Who would have thought that a 24 hour crossing could be such a pain in the behind. Oh it all started well, they always do when they are about to go pear shaped something to do with a false sense of security and all that! We launched our Parasailor, taking off on a course that we thought would avoid the wind shadow of Mauritius and with the strength of the winds, who knew, perhaps we could keep it up all night (this is usually a prelude to a disaster but we never seem to get wiser, just visibly older due to the extra grey hairs). We flew and looked to be neck and neck with Gunvor and some of the faster division one boats. Yippee, perhaps we really did deserve our overall victory in the Indian Ocean leg. Yes, in a 20 year old Hallberg-Rassy you really can still be that deluded.
It didn't take long for us to realise that to avoid the sort of wind shadow Mauritius throws we would have to have been halfway to Madagascar. We hit one almighty hole, but we were still under the impression that if we just stuck it out and ignored the cracking of the sails and rig just that little bit longer we would be on our way again. Ho ho. The upshot was that at one point we had a 180 degree wind shift, the parasail did an imaginative attempt to wrap the bell around the foresail - this was despite it still being attached to the pole. Fortunately it resolved itself and after a lot of swearing we got it down below.
After that, the evening lost its magic. Whatever sail set we managed to achieve, it was the wrong one barely a few minutes later and around 4am we realised that if we went on in the way we were we stood a good chance of missing Reunion altogether. The only really viable sail we could use that would give us the sort of speed to get us to Le Port in time for the finishing line would be the parasailor (with light winds from behind) and as neither of us was up for that at that time in the morning, on went the donk (keeping up a full mainsail for stability in the confused swell - the rig does not sound to like this sort of decision). Not that the fun and games ended there. As we got close we fell into the Island's acceleration zone and with the various wind shifts, we did some rather objectionable mainsail gybing, finishing up with a drop of the mainsail in 30 knots that almost resulted in me doing a Dorothy (ie being blown up to Oz). Fortunately I knew exactly the correct procedure in this situation - close your eyes, kick your heels and keep repeating "Theres no place like home", strangely enough it did not work this time, perhaps you need the ruby shoes, but miraculously the mainsail came (fell) down and we were home in Le Port with just 10 minutes to the closing of the finish line.
There were some fond memories to be salvaged from the crossing, but they were mainly quiche-related (you may remember we did our entire provisioning from a nearby coffee shop that supplies the most delicious mini quiches). There was almost a full moon so at least it was a bright night - just wish we had more time to admire it.
The welcome in Reunion has been wonderful. As soon as we arrived there were ladies from the tourist office offering excellent information and assistance. Later that evening (last night) there was a cocktail reception where a number of local dignitaries welcomed us to local creole rythms and dancing, and gave us prezzies. Each boat got a bottle of rum and all crew got a showbag of local produce - what is not to like about this place! I think they were very impressed by how World ARCers can vacuum up any form of food offered in record time, but it is hungry work ocean crossing! This morning we were given fresh fruit with our breakfasts.
Today is Sunday, nothing is open, so we have been spending the day organising our time here and knocking over a few boat jobs. Tomorrow is the official tour and after that we intend on doing some volcano walking and general sightseeing. Reunion sounds to be, for me, a well kept secret. Lots of hikes in dramatic landscapes and exceptional beaches further down with French and Creole food thrown in. I think it would be quite nice to live on top of one of the worlds most active volcanos.