Day 36 TO 41
Untied and all wrapped up
Mike, Paul, Connor
Thu 18 Oct 2012 21:45
We made it back to Mauritius by afternoon. The sun was shining and the skies clear , not a cyclone in sight. This would keep
up for another 3 days with the cyclone only showing its ugly head on Wednesday and Thursday. After clearing in AGAIN and
confusing the poor coast guard and customs and immigration officials( Like i am sure you guys left ) We headed back to the
marina , BUT...duh duh duh dooo. The Arc Rally had booked the whole marina. Nice. (Sarcasm.) The Arc Rally is a flotilla of
yachts that Travel Around the world in a mass , going from one port to the next. It has a set itinerary and boats join up
and leave. You have to pay to enter the rally and one of the advantages of the rally is that you travel in a group , so if
anything goes wrong you have help. Customs and immigration and port fees are all taken care of for you and they have special
tours for crew when at destinations. It Arc Rally started years ago as a group of cruising yachtsman who liked to drink beer
and get bombed together , its now turned into a very expensive rally which only the super rich can afford. So the yachts
tend to be on the large luxurious side. So there was us and at least another 15 yachts arriving at Port Louie to find
shelter from the Cyclone and the Marina was booked for the arc rally. No " hey lets make a plan" , just "no". So cruising
yachts were littered all over the waterfront walls. We found a spot at a swamp area behind all the nice 4 star hotels. We
joined up against a old concrete wall with a French Couple on a Catamaran. To get to and from our yacht ,we had to jump a
fence , skirt a barrier , take a free boat taxi to shore ( Crossing a 20 Meter Channel ) and then walk 100 Meters to
Waterfront area.At least they never charged us. The Arc Rally entrants sat arrogantly on their boats drinking Wine while
waiting for the cyclone. At least we were safe and thats the main thing. We spent the remaining time exploring Port Louis ,
resting and "chilling out". Wednesday and Thursday we had a bit of rain , overcast skies and a few strong gusts of winds. We
kept a good look out on the weather via a number of sights on the internet and tracked Cyclone Anais. Exactly where we
anchored at Charagos Shoals she maxed out at 115 Mph winds. She then headed towards Mauritius and dissipated and veered off
behind Mauritius by Wednesday. All in al we lost about 6 days sailing and did a round the Attol trip of about 600 Miles. But
rather safe in POrt that trying to tame a unpredictable cyclone