We are on the third day into our trip to South Africa. Our stay in Reunion was great and the journey there was one of the most pleasant so far. It started off with a beat in light airs and most of the fleet resorted to engine to clear the Island. We soon found favourable winds and during the night were seeing nearly 30 kts. There were apparently many holes in the wind but we were lucky and only had to use the engine for the last few hours. Surprise, surprise we had come 1st in Class III, winning a lovely book of Reunion showing the fantastic scenery.
We hired a car for the whole time there and went up to one of the Circes and stayed at a village for a night set in the most beautifil scenery imaginable. I had a thermal bath there which was very relaxing after such a hair raising drive around 500 hairpin bends. I often had to go down to 1st gear to get any speed after negotiating a severe turn. The 1200 Clio was not really up to it!
I managed to get my GPS sorted out. We were still losing position regularly. It has now been completely rewired using both the 120 and the 125 GPS's. The former dedicated to the Plotter the latter to the position on the VHF and SSB.
On arrival at Reunion we were treated to a welcome from the Mayor and local cuisine and drinks. Local Dancers entertained us. The first day we travelled to St. Dennis the capital where we found parking easy by a local craft market. There were many smart shops around a pedestrianised area. We found a lovely restaurant for lunch apart from the snail which we found in the lettuce!
The welcome at the marina was great with Mandy showing us in to good berths, which including the power and water free!.
The yacht club was a step from our berth and they opened their bar regularly!
Very little English was spoken here and so it gave us a chance to brush up on our French. Further along the quay was a restaurant which cooked simple but good food. We frequented this often as it was quite a way into Le Port town. It sometimes turned into a disco session or a Boules competition, anyway great fun was had by all.
After the skippers briefing on the Friday World Arc organised a prize giving and Bar-B-Q. The food was excellent and the free rum punch got everyone in top gear for a raving disco! The Mayor, Port Captain, members of the Tourist Board and the Yacht Club were all there to present the prizes. Andante also won the ETA prize. We were only out by 3 minutes!
The following day I was interviewed by the local Television, he then took shots of us taking down the flags and preparing to leave. Fame at last!
We are now goosewinged running before 12-15 knots of wind. Windflower has just overtaken us with their Parasail flying!
We are expecting this wind to last until Wednesday morning when it is forecast to strenghthen and go to the south. The decision has to be made whether to stand off south of Madagascar by 150 miles or 20 miles to avoid the worst seas when it will be 25 kts of wind against a strong current. At the moment I am favouring 150 miles off not to be close to a lee shore even though the current could be less there. All the news for now. Bob and crew Andante of Mersey.