Just Cruizin On Bluemoon
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Log 21 - 30
LOG 21 Hellville to Tanna Kely
2007/9/24 2007/9/30
We arrived early and had Jono drop us off at the jetty and head off on foot to the port control. We were sent to buy our forms at a stationery shop up the road. Then spent the next hour filling in duplicate paperwork for the extensions. It felt as though we were applying for flippen passports with height, colour of eyes, and, and, and! Then we go to the bank to get some money.... What an unbelievable experience! You must put a piece of paper down or your passport and then just wait for the teller to call you!! No one stands in ques. There are lots of pieces of paper all over the tellers table, and people are sitting on the floor, sprawled out on benches, just hanging around waiting!! Man, my patience level was definitely stretched well beyond normal! So, finely when we had walked all over town to get money, pay and get back to the port control to process the paperwork... we are told to come back after three!! Keeping in mind our french is not so good! Actually, hardly even understandable! It is siesta time! Lunch time! So we go back to the boat, where Philip on Abracadabra had come to fetch his kids, as he was organising a pig for a spit on the 29th which was for Jabez�s birthday. So another party was planned and all the yachties were invited! Our kids especially as they had been baby sitting and looking after their kids. So we had coffee and caught up on all the know hows with Philip who has been sailing for many years, and all over the world! What a load of knowledge this man has! If I could write a book!! And so we chattered the siesta time away then headed back to town to get supplies at the market, get the crates of beers for a few yachties and managed to get all our stuff done which was excellent! Then it was time to go back to port control to collect our passports. Well, what a shock to realize you are paying an official off!! It was supposedly money for sending our paperwork to their head office!! Yea right!! How much do their flippen stamps cost!! Yet, we payed and only then did she hand our passports over, with a very big smile! So back to the harbour we go with the taxi. We had radioed the kids to pick us up on the south side of the jetty. Two pack is there with all his kanonies... and they are all chewing on some plant that gives a narcotic effect. Then surprisingly, the taxi driver is not happy with the fare!! So here is two pack speaking to us in english and translating to him in Malagasy. Long story short, he wants us to pay extra for waiting for us at the market!! What the hang do you do when you ask to go to the market?? Just take a scenic drive past??? So we pay and get back to the boat. Lifted anchor and headed for Crater bay just an hour sail from Hell-ville. Too many thefts take place there. They row out to your boat at night and steal outboard motors!! It is the most astounding thing seeing a tiny dhow with an outboard motor hanging off the side!!!! So we headed back in very bumpy seas to Crater hoping to anchor before sunset! It was a race against time!!
25th Sep Crater to Russian Bay Justine�s 16th Birthday
So with two full crates of beers, our banana branch hanging from the bimini, the last minute rush for goodies bought in Dar es salaam, we set off back to Russian bay. Windlass broke again! Managed to fix it with Ralphs help, now we back to the yelling and button technique! Though it is not a problem. I have been skippering and anchoring the boat which to everyone�s surprise has gone fantastically!! And I have been helming without �Fred� our auto pilot. Had fantastic sailing and fishing!! Caught three fish!! Breaks all the fady�s of having bananas on board as you won�t catch any fish!! We caught three biggies!! Anchored, and had Bruce and Birgit arrive for their collection of beer and a visit. Jono was invited by Ralph to go fishing at 4am! He was up and ready before Ralph!! It was quite funny as Ralph points out to Jono where the kingies are, and he catches them!!! Ralph came back empty handed!! Spent the day swimming, snorkelling with Jono and just having a blast! Cleaned both hulls of the boat, and just had a great fun filled day. Justine spend the following day making cup cakes, and banana bread in preparation for her birthday. We spent Justine�s 16th birthday doing every thing she wanted! I made a roast which turned out to be absolutely scrumptious! We played monopoly which turned out to be quite a game! Played 30 seconds and enjoyed all the cookies and cakes we made, keeping her prize cake which I made for last!! It was a flop free double layered chocolate cake with grated chocolate as the topping! Ralph gave Justine a special gift of lots of chocolate!! Later we watched a movie and had a lovely day!! There was not one argument! Not one voice raised, it was pure bliss!! Wanted to spend the next day celebrating her birthday again! Spent the next few days snorkelling, swimming, fishing and having family time. It has been worth it!! Everyone has got back to school and are on track. Chores are done without any hoo-ha and there is a lot more smiles and laughter. Everyone works together cleaning or sailing the boat. It is going extremely well! Jonathan is a lot more confident in the water snorkelling if I am with him. So I am snorkelling a lot more than I imagined and love it! What a blessing to see another world!! These corel heads with all different kinds of fish not even afraid when you swim near them!! Life aboard is great!! All the boats lifted anchor and headed off for Nosy Sakatia... for the birthday party the following day!
28th Sep Nosy Sakatia to Crater
It was a great sail! Good wind!! Had the main up and the Genoa! Anchored in rather strong currents!! And the weather changed! Winds howling, sky black, looked like a big storm!! Had Anne come around and tell us the arrangements for tomorrow. Had a real bad night as everyone was up at different hours checking one the boats as the winds and current were real strong. Had a few boats drag!! Then saw a dhow with people on an empty boat at three in the morning! So it was quite an eventful evening. Turned out to be a really windy, overcast day! The boats that did drag re-anchored. Kids were picked up at 8am and went to a beautiful resort with a swimming pool where they were treated to a fantastic breakfast! There were 12 kids all in all who had a ball! John and I chilled out watching all the excitement at the beach. A few people including the birthday family camped out at the beach. It is a little cove with a cute, small beach. There are some grass houses where the locals live. They cooked the pig on the spit all night, each taking turns to turn the pig. And they all drank a lot having a great time! The kids were ferried back to the beach where we followed with our backpack filled with knives, forks and plates! And of course the THB!! Three Horses Beer! There was plenty food! And the pig tasted delish!! Everyone chattered, laughed, shared, and just enjoyed themselves! The kids were all playing games, swimming, snorkelling and having fun. We got to meet even more yachties! Greg and Willem from Magic, who is also South African. Gavin, Cathy and their three kids from Erica, also South African... The two different couples with kids from Australia... the Quebec couple... It was a wonderful day! Weather turned out to be real nice and everyone had a great time. We decided to go back to Crater for the evening, which was not far - so we said our goodbyes and thank you�s and headed back. With a lot of the yachties we met, they also going over to Kenya and Tanzania around the same time, so maybe we will all meet up later and head out about the same time. Good thing we left Nosy Sakatia as first thing the next morning, we hear on the radio that two of the outboards that were launched on the beach were stolen! A couple had gone to Hell-ville and their outboard was also stolen!! So it is a terrible thing to have your motor stolen! It is not like you have the facilities here to get a new one!! Unless you go and steal one of theirs on the dhows!! Then we hear even worse news!!! A couple were going back to South Africa as one of the parents were ill. They stopped over at Baz to rest and had a few Mozambicans climb on board at knife point and steal whatever they wanted! Everyone is up in arms because of this situation and I can only hope that justice wins!!!
30th Sep Tany Kely
We lifted anchor and headed for Tana Kely. What a fantastic place for snorkelling! Jonathan and myself headed out for the reefs and had the best time ever!! A world that is so awesome!! We followed a turtle and managed to touch him!! A few times... the way he turned his head to look at us was amazing! There were so many fish of all colours!! Man what a blessing!! I just could not get enough of it!! John unfortunately has a problem as he gets water coming into his mask! Then it goes into his nose and is he having a rough time! Then there I am like a pro! Hehehe I wish! Yet I am able to go out and far for hours! So we are trying to come up with a plan that will work for him! There were divers and so many tourist ski boats that you would think you�d be crowded... nope, it was brilliant! And so we had a great lunch on board sharing our excitement about what we saw...then we jumped into the crystal clear water and rubbed the boat down... reluctantly we headed back to Crater bay...
That morning we got to meet Peter and crew member (and doctor) Karen from Shoe string, who had sailed a straight 12 days, 1600 Nautical miles from Chagos to Crater. They had a terrible story of almost losing their boat!! They crashed into corel and holed the boat! Man what a story, they managed to get out just in time, by tying up mattresses around the boat to ease her out! They then were able to pump out most of the water and found a spot to beach her! They were able to fill the hole and some other cracks. Lot all their instruments, motors, and even managed to bend their prop shaft!! So we spent that night on our boat, having sundowners with Ralph, Peter and Karen, listening to all their stories! Wow! Some people have been through stuff I cannot even imagine! And don�t want to!! So it was another night of excitement! And our memories are growing!! The next day we lifted anchor and sailed off to the waterfalls to get fresh water from the river. We anchored out in the most awesome spot! John and I took 4 water bottles, 25 litres each along with the hose-pipe to the beach, while the kids stayed on the boat doing school. We found fresh water running down a slope and put our hose-pipe into the water which tested better than our water maker!! We suntanned, swan and just enjoyed the time while the drums slowly filled up. It was hard work once the drums were full!! We had to carry the dingy back out to the water as low tide had snuck in!! Then we had to carry these heavy drums!! Bottom line we got our water on board and went back to do another load, this time with the drums in the dingy and a bucket to fill them.. While on board, we see a cat coming our way and to our excitement it is Mojo with Graham and Shay. We chatted a while then headed our separate ways... them to anchor further up and us to collect the last of the drums so we can head back. As we were lifting the tender due to bumpy seas, Graham and Shay dingy up to us for a visit. It was great! Headed back just before dark, yet did not make anchoring in the light!! A lot more difficult at night! That morning the kids go off to the village a short walk away and John comes back with this french electronics guy, after dropping the kids at the jetty, to check out some stuff for us. So when the kids radio us to collect them at the jetty, John would normally go, but this time he couldn�t so I decided to fetch them.... keeping in mind that I normally only steer as one of the kids take over so I never got to stop the boat! Well, I start the dingy with no problems and head off for the jetty, passing all the other yachts without hitting any, then start getting closer to the jetty with like six tenders tied to it, and some Malagasy kids swimming right next to the jetty when it hits me.... I don�t know how to stop!!! So I calmly yell to Jono to climb down these dilapidated, remnants of what used to be stairs... (kinda like �bravely� sliding down a banister) So I start to raise my voice a little more to get his attention! I was bargaining that Jono would catch on to my problem, hoping he�d jump over the other tenders onto ours, to assist me in stopping the boat. But of course that doesn�t happen! Peter and Karen from Shoestring are climbing up to get their feet on solid ground, when Peter spots me having a quite moment!! I realize I need to change course and do, just missing one of the kids!!! Peter yells not to panic but to come towards him on low revs.... so I turn around again and head for him, who has just dived back into the boats where he is pushing them apart to make space for me.... again I narrowly miss another kid who is directly in my path!!!! I note Peter covers his eyes expecting me to ride right over him!! Yet, I maneuvered swiftly past him like a pro and came into the place he had shown me without any problems! He told me what to do and boy was it a good seeing this baby stop! I picked the kids up with all the goodies and headed on back to our boat feeling rather chuffed with myself! We get back to the boat, and by now, I need a strong cuppa! So we just about to tie up, when Jono pushes us away and says �Lesson time�, by now I just want to get back onto the boat and relax!! So after fighting a few swells knocking me away from the boat and wetting everyone on board, we get back to tie up where everyone was only to happy to see me on board!! LOL What fun!
The following day, Peter and Yvonne on Forever, and Graham and Shay on Mojo anchored in Crater, along with Irene, Kai Shara and Shoe string, who later in the day headed off back to Richards Bay, South Africa.. Yet again, another night of sundowners on our boat, with the people on the boats just mentioned.... Must say I cannot keep up with drinking so much!! Yet it has been a lot of great fun! Have been getting prepared for our crossing by completing our list of maintenance, like polishing the boat again (cannot believe how abrasive the sea salt is!!)
We arrived early and had Jono drop us off at the jetty and head off on foot to the port control. We were sent to buy our forms at a stationery shop up the road. Then spent the next hour filling in duplicate paperwork for the extensions. It felt as though we were applying for flippen passports with height, colour of eyes, and, and, and! Then we go to the bank to get some money.... What an unbelievable experience! You must put a piece of paper down or your passport and then just wait for the teller to call you!! No one stands in ques. There are lots of pieces of paper all over the tellers table, and people are sitting on the floor, sprawled out on benches, just hanging around waiting!! Man, my patience level was definitely stretched well beyond normal! So, finely when we had walked all over town to get money, pay and get back to the port control to process the paperwork... we are told to come back after three!! Keeping in mind our french is not so good! Actually, hardly even understandable! It is siesta time! Lunch time! So we go back to the boat, where Philip on Abracadabra had come to fetch his kids, as he was organising a pig for a spit on the 29th which was for Jabez�s birthday. So another party was planned and all the yachties were invited! Our kids especially as they had been baby sitting and looking after their kids. So we had coffee and caught up on all the know hows with Philip who has been sailing for many years, and all over the world! What a load of knowledge this man has! If I could write a book!! And so we chattered the siesta time away then headed back to town to get supplies at the market, get the crates of beers for a few yachties and managed to get all our stuff done which was excellent! Then it was time to go back to port control to collect our passports. Well, what a shock to realize you are paying an official off!! It was supposedly money for sending our paperwork to their head office!! Yea right!! How much do their flippen stamps cost!! Yet, we payed and only then did she hand our passports over, with a very big smile! So back to the harbour we go with the taxi. We had radioed the kids to pick us up on the south side of the jetty. Two pack is there with all his kanonies... and they are all chewing on some plant that gives a narcotic effect. Then surprisingly, the taxi driver is not happy with the fare!! So here is two pack speaking to us in english and translating to him in Malagasy. Long story short, he wants us to pay extra for waiting for us at the market!! What the hang do you do when you ask to go to the market?? Just take a scenic drive past??? So we pay and get back to the boat. Lifted anchor and headed for Crater bay just an hour sail from Hell-ville. Too many thefts take place there. They row out to your boat at night and steal outboard motors!! It is the most astounding thing seeing a tiny dhow with an outboard motor hanging off the side!!!! So we headed back in very bumpy seas to Crater hoping to anchor before sunset! It was a race against time!!
25th Sep Crater to Russian Bay Justine�s 16th Birthday
So with two full crates of beers, our banana branch hanging from the bimini, the last minute rush for goodies bought in Dar es salaam, we set off back to Russian bay. Windlass broke again! Managed to fix it with Ralphs help, now we back to the yelling and button technique! Though it is not a problem. I have been skippering and anchoring the boat which to everyone�s surprise has gone fantastically!! And I have been helming without �Fred� our auto pilot. Had fantastic sailing and fishing!! Caught three fish!! Breaks all the fady�s of having bananas on board as you won�t catch any fish!! We caught three biggies!! Anchored, and had Bruce and Birgit arrive for their collection of beer and a visit. Jono was invited by Ralph to go fishing at 4am! He was up and ready before Ralph!! It was quite funny as Ralph points out to Jono where the kingies are, and he catches them!!! Ralph came back empty handed!! Spent the day swimming, snorkelling with Jono and just having a blast! Cleaned both hulls of the boat, and just had a great fun filled day. Justine spend the following day making cup cakes, and banana bread in preparation for her birthday. We spent Justine�s 16th birthday doing every thing she wanted! I made a roast which turned out to be absolutely scrumptious! We played monopoly which turned out to be quite a game! Played 30 seconds and enjoyed all the cookies and cakes we made, keeping her prize cake which I made for last!! It was a flop free double layered chocolate cake with grated chocolate as the topping! Ralph gave Justine a special gift of lots of chocolate!! Later we watched a movie and had a lovely day!! There was not one argument! Not one voice raised, it was pure bliss!! Wanted to spend the next day celebrating her birthday again! Spent the next few days snorkelling, swimming, fishing and having family time. It has been worth it!! Everyone has got back to school and are on track. Chores are done without any hoo-ha and there is a lot more smiles and laughter. Everyone works together cleaning or sailing the boat. It is going extremely well! Jonathan is a lot more confident in the water snorkelling if I am with him. So I am snorkelling a lot more than I imagined and love it! What a blessing to see another world!! These corel heads with all different kinds of fish not even afraid when you swim near them!! Life aboard is great!! All the boats lifted anchor and headed off for Nosy Sakatia... for the birthday party the following day!
28th Sep Nosy Sakatia to Crater
It was a great sail! Good wind!! Had the main up and the Genoa! Anchored in rather strong currents!! And the weather changed! Winds howling, sky black, looked like a big storm!! Had Anne come around and tell us the arrangements for tomorrow. Had a real bad night as everyone was up at different hours checking one the boats as the winds and current were real strong. Had a few boats drag!! Then saw a dhow with people on an empty boat at three in the morning! So it was quite an eventful evening. Turned out to be a really windy, overcast day! The boats that did drag re-anchored. Kids were picked up at 8am and went to a beautiful resort with a swimming pool where they were treated to a fantastic breakfast! There were 12 kids all in all who had a ball! John and I chilled out watching all the excitement at the beach. A few people including the birthday family camped out at the beach. It is a little cove with a cute, small beach. There are some grass houses where the locals live. They cooked the pig on the spit all night, each taking turns to turn the pig. And they all drank a lot having a great time! The kids were ferried back to the beach where we followed with our backpack filled with knives, forks and plates! And of course the THB!! Three Horses Beer! There was plenty food! And the pig tasted delish!! Everyone chattered, laughed, shared, and just enjoyed themselves! The kids were all playing games, swimming, snorkelling and having fun. We got to meet even more yachties! Greg and Willem from Magic, who is also South African. Gavin, Cathy and their three kids from Erica, also South African... The two different couples with kids from Australia... the Quebec couple... It was a wonderful day! Weather turned out to be real nice and everyone had a great time. We decided to go back to Crater for the evening, which was not far - so we said our goodbyes and thank you�s and headed back. With a lot of the yachties we met, they also going over to Kenya and Tanzania around the same time, so maybe we will all meet up later and head out about the same time. Good thing we left Nosy Sakatia as first thing the next morning, we hear on the radio that two of the outboards that were launched on the beach were stolen! A couple had gone to Hell-ville and their outboard was also stolen!! So it is a terrible thing to have your motor stolen! It is not like you have the facilities here to get a new one!! Unless you go and steal one of theirs on the dhows!! Then we hear even worse news!!! A couple were going back to South Africa as one of the parents were ill. They stopped over at Baz to rest and had a few Mozambicans climb on board at knife point and steal whatever they wanted! Everyone is up in arms because of this situation and I can only hope that justice wins!!!
30th Sep Tany Kely
We lifted anchor and headed for Tana Kely. What a fantastic place for snorkelling! Jonathan and myself headed out for the reefs and had the best time ever!! A world that is so awesome!! We followed a turtle and managed to touch him!! A few times... the way he turned his head to look at us was amazing! There were so many fish of all colours!! Man what a blessing!! I just could not get enough of it!! John unfortunately has a problem as he gets water coming into his mask! Then it goes into his nose and is he having a rough time! Then there I am like a pro! Hehehe I wish! Yet I am able to go out and far for hours! So we are trying to come up with a plan that will work for him! There were divers and so many tourist ski boats that you would think you�d be crowded... nope, it was brilliant! And so we had a great lunch on board sharing our excitement about what we saw...then we jumped into the crystal clear water and rubbed the boat down... reluctantly we headed back to Crater bay...
That morning we got to meet Peter and crew member (and doctor) Karen from Shoe string, who had sailed a straight 12 days, 1600 Nautical miles from Chagos to Crater. They had a terrible story of almost losing their boat!! They crashed into corel and holed the boat! Man what a story, they managed to get out just in time, by tying up mattresses around the boat to ease her out! They then were able to pump out most of the water and found a spot to beach her! They were able to fill the hole and some other cracks. Lot all their instruments, motors, and even managed to bend their prop shaft!! So we spent that night on our boat, having sundowners with Ralph, Peter and Karen, listening to all their stories! Wow! Some people have been through stuff I cannot even imagine! And don�t want to!! So it was another night of excitement! And our memories are growing!! The next day we lifted anchor and sailed off to the waterfalls to get fresh water from the river. We anchored out in the most awesome spot! John and I took 4 water bottles, 25 litres each along with the hose-pipe to the beach, while the kids stayed on the boat doing school. We found fresh water running down a slope and put our hose-pipe into the water which tested better than our water maker!! We suntanned, swan and just enjoyed the time while the drums slowly filled up. It was hard work once the drums were full!! We had to carry the dingy back out to the water as low tide had snuck in!! Then we had to carry these heavy drums!! Bottom line we got our water on board and went back to do another load, this time with the drums in the dingy and a bucket to fill them.. While on board, we see a cat coming our way and to our excitement it is Mojo with Graham and Shay. We chatted a while then headed our separate ways... them to anchor further up and us to collect the last of the drums so we can head back. As we were lifting the tender due to bumpy seas, Graham and Shay dingy up to us for a visit. It was great! Headed back just before dark, yet did not make anchoring in the light!! A lot more difficult at night! That morning the kids go off to the village a short walk away and John comes back with this french electronics guy, after dropping the kids at the jetty, to check out some stuff for us. So when the kids radio us to collect them at the jetty, John would normally go, but this time he couldn�t so I decided to fetch them.... keeping in mind that I normally only steer as one of the kids take over so I never got to stop the boat! Well, I start the dingy with no problems and head off for the jetty, passing all the other yachts without hitting any, then start getting closer to the jetty with like six tenders tied to it, and some Malagasy kids swimming right next to the jetty when it hits me.... I don�t know how to stop!!! So I calmly yell to Jono to climb down these dilapidated, remnants of what used to be stairs... (kinda like �bravely� sliding down a banister) So I start to raise my voice a little more to get his attention! I was bargaining that Jono would catch on to my problem, hoping he�d jump over the other tenders onto ours, to assist me in stopping the boat. But of course that doesn�t happen! Peter and Karen from Shoestring are climbing up to get their feet on solid ground, when Peter spots me having a quite moment!! I realize I need to change course and do, just missing one of the kids!!! Peter yells not to panic but to come towards him on low revs.... so I turn around again and head for him, who has just dived back into the boats where he is pushing them apart to make space for me.... again I narrowly miss another kid who is directly in my path!!!! I note Peter covers his eyes expecting me to ride right over him!! Yet, I maneuvered swiftly past him like a pro and came into the place he had shown me without any problems! He told me what to do and boy was it a good seeing this baby stop! I picked the kids up with all the goodies and headed on back to our boat feeling rather chuffed with myself! We get back to the boat, and by now, I need a strong cuppa! So we just about to tie up, when Jono pushes us away and says �Lesson time�, by now I just want to get back onto the boat and relax!! So after fighting a few swells knocking me away from the boat and wetting everyone on board, we get back to tie up where everyone was only to happy to see me on board!! LOL What fun!
The following day, Peter and Yvonne on Forever, and Graham and Shay on Mojo anchored in Crater, along with Irene, Kai Shara and Shoe string, who later in the day headed off back to Richards Bay, South Africa.. Yet again, another night of sundowners on our boat, with the people on the boats just mentioned.... Must say I cannot keep up with drinking so much!! Yet it has been a lot of great fun! Have been getting prepared for our crossing by completing our list of maintenance, like polishing the boat again (cannot believe how abrasive the sea salt is!!)
Posted on Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008, 12:14 AM (UTC 2)
LOG 22 Mayotte then off to Mozambique
2007/10/0 2007/10/30
As you already know it is quite a big story with the paperwork wherever you go and so resigned ourselves to a full day of running around. We were off to find Customs after the Port Captain, which was very close. Yet again, we were greeted warmly.
What a nice feeling having people be so nice! Then off to the immigration, which is the police. They too were extra nice as they realized we would not get signed in as it was Friday and some places closed early, so they faxed our documents to the visa department who gave us special permission to be able to leave the boat for the weekend! Wow! The people were over friendly, and genuine at that! So we slowed down, went on the ferry across to Mamoudzou and strolled around all the shops. Then we found a shop �Snie �, kinda like a Checkers or Pick and Pay and were shocked at how expensive everything was! My gosh! So we looked but could not resist the Cornito ice-creams! We bought a pack of six, then sat in a run down park with the locals savouring every mouth full!! What a grand moment in the very hot sun! Then sent the kids back to the shop to get another six Cornito�s! Man was it fantastic in such a hot and humid place!! How great it was spoiling ourselves like that! Had a great weekend checking things out and just enjoying this lovely place! Then comes Monday and John and I are run over by Jono with the tender so we can �run!�to catch the ferry by 8am! The heat here is unbelievable! We caught the ferry on time and rushed off to the Prefecture where we had to wait in line! A looooooooooooong line! Like our home affairs! All the folk who had been there early got a number and so we had to wait to the last one with a number had been helped! Spoke to a guy from Congo who has immigrated here, or rather in the process of the procedure and was kind enough to give us the low down of what we had to do. We managed after waiting a good long time to get to the prefecture and he gave us papers to fill in, then we had to go get stamps from Labattoir, and according to them, go back to the boat, chill out and come back tomorrow! �Tomorrow� I ask..... ��h no! Not tomorrow... must be today as the Porta Da Captain e� is waiting to see us by 5 o�clock TODAY! His eyes open wide, and repeats to me the Port Da Captain e� wants it all done today - �OUI � I say as we walk out with directions to get the � Uba � so off we go with Allan this Congo guy, as he showed us where to go. We land up at what you would call the Receiver of Revenue, which is completely wrong! So now we look for a taxi to share and so were on our way to Labattoir where we find the Tressor which is the Treasury. We pay for our stamps for the visa�s and in euro�s! Then we start walking along this long road hoping to catch a taxi back! This �colourful� guy stops and gives us a lift back to the Prefecture! Free of charge! He is an English and French teacher. Studied in England and has been in Mayotte for ten years now. Really a free spirited kind of guy. These people get double salary to stay on the island... well, he said there was not much to do on the island if you lived here... anyhow, we managed to get back to the Prefecture hot, sweaty and out of breath, and just in time before �ciesta!� which I might add, was a surprise to the Prefecture as he did not expect us back in such a hurry! So with our visa�s in order and all our paperwork done, we radio the kids on the boat to catch a ferry across and meet us there. Did a touch up on our stocks, then it was off to the Port Captain e� to hand our final paper in! The rain has surprised us as it shows how far into the season we are! So it is time to leave and soon! Yet, not before we went around the island!! So we headed off for �lle Bande�le�. Archibald, Le Barca and Erica were also there. This island has lots of cliffs and caves which we had to explore. Lots of turtles are all over the anchorage and it is so cute! Finely we completed the island and had Pierre and Veronique come for sundowners which went real great! The following day, we went to Ronabe�ja Bay where you can climb Mt Choungui. Only problem was, we ran into a squall!! And a double one at that. So here we all were keeping watch if any vessel came through the South side, as it was very misty. Justine and myself stood on deck with our costumes, washing our hair in the pouring rain! Jessica and Jono also were on deck and having a lot of fun blowing the fog horn! We managed to fill our water tanks which was so exciting!! Then there was M�Zouazia Bay, Baie de Soulous, Iles Choazil, Ile M�Zamboro, and Re�if Vaucluse. We anchored for the night at Kani Bay which was so cute! Went to the town to get begets which was such a treat! Sadly we could not stop off at the waterfall, or climb the mountain... or go to the other Islands as the rain was pelting down, and the waves had picked up. Being overcast too, we realized it was just not our luck to explore all the islands just yet. We arrived back in time before dark. Spent the next day cleaning the boat, washed off some barnacles and got ourselves prepared for our crossing on Monday. Went to the Port Captain, Customs and Immigration to sign out, and were ready to have a great sail off to Mozambique then off to Tanzania! As we were expecting South Easters we were set to have nice light winds. Unfortunately Papagena had to get an element for their fridge which broke, so they could not leave along with us.
As you already know it is quite a big story with the paperwork wherever you go and so resigned ourselves to a full day of running around. We were off to find Customs after the Port Captain, which was very close. Yet again, we were greeted warmly.
What a nice feeling having people be so nice! Then off to the immigration, which is the police. They too were extra nice as they realized we would not get signed in as it was Friday and some places closed early, so they faxed our documents to the visa department who gave us special permission to be able to leave the boat for the weekend! Wow! The people were over friendly, and genuine at that! So we slowed down, went on the ferry across to Mamoudzou and strolled around all the shops. Then we found a shop �Snie �, kinda like a Checkers or Pick and Pay and were shocked at how expensive everything was! My gosh! So we looked but could not resist the Cornito ice-creams! We bought a pack of six, then sat in a run down park with the locals savouring every mouth full!! What a grand moment in the very hot sun! Then sent the kids back to the shop to get another six Cornito�s! Man was it fantastic in such a hot and humid place!! How great it was spoiling ourselves like that! Had a great weekend checking things out and just enjoying this lovely place! Then comes Monday and John and I are run over by Jono with the tender so we can �run!�to catch the ferry by 8am! The heat here is unbelievable! We caught the ferry on time and rushed off to the Prefecture where we had to wait in line! A looooooooooooong line! Like our home affairs! All the folk who had been there early got a number and so we had to wait to the last one with a number had been helped! Spoke to a guy from Congo who has immigrated here, or rather in the process of the procedure and was kind enough to give us the low down of what we had to do. We managed after waiting a good long time to get to the prefecture and he gave us papers to fill in, then we had to go get stamps from Labattoir, and according to them, go back to the boat, chill out and come back tomorrow! �Tomorrow� I ask..... ��h no! Not tomorrow... must be today as the Porta Da Captain e� is waiting to see us by 5 o�clock TODAY! His eyes open wide, and repeats to me the Port Da Captain e� wants it all done today - �OUI � I say as we walk out with directions to get the � Uba � so off we go with Allan this Congo guy, as he showed us where to go. We land up at what you would call the Receiver of Revenue, which is completely wrong! So now we look for a taxi to share and so were on our way to Labattoir where we find the Tressor which is the Treasury. We pay for our stamps for the visa�s and in euro�s! Then we start walking along this long road hoping to catch a taxi back! This �colourful� guy stops and gives us a lift back to the Prefecture! Free of charge! He is an English and French teacher. Studied in England and has been in Mayotte for ten years now. Really a free spirited kind of guy. These people get double salary to stay on the island... well, he said there was not much to do on the island if you lived here... anyhow, we managed to get back to the Prefecture hot, sweaty and out of breath, and just in time before �ciesta!� which I might add, was a surprise to the Prefecture as he did not expect us back in such a hurry! So with our visa�s in order and all our paperwork done, we radio the kids on the boat to catch a ferry across and meet us there. Did a touch up on our stocks, then it was off to the Port Captain e� to hand our final paper in! The rain has surprised us as it shows how far into the season we are! So it is time to leave and soon! Yet, not before we went around the island!! So we headed off for �lle Bande�le�. Archibald, Le Barca and Erica were also there. This island has lots of cliffs and caves which we had to explore. Lots of turtles are all over the anchorage and it is so cute! Finely we completed the island and had Pierre and Veronique come for sundowners which went real great! The following day, we went to Ronabe�ja Bay where you can climb Mt Choungui. Only problem was, we ran into a squall!! And a double one at that. So here we all were keeping watch if any vessel came through the South side, as it was very misty. Justine and myself stood on deck with our costumes, washing our hair in the pouring rain! Jessica and Jono also were on deck and having a lot of fun blowing the fog horn! We managed to fill our water tanks which was so exciting!! Then there was M�Zouazia Bay, Baie de Soulous, Iles Choazil, Ile M�Zamboro, and Re�if Vaucluse. We anchored for the night at Kani Bay which was so cute! Went to the town to get begets which was such a treat! Sadly we could not stop off at the waterfall, or climb the mountain... or go to the other Islands as the rain was pelting down, and the waves had picked up. Being overcast too, we realized it was just not our luck to explore all the islands just yet. We arrived back in time before dark. Spent the next day cleaning the boat, washed off some barnacles and got ourselves prepared for our crossing on Monday. Went to the Port Captain, Customs and Immigration to sign out, and were ready to have a great sail off to Mozambique then off to Tanzania! As we were expecting South Easters we were set to have nice light winds. Unfortunately Papagena had to get an element for their fridge which broke, so they could not leave along with us.
Posted on Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008, 12:16 AM (UTC 2)
LOG 23
Nosy Komba, Mamoka, Kissy-Manie, Russian Bay to Crater
2007/10/6 2007/10/11
Then we were off to do the �circuit�as it is apparently known... LOL Went to Nosy Komba and anchored with Erica and Papagena. What a rolly and windy night we had! Felt like we were dragging permanently!! At one stage we were, but not bad.... went to the Lemur Park where we went to feed the lemur�s. How fantastic! These cute little things! Their fingers are so soft and their babies born in September hang on for dear life!! It was great seeing tortoises�s that were ancient and so old that still moved! Yet very tame! And the chameleons!! They have so many kinds here. Some are black which look like kaleidoscopes with their designs and colours! The contrasts are amazing! So it was a great day all in all. Then the following day it was off to Mamoka, which had the most astounding and awesome setting! So picturesque! We anchored there with Irene who came for sundowners and brought a traditional Malagasy snack of raw mangoes dabbed in a pinch of salt then in a pinch of curry powder. Quite an unusual taste, yet surprisingly nice. That night, about 10:30 / 11:00 we heard this strange noise, getting louder... there were so many people snorkelling along the side of the cliff which was quite a sight with these strange flashing lights under the water in a pitch black night! Apparently, the men of the village do snorkel at night as that is the only time to catch sea cucumbers... quite a sight and quite a noise! Yet very exciting watching out for little lights to see in this dark night where they were! Then it was off to Kissy -Manie, which was an infestation of mosquitoes!! Had a feast on the fish caught by Jono!! Real mouth watering when you have not had for a few days! There are no beach spots to walk on when the tide is in as they get covered right up to the mangroves. So it was rather strange seeing a few small beach coves, then when you looked again they were gone!. We then headed back to Russian bay to meet up with Kai Shara, who had left early that morning. There were so many campers on the beach this time that we enjoyed all the excitement. Everyone was up by 4:30 that morning to close all the hatches because of a rain squall! It rained so hard we could not believe it! Even the campers were up sitting hunched together on the shore waiting for the boats to pick them up!! Obviously saturated as it rained so hard! The sky was black even when sunrise came, yet beautiful!! There was this stunning rainbow going from one side of the mountain through the clouds right to the other side which was breathtaking!
Then we were off to do the �circuit�as it is apparently known... LOL Went to Nosy Komba and anchored with Erica and Papagena. What a rolly and windy night we had! Felt like we were dragging permanently!! At one stage we were, but not bad.... went to the Lemur Park where we went to feed the lemur�s. How fantastic! These cute little things! Their fingers are so soft and their babies born in September hang on for dear life!! It was great seeing tortoises�s that were ancient and so old that still moved! Yet very tame! And the chameleons!! They have so many kinds here. Some are black which look like kaleidoscopes with their designs and colours! The contrasts are amazing! So it was a great day all in all. Then the following day it was off to Mamoka, which had the most astounding and awesome setting! So picturesque! We anchored there with Irene who came for sundowners and brought a traditional Malagasy snack of raw mangoes dabbed in a pinch of salt then in a pinch of curry powder. Quite an unusual taste, yet surprisingly nice. That night, about 10:30 / 11:00 we heard this strange noise, getting louder... there were so many people snorkelling along the side of the cliff which was quite a sight with these strange flashing lights under the water in a pitch black night! Apparently, the men of the village do snorkel at night as that is the only time to catch sea cucumbers... quite a sight and quite a noise! Yet very exciting watching out for little lights to see in this dark night where they were! Then it was off to Kissy -Manie, which was an infestation of mosquitoes!! Had a feast on the fish caught by Jono!! Real mouth watering when you have not had for a few days! There are no beach spots to walk on when the tide is in as they get covered right up to the mangroves. So it was rather strange seeing a few small beach coves, then when you looked again they were gone!. We then headed back to Russian bay to meet up with Kai Shara, who had left early that morning. There were so many campers on the beach this time that we enjoyed all the excitement. Everyone was up by 4:30 that morning to close all the hatches because of a rain squall! It rained so hard we could not believe it! Even the campers were up sitting hunched together on the shore waiting for the boats to pick them up!! Obviously saturated as it rained so hard! The sky was black even when sunrise came, yet beautiful!! There was this stunning rainbow going from one side of the mountain through the clouds right to the other side which was breathtaking!
Posted on Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008, 12:18 AM (UTC 2)
LOG 24 Last days at Madagascar before our trip to Mayotte
2007/10/11 2007/10/16
We lifted anchor in the rain which was fantastic, and headed back to Crater to prepare for our re-stocking and filling up on diesel and petrol. It was so great! The sun came out and John and I both put the main sail up by our selves! Normally we all pull it up. We were so proud that we did it without any help from the kids and so easily!! Had a wonderful sail back. Big rolling swells, yet calm... Were greeted by fellow yachties on our arrival which is always nice! Had a great day working with the kids, having Ralph over, assisting Justine with her baking which she is so good at! Then went for sundowners at Ralphs with Justine�s delicious banana tart!
Went for sundowners to Mojo with Kaishara, which was a real treat after decanting all our diesel! Sadly Peter from Forever had a really serious kidney infection and was down a few days, yet is on antibiotics and on the road to recovery. A few boats have left for Mayotte and lot of others are still enjoying the last of the season. Been so busy running around sorting everything out and stocking up that we stayed over at Hellville to make things easier. Signing out went smoothly, yet what a night of anchor watch! John and I slept in the cockpit due to it being so hot and humid, and three times I had a dream of someone telling me to �Wake Up!�, �Wake Up!� And every time I got up, John still snoring, their were these dhows paddling slowly up to the boat!! On all three occasions! So tonight we are off to Crater to get a good night�s rest for our trip to Mayotte early tomorrow morning, along with Kaishara. Madagascar will be remembered and treasured for along time. We realize more than ever how blessed we have been! God has been so good to us! The sights we have seen! The people we have met! The things we have done, has been so enriching and refreshing for our souls! There are not enough words to describe what we have gained out of this sailing adventure so far!
We lifted anchor in the rain which was fantastic, and headed back to Crater to prepare for our re-stocking and filling up on diesel and petrol. It was so great! The sun came out and John and I both put the main sail up by our selves! Normally we all pull it up. We were so proud that we did it without any help from the kids and so easily!! Had a wonderful sail back. Big rolling swells, yet calm... Were greeted by fellow yachties on our arrival which is always nice! Had a great day working with the kids, having Ralph over, assisting Justine with her baking which she is so good at! Then went for sundowners at Ralphs with Justine�s delicious banana tart!
Went for sundowners to Mojo with Kaishara, which was a real treat after decanting all our diesel! Sadly Peter from Forever had a really serious kidney infection and was down a few days, yet is on antibiotics and on the road to recovery. A few boats have left for Mayotte and lot of others are still enjoying the last of the season. Been so busy running around sorting everything out and stocking up that we stayed over at Hellville to make things easier. Signing out went smoothly, yet what a night of anchor watch! John and I slept in the cockpit due to it being so hot and humid, and three times I had a dream of someone telling me to �Wake Up!�, �Wake Up!� And every time I got up, John still snoring, their were these dhows paddling slowly up to the boat!! On all three occasions! So tonight we are off to Crater to get a good night�s rest for our trip to Mayotte early tomorrow morning, along with Kaishara. Madagascar will be remembered and treasured for along time. We realize more than ever how blessed we have been! God has been so good to us! The sights we have seen! The people we have met! The things we have done, has been so enriching and refreshing for our souls! There are not enough words to describe what we have gained out of this sailing adventure so far!
Posted on Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008, 12:21 AM (UTC 2)
LOG 25 Mayotte
2007/10/17
With everyone excited, we lifted anchor at 4:30am on the 17th October.... along with Kaishara and were amazed that with a fantastic sunrise, we could see the bottom of the ocean which at that stage was 18 metres! Stunning! Then it dropped back off to over 2000 metres then over 3000... We put the gen out, delighted to be able to sail, then it came down as the wind changed, right on the nose! Then there was no wind.... so we motored quite a way, then out came the main sail and the gen, and again down it came and so this went on for most of our two day trip. We sorted out our night shift routine and were happy to have John and I both doing 4 hours and the kids three hours each. During the day we all took turns, so it wasn�t too bad for all of us. Justine and I played back gammon while everyone was asleep, then we saw this ball of light coming towards us and at quite a speed! Kinda makes you a little worried when you cannot see exactly where they are going as the moon had set!! We woke John up and Jono got up too not wanting to miss the excitement of what this thing was! Turns out looking through the binocs, that it was a cruising ship which had lights everywhere! You could clearly see the shape of the ship! The Christmas boat as we then called it, lit up the area so nicely! We passed rather closely and admired the decor! Then the excitement faded and we were back to our game. We were all up before 6:00 am, as we were going through a rather bumpy patch and could see a squall on it�s way! Deciding to outrun it, we changed course and realized there was no way around it! And so prepared ourselves for what lay ahead... Kaishara also got prepared and pulled down all his sails. With such black clouds and seeing the disturbance in the water where the squall was, it was better to have no sails up. Man what a moment! The rain pelted down so hard with such big drops that you could hardly see in front of you!! The wind instantly picked up and the swells!! My gosh!! For just a short stretch the waves instantly became longer and higher! The tops were breaking off due to the strong winds, yet it was only in that band where the rain squall was. We were drenched! Totally ecstatic! It was such an exhilarating and thrilling moment! Watched Kaishara right behind us come out of it and what a sight! Here we are under blue skies and calm waters, and here is Kaishara in long rolling swells, pouring rain and strong winds!! Wow! Could see Mayotte in the distance and slowed down to around 3 knots as we were not going to make anchor during daylight, and so got there just as dawn was breaking. What a breathtaking moment! Right in front of the boat was a massive whale with her calf, breaching right out the water! It was awesome!! Apparently they have trips for tourists to view the whales training and nurturing their babies... honestly such a treat to see! The whole island is naturally surrounded by a barrier reef enclosing and sheltering a lagoon. Mayotte is beautiful! Such a pretty place! It is a curling ridge of low volcanic hills and rock islands. The people are predominantly Muslim. Most of the french are at Dzaoudzi also known as Petite Terre. Then there is the main island, Grande Terre, which is called Mamoudzou. There are ferries every half hour connecting Dzaoudzi and Mamoudzou. The People with work are well paid by African standards and large families without work are very well supported. There are quite a few African refugees living on this stunning island. We expected to be turned away as we did not have a visa, yet surprisingly were welcomed warmly! The Port Captain sounded so harsh on the radio, we were gob-smacked at how friendly, kind and helpful he was when we met him.
With everyone excited, we lifted anchor at 4:30am on the 17th October.... along with Kaishara and were amazed that with a fantastic sunrise, we could see the bottom of the ocean which at that stage was 18 metres! Stunning! Then it dropped back off to over 2000 metres then over 3000... We put the gen out, delighted to be able to sail, then it came down as the wind changed, right on the nose! Then there was no wind.... so we motored quite a way, then out came the main sail and the gen, and again down it came and so this went on for most of our two day trip. We sorted out our night shift routine and were happy to have John and I both doing 4 hours and the kids three hours each. During the day we all took turns, so it wasn�t too bad for all of us. Justine and I played back gammon while everyone was asleep, then we saw this ball of light coming towards us and at quite a speed! Kinda makes you a little worried when you cannot see exactly where they are going as the moon had set!! We woke John up and Jono got up too not wanting to miss the excitement of what this thing was! Turns out looking through the binocs, that it was a cruising ship which had lights everywhere! You could clearly see the shape of the ship! The Christmas boat as we then called it, lit up the area so nicely! We passed rather closely and admired the decor! Then the excitement faded and we were back to our game. We were all up before 6:00 am, as we were going through a rather bumpy patch and could see a squall on it�s way! Deciding to outrun it, we changed course and realized there was no way around it! And so prepared ourselves for what lay ahead... Kaishara also got prepared and pulled down all his sails. With such black clouds and seeing the disturbance in the water where the squall was, it was better to have no sails up. Man what a moment! The rain pelted down so hard with such big drops that you could hardly see in front of you!! The wind instantly picked up and the swells!! My gosh!! For just a short stretch the waves instantly became longer and higher! The tops were breaking off due to the strong winds, yet it was only in that band where the rain squall was. We were drenched! Totally ecstatic! It was such an exhilarating and thrilling moment! Watched Kaishara right behind us come out of it and what a sight! Here we are under blue skies and calm waters, and here is Kaishara in long rolling swells, pouring rain and strong winds!! Wow! Could see Mayotte in the distance and slowed down to around 3 knots as we were not going to make anchor during daylight, and so got there just as dawn was breaking. What a breathtaking moment! Right in front of the boat was a massive whale with her calf, breaching right out the water! It was awesome!! Apparently they have trips for tourists to view the whales training and nurturing their babies... honestly such a treat to see! The whole island is naturally surrounded by a barrier reef enclosing and sheltering a lagoon. Mayotte is beautiful! Such a pretty place! It is a curling ridge of low volcanic hills and rock islands. The people are predominantly Muslim. Most of the french are at Dzaoudzi also known as Petite Terre. Then there is the main island, Grande Terre, which is called Mamoudzou. There are ferries every half hour connecting Dzaoudzi and Mamoudzou. The People with work are well paid by African standards and large families without work are very well supported. There are quite a few African refugees living on this stunning island. We expected to be turned away as we did not have a visa, yet surprisingly were welcomed warmly! The Port Captain sounded so harsh on the radio, we were gob-smacked at how friendly, kind and helpful he was when we met him.
Posted on Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008, 12:22 AM (UTC 2)
LOG 26 Left Mayotte For Mozambique and Tanzania
2007/11/3 2007/12/8
We left at 14:30pm and had permission to leave out the South end of the channel, which cuts off about 4 to 5 hours sailing! Just as well as a two day sail lasted almost 4 days!! We had a 2.5 knot current against us! Looked as though we would never pass the Comoran Islands! Wind was right on the nose, yet hardly any thing to talk about! The first night however was a run and the swells came fast and hard right up the stern! Quite a night yet we never gained much ground! Unfortunately John came down with a nasty pain, he had earache, or we thought he did, so we gave him the swimmers ear drops which we got from Erica, which helped. Then it was toothache, then we think it was his sinus... so we tried treating the earache, then the toothache, and then the sinus... and so it went.... so he was having rather a rough time. Eventually we gave him a dose of antibiotics and cat, and I gave him melted vicks in boiling water with a towel over his head to breath in, hoping it would clear the sinus, which all together seemed to have done the trick. Yet we need to get to a doctor to check out what the problem is. Another flare up while travelling is really painful and terrible! So the evening shifts were split up to give John more hours sleep while we played back gammon, messed around with the sails which was quite exciting! We managed to make our own wind! And gain another .4 or .5 of a knot! The next few days were so calm! It was like sailing on a pain of glass! Absolutely awesome! The different colours of the ocean are so stunning, one could never imagine it unless you see it! And the sounds! Also, with the moon only rising at about 10 or 11 at night, you see the most indescribable galaxy! Then it seems all the sea creatures under water come to life!!! The phosphorescent burst with light in such awesome displays!! Yet when the moon rises, the galaxy doesn�t shine as bright, and the sea life seems to slow down... back to stillness. We were so excited to see land! We finely put anchor next to Kaishara in the Querimbas archipelago.
�Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the places and moments that take our a breath away.� And the one I love the best ...�So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour, catch the trade winds in your sails, explore, dream and discover!�
This stretch of coastline is beautiful! Somehow I find Mozambique far more beautiful than Madagascar! The reefs we have snorkelled is so abundant with small sea life... yet not bigger sea life, guess that is why the tiger shark stays at the unspoilt reefs! These islands are so pretty for us! Ilha Matemo, which is S 12∘ 12` and E 40∘ 33` was real amazing with the different shades of blue. The white sands just added the touch to an exotic, beautiful Island. Then it was off to Ilha Macaloe� which is S 11∘ 58` and E 40∘ 33` which is picturesque with a full history! We took a self tour of the island which has the ruins of an old Arab fort on it. The out buildings also in ruins were used as a prison, and a fishery. The flies were wild! So many and so irritating! You dare not open your mouth in amazement!! And so we opted not to have a braai on the beach for Jonathan�s 14th birthday! Ralph had lent Jonathan a spear gun and so had taken him out a few times to teach him. So with much excitement, and delight, Jonathan actually speared his first fish! It was a parrot fish, beautiful in colour! And so we grilled his fish for his birthday with a lot of help from Ralph and the family! Our birthday cake was a close disaster! First, we had no cocoa, or vanilla essence... The eggs were few and almost off! And so it went, the cake burned, got stuck fell apart, and made the challenge even more difficult! We put more cinnamon than was needed and then had to add stuff to change the strong taste!!! End result.... the new recipe of our own creation surprisingly was a cake that was delicious! We went snorkelling in the morning which was fun and so exciting! Then we all went to celebrate the day on the boat having roast chicken for lunch and of course, Jono�s parrot fish for supper. We played board games, laughed, and had a great day! Unfortunately for John, the sweet delights took hold and he was having a really rough time! The worst yet! We tried the clove oil, pain meds, cataflam and anything we could think of to help, though we still do not know if it is tooth ace, ear ache, or sinus!! So after all the meds took effect he had a good night sleep and felt fine the next morning.... yet the gnawing of pain was a problem, and we were hoping to see Mojo and spend a little time with them before we all parted ways, yet with John deteriorating with pain and a bit of swelling, we decided we were going to lift anchor early and set off to Ilha Quissanga for the night ready to leave early the next morning for a six to eight hour sail on to Mocimboa da Praia which has the medical centre. Then John woke up feeling great! So we decided to stay the day and wait for Mojo to at least say goodbye before we left. We have been listening on the radio of where they are and were getting quite excited! And so Mojo arrived to our delight! And to Kai Shara�s! It was so nice to see them! Somehow from Madagascar to Mayotte, we have been missing each other by hours! We go around the Island when they arrive... then they go around the Island when we leave... not good timing, yet, now there was no where we would go until we all got together and had a good cuppa which we were now pretty low on... (being coffee addicts has its downfalls!) Yet not to worry, it was real nice having them visit! I have been blessed to have been given some of Shay�s recipes which has been tried and tested by this whole family and thoroughly enjoyed! So we shared a nice time together, sadly said our goodbyes, as we were to leave early the next morning to get a good head start. Hardly slept and it was time to get up! Watched a great sunrise! Waited for the sun to come up a bit so we could navigate and see the hidden bommies. Then Mojo came with their tender to say goodbye and came with a gift! What excitement when Shay and Graham handed �ME�(Hehe) a bottle of Nescafe� coffee!! Thankful and feeling blessed doesn�t come close to how I felt! Since then we have savoured every cup and thought about Mojo and how they touched our lives in the short while we knew them. Had a great sail to a little anchorage just a few hours sail from Mocimboa da Praia. Managed to catch two barracuda! Gutted and cleaned them both ready for a scrumptious fish supper! Unfortunately we all rethought about eating the barracuda! Then the decision was to give them to the locals! Because barracuda eat reef fish, you never know which one doesn�t carry the ciguatera. So we decided we did not want to chance getting sick or dying!! The locals were thrilled!! They packed up then and their and were paddling home!! So we settled for some soup and toast which was just what we needed! The wind picked up - the swells turned into waves! What a night!! It was the roughest, rockiest, and rolliest anchorage we had ever been at! The boat was jumping out that water! And so we were all awake most of the night. Yet again having to check that nothing gets stolen. Unfortunately that is a reality in these beautiful parts! And they are beautiful! The colours of the ocean, crystal clear turquoise colour inside a deep dark purple set against white sands can sometimes take your breath away! Seeing the bottom of the ocean floor can get no closer to crystal clear! We spoke with some of the locals and decided we were going to give this hospital a miss! John seemed to be doing better and so we decided to push to Tanzania! There are a few anchorages along the way, so we thought we would see how it all went and if we would sail through the night or stop for the night. But with such good winds there was no way we were stopping!! We had the main and the Jenny out! Going full guns! It was fantastic! We were up to 6.9 knots with a 12 knot wind. Brilliant! No motoring! We wanted to start telling people we were a power boat and not a sailing vessel!! So we carried on and passed all the anchorages going into some rough seas which were thrilling seeing how our baby moved! Got some great pics of the spray going over the boat as we plunged into those waves! The swells were short and choppy yet were rather big... will not even attempt to tell you in metres! John will tell you 2 metres, the kids and I will tell you three maybe occasionally a four! Yet they were big and thrilling! Also we had about a knot and a half to two knots against us! That was going around the corner of Cabo Delgardo. Then it all changed! The seas became smooth, and we were down to about five knots when we noticed another sailing vessel coming south of us. It was Billy skippering Forever back to Durban!! We chatted on the VHF. How great it was to see her flying at eight knots!! She moved passed us as they also had the current going with them! Then we knew around the next bend we would have the current with us as they had a problem coming down as the current was against them! And so we turned the corner and Voila!! Perfect! We had such good sailing! Both sails were out, good current with us and for the rest of the time it was great! we went through a few big squalls which were heading to land, got wet a touch but quite refreshing actually. Then at day break we were heading into Matwara Bay. Only problem as we casually raced down the channel was that the depth went so low we would land up grounding! So we backtracked and realized the sand bank had moved! The alarms were going off permanently! The chart was out! We were sailing on land!! So here Jono is up the mast, and I am typing in the points on the chart and wow! What a clean and pretty place. We had finely reached Tanzania! Having not slept at all and having such a bad night before, we were all rather tired. We came into such a pretty bay! There were baobabs, pretty pathways, and lots of coconuts! Even though exhausted, John and I went into the Port to sign in, so we could find a hospital! The gnawing pain of pressure was threatening! So quick and easy it was! The officials ever so friendly and polite! It was really wonderful! Clean streets, paved, man were we feeling nostalgic! Then when the formalities were done, except for Port Control who did not work on a Saturday, we headed off into town on foot! I wanna tell you, this is the most oddly set out town ever! This town is spread out all over the place!! So we did a very fast walk about two to three miles into town, running with perspiration as the heat is just so over bearing, to the bank, which we then find, only closes at one. If only we knew that beforehand! We exchanged money. Bought cashews, a big bag, which were such a treat! Then to our delight, we find that Tanzania is the exporter of 45 000 tons of cashew nuts per annum! What an excitement! They are everywhere and sell for about R30 a kilo which is not too bad! And fresh! So you know what we are going to stock up on! We then walked a few more k�s to find a hospital, gave up and decided to take a tuk, tuk (open motorbike tricycle with a hood?) to the market which was such a good idea as it was easy six k�s!! We rushed into the market, and I chose what I wanted while John would pay then I�d go off to the next stall and get other stuff and John would catch up and pay for that as the taxi man didn�t want to wait too long or we would pay extra, so I go to the next stall and find I cannot get to the front as there are all these sacks in the way so I decide to stand on the top of them... only to find to my greatest embarrassment, all these onions popping out the sides and rolling down the alleys! I stood on all the stored onions which they layer with these large sack cloth! So while I was laughing hysterically, totally wanting a little hole to crawl into, all the locals around the other stalls were running to collect the roll-a-ways!! Even the tuk tuk taxi man laughed!! Onions!! Then, with all our goodies, we were off to the hospital, which was another easy 6 k�s in the other direction, on the other side of town!
We filled in a form, paid about R12.00 in our money and were sent to a room down the hall. A doctor came in, who spoke english, like most of the folk here which was so nice especially when explaining that John had badly infected sinus from bacteria in the water. Also because of the swelling, he was under the impression that John would have developed meningitis if not treated rather soon . His whole right side of the face was swollen! Red and sore. Everything, ear, nose, throat, head and nape of his neck on the right side were affected. We explained all the therapy�s we had given and tried, which to our delight were correct! EXCEPT THE VICK�S IN BOILING WATER!! Apparently, being in the tropics is another thing! You cannot use certain methods you would in cold or sub tropic regions! The hot water only helps the bacteria to multiply and that is why John got worse! There are also some antibiotics you cannot use here! So it was quite an interesting time talking to this doctor about all the different things that were different to where we come from. So he was put onto Penicillin for a few days and hopefully the problem would be solved. As we separate ways, John off to get the meds at the hospital pharmacy, I go out to the tuk-tuk... I walk into this man that is covered in blood! Looks like this ear has been chewed off! What a shocking state he was in! Apparently he stole something small and the locals beat him up and called the police which took him to the hospital!! What a shocking reality! So the thought occurred that they deal harshly with thieves!! Finely came back to the boat with all our goodies to find it sparkling and cleaned by the kids while we were away. Spent the rest of the day chilling, playing games and just enjoying. We went to bed quite early to catch up on some well needed sleep, then around two in the morning, we were all buzzing around closing all the hatches as the rain pelted down! Our duvet was wet so we could not use it, but thanks to the 31 degrees, so we didn�t have to worry about covering up! Sunday we spoke to Kai Shara and were expecting him to arrive either late that evening or sunrise the following morning. So we burned our rubbish on the beach, cleaned up, watched movies, and just chilled! John has had a release in pressure with the headache, so he is thrilled the tabs are working, even the swelling seems to be slightly less. Kai Shara arrived quite early in the afternoon and so we were nicely surprised. We all caught up on how our trips had been and all the extra bits of excitement we have been faced with. Shared a meal together and some coffee as John was on the antibiotics and could not drink. Later that night, Ralph goes off to his boat to get a good nights rest, and our family all sit up doing the crosswords. Then another, and another, till it was past twelve! Midnight! So everyone goes off to bed, and lights go out. Yet I am so bothered! Really bothered! Just a strange, airy, feeling! I pray, yet still toss and turn and cannot sleep! Then I hear voices outside and wonder why the locals are out fishing this time of night! I get out of bed and decide to do a crossword just to calm myself down. I switch the light on, sit down and notice it is only 1:30 in the morning. Next thing I hear loud on the VHF �BLUEMOON, BLUEMOON THIS IS KAI SHARA� .... Looking at the time again, I thought maybe Ralph had noticed someone on our boat, so I dash to wake John then we answer after the second, more anxious call. Apparently two guys had just stolen Ralphs outboard. There boat had bumped into his and so he woke up and put the light on. These guys got a fright and dropped the outboard which hit the dhow then went straight into the water!! 15 to 20 metres. They then swam off past his stern to the bank on the opposite side. We lowered the dingy and were out into the water within 5! Searched the area, then scanned the shore. Found the dugout they were using, then pulled it up onto our boat with the halyard! Could not find them anywhere. So being all fired up, the whole family was awake scouting the area, so no-one was going to sleep now! Here we have their dug out canoe hanging up the mast and on our trampoline, and they out there seeing we have it! Maybe they come back to get it, so we arm ourselves, discuss different scenario�s so that if we are faced with a situation, we won�t bludgeon someone to death because of fear! Yet, no more excitement except their paddle which was floating past which is a palm stem. When dawn broke which was around four fifteen, there were two other dugouts floating around. Talking to them was like shooting bullets through a brick wall! Around eight am, John and Ralph goes in so Ralph can sign in, and John goes to Port captain to sign in with him and they report the matter of the stolen out-board. The Port control says he is surprised we never got hurt!! They are known to use violence!! The guy who climbed onto Kai Shara had a knife to cut the cords attaching the motor! Up to date, we never had the police come out to see or get the evidence! No formal paperwork was done. Nothing. And here we sit with this dug out on our boat! Later, we move anchor to the other side of the bay which is also pretty and very calm. No problems for the night there. So following morning we decide to come closer to port so we can go into town to buy a few more goodies from town, fill up with gas, get some diesel so we can move out the bay to another anchorage 20 miles out. When in town, hardly even got there, the wind is picking up, and te current is pushing. So we do not finish all we have to do, rather we go back to the boat to get the drums to do a diesel run. Kai Shara had dragged as we are anchored in shale! So Kai Shara moves on to the anchorage on the other side of the bay, the one we stayed at the night previously. John and Jono go for a diesel run, only to find the taxi did not wait for them! They have to walk quite a distance with six 25l drums! The wind howling by now, we are rocking and rolling, waves pounding oven the swim platform!! Managed to keep the boat from riding over it�s own anchor, got the guys on board and headed back to our anchorage along with Ralf. Whew! Quite a challenge with such strong winds and current! Ralph made us two loaves of bread which was real tasty! Nice surprise! Cleaned up, got things in order and planned for an early start the following morning for the anchorage 20 miles out. So at 4 am we were up, dressed and ready to lift anchor. Found after going out the bay, that we could not sail the Genoa, due to the dug out being in the way!! So we went back into the channel and let the dug out loose! Because of the strong current, it carried the dug out to shore. Then we were off again into bumpy rolly seas. Managed to get both sails out, and have a great sail diverting course to sea to get the winds. Arrived at Mnazi bay outside a gas plant! Were invited for supper with Grant What a fantastic evening we had! We had a buffet which was delicious! Learned a lot about all the in�s and outs of gas! Really wonderful people and a fantastic evening! Next day we were off on a tour of the Island. Gas is supplied to a few towns here in Tanzania and hopefully soon they will be able to supply the whole of Tanzania and export the rest! Canadians invested and set it up. Really quite amazing!
We left at 14:30pm and had permission to leave out the South end of the channel, which cuts off about 4 to 5 hours sailing! Just as well as a two day sail lasted almost 4 days!! We had a 2.5 knot current against us! Looked as though we would never pass the Comoran Islands! Wind was right on the nose, yet hardly any thing to talk about! The first night however was a run and the swells came fast and hard right up the stern! Quite a night yet we never gained much ground! Unfortunately John came down with a nasty pain, he had earache, or we thought he did, so we gave him the swimmers ear drops which we got from Erica, which helped. Then it was toothache, then we think it was his sinus... so we tried treating the earache, then the toothache, and then the sinus... and so it went.... so he was having rather a rough time. Eventually we gave him a dose of antibiotics and cat, and I gave him melted vicks in boiling water with a towel over his head to breath in, hoping it would clear the sinus, which all together seemed to have done the trick. Yet we need to get to a doctor to check out what the problem is. Another flare up while travelling is really painful and terrible! So the evening shifts were split up to give John more hours sleep while we played back gammon, messed around with the sails which was quite exciting! We managed to make our own wind! And gain another .4 or .5 of a knot! The next few days were so calm! It was like sailing on a pain of glass! Absolutely awesome! The different colours of the ocean are so stunning, one could never imagine it unless you see it! And the sounds! Also, with the moon only rising at about 10 or 11 at night, you see the most indescribable galaxy! Then it seems all the sea creatures under water come to life!!! The phosphorescent burst with light in such awesome displays!! Yet when the moon rises, the galaxy doesn�t shine as bright, and the sea life seems to slow down... back to stillness. We were so excited to see land! We finely put anchor next to Kaishara in the Querimbas archipelago.
�Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the places and moments that take our a breath away.� And the one I love the best ...�So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbour, catch the trade winds in your sails, explore, dream and discover!�
This stretch of coastline is beautiful! Somehow I find Mozambique far more beautiful than Madagascar! The reefs we have snorkelled is so abundant with small sea life... yet not bigger sea life, guess that is why the tiger shark stays at the unspoilt reefs! These islands are so pretty for us! Ilha Matemo, which is S 12∘ 12` and E 40∘ 33` was real amazing with the different shades of blue. The white sands just added the touch to an exotic, beautiful Island. Then it was off to Ilha Macaloe� which is S 11∘ 58` and E 40∘ 33` which is picturesque with a full history! We took a self tour of the island which has the ruins of an old Arab fort on it. The out buildings also in ruins were used as a prison, and a fishery. The flies were wild! So many and so irritating! You dare not open your mouth in amazement!! And so we opted not to have a braai on the beach for Jonathan�s 14th birthday! Ralph had lent Jonathan a spear gun and so had taken him out a few times to teach him. So with much excitement, and delight, Jonathan actually speared his first fish! It was a parrot fish, beautiful in colour! And so we grilled his fish for his birthday with a lot of help from Ralph and the family! Our birthday cake was a close disaster! First, we had no cocoa, or vanilla essence... The eggs were few and almost off! And so it went, the cake burned, got stuck fell apart, and made the challenge even more difficult! We put more cinnamon than was needed and then had to add stuff to change the strong taste!!! End result.... the new recipe of our own creation surprisingly was a cake that was delicious! We went snorkelling in the morning which was fun and so exciting! Then we all went to celebrate the day on the boat having roast chicken for lunch and of course, Jono�s parrot fish for supper. We played board games, laughed, and had a great day! Unfortunately for John, the sweet delights took hold and he was having a really rough time! The worst yet! We tried the clove oil, pain meds, cataflam and anything we could think of to help, though we still do not know if it is tooth ace, ear ache, or sinus!! So after all the meds took effect he had a good night sleep and felt fine the next morning.... yet the gnawing of pain was a problem, and we were hoping to see Mojo and spend a little time with them before we all parted ways, yet with John deteriorating with pain and a bit of swelling, we decided we were going to lift anchor early and set off to Ilha Quissanga for the night ready to leave early the next morning for a six to eight hour sail on to Mocimboa da Praia which has the medical centre. Then John woke up feeling great! So we decided to stay the day and wait for Mojo to at least say goodbye before we left. We have been listening on the radio of where they are and were getting quite excited! And so Mojo arrived to our delight! And to Kai Shara�s! It was so nice to see them! Somehow from Madagascar to Mayotte, we have been missing each other by hours! We go around the Island when they arrive... then they go around the Island when we leave... not good timing, yet, now there was no where we would go until we all got together and had a good cuppa which we were now pretty low on... (being coffee addicts has its downfalls!) Yet not to worry, it was real nice having them visit! I have been blessed to have been given some of Shay�s recipes which has been tried and tested by this whole family and thoroughly enjoyed! So we shared a nice time together, sadly said our goodbyes, as we were to leave early the next morning to get a good head start. Hardly slept and it was time to get up! Watched a great sunrise! Waited for the sun to come up a bit so we could navigate and see the hidden bommies. Then Mojo came with their tender to say goodbye and came with a gift! What excitement when Shay and Graham handed �ME�(Hehe) a bottle of Nescafe� coffee!! Thankful and feeling blessed doesn�t come close to how I felt! Since then we have savoured every cup and thought about Mojo and how they touched our lives in the short while we knew them. Had a great sail to a little anchorage just a few hours sail from Mocimboa da Praia. Managed to catch two barracuda! Gutted and cleaned them both ready for a scrumptious fish supper! Unfortunately we all rethought about eating the barracuda! Then the decision was to give them to the locals! Because barracuda eat reef fish, you never know which one doesn�t carry the ciguatera. So we decided we did not want to chance getting sick or dying!! The locals were thrilled!! They packed up then and their and were paddling home!! So we settled for some soup and toast which was just what we needed! The wind picked up - the swells turned into waves! What a night!! It was the roughest, rockiest, and rolliest anchorage we had ever been at! The boat was jumping out that water! And so we were all awake most of the night. Yet again having to check that nothing gets stolen. Unfortunately that is a reality in these beautiful parts! And they are beautiful! The colours of the ocean, crystal clear turquoise colour inside a deep dark purple set against white sands can sometimes take your breath away! Seeing the bottom of the ocean floor can get no closer to crystal clear! We spoke with some of the locals and decided we were going to give this hospital a miss! John seemed to be doing better and so we decided to push to Tanzania! There are a few anchorages along the way, so we thought we would see how it all went and if we would sail through the night or stop for the night. But with such good winds there was no way we were stopping!! We had the main and the Jenny out! Going full guns! It was fantastic! We were up to 6.9 knots with a 12 knot wind. Brilliant! No motoring! We wanted to start telling people we were a power boat and not a sailing vessel!! So we carried on and passed all the anchorages going into some rough seas which were thrilling seeing how our baby moved! Got some great pics of the spray going over the boat as we plunged into those waves! The swells were short and choppy yet were rather big... will not even attempt to tell you in metres! John will tell you 2 metres, the kids and I will tell you three maybe occasionally a four! Yet they were big and thrilling! Also we had about a knot and a half to two knots against us! That was going around the corner of Cabo Delgardo. Then it all changed! The seas became smooth, and we were down to about five knots when we noticed another sailing vessel coming south of us. It was Billy skippering Forever back to Durban!! We chatted on the VHF. How great it was to see her flying at eight knots!! She moved passed us as they also had the current going with them! Then we knew around the next bend we would have the current with us as they had a problem coming down as the current was against them! And so we turned the corner and Voila!! Perfect! We had such good sailing! Both sails were out, good current with us and for the rest of the time it was great! we went through a few big squalls which were heading to land, got wet a touch but quite refreshing actually. Then at day break we were heading into Matwara Bay. Only problem as we casually raced down the channel was that the depth went so low we would land up grounding! So we backtracked and realized the sand bank had moved! The alarms were going off permanently! The chart was out! We were sailing on land!! So here Jono is up the mast, and I am typing in the points on the chart and wow! What a clean and pretty place. We had finely reached Tanzania! Having not slept at all and having such a bad night before, we were all rather tired. We came into such a pretty bay! There were baobabs, pretty pathways, and lots of coconuts! Even though exhausted, John and I went into the Port to sign in, so we could find a hospital! The gnawing pain of pressure was threatening! So quick and easy it was! The officials ever so friendly and polite! It was really wonderful! Clean streets, paved, man were we feeling nostalgic! Then when the formalities were done, except for Port Control who did not work on a Saturday, we headed off into town on foot! I wanna tell you, this is the most oddly set out town ever! This town is spread out all over the place!! So we did a very fast walk about two to three miles into town, running with perspiration as the heat is just so over bearing, to the bank, which we then find, only closes at one. If only we knew that beforehand! We exchanged money. Bought cashews, a big bag, which were such a treat! Then to our delight, we find that Tanzania is the exporter of 45 000 tons of cashew nuts per annum! What an excitement! They are everywhere and sell for about R30 a kilo which is not too bad! And fresh! So you know what we are going to stock up on! We then walked a few more k�s to find a hospital, gave up and decided to take a tuk, tuk (open motorbike tricycle with a hood?) to the market which was such a good idea as it was easy six k�s!! We rushed into the market, and I chose what I wanted while John would pay then I�d go off to the next stall and get other stuff and John would catch up and pay for that as the taxi man didn�t want to wait too long or we would pay extra, so I go to the next stall and find I cannot get to the front as there are all these sacks in the way so I decide to stand on the top of them... only to find to my greatest embarrassment, all these onions popping out the sides and rolling down the alleys! I stood on all the stored onions which they layer with these large sack cloth! So while I was laughing hysterically, totally wanting a little hole to crawl into, all the locals around the other stalls were running to collect the roll-a-ways!! Even the tuk tuk taxi man laughed!! Onions!! Then, with all our goodies, we were off to the hospital, which was another easy 6 k�s in the other direction, on the other side of town!
We filled in a form, paid about R12.00 in our money and were sent to a room down the hall. A doctor came in, who spoke english, like most of the folk here which was so nice especially when explaining that John had badly infected sinus from bacteria in the water. Also because of the swelling, he was under the impression that John would have developed meningitis if not treated rather soon . His whole right side of the face was swollen! Red and sore. Everything, ear, nose, throat, head and nape of his neck on the right side were affected. We explained all the therapy�s we had given and tried, which to our delight were correct! EXCEPT THE VICK�S IN BOILING WATER!! Apparently, being in the tropics is another thing! You cannot use certain methods you would in cold or sub tropic regions! The hot water only helps the bacteria to multiply and that is why John got worse! There are also some antibiotics you cannot use here! So it was quite an interesting time talking to this doctor about all the different things that were different to where we come from. So he was put onto Penicillin for a few days and hopefully the problem would be solved. As we separate ways, John off to get the meds at the hospital pharmacy, I go out to the tuk-tuk... I walk into this man that is covered in blood! Looks like this ear has been chewed off! What a shocking state he was in! Apparently he stole something small and the locals beat him up and called the police which took him to the hospital!! What a shocking reality! So the thought occurred that they deal harshly with thieves!! Finely came back to the boat with all our goodies to find it sparkling and cleaned by the kids while we were away. Spent the rest of the day chilling, playing games and just enjoying. We went to bed quite early to catch up on some well needed sleep, then around two in the morning, we were all buzzing around closing all the hatches as the rain pelted down! Our duvet was wet so we could not use it, but thanks to the 31 degrees, so we didn�t have to worry about covering up! Sunday we spoke to Kai Shara and were expecting him to arrive either late that evening or sunrise the following morning. So we burned our rubbish on the beach, cleaned up, watched movies, and just chilled! John has had a release in pressure with the headache, so he is thrilled the tabs are working, even the swelling seems to be slightly less. Kai Shara arrived quite early in the afternoon and so we were nicely surprised. We all caught up on how our trips had been and all the extra bits of excitement we have been faced with. Shared a meal together and some coffee as John was on the antibiotics and could not drink. Later that night, Ralph goes off to his boat to get a good nights rest, and our family all sit up doing the crosswords. Then another, and another, till it was past twelve! Midnight! So everyone goes off to bed, and lights go out. Yet I am so bothered! Really bothered! Just a strange, airy, feeling! I pray, yet still toss and turn and cannot sleep! Then I hear voices outside and wonder why the locals are out fishing this time of night! I get out of bed and decide to do a crossword just to calm myself down. I switch the light on, sit down and notice it is only 1:30 in the morning. Next thing I hear loud on the VHF �BLUEMOON, BLUEMOON THIS IS KAI SHARA� .... Looking at the time again, I thought maybe Ralph had noticed someone on our boat, so I dash to wake John then we answer after the second, more anxious call. Apparently two guys had just stolen Ralphs outboard. There boat had bumped into his and so he woke up and put the light on. These guys got a fright and dropped the outboard which hit the dhow then went straight into the water!! 15 to 20 metres. They then swam off past his stern to the bank on the opposite side. We lowered the dingy and were out into the water within 5! Searched the area, then scanned the shore. Found the dugout they were using, then pulled it up onto our boat with the halyard! Could not find them anywhere. So being all fired up, the whole family was awake scouting the area, so no-one was going to sleep now! Here we have their dug out canoe hanging up the mast and on our trampoline, and they out there seeing we have it! Maybe they come back to get it, so we arm ourselves, discuss different scenario�s so that if we are faced with a situation, we won�t bludgeon someone to death because of fear! Yet, no more excitement except their paddle which was floating past which is a palm stem. When dawn broke which was around four fifteen, there were two other dugouts floating around. Talking to them was like shooting bullets through a brick wall! Around eight am, John and Ralph goes in so Ralph can sign in, and John goes to Port captain to sign in with him and they report the matter of the stolen out-board. The Port control says he is surprised we never got hurt!! They are known to use violence!! The guy who climbed onto Kai Shara had a knife to cut the cords attaching the motor! Up to date, we never had the police come out to see or get the evidence! No formal paperwork was done. Nothing. And here we sit with this dug out on our boat! Later, we move anchor to the other side of the bay which is also pretty and very calm. No problems for the night there. So following morning we decide to come closer to port so we can go into town to buy a few more goodies from town, fill up with gas, get some diesel so we can move out the bay to another anchorage 20 miles out. When in town, hardly even got there, the wind is picking up, and te current is pushing. So we do not finish all we have to do, rather we go back to the boat to get the drums to do a diesel run. Kai Shara had dragged as we are anchored in shale! So Kai Shara moves on to the anchorage on the other side of the bay, the one we stayed at the night previously. John and Jono go for a diesel run, only to find the taxi did not wait for them! They have to walk quite a distance with six 25l drums! The wind howling by now, we are rocking and rolling, waves pounding oven the swim platform!! Managed to keep the boat from riding over it�s own anchor, got the guys on board and headed back to our anchorage along with Ralf. Whew! Quite a challenge with such strong winds and current! Ralph made us two loaves of bread which was real tasty! Nice surprise! Cleaned up, got things in order and planned for an early start the following morning for the anchorage 20 miles out. So at 4 am we were up, dressed and ready to lift anchor. Found after going out the bay, that we could not sail the Genoa, due to the dug out being in the way!! So we went back into the channel and let the dug out loose! Because of the strong current, it carried the dug out to shore. Then we were off again into bumpy rolly seas. Managed to get both sails out, and have a great sail diverting course to sea to get the winds. Arrived at Mnazi bay outside a gas plant! Were invited for supper with Grant What a fantastic evening we had! We had a buffet which was delicious! Learned a lot about all the in�s and outs of gas! Really wonderful people and a fantastic evening! Next day we were off on a tour of the Island. Gas is supplied to a few towns here in Tanzania and hopefully soon they will be able to supply the whole of Tanzania and export the rest! Canadians invested and set it up. Really quite amazing!
Posted on Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008, 12:23 AM (UTC 2)
LOG 27 Problem keys!
2007/12/8
I am sticking and pasting the H and G so until I get the comp sorted out, I cannot log my other entries... so until then....
I am sticking and pasting the H and G so until I get the comp sorted out, I cannot log my other entries... so until then....
Posted on Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008, 12:27 AM (UTC 2)
LOG 28 THANKS FOR THE MESSAGES
2007/12/8
THANKS FOR ALL THE MESSAGES! IT IS SO ENCOURAGING TO HEAR FROM YOU ALL! KEEP THE NOTES COMING! THANKS!
JOHN, JEN, JUSTINE, JESSICA, JONATHAN
Posted on Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008, 12:29 AM (UTC 2)
LOG 29 Makelo to Kilwa
2007/12/18 2007/12/19
This entry is for 20 Nov 07 till early Dec,
The following day we were so excited to be in contact with Sanyati! We waited up for them and spotted them coming around a bend just after midnight! The excitement could not be contained! Jess was almost jumping out her skin! It was quite wonderful! After them anchoring, they popped over to the all night coffee bar on Bluemoon!! What fun catching up on their trip and other news. It was such an amazing night!
Done a lot of snorkelling and seen some amazing, and unbelievable fish! Life underwater is so stunning and almost unreal! The colours of some of the fish you just have to see to believe! We are so privileged to experience another life out there!! Celebrated Jessica�s 15th Birthday on the 22 November, with Sanyati, Alistair, Sue and Ian, Kai Shara, Ralph and of course us, Bluemoon! It was a lovely day! Kids snorkelled, swam, went exploring with the dingy, great meals all day! Games...and a lot of fun, a real nice all rounder, good day! Good company and added memories! After a day of recouping for Sanyati, it was so nice lifting anchor and sailing off again! We of course overtook everyone during our day sail and anchored before the rest LOL! Our baby can move!! Impressive how fast we can go! I am kinda liking this racing feeling! Mmmmm.....hehehe ...Went back to Mtwara for a stop over, added to our stocks, do some paperwork, investigate the town further, and of course get some cashews! Unfortunately for us, the most basic of foodstuff is double the Dar Es Salaam prices! Then again we have been shocked how expensive most basic foodstuff costs at most of the places we have been! And you cannot get all the stuff you normally would eat... South Africa has such a great variety and prices are reasonable, and you only know that when you have travelled! So cheers to good prices in SA!!
Then it was back to sea sailing off to the Sudi river. Have been primed to see lions roaming around the edges of the river! Arrived at our anchorage at the Sudi River, which was not what we expected! It was kinda rough so we had to weave our way around into a spot. There was supposed to be animals walking along side the river! Lion, giraffe, (their national animal) zebra, and a few others. So we all imagined this wild place! The following morning we decided to take a ride down the Sudi river which is definitely picture perfect! The river opens and widens out upstream and there are quite a few villages all over the rivers edge which are surprisingly tidy! Then the river meanders from one bend to another...We had quite a current with us and the swells were picking up along with the wind... yet we decided to go with the current and deal with the consequences coming back later, knowing we would get soaked! And so we switched off the motor and drifted down the Sudi river at a nice pace... No lions roaring or swimming or even trying to climb on the boat! So many birds though, and the whistling sounds were great! Managed to drift more than three miles down river, going from one bend to the next... watching most of the locals out in their dhows fishing. A real treat! Then it was time to motor back up river and face the consequences of rough swells and strong winds!! And as expected, ... real rough and choppy! Not even two minutes and the swells were breaking over the dingy and all of us were drenched! Absolutely sopping! Now we were fighting our way through a strong current and swells... guess it was still kinda fun, except we were frozen! Our lips were turning blue! Then, as we get out into the river mouth... a massive lion swims towards us!! Only kidding!! We were facing real tough seas and in a small dingy those swells look like 10 feet high! Hehehe A dhow came out to us selling fruit which looked so good! So we towed them back to the boat where they also got drenched and were bailing water from their boat, and managed to Bata and get all their paw paws, mangoes and huge ripe pineapples which we shared amongst Sanyati and Kai Shara. All in all it was a fun adventure! Sadly the camera packed up while down the river so we couldn�t get a pic of nearing the end! Along day it was! No big five after all! The next morning early we all lifted anchor and were off to Kiswere which was a days sail.... Has been such fun catching up and passing Sanyati and Kai Shara! I kinda like this adrenaline pumping, sail trimming racing! It is such fun! Clocking nine knots is pure sailing bliss! Anchored for the night, then very early we were off for another day sail to Kilwa. Fishing has been slow, there�s mainly barracuda which we do not eat because of them being reef fish! Some tell us we are missing out on fantastic fish, others say we doing ourselves a favour, so who is correct? Too many have been poisoned (or died) by ciguatera poisoning! So we rather just give the local fisherman the catch and see there big wide smiles at such a blessing! It is a delight to see! They are happy and so are we! Who knows... maybe one day barracuda may be our main fish dish! LOL!
What a great place! Kilwa bay is so pretty! There is a lodge which has such character! And so we visited very often, swimming in the pool right by the bar! Even enjoyed a buffet which was fantastic! Then to my horror, I find out I am allergic to Pineapple! For a few days we had been having pineapple and coconut milk colada�s... which were great, except for the tingling I felt all over my body! (always felt tingling whenever I had pineapple) The one morning we had pineapple pieces of which I only had two... not too long afterwards, everyone had gone ashore and here I was sprawled out on the galley floor, with such a high fever, then it was nauseousness which took over, then the perspiration came in floods! I couldn�t move! It was terrible! Pins and needles over my whole body! And so it went, all these symptoms at once! After about two and a half hours, it started to ease off... and now I do not eat pineapple at all!
Good thing I was feeling back to normal the next day as we all decided to go on a tour to see the ruins. Ralph from Kai Shara decided to stay and watch the boats, which was a good decision considering how much we walked! We walked about two and a half kilometres across town to the small harbour and climbed onto a large dhow! It was full of spiders! Now we have not seen to many of those for quite a while!! The sail was quit amazing and fast! There were no winches or stuff to fix! All was made of wood! Even their blocks were made of wood! No fancy stuff, just straight forward practical stuff! You even had the bailer to bail all the water out! And so we sailed across the bay in a dhow, enjoying every moment!
I cannot tell you how many miles we walked, but our joints were aching when we finished!
We saw the old Portuguese, and then Arab fort which is enormous and still looking good! The Kilwa fort known as Gereza means "Prison" in Swahli and was built in early 1505. It was buit by invaders to defend the island and for their protection against the rebellions. The woodwork above the doorway has been inscribed with words from the Koran. Later it was used as a prison.
There 18th century Makutani Palace was fortified to protect the family and interests of the Sultan. The massive walls and tower were designed to repel intruders. This was like going into a maze! So many rooms! Also the Sultans had their own private Mosque. Their own stone town! Quite amazing actually, yet so spread out!
A huge shady Boabab tree still stands. It is stunning! Almost mystical! The boabab tree has great value actually. The seeds and bark are used for medicinal purposes. Leaves are eaten as a vegetable, birds find holes to nest in.. and the roots are used as a red dye. Apparantly boababs are the oldest in the world. Unbelievable!
The old Milindi Mosque and cemetry have been there since at least the 16th century. It was quite strange though walking through the graveyard! Then it was back to the dhow and a great sail with tacking back to the mainland. Then the two and a half to three hour walk back to the resort for a cold drink! the heat here goes up to at least 36 degrees!! The humidity is unbearable most times... yet we are not complaining with such a great big swimming pool in our backyard! LOL The town is small and primitive! your basic things are not like ours! Somehow baking bread is the only way to have any! And what is even better is that Kai Shara, Ralph shares his with us as he cannot eat his all in the time it takes to go off! You cannot leave stuff for even a day! If you put your washing in a bucket to soak for the day, you can be sure it is going to honk so bad! Then to get the smell out is a major ordeal!! So with being in the tropics, you need to eat fast, buy often and use your freezer!!! We use our empty water bottles or coke bottles which we fill with water and freeze then hammer it till we get crushed ice! We spent quite a few days at kilwa with Sanyati and Kai shara, braaing, and having fun. Snorkelling, spear fishing, exploring, wake boarding and knee boarding. It has been so fantastic! So refreshing meeting all these people, playing pool, swimming and enjoying life! The perfect holiday!
Posted on Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008, 12:32 AM (UTC 2)
LOG 30 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
2007/12/23
To all of our family and treasured friends....
We, John, Jenny, Justine, Jessica and Jonathan Danks from BLUEMOON wish each and every one of you a blessed Christmas! There is a Christmas gift more precious than gold... its the kind of gift that cannot be bought or sold. It`s a gift you won`t find beneath the tree, a gift you`ll feel but never see. The gift is one all hope to receive, though it`s not a material kind, and it`s one the shoppers will never find. The gift exists on earth, but it comes only from above, and it reaches the heart in the form of heavenly love. May the gift of God`s love touch you and your family this holiday season!! Merry Chritmas! Remember the reason for the season! A fantatic New Year for you all! We will be toasting you on the mark of the new year 2008!!!!
Love you guys!
Posted on Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008, 12:33 AM (UTC 2)Recent Blog Entries
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