Lennard + Emily + Kati + Arne

Today at noon we arrived at Chagos. We are happy to be here as the last two nights were rough ones: Thunderstorms with westerly gales 30+ kn and the rain bucketing down for hours. Luckily the rain took a break this morning when we came through the pass and now we are safely anchored and are looking forward to have a good night sleep. There are 6 other yachts and the brittish fishery protection vessel anchored here - we just got visited by a custom officer to check on our permit and to stamp our passports with "Brittish Indian Ocean Territory" . The fishery inspector told us to keep an eye open for fishing boats and to report any we might see - all of Chagos is a commercial no fishery zone and Sri Lankan boats like to come here for the sharks whose fins are earning good money. We are allowed to fish for our supper but are asked to fill in a detailed "Fishing Returns" log. A woman in military camouflage outfit was also part of the visiting party - I am not sure what she came for, but she did an entertaining stunt when she fell in the water while trying to get on board and then freaked out because she is afraid of sharks... when we had her on board we all had a good laugh! We will spend the next 2 months at anchorages here and in the Salomon atoll - by end of April / beginning of May the cyclone season in the South Indian Ocean should be over and then we will sail towards Mauritius. AHOI! Arne