Rodrigues to Reunion

Cilaos, Reunion

 As expected, the passage took 4 days. We had a mixed bag of weather – no gales and no calms but everything in between. I took Stugeron for the first 24 hours. We went south of Mauritius and experienced some large, breaking swells coming from different directions. Sometimes the sea continued to be unusually rough even though the wind was moderate. We experienced our fastest 24 hours as recorded on the log – 162 miles. We had to gybe twice.

Jeremy on Dry Land

On our approach to Reunion, Jeremy and I were shocked to discover that John’s waypoints took us very close to the surrounding coral reef. Adjustments were made and we approached the coast safely in daylight on Tuesday 20^th October. Once the leading lines (there are two sets) had been identified we entered St Pierre harbour with no problems and tied up to the wall for the night. Immigration visited us and checked our passports but there was no need for a stamp as Reunion is part of Europe. There was no checking in fee. A small fishing boat drifted astern of us. The outboard engine was not working and it was taking on water. The owner was clinging on to the wall and appeared to be in shock. Jeremy went over to help and used one of our buckets to bail out. John provided a rag for Jeremy to stuff in the hole in the side of the boat and a sinking was prevented. I flagged down a passing local boat and the “casualty” was towed to safety.

Getting close to the Hauts

The next morning the Harbourmaster directed us to a berth in the marina. A strong wind was blowing but we managed to tie up safely with a little help from ashore. Soon we had mains electricity (included in the marina charges) and water. Jeremy and I emptied the tin store on board Sara II and filled it with tins from the front cabin. We made a provisioning list and logged our current supplies.

We had not caught any fish on passage, so we did the next best thing – bought fresh fillets of dorade (mahi mahi) from the quayside and ate it on board for dinner.

The ablutions block at Jean Louis Gite

Jeremy and I jumped ship again and took the bus up to Ciloas, where we booked into a gite for the night. We made the mistake of walking too far and going on too strenuous a hike for the jelly-legged sailors we seemed to have become. We enjoyed a good meal out in Chez Noe, where the waiter was from Glasgow, so no language difficulties for a change. We were much more sensible the following day and chose a largely uphill walk, as my legs refused to go downhill anymore, from La Pavillion to Peter Both. We caught the bus back to St Pierre and collapsed on to Sara II.

We have been reunited with Stefan and his family. We had walked past him several times and not recognised him as he now owns a catamaran and a different yacht, having sold Pas de Deux. He invited us all for drinks one evening, let us use his washing machine and tumble drier and helped us telephone a gite in Mafate. Thank you once again for your hospitality.

Kathy crossing the River Galets

On Monday morning, all three of us set off on a one and a half hour bus ride to Le Port. Here we split up, with John going on to St Denis and beyond, actually completing a circumnavigation of the Island by bus (all for a cost of 6 Euros). Meanwhile Jeremy and I had an appointment with Renaldo in a cat cat at Le Piste pres de l’Eglise de Riviere de Galets. Most of this was mumbo jumbo to us, but it turned out to be a 4 x 4 at the track close to the River Galet Church. All went well and Renaldo dropped us off in the Porte de Mafate one and a half hours early at Le Deux Bras. We walked uphill for four hours and arrived at Jean Louis’ Gite. This was a wonderful gite and Mrs Jean Louis was a lovely hostess, despite speaking French rather rapidly.

We enjoyed two nights at the gite. The second day was a little spoilt by the rain and we returned early as the sentiers were definitely glissantes. On Wednesday, we returned to Sara II after a four hour, mainly downhill trek. Once again Renaldo gave us a big lift in his cat cat (quatre quatre – get it?) and the three buses home fell on time like magic. We learned that we may leave on Friday 30^th October and that the marina will not charge us at all if we leave about midday!

Cocos to Rodrigues

We enjoyed our break in Cocos Keeling, not that there was much time for relaxing. The World ARC left us plenty of fresh food, so we were able to stock up in readiness for our next sea passage of almost 2000 miles.

Two Skippers on Cocos

As expected, the conditions on the passage were mixed. Often there were two swells, one behind and one from the south. The half knot of current kept disappearing or going against us, so we could not rely on a boost to our boat speed. We had settled weather for several days flying full sails (main, staysail, genoa) keeping about 30 degrees off the wind on a run. This meant we went much further south than Jeremy or I would have done on a dead run on Sal Darago. John was adamant that this didn’t matter on such a long passage and the wind would come round well before we reached Rodrigues. There was often more E than S in the SE trades so the wind did not come round. Consequently, we had to gybe on the last day of our passage and have an uncomfortable night going north or we would have missed Rodrigues altogether!

The base of the bread proving oven

Generally speaking, the crew worked well together. There were some issues and areas of disagreement, but when everyone’s help was needed when the autohelm stopped working, we all played our part to keep Sara II sailing. John fitted a new drive unit, Jeremy hand steered by compass and I kept a watch out for vessels.

Running repairs. Both harnessed on.

We were all relieved when we anchored in the harbour at Port Mathurin after 14 days at sea. We asked permission from the Coastguard on VHF 16. Within 10 minutes of anchoring the Health officer came on board quickly followed by the Police/Coastguard. Next we had to go ashore to see Immigration on the wharf and Customs in the Port Office. The only fee to pay was for the health check.

Jeremy and I jumped ship after the first night and stayed in a hotel for 2 nights’ bed and breakfast. Here, we have enjoyed the luxury of hot showers, a double bed and no cooking. On board, I had one shower/hairwash in 14 days and Jeremy washed in sea water on the deck. There was always concern that too much water was being used on board, but it was difficult to be certain of this as the tank gauges were unreliable. Jeremy and I stopped drinking the tank water as both the keel tank and the middle tank had bits in them and John could not be sure when the tanks had last been cleaned out. Fortunately, we had an emergency supply of bottled water.

The cure for seasickness!

We have enjoyed revisiting one of our favourite and still unspoiled islands. Our legs are aching from walking in the hills after so long at sea.

We intend to leave for Reunion on Saturday after buying provisions at the market. The sea passage should take about 4 days.  

Malaysia to Cocos Keeling

Jeremy fitting the new heat exchanger

We were in Puteri Harbour for a week. The new heat exchanger arrived 5 days later and took most of a day to fit. We cleared Customs and Immigration and were on our way again on 14^th September. Our route took us across the Malacca/Singapore Straits and down the Durian Strait into Indonesia. The visibility was quite poor in the haze. John was keen to sail but there was a headwind all the time, so motoring was the only option. We had to avoid several local fishing vessels and their nets and tugs towing barges. The sea was quite rough going down Lingga Island and our passage was made more difficult by the many bamboo fishing platforms dotted about. Our progress was slow and John voted to anchor off Kentar Island and wait for lighter winds. Jeremy was keen to continue so it was up to me to decide what to do. I voted to anchor. Jeremy and I had a swim. I washed my hair while he scraped barnacles off the prop.

Bamboo fishing platform

After 5 hours we were on our way again, motorsailing into a lighter headwind and calmer sea. We crossed the Equator at 1830 on 15^th September and shared a glass of brandy with Neptune. He must have preferred whiskey because we soon had stronger winds and a lumpy sea!

We had a very pleasant run towards Bangka Strait with no vessels at all. There was some sludgy stuff in the primary diesel filter which was cleaned by John. As we approached the entrance to Bangka Strait in the dark there were vessels everywhere. The fishing vessels and the tugs towing barges rarely have AIS in Indonesia so a good watch has to be kept at all times. As there were ships as well, we had two people on watch and the radar on. We did plenty of tacking to avoid collisions.

Soon we were on anchor again behind Nanga Lighthouse. We turned back to this anchorage when strong winds and choppy seas made our progress slow and uncomfortable. There was a disagreement between Jeremy and John and we all needed some cooling off time. The wind eased just before dawn and a refreshed crew set off in the dark. Even when it was light we could barely see three quarters of a mile ahead and the smoky air smelt heavily of burning vegetation.

John checked the diesel and we did not have enough to get us through the Sunda Strait and on to Cocos. Jeremy searched through our Sail Indonesia notes on the laptop and found a village further down the Bangka Strait called Toboali. We anchored off in the dark in fairly calm conditions. Jeremy practiced suitable phrases in Bahasa Indonesia to use to barter for diesel the next day.

At first light the local fishing boats were returning home and we attracted the attention of one of them by waving a diesel can. They came alongside and after some negotiation agreed to help but one of us must go with them. Jeremy quickly changed, grabbed a cereal bar and stepped on to the fishing vessel with 3 men, 8 diesel cans and 1,000,000 rupiah. I watched him being taken towards the village and wondered whether I’d see him again. He returned about 4 hours later having been treated well and mobbed by children eager to see this unusual man in their midst. The fishermen departed with another 1,200,000 rupiah, two packets of cigarettes and a Chinese lucky charm. We had 8 full cans of diesel.

Local fishermen

We continued motorsailing all the way to Sunda Strait. Here the gentle breeze suddenly increased to 19 knots on the nose. It was dark as we entered the Strait and there were ferries, tugs and barges, fishing vessels and ships everywhere. All 3 of us were on deck at the entrance. A ship overtook us and added to the washing machine effect of the Indian Ocean meeting a south going current. Sara II was almost swamped as waves broke over her bows and into the cockpit. By 4.00 am we were out of the Strait and sailing at last in a bumpy sea. The next four days gave us good ocean sailing conditions with only a few passing ships and fishing vessels. Once our fresh meat was finished, John started fishing and caught a large mahi mahi half an hour later. We had enough fish for four meals.

It's a whopper!

We anchored in the outer anchorage off Direction Island, Cocos Keeling, by the light of the moon on 24^th September. We put our clocks back one and a half hours.

Sara II anchored off Direction Island

Today, two police officers cleared us in and we were free to anchor in Port Refuge off Direction Island. About 14 World ARC boats are here for 3 more days and they have ordered fresh fruit and veg from the supermarket. The freighter arrived today, too late for us to order anything, so we’ll have to make do with the leftovers.

West Island, Cocos Keeling

No worries. It is lovely to be here again in azure seas in a palm fringed atoll watching the dolphins and reef sharks, sipping cold beers and eating freshly caught fish.

Sailing by on Sara II

Our two months at home included a 5 day trip to the Isle of Man to celebrate my mother’s 90^th birthday. Mum woke with a painful arthritic knee on her party day and almost stayed at home. Thanks to my sister Sara’s efforts, Mum was persuaded to join everyone but she remained in her wheelchair. She enjoyed having her three daughters present and most of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. The weather was excellent, everyone had a good time and Mum was able to sit outside after the lunchtime meal and watch the crown green bowling. Thank you, Pat, for organising the venue and letting five of us take over your house.

Back at our house, we had about 10 days before leaving for Malaysia. Ellie enjoyed an afternoon out with us at Campsea Ashe Village Fete and then it was time to say good-bye for three and a half months. We shall miss our granddaughter and Emily and Ben as well. We’ll also miss Simon and Erin as they are moving to the USA in October. Perhaps we’ll sail across the pond once more!

Sara II at Pangkor Marina

We packed our bags and left our house on 27^th August. One train, one bus, two flights and another train later, we were in the Tune Hotel at Kuala Lumpur Airport (Klia2). Unknown to us it was a holiday weekend in Malaysia so our 4 hour bus journey to Sitiawan the next day took almost 6 hours. John and Chris, the owners of Sara II, were waiting for us with a hire car and drove us to Pangkor Marina. Our sailing adventure had begun. It was our intention to be crew on Sara II and sail with John to South Africa.

First there were lots of jobs to do and much to learn about the boat. John and Chris had been working very hard and Chris kept us all on task with detailed lists of things to do. We missed her organisation when she returned to the UK 4 days later. There was air conditioning on Sara II, so we were able to acclimatise to the heat and humidity gradually.

Will these jobs never end!

We cleared out of Malaysia on 4^th September and motored out of the marina on Saturday 5^th September. Next stop was Cocos Keeling about 15 days away. One hour later the batteries were overheating and we returned to Pangkor and anchored off. Soon John had a new regulator fixed on to the alternator and we headed south once more. A fresh wind blew and heavy showers soaked us. I took a Stugeron. This was meant to be the calm bit. The mainsail was hoisted and reefed and the genoa was unfurled and Sara II began to show us her paces. By evening we were motoring in light winds, avoiding fishing boats and anchored ships. We started our watch system of mainly 3 hours each with a 2 hour watch in the afternoon. I am very happy with my 6 hours off watch from 0100 to 0700.

Day 2 was a calm motoring day. There were some differences of opinion as regards navigation but John allowed Jeremy to get to grips with the two chart plotters and the new Garmin GPS on board. Unfortunately, none of these machines work together, so all the waypoints for our route have to be entered individually, which is extremely time consuming.

Tropical dreams

Day 3 began normally but soon after breakfast as we motored just north of the Pisang Islands, not far from the shipping lane in the Malacca Straits, a warning light came on and a buzzer sounded on the engine control board. John went to investigate and a hole the size of a man’s finger was at the bottom of the heat exchanger and all the engine cooling water had run into the bilges. We were drifting but we had sails, so I held the boat steady in the light wind while the men examined the hot engine down below.

Galley slave

Two hours later, after much sharing of ideas and discussion, Jeremy had made a temporary repair using a strip of neoprene from John’s diving hood and part of a plastic rice container. This was bound and stuck round the hole and we were able to motorsail gently to Puteri Marina, which is near Johur Baru. The Singapore Police stopped us in the night and were going to board us. Fortunately, they believed us when we explained what had happened and allowed us to continue. Thanks to them, we went under the correct, but badly lit, arch of the Singapore Bridge and tied up in Puteri at midnight.

Sara II sandwich in Puteri Harbour

Immigration has granted us a one month stay in Malaysia for repairs. John has contacted Chris and she has ordered new engine parts. We now start the waiting process as the parts are flown out from England. We hope that we’ll be fixed and ready to go in a week.