Year 3 -3 June 2026 – Grand Baie- Mauritius
We had a good night with only a gentle lullaby roll and were up about 7.30am. It was a lovely clear blue-sky morning and calm. It made the bay look lovely and that seaside feel was strongly evident with boats gently bobbing on their moorings and a sandy beach curved round the bay like a welcome blanket to town.
We had a restful morning although I had quite a bit of admin to do as I needed to print off the forms to sign to send to Reunion. This meant getting the printer out which I had bought in the Maldives. The difference this time was that I had Starlink and of course it tries to connect to the WIFI and therefore will not print with just the cable. I eventually managed it before I threw it in the sea!
We had to get the dinghy down and we put the old engine on as it had not had a run since Himmafushi. We were ready to go by 12.15pm and so we got in the dinghy and headed ashore to the inside of the fuel jetty at the Grand Bay Yacht Club. Once tied up I showed the ladies the club and the facilities and we asked to speak to the manager Louis. He was busy so we decided to sit down for lunch.
We took a table on the sea edge of the deck and sat overlooking the bay enjoying the view and the relaxed feel of having a nice lunch with no time pressures. We enjoyed watching people swim and the boating activities which were in front of us. Lunch was good and we even had a pudding for a change. Luckily Louis, the manager, came to see us to welcome us to the club. He explained about the facilities – showers, toilets, rubbish bins, fuel jetty, their museum and of course the restaurant and bar facilities all of which are free for the first two weeks although there are member prices and non-members prices of the food and drink. I asked about the parking of a car and he said not unless you are a member. He said it is 2.500 (£37.50) rupees per boat to become a member for a week and you could then park the car. I thought if we used the club quite a bit, which is likely we will more than make this up especially when there will be 6 of us before too long and we can then park the car. Hisham arrives with a car on the 5th and that would be a good day to start the membership.
I asked him about the fuel jetty which would be 2.5m at high tide and concluded once he told me about it to just use jerry cans and do 2 or 3 trips. I think I only need 300 lts. I also asked him about the channel in over the reef and he said ignore the mooring buoys as they have been moved in cyclones and the government will not allow them to be put back in the right place. So much for taking note of them when I came in! He suggested keeping toward the North side of the entrance and I will need to exit at High Tide. There is only one other yacht here with a draft at 2.4m. Few yachts come with our draft and we are only the 6th yacht to visit this year.
He told us about a few restaurants in town, where to buy fresh fish when the fishermen come in about 4.00pm. He warned us that on Saturday night there will be a lot of music in the bay with the party catamarans. He said if we need anything do not hesitate to ask as he is here to help. He could not have been more welcoming.
Once we had finished our chat we decided to walk into town which you can do on the shoreline which tracks the edge of the beach and we passed a number of resorts with people swimming in the sea, sitting on deck chairs and going in swimming pools set back from the beach. It was a nice walk with the odd scrap of mangrove and lots of boats littering the shore waiting for their owners to return and some of them looked well forgotten. It is aways sad to see when so many would love a boat to use but cannot.
We came to the town which was spread along the bay. It as a typical tourist town and nothing special although we walked along the beach where there were some shack bars and the fish market selling fresh fish. This is what Louis was referring to. We will come back and buy some one day. We met a guy called Raj who organises all sorts of tours, one of which seemed interesting, which was a day to visit the 3 islands off the North shore of Mauritius. We thought that may be good to do when the others arrive. We walked back along the beach and met another man who organises tours. He said his real job is as a refrigeration expert and he studied for a degree in the US. He lectures as well and he also runs this tour business as he cannot survive on his other salary. We took his details as well. We also passed along the shore many of the party catamarans which we now depositing their passengers in the shore, music blaring from the boats.
We walked back to the club and then through it to the public park and public beach of Le Crevette. This is a small cove where you can swim and there are various huts you can get some food and drink at. I cannot swim for a month so Joyce and Carolyne went for a swim as the sun began to lower in the sky and it became cooler. We had a drink and watched beach life. There were 2 women taking pictures of each other in various poses totally oblivious as to how silly it looked. The mobile phone has created that with people seeming to want to take selfies everywhere.
We returned to the dinghy and then to Stormbird having had a relaxed day and sat on the aft deck until it was time to put on the anchor light. As we had a big lunch we just had salad and cheese biscuits for supper.
We think we may try to walk to Mon Choisy beach tomorrow as it is our last full day until Hisham arrives.
The picture of the day is our luncheon spot at the Grand Baie Yacht Club.
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