Mauritius to South Africa

Preparing for the passage to South Africa from Mauritius has been a huge
stepping stone in our voyage around the world. The three weeks anchored in
Grande Baie has given us time to recover from the long passages behind us and
prepare us for our future life on St Helena. We have all enjoyed the opportunity
to swim off the beach, use the kayak and lazily swing in the hammocks.
Comments on our Facebook page have been reassuring. Although there has
been the odd yachtie saying we have never heard of anyone settling on the
island, it would be interesting to hear why. The quick reply declaring that we
are a local yacht circumnavigating caught her off guard. There are a lot of
travellers who have no idea of the travelling saints with some thinking we are a
culture who dances around fires in grass skirts, literally.

The last two days building up to our exit have been inspiring after being invited
to a few French gatherings at the Grande Baie Yacht Club.
Joshua and I motored our dinghy over to a yacht, offering our sailing skills to
the short crewed yacht Freedom which was about to sail in a regatta. From
then on we were asked inspiring questions about our travels in the company of
30 Frenchmen drinking beer and speaking English. The following day we met
some of their wives and girlfriends which was nice for Hannah to have some
female company. They really made us feel welcome and Napoleon was not even
mentioned! We were asked if we could hold a seminar about St Helena and our
travels at the club but unfortunately we had run out of time with a very good
weather window approaching.

On Tuesday we sailed in to Port Louis and checked out of the country but not
before sharing our business plans and services with three cruising yachts
heading to St Helena.

The first three days sailing have been slow with our average mileage being 100
nautical miles a day but since we left Mauritius the boat has been busy with
some enterprising and long conversations about our final destination. We are all
looking forward to catching up with our friends and family especially at this
time of the year.
Reunion island made an appearance on the second day with its volcano
towering above the clouds, 3000 metres above sea level. With the back drop of
the setting sun, it looked amazing.
Day two the island was out of sight but we could still hear the French speaking
marine traffic controller over the VHF, well we haven't moved that far.
What was interesting this afternoon was the sudden burst of sulphur fumes in
the air from behind us. The winds were blowing from the stern and our first
thoughts were, was that an eruption from the deep. The smell quickly
disappeared but we were still left baffled and unsure.

As we positioned the yacht for the passage under the south end of Madagascar
where the Angulhas current and the southern ocean lows collide with out
warning, causing windy conditions and steep waves, it all feels very airy. The
clouds are thickening, blocking the starry night we are used to and the odd
dolphin bellowing for air just sends a shiverer down my spine. By 0400 there
was thunder and lighting as far as the eye could see and like a Mexican wave it
lit the heavens. It was only when it was above us that it caused us some
concerns. Thanks to the early morning sunrise which burnt off the moisture in
the air and the clouds disappeared.
Our next way point took a while to reach with the light conditions but
eventually we made our westerly heading 113 nautical miles off the southern tip
of Madagascar. Turn right and head straight for South Africa.
It was on day 8 when we saw some sailable conditions of 18 knots from the
stern, the following day the winds moved ahead of us and we saw ourselves at
close haul in 22-30 knots. For some reason the waves didn't materialise and we
were able to get good boat speed with a 2 knot current with us. We were never
going to pull back the miles we lost in the beginning of this trip but it felt good
to be sailing at full power.
We were unable to get the South African morning weather forecast on the SSB
channel 14.316. With only a seven day weather prediction downloaded from the
internet in Mauritius our weather information had expired. The next best thing
was to call the passing ships for the local weather which they were happy to
give with a few earlier attempts failing as the officer of the watch did not
answer.
One of the things we did to prepare for this passage was to cook meals in
advance and freeze them. It has been great going to the freezer each morning
and choosing from octopus curry, beef stew or sausage and tomato casserole to
name a few. We finished our last freezer meal yesterday and so the freezer is
looking rather bare with just a couple of ice lollies left for the children. We have
had the rod over during the calmer days, thinking we could fill the void in the
freezer but no joy yet. Probably because we have not been travelling fast
enough. Yesterday (day 11) we had both rods over quite early and pretty soon
there was a strike. It looked and felt like a good size tuna knowing that this
morning, looking towards the rising sun we saw dolphins that's what we
thought at first but they were actually large yellow fin tuna breaching. Before
we knew it the fish had got off partly due to the team not quite being on the ball
and de-powering the boat quick enough and also because I had the drag on too
tight. Thankfully I didn't loose my special lure. One of the triple hooks was
stripped so I quickly replaced it and back over it went again. It quickly became
apparent that there was a feeding frenzy going on around our boat. Shoals of
skip jack tuna jumping out of the water in every direction got our children's
attention and they were quickly up on the bow laughing and shouting in
amazement at the amount of action in the water around us. This went on for
most of the morning. We think the tuna were attracted to the small bait fish
sheltering under our boat from their predators.

The enterprising bracelet making has gone to a whole new level on this passage.
After watching youtube clips for inspiration and ideas about different designs,
the ones being created on Carpe Diem are awesome! During the slower, calmer
days during this passage we have all had time to sit and learn new techniques. It
has been time consuming but time is what we have at the moment. We
purchased a variety of colours of polyester twine while in Mauritius which has
proven to be a great find. It is durable and water resistant. There have been new
designs emerging almost daily. Watch this space!

Day 13, with only 300 nautical miles to go and the weather patterns staying the
same, light airs and slow boat speeds. Hannah and I were down stairs drinking a
cup of earl grey tea, chatting about what was ahead of us when we reach
Richard's Bay, South Africa when the rod went off. Before we had the boat
under control more that half of the line had disappeared under the boat, I even
struggled to get the rod out of the holder. I knew it was a tuna as the first
characteristic for a tuna is to dive and swim in a small circle creating much
more resistance than swimming away from the boat. Twenty minutes later we
had a large yellow fin tuna on the surface. We managed to get a rope around its
tail from the stern as our gaff wasn't big enough, all came with an enormous
amount of difficulty almost loosing the tuna in the process. There was no way
we could lift the tuna over the guard rail. With Joshua, Hannah and myself on
the rope around the tail, we pulled the tuna over the open transom and on to the
boat. There was now not only the kids in the cockpit but a very large tuna as the
kids poked and admired our catch.
The next stage in the process is normally the kids favourite. A biology lesson
with the fish being dissected. First the pumping heart then the liver and most
importantly, what did the tuna have for lunch? Not your normal cellophane
wrapped piece of meat that was picked off the shelf. The120 pound fish came
free with a hunting process from sea to freezer to the plate. 19 bags of tuna later
and a freezer filled to the top, the rods where put to rest. We had enough tuna to
last all the way to St Helena.
We arrived in Richards bay after 14 days at sea.