Year 3 -20 June 2026 -Port de Plaissance --La Reunion
It was a lovely day when we woke and we had our usual breakfast.
John got on and filled the water tanks and we also wanted to wash down the decks after the fire pump
had wet the decks. I got on and put the seating back where we had had to remove it to get the galley table up. I then made sure the cabins were ready for our two new crew arriving today namely Jenny Impey, from London and Peter Wright from South Africa.
Hisham, John and Keith then went off to do some of the provisioning as we shall leave all the fresh stuff until Sunday morning.
I decided to try and sort out my datahub which has stopped working and it was not updating the tracking page on Predictwind and also on the Stormbird Goes Global website. It was still showing us in Mauritius which obviously we are not. The problem is that although I can connect to the hub when I tried to connect to it via the administration page it would try to connect but not actually doing it. I spent a few hours but eventually I could connect and I was able to make the changes required and hopefully you can now see we are in Reunion. was so pleased-technology eh-it is great when it works but getting it to work….
The guys came back with the shopping and we packed it away but I have to leave about 11.30am to go to the airport to meet Jenny who was supposed to land at 12.20pm. John came as he needed to get a head torch which had a red light and there was a Decathlon near the airport where he could get one.
The roads were busy but we found the shop and he got a light quickly and so we went to the airport to find that Jenny’s flight was 30 minutes delayed. John and I had a quick panini and a drink and waited. Jenny actually came out quite quickly and after our greeting we then drove back to Stormbird. She had had a reasonably good flight.
We introduced her to Stormbird and she met everyone and was greeted with a cup of tea.
After the tea I showed her the boat briefly and her cabin. She then settled in and sorted out her stuff.
We decided we will eat in and have duck breasts. I made some of my spiced cabbage in advance and so we relaxed a little and Hisham and John went to the shops.
I had also looked at the weather and had further email communication with Des. I was thinking of leaving at say 5.00pm on the 21st or 6.00am on the 22nd. There is a front coming in overnight tonight with strong winds etc and it will be a question of how big the swell is when we propose to leave. It looks like good winds to the bottom of Madagascar and from there it is question of getting over to the East African coast and not hitting the Agulhas current when there is a Southerly wind. The problem is that you can only see a few days ahead. I do not need to decide now but will do so in the morning after a further update from Des.
Jenny, Keith and I had a beer and we waited for Hisham and John to return. They did return with more bread and Hisham had bought some more tee shirts.
We all had a sundowner and the front began to come in and the rain started and the wind was howling. The front had arrived and we were rocking slightly.
Keith cooked some mashed potato and I did my spiced red cabbage and then we cooked duck breasts and it was a good meal if I say so myself. We did eat outside but had to move inside during the meal due to wind and rain.
Peter arrives late so we prepared to rest and sleep and then I will meet him when he arrives which I anticipate will be about 12.30am.
The picture of the day is 4 of us in the cabin preparing supper with Hisham taking the picture. Jenny is sitting at the table.
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