We had to pull the anchor at 2AM and leave Nosy Makamby because the wind switched to the north instead of the expected south east. A northerly had us anchored on a lee shore and if the wind strengthened like the previous day we would have been in a tight spot. Unfortunately, we did not have a choice as there was no place to anchor nearby protected from the northerlies. We were both pretty tired and it was dark so we pulled up the anchor carefully and only put up part of the genoa out in order to keep our speed down.

It is risky sailing at night in Madagascar as the charts are not accurate. There are plenty of rocks and shoals which are not on either the paper or electronic charts. Also the GPS datum on the charts is off most of the time for both Nobeltec and C-Map which means it is necessary to use land marks or navigation aids to get a position. Few of the navigation aids here have lights.

We kept our speed down, headed for deep water, and watched the depth meter like a hawk. Fortunately, we had no problems and at daylight we caught a nice Spanish mackerel. The rest of the 40 mile sail to Baly Bay was uneventful. We anchored 10 miles in to the bay between the two villages of Solala and Baly and hope to trade for some fresh provisions at each.

The picture above is the beach on the west side Nosy Makamby.