When the coast guards came on board the day that we arrived, we spoke to them of the news that we had received, concerning the fishing boat being attacked by pirates, while we were still on passage to Mauritius. They thought that the problem had been mutiny, not piracy and that they were expecting the fishing boat to arrive in port that day. They told us that the captains on some of the fishing boats beat their crew and treated them very badly. As in most things, the captain had one tale to tell, the crew anotherMonday 11th October and all the boats except Basia have now arrived. Basia left Cocos Keeling 5 days later than the rest of the fleet so won't be here for another week.
A lot of the boats have suffered damage in one way or another, a lost spinnaker pole, a damaged sail, a lost life-raft etc. Most discovered leaks that they had never had before. I guess that with the state of the sea for such a prolonged period, it was inevitable. Most of us have previously suffered worse conditions but for a considerably lesser time.
Tucanon has set a precedent. As the first boat to arrive at the destination, we invited the crews from the other boats, as they arrived, to come aboard that evening for cocktails. After four nights partying we were feeling a little jaded but nonetheless, still managed to have a brilliant time when we joined a group of other folks onboard one of the other WARC boats, for drinks and supper on the fifth night.
To our amazement, the fresh produce which we obtained in Cocos Keeling, despite having been waiting for us for 6 days before the official start of the leg, lasted the duration of the passage. We gave back 10 pears and 4 avocados while still in the shop as they were already past their best but the rest did well. Four tomatoes deteriorated somewhat but I still managed
to utilize them, one satsuma had to be thrown away and the carrots performed as usual. Carrots, once chilled do not keepvery well but are an excellent colorful addition to a salad or cooked as a vegetable.
Each day there seems to be another job to tackle. We have washed as many lines and ropes as possible and cleaned all the clutches and blocks. The boat has been washed and the rib cleaned. All the cushion covers, both inside and outside have been washed, as have the curtains. Even the interior of the boat has been scrubbed clean of mould, which loved the closed up conditions we had to sail under to reach Mauritius.
The marina has most magnanimously accommodated us in the inner basin, complete with electricity and water, at no charge. Due to the lack of space, it has been necessary to raft the boats in twos. The catamarans, already two hulls wide are not rafted.
Seventeen of the nineteen boats moored here are dressed over all. The only reason that one of the other boats is not dressed over all is because when they raised their flags, the wind generator managed to chew them up.We walked through the modern precinct out of the marina, through the underpass, to reach the town of St Louis. Although there are a number of modern shops in the town, most are small and of a Caribbean or Creole flavour. There are a great many market stalls along the streets as well as individuals offering goods for sale from a small patch in the road or the pavement. Some of the vendors are holding their wares, as they stand on or near the pavement, touting for sales.
There is an enormous under-cover fruit and vegetable market and next door, a meat market with four separate doors, each with a sign outside displaying "Beef", "Pork", "Poultry", "Goat".
Bev has started to hold yoga classes each morning at 9.30, in a room just above the rally control office. Surprise, surprise! Her parents arrived out of the blur. Rally control had been liaising with them but Bev wasn't aware that they were coming until they were in the port.
Steven from A Lady has a kidney stone and was whisked off to hospital for an operation. Jolly lucky that it didn't manifest itself until he had arrived here.
We shared a mini-bus with David and Susan from Voyageur and John and Jenny from Tzigane and visited a number of places of interest. This included the multi-coloured earth, where we also admired the giant tortoises, the waterfalls and the rum distillery at Chamarel. The Rhumerie de Chamarel has only been in production for two years and everything was in perfect condition, hardly looking as though it worked for a living. At the end of the tour of the factory, we tasted eight different rums and then a rum based cocktail before adjourning for lunch. We were able to take lots of photographs of the mountains with their domed and peaked summits, paddled in the water off the sandy beach at Flic en Flac. We visited the water-filled volcanic crater of Grand Bassin, dotted with shrines, where a 32metre statue of the Hindu god Shri Mangal Mahadev stands. The lake is called Ganga Talao (Ganges lake), as it is believed that the waters are linked to the River Ganges, in India. The sweet perfume of incense filled the air. We stopped to view Alexandra waterfall and drank a cocktail of freshly squeezed exotic fruit.
A great but exhausting day out.