Dispatches from Baie de St Augustine - Madagascar Day 16
Misterx
Tue 26 Nov 2024 07:48
26/11/24
9:00 am
Day 16
Baie de St Augustine - Madagascar
DTD to Richard's Bay SA tbc
Another bouncy night followed by another cracking day sail. Again we achieve speeds which we haven't seen so far on this trip... shame we couldn't do this on our way to our rightful destination South Africa. It is as if Mr X is relishing the prospect of going where we are not supposed to go... our pre ordained destination not being exciting enough for him to get on with it. So we got to our sheltered anchorage in St Augustine Baie in record time. We did doubt for a while that the island was actually there... despite being 20 nm away we could not make out the land but by the presence of the clouds above it. We only caught sight of it a sundown, a smudge on the horizon, about 5 miles away from it. The land smells flooded in, earthy, a hint of coal fire, and to my nose, fishy undertones!
We had to find the baie in the dark, which is always very exciting. Plenty to get worried about, a little island, barely above sea level, a reef, and a myriad of what we guessed were little fishing crafts. Lights on the sea and on land bobbing, appearing and disappearing, trying to figure out which were moving or not. Fortunately we had the coordinates of both our diverted companions, so we made for them and found their anchor lights. We dropped anchor at around 11pm, in 11 metres with a big sight of relief.
What a spectacle this morning!!! As predicted, I woke up around 4 am for the start of my watch... could hear a light chatter all around us, so poke my head out... what a sight, pink skies, flat seas and 100 of little sails streaming past toward the villages on the beach. In front of us, a cliff and a river mouth, on the side a couple of villages. The parade lasted for 3 hours, pirogues small and big, going about their business. Their square sails a ragged colourful table cloth making remarkable progress on the flat sea, sometimes helped by the metronome of 2 oars plunging in the water.
They all ignored us, except for one who came close enough to ask for money in French...
We were treated to a beautiful sunset!
The craft landing on the beach were the precursors of a flurry of activity on shore. People coming to help downloading the big sacks from the crafts onto waiting trucks. Not sure what they contain. I could also see ladies in colourful dress walking on the beach and kids obviously going to school and the little ones frolicking in the water.
What a shame we cannot go to shore, thanks goodness we have very good binoculars!!! This definitely makes up for the disappointment of being diverted!