Year 3 -19 June 2026 -Port de Plaissance --La Reunion

We woke at our normal time and had our usual breakfast.

The fridge man said he would come at 8.30am as did the guys who said they would sort out the heads.

8.30am came and went and no show from either.

The fridge man Didier came at 8.45am and did apologise for being late. The heads guys did not arrive until 9.30am – C’est la vie.

The heads guys had at least brought a pump and some pipes to try and pump out the blackwater tank before they took off the pipe which we think is blocked between the tank and the exterior fitting. They needed a 24-v system to operate their pump so we used the fire pump. This worked fine but they forgot that the fire pump is designed to pump water from under the boat and this is then expelled at the fitting of the mast. They connected to the pump and no one realised that the pump would do its own thing and so it fired a large amount of sea water up into the air.

The pump helped the other pump remove the contents from the blackwater tank but also pumped a lot of water through the fitting on the mast. This unfortunately went into the bunk room cabin and wet everything. Therefore all the mattresses and sheets had to be dried etc. They at least cleared the tank and then they were then able to look at the pipe between the tank and the outside skin fitting which I suspected was blocked. This was blocked and they removed it and got rid of the material and then it all worked fine. They suggested not leaving the skin fitting open all the time  but to create some pressure by filling the tank a bit before opening. I then cleaned and put the engine room back together after all this work. I also checked over the generator and made sure all was in order.

In the meantime Didier was looking at the fridge compressors. He thought that the compressor which was faulty was now ok but he thought the system was blocked on the small plate so he suggested some welding and getting rid of the blockage if he could. In fact he spent most of the day sorting it out. We shall see how that pans out but he said he will come back Sunday morning to check everything. Both compressors and plates are now working for now.

We hung around waiting but I had emailed the customs about leaving either on Sunday or Monday am. We are trying to arrange the customs to come on Sunday morning to enable us to leave that day or Monday early. We did not get a reply but the Marina said they would contact them to come Sunday morning.

Hisham went off to see someone regarding his foot.

I decided to go up the mast to look at Deck Light 1 which is under the spreaders and the one on the starboard side was not working. I got up to the first spreader and unclipped the light. It was a large LED round light and I saw that the wire fittings had corroded. I got it out and down but it was so corroded that I probably need a new light. The fridge man suggested we could go to get another but all the shops had shut as it was a Friday. They seem to be on a 3-day week here! He suggested that we went to Leroy Malin which we did but they did not have it and I will not get it now until South Africa.

Didier carried on and we hoped to go out for dinner but he carried on working and did not leave until 7.00pm. We therefore decided to stay in. It seemed that both plates in the fridge were now working but the question is for how long. Didier said he would come back on Sunday and check everything.

We therefore had a simple pesto pasta supper with salad, followed by cheese and then for a few of us Fraise tart.

It had been a good but frustrating day but at least 2 major issues were resolved for now.  We were alive and ready for 2 new crew members to join tomorrow.

We had been in contact with our weather man Des and things change so rapidly here. He is suggesting leaving on the Sunday 21st or latest morning on the 22nd.

The picture of the day is the 4 of us on the aft deck after a job type day.

Need/Opportunity Year Three

I am now in Mauritius and will be going to Reunion, Cape Town, St Helena, Azores and back to the UK. 

I have now found additional crew for Mauritius to Durban. There may be space from Durban to Cape Town from about the beginning of July 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