Position                    19:40.847 S 063:25.204 E

Date                          1230 (UTC+5) Friday 13 May 2016

Distance run             in 24hrs 30min 180nm over the ground, 167nm through the water

Trip total                  1136nm over the ground, 1098nm through the water

Average speed         6.75kts over the ground 6.50 through the water

Arrived                     Port Mathurin, Rodrigues

Route distance         1,144nm as originally planned

The wind blew a steady 28 knots overnight and the sea continued with the two elements of a southerly swell overlaid by a south east wave pattern.  In the light of dawn you can see what is happening as the wave patterns combine to produce peaks of water; it is just the occasional one that connects with the boat.  At night with little or no warning you get a rushing noise, a violent motion of the boat and the odd ton of water landing on deck with an explosive force; or so it seems when you are trying to sleep underneath.  We are so pleased to be sailing our AMEL combined with the protection from the elements provided by the hard top.  The protection is exemplified by the fact that I have not now had to wear a shirt at night whilst at sea since we left the Torres Straits in October.  It is getting cooler however and covering up with a sheet when sleeping makes things more comfortable.

The wind and sea kept up their pace right up to our entrance through the West Passage into the Port Mathurin Lagoon and still was blowing 25 knots as we entered the calm waters of the inner harbour.  You arrive feeling that you have survived an experience, shaken and stirred but with a real feeling of achievement.  It is however wonderful when it all stops.  Christoph and Dagmar were waiting on the dock to take our lines which after a number of attempts at throwing into the stiff breeze, we were of course being blown off the dock and were parking in between a tug and a work boat, was achieved without hitting anything untoward.

All of the officials required to clear in appeared immediately after arrival and whilst there were interminable forms to be completed everyone was pleasant and helpful.  They claim, with a smile. that they learned how to be bureaucrats from the British, and we cannot argue with that.

Rodriguez appears as a smudge through the mist as we power into the next wave

Climbing over an incoming wave

And this can be the result - life at twenty degrees, genuinely taken from the horizontal

How home looks after being shaken up for the last four days

And for the record, how it looked the morning after arrival

Approaching the wharf at Port Mathurin. Rodriguez.  Flomaida (R) and Mares (L) already moored