colonial architecture.

During the week other boats were arriving from Rodrigues. We enjoyed visiting and sharing info during  several "happy hours". The day we left was the last day of Ramadan and all the stores were closed so no last minute shopping. I enjoyed seeing all the beautiful Indian dresses being worn around town. At 5:15pm we took the last bus to the airport, an hour and a half trip to the southeast.

The four boats in the BPO are to sail to Reunion Aug 30. Two of them have still not crossed the Indian Ocean. The consensus now is to do the trip to Durban about mid Sept. From there we would work along the coast whenever the weather allowed to Cape Town. On average this takes about a month. Rob and I haven't decided yet whether to spend Christmas in Cape Town or Brazil. Lots of water under the keel before then.

First Week in Mauritius

Grand Baie anchorage

Grand Baie

Caudan Waterfront Promenade

Maggie and Tom Tom at Caudan Marina

One of many parks and many more monuments!

Music festival on the waterfront

Customs wall - quite a climb up at low tide!

First Week in Mauritius

July 1, 2016  Happy Canada Day!

We are enjoying our visit to Mauritius. Of course part of that is knowing we are secure for a few months. There are lots of boat chores, cleaning in particular, but no imminent deadlines. Some of our guide books say the harbour is dirty, your boat is not safe from thieves, and the island uninteresting. But we have been pleasantly surprised.

Mauritius is a real mix of peoples, cultures, religions, and standard of living. Most speak French or Creole among themselves even though the official language is English.  About half the population are descendants of indentured Indian servants and are mostly Hindi. Many of them wear traditional Indian dress. There are Africans, Chinese, French and English, as well. In this area there are also many tourists. There are very modern buildings, old colonial buildings, and simple shacks. There is a huge market near the bus station with better prices than the high end shops near us.

The marina is part of a waterfront development that includes a shopping centre, restaurants, promenade, museum, hotels, etc that encircles the harbour in the downtown area. It looks quite new. There is a lot of art about and usually live music. Last weekend, in particular, there were many performances as part of a music festival. The hotel across from the marina often has a live (and loud) band. The motorway from the north to the south of the island follows the water through town but two pedestrian underpasses have been built to get into the downtown area.

The tour vans park right next to the boats so there is a steady flow of tourists around. It is amazing how many have stopped when they see the Canadian flag and mentioned that they come from there. (One of the men in customs has two children at Canadian universities.) Tourists walk by and take photos of our boats. You do feel a bit like you are living in a fish bowl. We are rafted up to Tom Tom. Three more boats arrived from Rodrigues yesterday with more following soon. The marina is a bit unusual in that the office is manned by the security company, not marina staff. They need to call someone for most of your requests. Although you need to get the key for the washrooms each time you use them, it is a treat to have hot showers. I wish we could take advantage of the free power but it is 240 volts and we don't have a way to convert.

Bob was here for one day and got a rented car. We, Bob, and Zeke drove to Grand Bay in the north of the island. This is the area most sailors anchor so we wanted to see it. It was a scenic place with many services. The local yacht club offers a month's free membership. We had been thinking of leaving Maggie on a mooring ball there, but they are no longer available to rent. The north is flat and former sugar cane plantations.

The north and south bus stations have very many and standard sized buses, the preferred mode of transport. We have been out twice to the south, first to a hardware store in another town, and another day to a marine store. The south drive goes through mountainous areas. We want to eventually get to some of the tourist attractions, like the volcanic crater, the National Park and its trails, and a museum dedicated to the abolition of slavery.

The next BPO planned event is sailing from here to Reunion on August 30. Tahawas and Joyful hope to be here by then. We have decided to take advantage of the time to make a trip back to Canada. The flight leaves here July 6 and Toronto August 17. Chris will be back in the UK and return with his girlfriend about the same time. He and Rob have finished the process for leaving a boat here. Your skipper status is noted in your passport when you arrive and you cannot leave the country without another qualitifed skipper left  in charge of your boat. They have had several visits with the local skipper and backup hired to give directions for moving the boats if needed, and twice to visit the passport office with all the paperwork required. The sails and canvas will be in a sail loft for repairs while we are away. We are sure looking forward to seeing everyone at home! (Wish we could have a visit with Dan and Becky, too. We were thrilled to hear about their engagement yesterday!)

Rodrigues to Mauritius

Bob - a proud fisherman with his catch - a good size dorado!

Fianl sunrise as we approach Mauritius

Entering Port Louis harbour

View of Caudan Marina on the right as we motor to the custom's dock

Maggie on the custom's dock

Maggie rafted to Tom Tom in the small Caudan Marina

Rodrigues to Mauritius

June 21 to June 24, 2016

Tuesday morning we met with customs, immigration, and coast guard to get cleared out. Four boats were leaving, Tom Tom and us to Mauritius and the other two to Reunion. By 10:30 we were ready to go. The first day was windy but sunny so covered a good distance. That night and Wednesday were squally so not as pleasant. I got dumped with salt water on watch. I'm writing the beginning of this on Thursday and it is much nicer again. The sun is out and the wind is down just a bit, although the seas are still high.

Rob got the wind generator repaired in Rodrigues. He wrote the company and they gave him the new wiring plan they now use. Our switch had broken and they knew that was a repair issue for owners. It was good to make the passage without having to use the generator to keep the batteries charged.

Winter has officially started this week. We have jackets, long pants, and a blanket at night in the cockpit. Latitude is close to 20 degrees South. We are passing many freighters as we are close to the path between Capetown and Singapore. We are lucky that we have a full moon which makes the nights more friendly.

We caught our first fish from the Indian Ocean, a dorado (mahi,mahi, or dolphinfish are other names). We fried some of it for lunch and the rest is all filleted in the freezer. Very delicious! Thanks to Bob for his perseverence in fishing and for the superb filleting job!

We are slowing down today to arrive Friday morning. Bob has a flight out Saturday. He is heading to South Africa, then on to Zimbabwe to see Victoria Falls, and then home.

The diesel leak, unfortunately, is still a problem. Once we were in seas, the fuel continued to leak into the bilge. Once the tank was half empty, the flow stopped. This is not going to be an easy problem to solve as the tank is closed with wood on all sides except the top where the hoses are. The hoses and top of tank are fine. It is inside a cockpit lazarette with an opening smaller than the tank.

I am finishing this entry from a dock in Port Louis. The arrival procedures went fine, although it took half a day, and docking is not one of our favourite things. The quarantine dock is a high concrete wall, especially at low tide with a full moon. We needed to stand on the stern rail and pull ourselves up another few feet. From there we moved to Caudan marina. It is just a small bay with room for about 12 boats around the walls and not much room to manoeuvre. Most boats have another one rafted to them. There was one small spot available which Tom Tom took. Then we came over and rafted up to him. It feels good to be secure for awhile. Time to get at the cleaning and projects and seeing Mauritius.

 

Farewell to Rodrigues

Hiking view to the south showing reef.

Hiking through farm land - pigs in background

Birds fishing on reef

Kite surfing resort along beach in background

Statue to the Dodo which was endemic to Mauritius - the Dodo is the one on the pedestal!

Farewell to Rodrigues 

June 20 2016

This morning we gave our 24 hour notice of leaving for Tues. There is a bit of an improvement in the weather (lower instead of upper 20's on the wind speed) until Fri. That should give us time to do the 330nm trip to Mauritius. Four boats have arrived in the last few days from Cocos so it is getting crowded here. We met Convivia in the port office doing their check in work. We met them first in Sabang and they took over the net from Alicia. They broke a shroud underway, as well as a few other things. With children aboard, they are looking forward to a long visit here with Mares and Caminante, who also have kids the same age.

For us, it is time to move on.  I think Bob is anxious to get home. Tom Tom and one or two other boats will also leave so we will have boats to be in touch with.  When we get to Mauritius we hope that we can do some travelling off the boat, especially to Madagascar.

Some of you have been asking why we would not be going on to Africa shortly. The trip to South Africa ( about 1500 nm) is best done in the spring or fall as the gales are more frequent and stronger in the winter, July and August. The temperatures here for June average between 15 and 25, which we are enjoying. But Durban in Sept, when we arrive, is more like 8 to 18. On the water, and/or in the rain it will feel cold. Some boats are following our route. But many are choosing to go to the north of Madagascar and down the Mozambique channel. That trip is longer and also rough and some of the locals have crime problems, but you see more places instead of paying for a marina to wait two months.

Thursday and Saturday we again had to vacate the harbour and return a few hours later. It is starting to be like a race to get a good spot. We won't miss that. Friday, Bob and I did another hike. (Rob has been fighting a cold so rested.) It was the best one from my point of view. Again we took a bus to the top of the island, and walked to a church that is the largest in the Indian Ocean. The Catholic churches here are more simple in architecture than elsewhere. The cemetery, on the other hand, was well decorated. From the trail head, we followed a creek for awhile. Then we passed through terraced farmland, and many cows, pigs, and chickens on the rolling hills. At sea level we followed the coast through two towns, had lunch on the beach,  and continued to a kite surfing resort before taking the bus back. There were over a dozen kite surfers out at all levels of expertise.

Back in town, we have done some more wandering about with regular market visits. Near the harbour there is a statue commemorating the once common bird, the dodo. This was its only home but it is now extinct. We also found the brewery, a school for handicapped children, and a few restaurants.

Friday night seven of us had dinner together on Padoja, from Halifax. Saturday night we had Gaia over for dinner. It is always interesting talking to other cruisers. Saturday and Sunday, Chris worked on replacing the forestay that he had ordered from England. Bob worked with him all of both days. Rob helped Saturday, as well. There are still some problems but he feels ok about getting to Mauritius. Today at four pm the press want to interview any sailors willing to meet with them. We will probably go in.

Just this afternoon, I decided to clean one section in the floor where I store milk. There was a small amount of diesel running underneath the container, but it was continuing to run. Rob has been working on finding the source and cleaning up for the last three hours. It looked like it was coming right from the bottom of one of the fuel tanks which would not be a good thing. The tank is down a quarter of its volume even though we are not using that tank now. But he closed the hoses to the generator and that seems to have stopped it. We will be leaving tomorrow, after all.

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.

Hiking on Rodrigues

Rodrigues coastline is often rugged - reef show in the background

Hiking group having lunch near end of a long hike down a rocky riverbed

Many lovely beaches along the coast. Always windy, however, as evidenced by the tree in the foreground!

Carol surveying the drying octopus skins

Local fisherwomen cleaning the day's catch

Hiking on Rodrigues

June 15 2016

Rodrigues is well known for its excellent hiking trails so we want to make sure that we try at least some of them. There are eight major trails that are all well marked. ( That is not to say that no one has gotten lost occasionally.) There is a map with directions to the trail head, length, and time to walk it, and which bus to take to get there. Generally you take a bus uphill and walk down. Other tourists that we have met are usually from France or Mauritius. It is much cooler here than we have been in the last few months which makes for pleasant walking. We even have the blankets out again.

Last Thursday, the ninth, we did the trail that followed the coast on the east side. We left town at 10 and were back about 3. It was pretty straight forward except for some scrambling over rocks and climbing a few cliffs. The wind was howling that day. It reminded us of a UK coastline in winter. Bob and Alicia had done the same hike earlier in the week and carried on further along the coast. But as Rob's arthritis was acting up that day, we took an earlier bus back.

On Sunday, the 12th, we had a bigger group of people from eight different boats, out from 8:30 to 4:30. This hike went further up into the hills and then followed the river valley down to the coast. There was a lot of hopping from rock to rock involved. It was more rigorous than some had expected.  Fortunately, we are finally past the wobbly sea legs days. More great views on this trek. There were some unique birds flying around the cliffs. Near the anchorage the noisiest birds come out at sunset in the shoreline trees, along with bats.

Bob and Alicia are the most avid hikers and have been out three more times for the full day. Then they have helped guide afterwards. Last night, we had a happy hour out on an exposed piece of coral behind the boats. Laura, age 11, on Mares, a Swiss boat, organized it all. She cleaned up the "island" and put up some decor from the available debris. Then she took their dinghy to each boat to invite people. It was a challenge to paddle across the shallow coral and return in the dark and wind, but fun to do. We have had dinner a few times in town. Tonight, many of the cruisers are meeting to have sushi prepared just for us at a local restaurant. The chef's specialty from a previous job, apparently.

Days 14 and 15 Cocos to Rodrigues Almost there!

Days 14 and 15 Cocos to Rodrigues Almost there!

June 5 2016

Every day seems like more of the same. But the winds are gradually abating, 20 to 25 kn today. The boat and crew are still rocking and rolling, but less salt water is splashing in. A reading light, timer and an ereader have died from salt water. We have a few bruises and dings in wood from things falling. But, on the bright side, all the motion has unplugged the head.

It is actually more pleasant down below than watching in the wet cockpit. We treated ourselves to watching a dvd in the afternoon yesterday. Even though we have seen Unbroken we wanted Bob to see it. Not that we wanted a reminder of what life in a liferaft might be like.

Gaia's autopilot and engine are both not working. We talked to them on the net last night. They were going to heave to overnight to get some rest. We should be quite close to them today, but not close enough to get them on the VHF or by sight yet. They should be able to sail ok and be close to the island Mon am as will we. Hopefully someone will be able to help them get into the anchorage.

We have been looking ahead at the charts and reference material on the upcoming islands. These are the Mascarene Islands, Rodrigues, Mauritius, and Le Reunion. They are high volcanic islands with surrounding coral reefs. Rodrigues belongs to Mauritius which is independent. Black slaves were employed on the sugar plantations during the time of French rule. English is the official language but French is spoken more. When slavery ended and English rule came, the blacks settled on Rodrigues. Indian indentured servants were brought in to work the plantations. Their descendants make up much of the population on Mauritius. Le Reunion remained French, and still is a dependency of France, like Martinique.

Bob's sister has cruised here on Cat's Paw4. She suggested that we not miss the great hiking on the islands. I'm looking forward to that but first finding a laundromat, having a shower and getting a good night's sleep.