Cruising In Good Company

For some weeks we've been cruising north western Madagascar in company with good friends on Le Papillon, a brand new 46 foot Lagoon catamaran.    They cruise with their four legged bosun Charlie, who swaggers around the deck pretending he was born at sea, and have traveled much the same route as us for the past six months.

Together we have been traveling around 25 nautical miles each day, anchoring each afternoon at a different bay, river or island.  This is a most spectacular cruising ground - many say it is far better than Thailand, and we are happy to agree.

Land breezes in the morning carry us out to sea, and by 11:00am the sea breeze kicks in and we reach along the coast in flat water at 7 and 8 knots.  Almost every day one of us catches a large fish, so the freezers are well stocked.  It is the finest sailing we've done in many years.

Keeping Very Busy

It hasn't all been island hopping and beach picnics.  Besides the usual (& never ending) maintenance tasks, we contribute to the regional cruising radio net on 6646Mhz.

At the moment I serve as net controller each afternoon at 17:00hrs local time (14:00hrs UTC), calling boats on passage in the region and logging position and weather reports.  There are currently 40 vessels on the tracking sheet, spread between Durban in South Africa, Madagascar and Mauritius.

This community safety net keeps us all in touch, and makes sure that no boats "drop off the radar".

Eating Very Well

Ley Trades A Fishing Kit For Fresh Prawns

We trade with the local people for mangoes, papaya, crabs and prawns.

A T-shirt is eagerly exchanged for half a dozen mangoes or half a kilo of large prawns. 20 meters of fishing line and half a dozen hooks will swap for a large Papaya or a even a live reef fish (Grouper etc).

We share the cooking and catering load, alternating dinner venues between the vessels.  With a shared love of good food (& wine), our dinners are usually fun events.

Supporting The Locals

This is a completely undeveloped nation - the small villages around the coast have no connection with the world except through passing boats and their own sailing vessels..  The people are happy and industrious, but poverty and health issues are evident at every stop we make. Like many other boats in the region, we stocked up on clothing and essential gifts for the locals, before sailing here.  Children's clothing, books, fishing equipment, clothing for men and women, tools, reading glasses etc, which are shared out on a daily basis.

At Maramba Bay, truly the most beautiful anchorage we've seen in years, we were advised about an elderly man who needed medical assistance - cleaning a wound and refreshing dressings.  Other cruising boats had helped before we arrived, and we took over for a couple of days, before we moved on.

He has a surgical wound that has opened up after the stitches were removed - it has obviously been that way for some time. 

This morning we cleaned and dressed it again, closing it a little and then protecting it with a large adhesive dressing.  He really should go back to hospital, but the family can ill afford that and the journey takes them over 24 hours (by canoe, then walking, then a bus).  Through email and the radio network we've now asked other boats to continue the assistance when they pass through Maramba Bay.

This is a stunningly beautiful country, but life for the local people is still very harsh.

Leaping Lemurs !

One of the delights we looked forward to in Madagascar was the wildlife, specially the Lemurs.

Not really like monkeys, and certainly not like our Australian possums, we discovered that there are more than 40 separate species of Lemur here - scary.

Fact is, we haven't seen a fraction of them.

Every village we visit, every island , every mainland beach, lemurs are somewhere there in the trees.

Maki - Maki - Maki we cry .... and so they come.  We just didn't expect the close up and personal "Lemur Ass In Our Face" kind of experience that we've been getting.  Geez - what these guys will do for just a little taste of banana.

Will they climb up my leg and into my shorts looking for the forbidden fruit ?  Sure they will.  Will they assemble en-mass on my shoulders, looking deep into my eyes, waiting patiently for me to (foolishly) pull the last piece of banana out of my pocket ?  Sure they will, then they'll stage World Championship Wrestling over my back and shoulders while they sort out who is the Alpha female.

Note to all males - the females always win here, go figure.  These beautiful brown and white creatures are all females - the males in this species are black.

At beautiful Nosy Mamoko the village was surrounded by forest. The lemurs lived in the trees close by and it didn't take much to bring them in.  Our friend Helmut on SV Lopto said they were "like cats and dogs there" and he was right.

These very cute creatures are amazing - standing on their hind legs like little fuzzy humans, they follow us around the bush. We spent hours with these creatures at several locations, and always ended up laughing.

Our private circus show also included the amazing banana leap - when this young lady worked out that I had (sneakily) passed the banana bag to Ley, she launched herself in a massive leap and thumped onto Ley's back.

Was Ley surprised ?

Click the link below to see the result !

Beatiful Boats - Money & Taste Don't Always Come Together

To be honest, right through my childhood I was influenced by my fathers view of what was beautiful in a boat or a ship.  We did spend a lot of time looking at boats.  I think his best quote on the topic was this - "All Boats Are Beautiful, Some Are Just More Beautiful Than Others."

OK, so I tried very hard to find the beauty in this vessel, anchored off Hellville at Nosy Be, Madagascar.  The MV Danah Explorer (check her out on the web) has had a couple of major refits, most recently in South Africa,  but neither seem to have added any cachet to the vessel's name.  What were they thinking ?

Yoiks, for a 900 ton vessel with a draft of only 12 feet, she looks kind of tall after that last refit, which added the complete private upper deck for the owners..  I'd love to understand the stability calculations.

The helicopter is just georgeous though, don't you think ?

Please - there is something about the beauty and functionality of boats that needs to be cherished, preserved and respected.  Money on its own is not enough.  I'm sure that MV Danah Explorer was happier in her first life.  Your comments are welcomed ....

10 Years Ago This Week - An Adventure Begins

When the lock gates in Darwin opened that October morning, we set out on a sailing adventure that is now 10 years in the making, and still happily developing.   

At that point we had been sailing Crystal Blues for eight years, and had already covered around 15,000 nautical miles.  Since that day in Darwin we have covered another 28,000 nautical miles.

It hasn't been without incident, but we've worked hard to keep Crystal Blues in top condition.  My father Dean always says that the boats are stronger than the people, and he is absolutely right.

While Crystal Blues is still looking young and strong, you can see here that just 10 years ago we both looked a little different (click the pics to enlarge).  The boat has benefited from a couple of major refits and Ley and I are now pondering the need for "personal refits" as we grow older.  No such luck !

This is a big milestone for us and the 10 years have flown by.  Every successful voyage needs a good combination of team work, skill and dedication.  I'm just so damn fortunate to have a partner on my team who has all the skill, dedication and love required.  Thank you Ley - the next 10 years should be even better.

Nosy Hara Marine Park

It is a sad fact that setting up and managing National Parks is still a challenge in Madagascar.  With the help of the WWF, and other sponsors, the Nosy Hara area has been declared a Marine Protected Area.  However that doesn't (yet) stop local boats like the one above from fishing the reef every few weeks.

We traded with these guys for a beautiful big crayfish they had speared, unfortunately before we understood that this was a park area.

That crayfish cost us some small lengths of spectra line plus a second hand wetsuit that I could no longer "accommodate" (ie climb into).  This boat carried a crew of two plus six free divers, who worked over the reef and shoreline with spear guns.

Our friends on the vessel Pakia Tea, both biologists, said the reef itself was in pristine condition, but that every fish big enough to spear was already taken.

The Park Rangers came out to us later that day in a small inflatable dinghy and we gladly paid our fees to stay in the area, though we didn't mention the crayfish.

Unfortunately the rangers are only in attendance some of the time, so many sailboats and visitors passed through the area without paying park fees.  Of course the fishing boats were also able to operate as well.....

Our stop at Nosy Hara was not all crayfish and sail repairs - we climbed the short trail to the viewpoint on top of the precipice, and recovered from our boisterous passage into the area. 

From here we travel about 100 nautical miles south to the tourist meca of Nosy Be and it's main town, Hellville.  The weather is becoming warmer, and we need to keep moving south before the cyclone season starts up here.

Heavy Sailing, Ile St. Marie To Nosy Hara

We sailed up the east coast of Madagascar from Ile St. Marie in a strong South Easterly trade wind, building from 15 knots the first day to 35 knots as we rounded the northern cape (Cap D'Ambre) and then headed south west down the "sheltered" side of the island.  Despite the wind speed the swells remained manageable as we rounded the cape, mainly thanks to a 3 knot current moving with us.

Yes Warm Clothing - We Were Cold For The First Time In Many Years

"Sheltered" is kind of a relative word - once around the cape the wind blew even harder and we raced south in flat water watching a very dry and barren landscape ashore.  25 miles south of Cap D'Ambre we moved into a sheltered anchorage, welcomed by friends on the very fine Wharam catamaran Pakia Tea. We had covered 356 nautical miles in just over two days.

The last 24 hours of the voyage were completed under staysail alone, as for the first time we had some wear failures on our mainsail.  Nothing too serious - Crystal Blues has full length tapered battens in the mainsail, with adjustable tensioners to keep the batten curved.  At the forward batten ends the webbing attachments for the track slides were failing - two of these let go on the second day of the passage, so we lowered the main and kept running on just the staysail.

Nosy Hara is a stunning island, reasonably barren but with healthy reef.  We anchored on sand in 15 meters of water and spent the next two days working on the mainsail and island exploring.

The damage is obvious in the image at left, with the protective leather completely worn off and the webbing almost worn through.  Still, it was reasonable after 12 years and over 30,000 miles of sailing !  With two attachments already failed, we decided to replace all six attachments.

We cut away the worn materials and firstly shaped new leather protective pieces for the luff of the sail.

These were pre-punched to make the sewing easier, then fastened onto the sail with Gore Tenara thread.

This was the first time I'd hand-sewn with Tenara, and it is slippery stuff - kind of difficult to work with, but the best thing to use in terms of surviving long-term UV exposure (all our sails are sewn with Tenara thread).

Then we measured the webbing to length, allowing multiple turns through the mast slide and the batten end, for strength.  With the webbing clamped in place we drilled holes for the stitches using our small battery drill and a 2mm drill bit.  We still managed to break half a dozen needles on the project, but the pre-drilled holes were a real finger saver.  The batten ends were then fitted back into the Ronstan plastic holders and we were done.

Of course there are another seven slides (not attached to batten ends) that are still looking a little worn - we'll no doubt have to service them when we get to South Africa.

Yeah ! Madagascar Music

Our last night on Ile St. Marie was celebrated with friends at the fine local restaurant "Belle Vue", where live music is a regular feature.  Though it was "off season", management had promised a band. In the end not one but two bands showed up, both performing great local music.  Damy Magnedrake started the night playing older traditional songs, featuring the local "bush violin", a three stringed instrument called Lokanga that is small but surprisingly loud.  Check out his music here.

I had my Philippine "beat box" and "rain maker" under the table (gotta be prepared) so when they set up we joined in.  For me the percussion patterns were new and challenging, but as the night progressed I found my brain adapted, possibly in direct proportion to the amount of local rum in my glass.

The music became more modern as the night moved on, with Group Zaina playing more original work. Guitars and keyboard added to what was becoming a very big sound.  The kitchen staff, and even taxi drivers on the street all moved in for the performance.

Nine performers shared the lead, and also moved between the various instruments and vocal harmonies with practiced ease.  My wooden beat box was a popular instrument - all the players tried it, and loved the sound it added to their songs.

By late evening we'd moved into a sort of Malagasy blues, a mix of Regge and Blues with a strong local feel.  Haunting music, with beautiful vocal harmonies.  As in the Philippines last year, I discovered I could sing harmony and drum with these guys, and so the real fun began. This is the cruising life....these are the times when your heart is bursting with joy.  Just listen to the last track in the short video clip below - special times.  My thanks to Thomas and Annette on the yacht Anke-Sophie for sharing the evening with us and also for their fine video of the music.

Very Dangerous Fish

By Christian Grill (Own Work) CC BY-SA3.0                                                        

Returning home by dinghy a few nights ago, we followed friends who were in a second small boat.  It was a lovely moonlit night and very still, the water like glass.  Suddenly we saw fish jumping up ahead and immediately turned off our flashlight - these were Needlefish, (family Belonidae).  We've seen them throughout Asia - in Thailand they're called "Long Toms".  Unfortunately our friends had a red light shining above the hull, and one fish launched itself into their boat at high speed.

It speared into the leg of one occupant, right through his clothing, before launching itself out of the boat again.  The fish was possibly a meter long.  It created a very deep and ugly wound that at first glance looked like a gunshot, and certainly bled like one.

Fortunately an experienced nurse was at hand, who was able to treat the wound and administer the required anti-biotic and anti-inflammatory drugs.

Several deaths and many dreadful injuries have been attributed to these fish - check the Wikipedia link here.  When we shared this story with other cruisers, one young girl showed us an ugly scar on her leg where she was pierced by a Needlefish when swimming in Malaysia.  These attacks are more common than we thought !

We've had them land on the deck of Crystal Blues, both day and night, and many times had them jumping around the dinghy.   Now we'll be much more careful - dousing the lights when we see these guys around.

Update - Google Earth Navigation

Some months back we posted about the use of Google Earth Imagery as navigation charts - these highly (review the original story here).
accurate charts have been a fantastic information tool for us

You can make your own charts very simply, using the process we outlined.  You can also download charts from other sources, including this blog - click the tab in the top right of the page to review KAP charts for Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Cruising sailor Mike Reynolds on the yacht Zen Again has also created a large database of KAP charts, combining his own downloads with images shared by other cruisers.  Our own files will be available on his site soon.

Review his excellent charting story here.

Also, access the Dropbox download site using the button at right.

Tropical Ile St. Marie

There is no doubt now that we are in Africa .... though please don't tell the locals that !  They are proudly Madagascan, proud also of their cultural heritage, which is a mix of Borneo (Austronesian) peoples and Bantu immigrants from Africa.  Add a little blood from European slavers, pirates and Arab traders and you arrive at today's "Malagasy" people.  Here on Ile St. Marie the pirates contribution is perhaps more substantial....

Outside the towns people are mainly subsistence farmers, except where they find work in tourism.  A young restaurant waitress might earn $1.50 per day here - good money by national standards.  Most families have livestock and vegetable gardens, we saw chickens, ducks, geese, goats, sheep and many Zebu cattle.

Touring the island by motorcycle, we found a very young population - half of them seemed under 25 years.  Children are everywhere, rolling old bicycle wheels along the roads or doing the serious job of collecting water from community wells.

We met Sylvio, a local school teacher, who while still studying at University on the main island, spends his vacation time here in Ambidofotatra teaching English and sport.  Sylvio took us to his home - a spotless but basic shack not far out of town.  He (and his students) were very keen to practice their English language skills.  This proved challenging when mixing with the cruising sailors - Aussie accents were mixed in with Irish, American and German / French versions of the language.  

Visiting a local cemetery reveals another fact about local life - many children do not make it to adulthood.  Children's graves are everywhere.  While access to health care is improving, and the Government spends almost 15% of its budget on health, the standard of care and access for the wider community is still quite low.

Coiffure Anyone?

For tourists and travelers, if you need serious medical treatment the rule is to fly out to to South Africa.  One sailing friend received a very deep laceration on his lower leg, and was immediately repatriated to Johannesburg.  Of course repatriation can take time - flights and ferries are often cancelled, and the road system is (at best) dreadful - it can take days to cover just a few hundred kilometers.

Phone Doctor

Another boat crew member flew in from South Africa, but found the local connecting flights were cancelled - it took four days for them to connect with the yacht via rented taxis and small ferries.

In the towns and villages the standards of living and construction are on the improve, development is happening and we are optimistic about the future for this beautiful place.

The lifestyle is certainly relaxed - everything shuts down at noon and many stores and banks don't reopen until 3:00pm.  Curiously, even the ATM machines need a long three hour snooze at midday.

Tourism is making a positive contribution - the people are happy and well sustained.  More than half the population is Christian, with the balance following traditional animist or Islamic cultures.

We re-fueled Crystal Blues using our jerry cans and a hand trolley.  Standing in a crush of people at the gas station was a funny experience - people jostling for position, but in a good natured way, always with a smile.  Most were happy to recognise us as visitors and showed unusual courtesy.  I actually think they take pity on us as we don't speak French or Malagasy.  Of course you couldn't get diesel (or gasoline) every day - the pumps frequently ran dry, and the in-ground tanks were refilled manually from 44gallon drums barged across from the mainland.

From here we will move north up the coast of Madagascar and then around the northern cape to the sheltered west coast.  There are many other cruising boats on this same route, and we expect to meet with several friends when we arrive on the other side.

Passage To Madagascar

Two weeks ago Crystal Blues sailed the 400 nautical miles from Reunion to beautiful Ile St. Marie on the east coast of Madagascar - one big step closer to Africa.  The passage took 64 hours and for the final day we were hard on the wind, delightful sailing, but pushing hard to stay ahead of a cold front that was heading up from the south.

The first 24 hours out of Reunion were truly unpleasant, a real washing machine sea state with fast moving swells coming in from the east - typical Indian Ocean nastiness.  By the second day the swell had eased and the passage became a race to beat the cold front that was fast approaching, bringing big winds and seas.

We motored into the anchorage behind the island late in the evening (just as the wind swung to the south), anchored on sand in around 10 meters of water, and slept soundly.  We were in Africa at last !   By next morning it was blowing hard from the south but we were safe and comfortable.

Ile St. Marie / Ambidofotatra

Ille St Marie

Ile St. Marie is a long finger of tropical island just off the east coast of Madagascar.

Ambidofotatra (say that three times quickly) is the main town on the island, located on the sheltered west coast.

Anchorage

In the seventeenth and eighteenth century pirates used the island as a base, preying on the trading ships coming from the far east.  Famous pirates such as William Kidd lived here, building settlements and establishing family communities in the area.  There is a unique pirate grave yard just across the causeway, south of Ambidofotatra.

We spent our first day ashore seeking clearances and "stamps" from customs, immigration and the marine department, who all evidently learned their trade from the pirates of old.

Not surprisingly it didn't happen in a single day, perhaps because we refused to pay the big bribes that immigration was expecting.

Customs House

However we did pay 60,000 Aryary (about US$30.00)  to the "Marine Department" who are really like a Coast Guard, for a cruising permit that turned out to be worthless - had to pay again (later) to the Port Captain when we arrived in Helleville.  It seems the Marine Department have a nice little scam running - but that is Madagascar all over.

Immigration (at the police station) wanted a "gift", and we got off lightly by offering a token US$5.00.  Others paid up to $40.00 for the "gratis" 30 day visa.  And of course there was the customs team - everywhere we go these guys are the masters of deception.  Another 60,000 Aryary and we were done with them !  We're not complaining, in fact we're very happy to be here.  If only that money could be distributed responsibly - this is a very poor nation, where 60% of people live below the locally defined poverty line of $1.00 per day.

Here on Ile St. Marie the eco-tourism push has brought some prosperity to the island, and while it is still definitely third world it delivers its experiences comfortably.  Chilled would be a better word - the whole island has a relaxed pace, the population is very friendly and the scenery is beautiful.

Fast ferries connect to the mainland, and daily commuter flights run to the capital.  Local markets deliver all the fresh produce, meat and eggs that we could need.

It is a paradise, with very many European nationals running small businesses, restaurants and resorts in their own slice of tropical heaven.

Mountains & Volcanoes

The moment you see this island, its volcanic heritage is brutally obvious.  Geologically younger than the other Mascarene Islands (Mauritius, Rodrigues etc), Reunion is aggressively sloped, with level country only around the shore line.  There is a lot of flat land, however those flats are almost all tilted, being the long extended lower slopes of the mountains, and covered with sugar cane.  As you move higher into the mountains the sugar cane disappears.  Scattered dairy farms eventually give way to pine forests and then the rugged beauty of Reunion becomes evident.

Hiking trails are everywhere, the mountain villages are peppered with guest houses and it seems everyone escapes to the cool climate and staggering beauty of the hinterland.  Driving into the hills requires patience and perseverance, with hundreds of switch backs and hairpin bends and many one-way road sections.  The narrow one-way tunnel sections were a new experience - reversing out of those would be a nightmare.

We were lucky to meet a sailing family from Reunion  - Patrick, Valerie, Greg & Jonathan Lange - when we rafted alongside their boat in Port Louis, Mauritius.

They promised to entertain us in Reunion, which they certainly did.  Within 48 hours of our arrival Valerie Lange had us hiking through the dark across a massive lava flow to see the currently active volcano.

Right here I have to pause and make some facts very clear.  Firstly (on the plus side), Ley has always wanted to see a volcano - it was very near the top of her bucket list.  Secondly, we are not really keen or practiced hikers.  Finally, we were both carrying injuries sustained on our passage from Chagos to Rodrigues, and our mobility was questionable.

So we agreed to go when smiling and affable Patrick said the walk was "only 30 minutes or so".  Of course when we reached the end of the access road Valerie (also smiling) announced that it was "only a 90 minute hike each way".  Tricky understanding these French speaking Reunion people - it must be the language.  We just couldn't turn back .... and are glad we didn't.

No We Were Not This Close - This beautiful Image Was Taken On The Night We Were There

At 2631 meters above sea level,  Piton de la Fournaise is the world's third most active volcano.  Rugged is clearly an understatement here.  Stunningly beautiful is all we can say. For more images click here

New Life In The Old Lava Flow

We hiked in to the crater rim in the late afternoon, along with several hundred other masochists, and stayed until after dark ... the hike back across the rough black lava field with no moonlight was "interesting".

Temperatures were dropping towards zero, a real shock to our systems.  Of course we didn't have enough warm clothing.  Valerie supplied "trail food" - sausage and cheese of course - and we used our Pelican waterproof flash lights for navigating. In fact it wasn't really a tough walk, and it ticked another one off Ley's bucket list.  Our thanks to Patrick and Valerie for sharing their spectacular island home with us.

Valerie & Ley Before The Cold Night                                                    

Passage To La Reunion

It is almost impossible to anchor on the coast of Reunion, as the sea floor drops away dramatically right at the edge of the reef on this steeply sloped volcanic island.  So we cooled our heels in Mauritius for over a week, waiting for a marina berth to be available, then had a relatively comfortable 150 nautical mile passage overnight to Le Port Marina on the north west coast of Reunion.  Jerome Belhuerne, the Maitre De Port and Ocean Cruising Club Port Officer, made us very welcome.

The government operates two marinas in Le Port, with the latest facility developed using EU funding.  We arrived less than 7 days after opening, so not everything was perfect, however it is an excellent facility.

There are two more marinas further around the coast, at St. Giles and St. Pierre, though these are usually full. Clearance formalities are very easily handled - the marina contacts the authorities, and two customs officials promptly visit the boat.  One single form is completed, they stamp the passports and they're gone in 5 minutes.  Need to clear outwards very early ?  No problems - the same officers attended the boat at 5:30am as we requested. Very civilized and very professional.

In Reunion you really are in Europe - very old buildings mix it up with the modern, infrastructure is high quality, salaries are high, life is a little hectic, even traffic jams are common.

On the plus side, everything is beautiful !  The cuisine is classically French with a tasty Creole twist. Of course this all comes at a cost - everything is more expensive than the places we have traveled in recent years.

Once processed we quickly rented a car and started our touring, visiting local markets and the lovely capital city of St. Denis.

Provisioning is, as expected, an exciting experience here.  Everything is available and the fresh produce at the weekly market in Le Port was outstanding.

Our almost non-existant French was not really a big problem - most people spoke some English, and were not afraid to use it.  The language snobbery of Paris doesn't exist here.

The port has an excellent range of marine services available,  a large travel lift and a very large ship lift.  We compiled a directory of these services and vendors for those following in our wake.  You can download the Reunion Cruising Services Guide here, in Adobe PDF format (you'll find all our published guides available in the tab at the top of this page).

This is a great stopover for cruising sailors, and a great holiday destination.  As you'll see in the image below, the biggest problem I had was choosing between the Spanish, Portuguese and French sausages in the deli.  Life is good here.