Today was another simply beautiful day. In fact, one could say it was the nicest day that we have had so far in the Seychelles. The skies were crystal clear, the sun was shiny and warm, the really large swells did not arrive as predicted and the water was a pleasant temperature to swim in.

We decided to go into the beach again if for no other reason to redeem my beaching skills after the last fiasco. On our way in we stopped by a monohull who was clearly a cruiser. During the rainbow that we had yesterday, we saw that one end terminated right over this boat. Thus, when we arrived and introduced ourselves, we asked to have the pot of gold that they must have. The family on the boat is from the island of Reunion and speaks mostly French so they were initially confused by our request. After explaining the Irish belief that there is a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow, they smiled and enjoyed our rather bazaar sense of humor. We told Gilbert, the husband, that we had taken a picture of the rainbow sitting on top of his boat and he asked if he could get a copy of it. We were only too happy to say yes.

We then made our way into shore where we timed our arrival just perfectly and beached the dinghy without any problems. Once the dinghy was pulled above the high water line we jumped into the water and enjoyed swimming and floating around, just seaward of the breakers that were rolling in.

When we were through with our swim, we returned to the Honesty Bar and enjoyed another ice cold diet Coke. We talked a bit with Helga who is the daughter of the fellow who operates it. He is German and is back in Germany for a while. Helga lives over on Mahe' but came over here to watch the bar and house while her dad is away. She shared with us that they have had two robberies recently when a local couple (and they know who it is) have come into the bar when no one is around and cleaned out the money that was in the money box that is left on the counter. However, her dad has installed a camera and they believe they have captured the couple in the act of stealing the money. Each time there was about 350 Rupees (about $32) in the box where one puts in your money when buying a drink. She hopes the police will take the video and arrest the couple.

After returning to Leu Cat Gilbert came over with his thumb drive that we used to transfer the rainbow photo. While we sat and talked over a glass of wine he shared with us his experiences of sailing around Mayotte and Madagascar. He said that we would really like Madagascar as the food is very good, the anchorages are beautiful and the people, while very poor, are very friendly. He thought that we would like Madagascar much more than we would like Mayotte since Madagascar has everything that Mayotte has plus is safer. Apparently, there is a greater history of theft in Mayotte. The main reason we were going to Mayotte is that the wind direction sailing from the Seychelles is better going to Mayotte first instead of going directly to Madagascar. Mayotte is west of Madagascar by about 180 nm. Once you are there, you are in the lee of Madagascar and the strong SE trades (which have curved and have a more northerly component in this part of the Indian Ocean) are much weaker. Thus, you can easily motor from Mayotte to Nosy Be in the NW corner of Madagascar to clear in.

Gilbert also brought over his East Africa Pilot book for us to read and take notes of the many great anchorages along Madagascar and the Mozambique coasts, which we plan to be sailing by.

We finished our perfect day by grilling a wonderful rack of lamb and paired it with Mary Margaret's special macaroni and cheese (with three cheeses, include a healthy dose of Parmigiano-Reggiano that adds a special tang to the flavor, Yum!) and a delicious Greek salad. Mated with a nice hearty red wine from Chile, the meal was just the right ending to this fantastic day.