Year 3 -10 May 2026 –Depart Chagos – for Mauritius

The alarm went off at 6.00am as we were wanting an early start for Mauritius. It was a clear morning but a bit grey. We had a quick cup of tea and Erika and Keith went for a quick dip and to check the anchor.

The anchor has been round a bommie since we anchored and has effectively held us in position despite the rain and strong winds. We had discussed what we were going to do when we left. Erika was going to go in the water and would guide us as we slowly went round the bommie to clear the chain of it and then to make sure we were over the anchor before we brought it off the seabed as it was at an angle under a rock.  

Once we were ready this is what we did and it worked like clockwork and we soon had the anchor on the deck. Erika got back on board and we slowly motored down the atoll to the pass from which we entered. The lowest depth I saw was 6.3m. The wind was light -some 8kts and it was quiet and peaceful.

It had been a privilege to come to such a remote and special place and although the weather had not been perfect we had explored and snorkelled on some great parts of the reef and seen a fantastic variety of fish. We were sorry to leave but the weather over the next week did not look good and in any event our permit limited us.  

We in turn needed to move on and once though the pass we headed South along the outside of our atoll. We could see on AIS the naval ship Valour anchored off another atoll as if monitoring and waiting.

We got up the main and we were soon motor sailing and then we were able to sail fully with genoa and were soon making 7-8 kts close hauled between 2 atolls and we sailed like this for about 3 hours and then we could head on our course for Mauritius.

This is renown to be a difficult passage as you are close hauled with a Southeast strong trade wind sailing Southwest with a swell normally from the Southeast. However, sometimes the swell moves Southwest meaning you would be bashing into it. It is described by some sailors as ‘relentless’. Well we shall see.

Once clear of the atolls we sailed about 55 degrees off the wind and there was a 2-3m swell but coming from the Southeast. We did 2-hour shifts until 12.00noon and then I took over for a 4-hour shift. We had been sailing well and fast and had been coping with the swell. We had quite a bit of water on the deck. However, after about an hour into my shift we came across rain clouds and so the wet weather gear went on and I reefed the genoa and the replaced it with the staysail. The coping with the rain clouds took 2 hours but we carried on with our sail plan and we were still averaging 8 kts or so.

Keith had made lunch and then we continued. We were healed over about 15 degrees which does not sound a lot but makes everything more difficult to do- walking, cooking, making tea, washing up etc. We were making good progress and did 91nm in 12 hours.

For those not on shift they rested or chatted. The conditions continued and we made good speed but the swell made it a little uncomfortable. 8 days of this would be quite relentless but let’s see how the days progress. The forecast is for 20-25 kts winds on the 14-15 May otherwise we should have 15-17 kt winds. The highest I saw on my watch was 24 (in the rain) and generally it was 15-19 kts.

We decided to start the trip on Mauritius time which meant it was getting dark about 5.30pm. We had supper at about 7.00pm and the stars were out in force. We then got into the night shift modes and we had 2 boobies hitching a lift. That will be a mess to clean up in the morning.

I came on watch again at 11.00pm and whilst it was a little rolly we were making an average of about 8kts on 60 degrees apparent off the wind. I pondered about bearing a way a little but the route suggests otherwise and it is not too uncomfortable. These conditions should continue until the evening of the 12th when the wind should rise to 20-25 kts.

 The picture of the day is Stormbird whizzing along Southwest on route to Mauritius.

 Need/Opportunity Year Three

I will be going shortly from India to the Maldives and then on to Mauritius, Reunion, Cape Town, St Helena, Azores and back to the UK. 

I am currently in need of potentially 2 crew from Mauritius to Cape Town from about 10 June 2026 and we should arrive in Cape Town on about 25-30 July 2026. If at all interested contact me on my email below or WhatsApp +44 7931360372.

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