Passage to Rodrigues

Pictures above hopefully!

We arrived at Rodrigues Island on 22^nd May after motoring furiously for the last 15 hours to be sure of arriving before dark. The wind died away in the middle of our last night at sea and we were not going to be knocked around in the swell for a further 24 hours when we had enough diesel to make landfall.

Cocos Keeling was a beautiful place and the anchorage off Direction Island was very peaceful. After 3 days on our own a ketch called Serannity arrived. We explained that there were several shelters, 2 rainwater tanks and a BBQ area on Direction Island. There was also a great place to go snorkelling called The Rip. All supplies were available on Home Island but this was a 2 mile dinghy ride away across the shallow lagoon, passing over sandbars and reefs. With our 2.5hp outboard the trip took 30-40minutes each way. There is a charge for anchoring: 10AUD per day or 50AUD per week which you pay at the Shire Office on Home Island. We bought 95 litres of diesel which cost us 233AUD. When we ordered fresh fruit and veg from the supermarket we noticed that there were no prices on the order form. Buyer beware!  We were shocked to find that bananas cost 2.30AUD EACH. We bought five. Make sure you check your order, which is boxed up for you ready to take away. We didn’t and found that the tomatoes we’d ordered weren’t there. At least we hadn’t paid for them. The quality of the fresh food is good (as it should be at such high prices) and you can buy vacuum packed frozen minced beef and chicken fillet.

We left Cocos Keeling on Monday 7^th May, a few hours before Serannity. A yacht called CheecaBey arrived just before we left and they are tied to the wharf here at Rodrigues, having arrived today (28/05/12). Our passage was very mixed. We headed south to a waypoint at 16 degrees South and 90 degrees East. Passage weather.com and the Grib files showed that the wind was going to die away on the rhumb line by Friday. We’d chosen to cross the Indian Ocean in May before the Trade Winds became strong and the sea rough. We expected a downwind sail. What did we get? Motorsailing in light E winds, then beam reach with full mainsail and genoa with an ESE wind, then close hauled (wind just off the bow) with a SSE wind and a reefed genoa, a big sideways swell, and by midnight 1 reef in the main and 2 reefs in the genoa. This was still the first day! We had gusty squalls with winds up to 27 knots from the South. On day 3, we caught a rope round the propeller and Jeremy had to go over the stern and get it off. The wind dropped from 23 knots to 6 knots and blew from the East. Jeremy found a small leak on the engine intake cock on day 5. That explained the sea water in the bilge. We flew our ghoster for about 4 hours in light winds, but the sky darkened and another squall threatened, so Jeremy took it down. We started downwind sailing on day 6 and enjoyed fairly constant E to ESE winds from 9-17 knots. We flew two headsails poled out, slightly reefed genoa to starboard and our No2 jib hanked on our inner forestay to port. Conditions were much more pleasant for making bread, cooking meals and generally moving about the boat. We each had 2 hour watches during the day and 3 hour watches at night. We ate our meals together and the rest of the time one of us was sleeping while the other was on watch. Several huge oil tankers passed us going east and west. We had to motor out of the way of some of them. Some nights the moon and stars were fantastic. Other nights, all we saw were dark clouds.

Half way across, about 1000 miles from land, I celebrated my 60^th birthday with a cake and candles and hearty singing from Jeremy. It was a fresh day with a big swell topped with breaking waves occasionally splashing into the cockpit. In the evening the wind increased to 30 knots and the log speed to 7.3 knots, Sal Darago’s maximum. I reefed down. Jeremy was so uncomfortable in the stern cabin that he moved into the saloon to sleep. We were so glad that we’d chosen to cross the Indian Ocean before the winds were too strong and the sea rough. What must it be like in July and August? We did have some pleasant, sunny days but it became noticeably colder at night. We needed a sheet and blanket on our bunks and long trousers and long sleeved shirts for our night watches. The gas ran out on the 11^th day and Jeremy had to change the bottle at 4.00am, just to get a cup of tea. One day we motored in light northerly winds, which went WNW and W. So much for the SE Trades.

By day 13, we’d eaten most of our fresh food and started fishing. We lost one hook but we caught a large tuna with our other line. Jeremy reeled it in with great difficulty. We had fresh tuna for lunch, fried in butter and served with slices of our last lemon. We had enough tuna steaks for 4 more meals. The last two fish suppers were eaten in port with fresh baguette from the bakery.

Rodrigues Island is lovely. The officials were prompt and friendly. The local tugboat crew showed us where to anchor. As we arrived Ann and Barry on Cat’s Paw IV yelled “Sal Darago” and came over in their dinghy with a baguette and some tomatoes. There are 8 other yachts anchored and 3 tied to the wharf. We are close to the reef but thankfully the holding is good. The town of Port Mathurin is small and friendly. A daily market sells locally grown and imported fruit and veg. Fresh meat is available on Saturdays. There’s a bank and ATM, a post office, a supermarket and a bus station. The currency is the Mauritius rupee and we’re just getting used to yet another set of bank notes and coins. I think we’re going to enjoy our month’s stay.