Year 3 -28 May 2026 -Port Louis- Mauritius

I woke at 6.00am by the alarm for my first drop in my eye and then rested and got up about 7.15am. Breakfast was mango and yoghurt and I wrote the blog.

I had arranged to go to the chandlery with Rashid about 9.30am and Jerome contacted me and said he would come at 3.30pm. He said he would also contact the fridge man and arrange for him to come. One plate the smaller one which I hardly use is working but the other is not cooling properly. It has been fine since India.

Rahid came on time and I went to two chandleries and neither had what I wanted in terms of mooring lines and fenders so I will have to wait for South Africa. We stopped at a supermarket on the way back to get some provisions and I was back on board by 11.30am.

Once I returned I started to look more carefully at the Reunion to Durban passage and put in various waypoints and read up about it from articles in Noonsite (a sailing resource website) and looked at the Jimmy Cornell world sailing books who I have met.  

Jimmy Cornell (born Dragoș Corneliu Cișmașu; 1940 in Romania) is a Romanian-born British yachtsman, bestselling author of World Cruising Routes, among other books and the founder of the World Cruising Club.

Jimmy Cornell was born in Romania in 1940, growing up in Brașov. After studying Economics at the University of Bucharest he emigrated to London, England in 1969 with his British wife Gwenda. He took up sailing as a hobby whilst working as a reporter for the BBC World Service.

In 1975 Cornell, leaving from the coast of England, started a voyage around the world, with Gwenda and their two children (Doina, aged 7, and Ivan, aged 5). It ended up lasting 6 years, taking them to 70 countries and encompassing 68,000 miles. Cornell sent back regular radio reports to the BBC World Service throughout the voyage, which was to become the first of three circumnavigations he has completed totalling over 200,000 miles afloat.

In 1986 Cornell set up the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC), in which cruising yachtsmen who want to complete a transatlantic crossing sail together in loose convoy. Following the success of the first ARC, Cornell founded the World Cruising Club and organized a few other events: the Blue Planet Odyssey, the Atlantic Odyssey, and the European Odyssey. Cornell also wrote the book World Cruising Routes; first published in 1987 by Adlard Coles Nautical, it has gone on to sell 150,000 copies.

One of Cornell's most important successes is the book World Cruising Routes, written with the intention of helping other long-distance sailors on trips around the world. World Cruising Routes has established itself as a "de facto" bible for long-distance navigators for more than 25 years. It is a book designed to plan cruises anywhere in the world, with a planning guide for almost 1,000 navigation routes through all the oceans of the world, from the icy latitudes of the Arctic and the Antarctic to the southern tropical seas, with more than 6,000 landmarks to help mariners plan individual routes, assessing the effects of global warming on cruise routes. Being oriented to the specific needs of the cruise navigators, it contains information about the winds, the currents, the regional and seasonal climate, as well as suggestions about the optimal schedules for the individual routes, although it should be used together with the Regional Sailing Directions, according to Cruising World that defines it as: "The most important book for long distance travellers in decades", actually, since the British Admiralty 1895 book: Ocean Passages for the World.

I have all his books on board and have seen him speak in London. I looked up all the remaining passages I have to the UK and to understand about the routes and what to expect. His Ocean Atlas, which I was given by a friend David Mark, has been signed by Jimmy Cornell and in it he wishes me well on my circumnavigation. This book gives you information based on historical records of the direction and strength of wind and currents of anywhere in the world and month by month and whether there are storms etc. You can therefore look up what you may expect on a passage. The passage from Reunion to Durban is tricky because of the Southwest storms which come round the Cape and go as far as Madagascar so you need to get round the bottom of Madagascar and then up to Latitude 26 South (as they do not come that far) without experiencing such a storm. You then need to get across the Agulhas current which flows South from the Mozambique channel to the Cape when there is not a Southerly wind which clashes with the South bound Agulhas current. This makes the East coast of South Africa a difficult coastline so that you need to go down it in hops when the wind is from the North and not from the South. The weather changes every 3-4 days so you need to pick the right moments to go and ensure you can get into a safe haven before the weather changes again.   

The Agulhas Current is the western boundary current of the southwest Indian Ocean. It flows south along the east coast of Africa from 27°S to 40°S. It is narrow, swift and strong. It is suggested that it is the largest western boundary current in the world ocean, with an estimated net transport of 70 sverdrups (70 million cubic metres per second), as western boundary currents at comparable latitudes transport less — Brazil Current (16.2 Sv), Gulf Stream (34 Sv), Kuroshio (42 Sv).

The sources of the Agulhas Current are the East Madagascar Current (25 Sv), the Mozambique Current (5 Sv) and a recirculated part of the south-west Indian subgyre south of Madagascar (35 Sv). The net transport of the Agulhas Current is estimated as 100 Sv. The flow of the Agulhas Current is directed by the topography. The current follows the continental shelf from Maputo to the tip of the Agulhas Bank (250 km south of Cape Agulhas). Here the momentum of the current overcomes the vorticity balance holding the current to the topography and the current leaves the shelf. The current reaches its maximum transport near the Agulhas Bank where it ranges between 95 and 136 Sv which is about the equivalent of 5-6 kts extra speed on a Southbound travelling yacht.  

As the Agulhas Current flows south along the African east coast, it tends to bulge inshore frequently, a deviation from the current's normal path known as Agulhas Current meanders (ACM). These bulges are occasionally (1-7 times per year) followed by a much larger offshore bulge, known as Natal pulses (NP). Natal pulses move along the coast at 20 km (12 mi) per day. An ACM can bulge up to 20 km (12 mi) and a NP up to 120 km (75 mi) from the current's mean position. The AC passes 34 km (21 mi) offshore and an ACM can reach 123 km (76 mi) offshore. When the AC meanders, its width broadens from 88 km (55 mi) to 125 km (78 mi) and its velocity weakens from 208 cm/s (82 in/s) to 136 cm/s (54 in/s). An ACM induces a strong inshore counter current.

The passage down the East African coast is manageable provided you have good weather information. I put in all the waypoints and places that I could stop at on the way down. It was interesting reading all this and we will have to manage these passages carefully and I will be speaking to Des – my weather man about this and he will help us from Reunion to Cape Town and potentially beyond. I also then looked at the passages from Cape Town to the UK.

This took me to lunch time and beyond and I have now planned my passage back to the UK for now. This is about 10,000 nm.

I then set about sealing some of the hatches where the rubber had come away and then preparing the areas where the decking had come loose on the anchor locker and lazarettes which needs to be glued and sealed. I chased Jerome as he did not arrive on time but he said he cannot get away and will come at 9.00am tomorrow. This was annoying but allowed me to get the charger from customs which was delivered to the boat at about 3.30pm. That is good so he can fit it tomorrow. I also -getting domestic- had to do some washing in a bucket.

The day passed by and I had to uncover the compressor for the fridge as the fridge man will come tomorrow late afternoon. This means getting everything out of lockers. I had done this quite a few times on this circumnavigation and it leaves a mess everywhere until I can put it back.

I had a welcome beer before dark and then went for a fish supper which was nice albeit on my own. I came back to Stormbird and watched a Bourne film – which are always good.

I very much hope to get all the jobs done tomorrow so I can have Saturday off and perhaps will go up to Grand Bay to see it before we take Stormbird there.      

The picture of the day is of Stormbird in the sunset at Port Louis.

 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