Back in the Saddle - Mauritius

After a 9 month detour to Houston TX for surgery, radiation and chemo (ughh), we are back to the boat, and Heather is back to blogging. We've got some catching up to do.

First thing, here's Heather's blog for Mauritius back in November 2024.

Long haul to Mauritius…

Passage from Cocos to Mauritius: October 27th - November 9th

Mauritius: November 9th - 23rd.

Our 13-day crossing to Mauritius for the most part begins well the first 4 days - sunny, breezy, but dark nights with no moon. We become concerned watching the weather forming in the days ahead. Lots of consulting with other boats and comparing weather routing options to attempt to avoid the worst of it. We decide to stay north to avoid the angriest part of the front. Some boats ahead of us sailed south in an attempt to beat it. We all nervously watched the weather, hoping we’ve made the safest decision. As careful as we are in choosing the right weather window before we leave, we can never predict what weather will develop while we’re already out at sea on these longer passages.

For eight days, Jolie is tossed in rough seas and almost continual rain. We live in our foul weather gear, removing wet gear after our watch shift and donning the still wet gear on our next shift. Four sets of wet jackets, overalls, boots and offshore life jackets hang around the boat. Our turns on watch are lonelier in bad weather - no one sits up there with you, day or night. We clip in our life jackets to the D-ring on the helm seat, squeeze an ear bud under the hood of our coats and listen to music or a podcast, as we scrunch up to protect ourselves against the pelting rain. On one of my watches, we were completely surrounded by hard rain, encompassed on every side by a rain so hard it flattened all the jagged edges of the waves, giving the illusion the sea was calmer, except for the rise and fall of the large swell. Somewhat surreal, yet beautiful. On another morning, just after sunrise, the sun peeked out briefly and created a magnificent rainbow, originating in a colourful glow arising out of the water not far from where I sat. Then more rain.

We are aware and grateful for how solidly built Jolie is as we experience this kind of weather. Other than some recent concerns regarding the bolts holding the bronze cover plate for the center board, we feel safe within her confines. However, there are numerous moving parts on a sailing vessel, many of which are very stressed under high winds. We all try to be vigilant with eyes and ears for any potential problems. As Rob was on watch one afternoon, we heard a powerful bang noise from the cockpit. The outhaul (line on the boom that pulls the main sail out as its being unfurled from the mast)for the mainsail had burst!

Only the day before, Rob had noticed a little fraying of the cover of the line. He and Calvin reinforced it with a Dyneema shackle, just in case it failed. Phew! A flailing mainsail with no way to put tension on it to furl it would have been a disaster in the high winds we were experiencing.

Ellie still manages to whip up hearty lunches and comfort-food dinners in a constantly-in-motion galley. I don’t know how she does it without getting sea sick or cutting herself. Once in a while, we’ll hear a crash and something gets tossed onto the galley floor, but rarely.

Finally! No rain! Our very last day, the rain has stopped and the swell has eased. Aaaahh, we see Mauritius! Relief! We anchor outside the marina in the dark, early hours of Saturday morning. On Saturday after sunrise, we move Jolie into the well to be lifted at Taylor Smith Boatyard in Port Louis. Despite some difficult conditions, Calvin manages to squeeze Jolie smoothly into the well. Once she’s up in the slings of the crane, we’re told to climb into the people lift and they’ll lower us to the ground before they move Jolie to the spot in the boatyard where they’ll position the supports underneath her and remove the slings. As we stand watching the action, customs arrives. It’s quickly apparent we’ve made a big mistake getting out of the boat. The official tells us they will not allow us to come into the country. Rob apologizes profusely and offers for us to get back on the boat and lower her back down into the water and then check-in. After some time, the official settles down and we are permitted to stay. Phew. We really are at the mercy of customs in all these countries, with their different rules and varying degrees of rigidity.

Once Jolie is settled on her stilts, Rob and I make our way to an Airbnb on the beach in Trou aux Biches, north of Port Louis. The first few days, we realize how tough the crossing was on us. Rob and I are both exhausted, spending much of our days sleeping or just not very motivated to do much except go out for a short walk on the beach or get a meal. We gradually return to life and meet Mike and Emm, along with Mike’s sister, Nic, and her husband, Neil, (parents of our beloved Will and George who were on the first few months of the rally) for breakfast and a stroll around the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanical Garden (name is more impressive than the gardens). Another day, Rob and I drive to the southern end of Mauritius, near Chamarel, to hike to a beautiful, tall, waterfall, as well as visit the Seven Colored Earth Geopark.

The geopark is a sand dunes area consisting of seven different colors of sand, broken down from a lava field. The sand is red, brown, yellow, green, violet, blue and purple. These sands settled into different layers, giving an unusual striped appearance to the dunes. Driving on into the park, we have lunch at La Chamarel Restaurant, perched high on a cliff side with a gorgeous view of the bay below. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to drive down to the very southern tip of the island, the Le Morne area. There is an “underwater waterfall,” which isn’t a waterfall at all. It gives the optical illusion of a waterfall but it’s really sand being washed off the submarine shelf into the deep abyss of the ocean, by the current. It’s made remarkable by the sudden drop off from a shallow shelf to over 4000 meters deep. The clear water allows the cascade of sand into the depths to be visible. It’s absolutely spectacular from the air. Worth checking out “Mauritius underwater waterfall” on line. Concluded the day with an entertaining dinner with Distraction at a hot pot restaurant on the wharf, where we cooked our own soups, plucking ingredients off a huge lazy Susan in the center of our table.

Our stay in Mauritius is extended longer than planned because of some difficulties the boatyard had painting Jolie’s hull (primer for anti-foul was bubbling, thus had to be sanded and redone), as well as waiting and watching Tropical Cyclone Bekhi, which had its sites set on Mauritius. At one point, it was a Category 4 Cyclone (term used instead of hurricane in the Indian Ocean), forecasted to lose strength quickly by the time it hit us. Deciding it was wise to keep Jolie on the hard, with reinforced tie-downs, while the tropical storm passed, we waited out the storm at the south eastern side of the island in Blue Bay at another Airbnb. This area is less crowded, far less traffic and had a beautiful, welcoming turquoise-watered white beach. We were able to snorkel, stroll along the beach, swim for exercise and really relax. As I searched on Google maps for restaurants near us, one in particular had great reviews - Kwizine Mama. We decided to drive by to check it out. Directions led us into a neighborhood of nice homes. Surely this couldn’t be correct? As we slowly drive by the address, a lady walks through the gate and waves to us. As we chat, she explains she and her mother cook a set menu and we are invited to join them to eat in their garden. Why not? We return in the evening to a lovely meal in their beautiful garden, along with about 12 other people. Her mother was a delightful, born and raised Mauritian, who shared many stories of her life with a lovely optimism and enthusiasm for life. It proved to be a delightful evening.

Many of the boats departed to Reunion days before, wishing to seek shelter there before the storm. When to leave and where to go are the questions on our minds. Should we sail to Reunion and wait for a safe weather window to make the treacherous crossing to Durban, South Africa? Or sail directly to South Africa and skip Reunion? For this particular passage, our most dangerous of the circumnavigation, everything depends on the weather window. The only boats still in Mauritius are Ostara, Poco Loco and us. On Friday morning, Jolie officially splashed back in the water!! No leaking from the metal plate with the bolts Calvin had replaced - phew! We move over to the marina for a night and enjoy our last evening with Joe and Mary (s/v Ostara). Our final decision is to leave to Reunion Island tomorrow and wait for the best possible weather window to Durban.

On Saturday morning, Ostara, Poco Loco and Jolie set off on the 24 hour sail. We are so happy to finally leave Mauritius!! We enjoyed exploring the island, but the stresses of some of the issues we had with the boat, along with our delayed departure due to the storm, cast a shadow on our experiences. Feeling a bit behind the pack, as many of the fleet had already departed Reunion for South Africa, we were anxious to cast off.