Arriving in Mauritius

Safiya
Harvey & Sue Death
Mon 1 Oct 2018 04:30
After 11 days, 5 hours and 2300 nautical miles we arrived safely in Port
Louis, Mauritius on Friday.
It was certainly a boisterous ride with brisk trade winds up to 30knots at
times and a big rolling swell. Comfort was definitely sacrificed for speed!
We left two days ahead of the fleet to ensure that we were in Mauritius in
time to meet Grace but we had a lonely start to our passage. On the third
day the radio net commenced and we could hear and be heard on the single
side band radio over distances of 500 to 600 miles. The twice daily radio
call is an important safety blanket but it's also a chance to chat with
other boats and to exchange salty sea dog stories! The topic for discussion
in our 5pm radio call was to nominate two songs per boat that sum up the
Oyster World rally for us, that provoked some lively discussion both on
board Safiya and on the radio. The winning song will be determined by vote
and the boat that nominated it will perform it at the welcome party next
week, watch this space.........
We noticed a cooling of the air temperature as we once again travelled south
away from the equator. The sea temperature also dropped and from having 46
flying fish on the deck on the first morning we didn't have any towards the
end of the passage - they obviously don't like cold water either.
We quickly ran out of fresh fruit and veg. The problem with provisioning at
Cocos was that everything was imported from Australia and delivery to the
islands was only once a fortnight. Consequently the produce we bought was
pretty old, with a very short shelf life. We survived without getting scurvy
but arrived in Mauritius looking forward to a big salad, washed down with a
large glass of white wine followed by a good night's sleep in a bed that
didn't move!
We are moored on the town quay in the heart of Port Louis. Entering the
harbour we were struck by how busy and commercial it is, a long way from the
picture postcard images of white sand beaches and aquamarine sea generally
associated with Mauritius.
Grace arrived safely yesterday and we look forward to exploring Mauritius
and finding some of those picture postcard beaches with her.


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