Year 3 -18 May 2026 –Port Louis - Mauritius

We had a well-earned lie in and I did not wake until about 7.50am which is very rare for me. I got up and wrote the blog whilst others slept.

Keith had bought some bacon so I cooked the bacon so he could have a bacon sandwich to send him off back to the UK.

At 9.00am I had a call with a potential new crew member for Mauritius to Durban which went well.

After this I went looking for an Optician. I had noticed recently that with my right eye that I saw halo’s round lights at night which in one way is a bonus as it makes the light bigger and brighter but clearly was not right and it indicated a stigma in that eye. In addition about 2 weeks ago I put a hand over my left eye and what I could see out of my right eye was somewhat blurred. The left eye must have been compensating. Luckily to date I have not needed glasses except for reading in low light conditions or very small print. As I have not had my eyes checked since before I left the UK I thought it sensible to get them checked out. I therefore went off to see and Optician who tested my eyes and stated that I had a cataract in my right eye. She said I could get it done here and gave me the number of 2 Ophthalmic surgeons she recommended. This can be caused by age, exposure to the sun and potentially from other health conditions which I do not think I suffer from.

A cataract is a clouding of the eye's natural lens. It develops slowly as proteins break down and clump together, scattering light and blocking clear vision. Symptoms include blurred vision, faded colours, and glare or halos around lights. Surgery is the only permanent treatment. Cataract surgery is a highly common and effective outpatient procedure where the clouded natural lens is safely removed and replaced with a clear artificial intraocular lens.

I was somewhat surprised but relieved it was not something else and made contact with the specialists and managed to secure an appointment at 6.30pm in the North of the island.

I returned to Stormbird and had a call with my financial adviser who came on Stormbird on the leg from New Zealand (Auckland) to Sydney. H is a friend as well and it was a general catch up with the question asked as to what am I going to do when I get back from this trip? As you can imagine this has been in my mind from time to time. Honest answer is I do not know but I would like to do something I think in the sailing world -teach sailing, perhaps start a consultancy business through which I advise sailors and skippers about what they need to consider when considering long passages, ocean crossings, circumnavigations etc. Who knows but food for thought. I then had a call with another potential crew member for Reunion to Durban and potentially beyond which also went well.

We got on with various jobs and I had arranged for a technician to come for various things which needed to be done on the boat. Keith, Carolyn, Erika and Joyce went off to look round the town and I stayed and met Jerome. The first thing we looked at was the staysail and he went up the mast to get the staysail halyard swivel down. Once down we could see the pin which had sheered which held the sail to the swivel. I showed him the new swivel and he said we would have to take the bottom of the furler off to be able to get the swivel off and the new one on. Apparently there is a cable which runs through the foil and he said the problem is that when you take the wire of the cable out it is difficult to get it back in again in the same way. I looked at the swivel and said why do we not just put a new shackle through it. This was a viable option as the mast is coming off in Cape Town and it could be changed then. Therefore we put a new shackle on and we will out up the sail tomorrow.

Jerome next looked at the 24v Mastervolt charger which had failed. I had a spare which he tested and this was also faulty and I was not aware of that as it came with the boat. He will see if they have another here. The ladder can be fixed as he knows a carpenter and he will call him. In terms of the stove -igniter he will see whether there is one at the office. He then started to look at the lights in the cockpit as they will not turn off. He said the dimmer switch is faulty and he will see if he can replace it.

By this time it was nearly 5.00pm and I had to go to get to the eye appointment. Keith, Carolyn, Joyce and Erika returned and I went off to get a taxi saying goodbye to Keith Watty. He is a great person to have on board and he must be on his 6th/7th visit now. He is also joining again in the Azores for the final leg home to Hamble. We will miss him and wish him a great trip home to the UK.

The taxi took me to the NE of the island and I was surprised how busy the island was and how built up. We hit the rush hour traffic. The island has a population of 1.26m and 60 % of those are of Indian descent, about 30 % afro Caribbean and the rest Muslim with some Chinese. Port Louis is the capital and quite a big sprawling city with dual carriageways and lots of Industrial sites spread out.

Port Louis is the vibrant capital and economic hub of Mauritius, nestled between a sheltered harbour and the Moka mountain range. Founded in 1735 by the French governor Mahé de Labourdonnais, it serves as the island's bustling centre of commerce, government, and multicultural heritage.

We will explore the island more but I had assumed it would be less developed. I got to the appointment in time thanks to Rashid, the taxi driver. He is 78, Muslim,  and has 4 children who live I Bristol, Dublin and Canada and none of them want to return. I met the Ophthalmic surgeon and he did various tests and confirmed it was a cataract and said he could operate next Sunday and explained what that entailed. It is a bit like a windowpane which had become dirty and cannot be cleaned. Thy take this out and put a new pane back in. I therefore had a decision to make and decided to proceed as I will have time to recover before I need to move on. I can always change my mind but I am not keen to have only one functioning eye.

I returned to Stormbird. Keith had gone and the ladies were having gin and tonics. They were not hungry as they had had a big lunch. I needed something so believe it ir not I had baked beans on toast -comfort food which was lovely. It had been a busy day with lots done.   

 The picture of the day is Keith and I on passage enjoying the ride.

 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