Durban, South Africa

We left Mauritius as planned on September 12 and had an easy overnight run to Reunion. We went into the Port de la Pointe des Galets on the north west aspect of the island and tied up to a large catamaran. The clear in was a bit chaotic as no-one was around on the weekend. The problem with this marina is that there is nothing in its vicinity and the nearest town is a 3-4 km walk. There are, however, lots of boat related facilities and one can get most boat related repairs done in the marina. We were berthed outside the local yacht club and they were having their year end regatta on the Saturday and Sunday. We were invited to the festivities and were made very welcome indeed.
After the weekend, things picked up a bit and we got to do some exploring. Mauritius used to be French and they still speak mostly French but Reunion IS France and many of the small towns look just like little, provincial French towns. The people were incredibly friendly and helpful. We rented a car for two days and on the first day took a coastal ride from the northwest of the island to the south visiting all of the beach towns on the way. There is a small marina in St, Gilles. Very pretty spot but much  too small for us. We had a pleasant lunch on the beach and then down to the town of St Denis where they also have a marina. The entrance looked a bit shoal but would have been a nicer place to stay had they had room. Lots of stores and restaurants nearby.
Next day we got up very early to see the central part of the island and the town of Cilaos in a massive volcanic caldera. Getting there was exciting in a small under powered rental car. The road was incredibly steep and winding with terrifying hairpin bends. The views were spectacular and I'll post some photos soon. We had another good lunch and drove through another national park to the east side of the island and then back around the northern tip back to the boat.
The weather was looking good for South Africa and we left on Wednesday, September 17 after a bit of an adventure returning the rental car. We got stuck in traffic and then got lost and had to be rescued by the rental agents. Nonetheless we got away around noon and soon got into breeze once out of the influence of Reunion.
This leg is tricky as the shortest distance to South Africa is about 1400 miles, outside the range of a useful weather window and it is possible to get caught with severe weather conditions approaching the South African coast especially in the Agulhas Current where conditions can be horrendous in a southwesterly gale.
We employed three weather strategies. One was the usual grib weatherfiles downloaded via the sat phone every other day. We also got help from a South African friend of Ray who runs a an exploration boat out of Mossel bay and has a great deal of local knowledge. I also thought it might be useful to use an American weather routing service called Commanders Weather out of Maine. They were indeed very flexible and helpful and gave us 3 very detailed forecasts and routing while underway.
We tried to get all the way to Mossel Bay (170 miles east of Capetown) but this was not possible due to a very strong cold front that we could not avoid without going into Durban.
All in all, we were quite lucky with the weather. We only had to deal with one frontal system which was mercifully mild. We even had to motor for about 20 hours!
We got into Durban on Friday, September 26 and found a very nice berth on the international dock close to the Durban Marina Office and the Point Yacht Club. More to follow.

Port Louis, Mauritius

At last, a post from Mauritius. As you may have read we arrived in Port Louis last Sunday afternoon after 13 days and a few hours from the Cocos-Keeling Islands. This was a long run of over 2300 nautical miles and even though it was quite bumpy at times, it was quite rapid.

We had  winds of force 6-7 and sometimes gusts to Force 8 for much of the time and some quite lumpy seas.

Port Louis and Mauritius itself has been a very pleasant surprise. The dock area is a bit confusing but we hid find the appropriate place to tie up and do the clear in procedure. Once again, it seems odd to find non-white people speaking French but in a very good way. Every one here is courteous and well turned out and the infrastructure is well maintained.

After clear in, we moved over to the "marina" and tied up on a concrete wall (tidal range is about 15 inches). It's very sheltered in here and we even have water and electric for about $20/ day.

We have spent the last few days cleaning up and wandering about the island.

We leave today for La Reunion and we will stay there for a few days waiting for a weather window for the tricky bit to South Africa.

Here are some photos and I'll post some details in a days or two

Karakatoa in the Sunda Straits on leaving Indonesia

a very sad looking genset impeller This one had lost all of its blades.

Direction Island, Cocos-Keeling Islands very windy while we were there

angry Indian Ocean

One of the frequent line squalls encountered in the Indian Ocean. Sometimes wind, sometimes rain, sometimes both

After the squall comes the rainbow

port louis, mauritius

Black River Gorge

view to the south Mauritius

port louis

Callisto in Port Louis marina

local dudes doing their morning exercise 

Mauritius

Enroute to Mauritius

Callisto and crew left Cocos keeling 15 days ago and should arrive in Mauritius any day now.
Good sailing for the first 12 days averaging 180 mile days, then the wind died for 24 hours ,so they were motoring and wishing for wind,but as they say 'be careful what you wish for,as the 'winds came back ranging from 25 -33 knots with a swell of 4-5 m with squalls,so a rather bumpy ride. Believe it or not all the crew were in foulies, trying to keep warm and dry!So they put up the cockpit weather cover,so they are back in shorts and feeling more toasty. They caught a 10 LB wahoo after a week out this was the first fish on this leg,reported as delicious. A 50 LB fish was hauled aboard a few days later ,but it got the better of the crew and flipped back into the ocean!

The photo on the previous blog is of Captain Mike,Ray and Ted just in Singapore before they set of on this voyage.

Arrived in Cocos

We are here on Cocos tucked up out of the swell off Direction Island on the north east corner of the Cocos group and its still blowing like mad. Quite comfortable in the anchorage, though. The water is crystal clear and there are lots of coral and fish. We had a visit from the Oz customs and immigration yesterday and apart from a lot of forms there were no problems. We are having a nice rest here. I don't know if there is any wifi here but we are going on a ferry ride today to home island and then to West island to do so looking around and perhaps some shopping. The supply boat allegedly came in yesterday so there should be something to buy.

18 August 2014

Callisto and crew left Singapore 7 days ago.
The weather began with little wind and isolated squalls .After crossing  the equator they pulled into the commercial port of Pangalpenang on the west side of Banka island where they managed to buy 250 liters of diesel fuel from a tug boat . This entailed inflating the dingy and ferrying it across.
There was a period of time with headwinds that slowed them down and a a few downpours of rain. They have now picked up the trade winds and the sky is blue again.Last night they passed through the Sunda straits( that's is between Sumatra and Java ).
Presently enjoying a speed of 8.8 knts. So far no fish,they will continue to try.

One15 Marina, Singapore

Where to begin.
This has been a very difficult week. The trek started before noon on July 31 leaving San Diego and stopping to meet with Ron and Myrna in Long Beach. We had a nice dinner and they dropped me off at LAX for the twenty hour flight to Singapore, via Manila. All flights were on time but jam packed so not so comfortable in the back of the bus.
I took a taxi from Changi across the bridge to Puteri Harbour in Malaysia.
The boat seemed to be in good shape, the batteries held their charge and the chargers came on line without problem.
The interior of the boat was as we left it with no mould whatsoever. Exterior was dirty but to be expected after three months.
I spent a few hours putting stuff away and Ted arrived about 1800H.
We had a quick tour of the boat, a bite to eat and then bedtime.
Next day, work started with a boat clean and we removed the protective canvas awnings.
I asked Jamie from Totem to check the rig, replace the tricolor lights and fit a new alternator to battery charger that I had brought from the USA.  The first two jobs got done but the charger would not function, despite hours of work.
It was disconnected and I went back to the original system.
Day three was boat diving day in the filthy marina but there was no choice. A plastic bag had been placed on the prop to delay marine growth but this has fallen off and the prop, keel, rudder and waterline were very badly fouled.
Three to four hours under the boat with a scraper took off most of the marine growth and the  engine a transmission ran well.
I switched out the main engine raw water impeller and replaced the raw water sensor on the gen. set. Despite plenty of water running through I still got a low water alarm so I had to disconnect the sensor again.
An electronics check was disappointing. All the wind instruments and radios worked fine but I could not get a GPS fix on either chart plotter, even using an external antenna. It seems very odd that both would have gone bad at the same time and see the same fault on both units. The chart plotter and radar work but no GPS fix.
We did a lot of shopping to provisoning the boat for the Indian Ocean.
Ted and I left Puteri Harbour on Friday for One15 Marina on Sentosa Island, Singapore navigating by IPad. It works surprisingly well and all went well. We met the immigration guy in a pilot boat outside the marina and cleared in. This marina is truly exceptional, probably the best I have ever seen and we were shown to our berth by very courteous staff who allowed is to stay two days longer than we had booked for.
This weekend is Singapore's 49th Independence Day and all government offices are closed.
We visited a massive shopping mall called Vivo City which was teeming
I am waiting for Ray, the third member of our crew who should arrive any minute.
Tomorrow, will again be jam packed. The Furuno service guy is coming by to see to the chart plotters and if they are not repairable, I will buy  a new hand held GPS to hook up to my computer. Ray is also bringing a GPS/computer and we also have two iPads so we should be able to find our way without having to resort to the sextant.
Then it's off to immigration to clear out and if all goes well we will leave on Tuesday.