Year 2- 9 September 2025 –Kanaga and then on to Pulau Moyo

We had a lie in as lie ins go. I got up about 7.20am. It was another nice day and I could hear the cockerels ashore telling us to get up. We had a leisurely tea and then Mark cooked bacon and egg which we have not had for a while which was most enjoyable. The black sand beach lay out before us with a number of local boats floating just off it.

We decided we would go across to the Satonde Island which is a nature reserve and has a fresh saline lake in its centre. This was about 2 nm away and so once we got the dinghy down and prepared our stuff off we went. The channel between the two was quite choppy but we coped. We had looked up the weather and 23 mm of rain was forecast today and it may start at midday. It looked darker further East as we motored across which must have taken us about 25 minutes. We could see the Island clearly and a sort of crater inside it or the sides of it which we assume was the sides of the lake. We also saw on the way over an area of spitting water which we think was a large bowl or shoal of fish. Shame we did not have a rod. When we arrived we saw a dinghy leaving and we stopped to talk to them and they were from a boat called Serenity which we had seen on AIS when we came over from Banta Island. They had been for a walk and a swim and had anchored further East from us and a little resort where they said you could get some food but there was no one there.

There was a pier at the Island but with the chop we decided to take the dinghy to the beach. We pulled the dinghy up and the ranger came over to us and helped us. He spoke a little English and there was a fee to be paid to come on to the Island which we paid. The weather was still good and we were the only visitors at this time. Ther were a few buildings here which were a bit overgrown or derelict but clearly some money had been spent in the past to cater for what looked like quite a few visitors. The ranger said he would look after our dinghy which was good and so we walked along the beach a bit and took a concrete path.   

The path meandered through the trees and up some steps and then ahead in the large bowl was the saline lake. It was a sort of bluey green and looked very pretty with the steep cliff side covered in trees, creepers and foliage. Our viewpoint was from on high so we had to walk down concrete steps to its shore where they had an open hut and a concrete platform. There was a plastic erected jetty but no boat. They must have had one at some time. The lake shore was very hot as any breeze was higher up. There was a bit of green and algae on the shore and initially it did not look that inviting. However, when in Rome – we got changed and got in. If nothing else it cooled us from the heat and it was quite pleasant swimming around and floating.

Once we had enough we got out and then started to climb up the hill to see if we could get better views. The issue was that the trees and foliage was quite high and so we got so far and then it was clear it was not going to get much better. We therefore retraced our steps and headed back to the pier. We considered snorkelling on the reef but with the chop snorkelling may have been difficult. We therefore headed back in the dinghy to Stormbird and we thought all In all it was worth a visit and it was good they were trying to look after it.

Once we got back we decided to turn around quicky and go and visit the village Kananga. There did not seem to be much there and this proved to be correct. There were no bars or restaurants. Any shops was a shack and there were few people around and the men were playing cards and the women a game with little stones which they put on numbers on a bit of cardboard or polystyrene. It was clearly very poor. The people were friendly and said hello but there was one house which had a massive bank of speakers and was playing music far too loudly which we had heard from Stormbird. Once we had a little walk around we decided there was nothing here and headed back to Stormbird.

We pondered whether to stay and there seemed little point especially with the loud music so we decided to move on to Pulau (Island) Moyo some 17 nm away. At this point there was little wind but we upped anchor and then headed West toward Moyo. We could see over to our left a large bank of black clouds which was bringing the rain. We seemed by going West to be heading out of it. The wind soon began to rise beyond 10 kts so we put up the genoa and started to sail. I would have to watch the time and ensure we can get to our anchorage in time. However, as we sailed on the wind increased more which was great and the wind ranged from about 9kts up to about 21 kts and this was probably caused by the weather around us. It looked like to the way we were going we were going to miss it all.

I decided to fish and put out the rod. We seemed to be going too fast but I decided to leave it. We could see over the area we had left thick black clouds and assumed Kanaga would now be in heavy rain. We continued up the North coast of Moyo and we seemed to be sailing well and we seemed to be avoiding the rain. Then the rod ratchet went and we had caught a fish or so I hoped. I reeled it in and it was wriggling like mad but it was well caught in two places. I reeled in further and saw we had caught small Mahi Mahi which was perfect for us.

I dispatched it and then filleted it – supper sorted for tonight. Once this was done we came to the top of the Island and by this time rain was falling on the Island to our left. I could see we would not escape the rain and it started shortly thereafter. We got our lightweight jackets on and the rain started heavily and it was difficult to keep one’s eye open. I could hear thunder over to our left and we rounded to Northwest part of the Island and the light was fading. We came round to a deep bay and we could see a number of boats anchored there. We thought there would not be enough room. I decided to carry on in the torrential rain and with lightning and thunder going on around us. I suppose one benefit of the rain is that it will give the boat a good washdown.   

We motored on and saw in the rain mist the boats in the bay. I did not go too close to the shore and the eventually came round the headland and headed into the large bay toward the waypoint the pilot book had given me. The rain had lessened a little bit it was getting darker and we needed to be able to see the shore as we anchored. We motored on and the depth was still 160m and we were coming closer to the shore and it took a long time for the depth to drop. We slowed down and motored slowly to the point I had been given and it was still 40m. We eased in further and watched the depth slowly drop. We eventually dropped the anchor in about 10-12m just as the light was finally disappearing. We settled and felt comfortable. We came in out of the rain and took off the wet life jacket and jacket. It had been a good but quite dramatic day.

I made a rum cocktail to celebrate. We then cooked the Mahi Mahi which we had with red cabbage. The fish was delicious and very fresh. We had to eat it whilst listening to the rain pattering on the doghouse. It was quite cosy really.

Well we look forward to seeing this bay tomorrow and will probably stay here for the day.               

The picture of the day is a picture of the fish I caught.

Need/Opportunity Year Three

In year three I will be going from Thailand to Sri Lanka, India, Maldives and then on to Chagos, Mauritius, Reunion, Cape Town, St Helena, Azores and back to the UK.  I am looking for crew from Mauritius/ Reunion Island to Cape Town and from Cape Town to the UK. If of any interest do email me.

The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com