We got a good weather window and left Chagos at about noon today. It's been a nice sail so far - we are on a beam reach and have been averaging 7+ kts with moderate seas. We caught a couple small tunas and a nice rainbow runner which we had for dinner. Only a sliver of a moon, so the stars seem brighter than usual.

By the time we left, there were only five boats remaining in the Solomon Islands, as we were late in the season and the other boats had all moved on. We would have liked to have spent more time there, but did have a great two weeks and did a lot of exploring and had a lot of fun experiences. It was sad to leave because this is probably the last atoll we will come across on this trip, but feel lucky to have even made it there. Only a handful of people we met in the S Pacific actually continued on into the Indian Ocean. We like to think we will do this again in about twenty years, but I'm not sure Chagos will remain the unspoiled paradise it is today.

We are headed to Nosy Be, Madagascar, which is in the far northwest of the island. It's about 1400 miles, so should take about 8-10 days, depending on the wind. We have friends on four boats there who we are looking forward to catching up with, not to mention visiting some of the parks and reserves there. It sounds like a fabulous place.

The picture above is from the top of our mast looking out over the pass between Ile Fouquet and Ile Takamaka.