Passage Mauritius to Reunion
27 June 2015 | La Port (Galet), Reunion
Steve
Route Summary:
Departure Time/Date: 11:45, 25 June 2015
Arrival Time/Date: 06:30hrs, 26 June 2015 (St Pierre)
Total Distance: 144 Nm
Passage Time: 20 hrs
Average Speed: 7 kts
Clearing out at Port Louis was quite straightforward and after requesting permission from the Port Control to depart we got off the dock wall about 11:45. The sails went up just outside the harbor and we had mild winds for the first few hours until we were out of the islands lee and into the South Indian south easterlies (trade winds) of 20kts. The seas were quite boisterous in the lee of Mauritius as the swells come around the SW corner and it wasn't until in the late afternoon that we were into the oceans swell proper (3m sig).
Watching the vista of Mauritius disappear with its mountainous landscape was certainly good to the last drop! And a few hours out of the harbor we encountered a few whales but they were well off our port side to get a decent view. But that's our first whale sighting...so very exciting!
As per forecast, we had steady 20-25kts winds on a beam reach to Reunion and initially speeds up over 11kts with a reef in. We later put in a 2nd reef as the speed was getting a little uncomfortable and would put our ETA at some 5am. With two reefs in the main and the genoa at 70% we were now doing a comfortable average of 8kts. Rose popped a few Stergeron's and off on a gallop we went!
At 2am the autopilot had a hiccup. It just stopped working and Rose steered while I went to see what's up. The hydraulics were all in tack so I shut down the Smart Pilot and the complete Navigation system and restarted (hard boot). That was that, it was back to normal. Well, I don't like ghosts in the machine so not sure what caused this. While in Mauritius I upgraded the Raymarine software, a major one that was for all the instrumentation. Not sure its related but I like the software improvements that have been made and my Joystick and Remote are now working again.
In the morning, Reunion Traffic Control called us up on 16 and asked for details. They had us on AIS. He then courteously offered to make a request on our behalf for entrance and berthing at the St Pierre marina. Great! However, as it turned out we were advised that the swell was too excessive and the marina closed in addition to being full. I was half expecting this! So we made our way up the 30Nm coast to Port de la Pointe des Galets (La Port). See below for more details.
Whales! Just off St Pierre we encountered more whales. Poor picture I know, but we were some 400m off and I didn't want to move in any closer. We stopped the boat for 15minutes and just watched them breach and breathe. I understand that June is the beginning of their annual migration and this is one of their routes between Reunion and Madagascar.
Reunion's landscape, while similar to Mauritius from the boat, is impressive. On the west side its green with farms and gardens, villages on the slopes, canyons in the backyard. We've been told the interior and hiking is not to be missed! And its blessed with fine French cuisine - cant wait!
We worked our Iridium GO again, this time offshore to downloaded weather gribs, did another routing check and sent off a few emails. We are able to get the web however it entails changing a lot of iPad settings to run Opera and I wasn't up to that for just a day out. The PredictWind Offshore software however isn't so stable and tends to cough out when executing some commands. We had a chat about that earlier but no significant reply from them. And their satellite-imaging provider is not providing any service. Ummm...isn't this part of why we paid for the 'professional package'. I'll have to revert back to them on that.
A few immediate details on Pointe des Galets (La Port).
• We called up La Port Harbor Control on VHF 09 and they advised to come right into the outer marina. The main harbor entrance is well marked and straightforward. A few hundred meters in and we made an immediate right turn into the outer marina. We entered at low tide and the water depth was 5m. We were told then there was no space in the main marina and for us and to raft up to another boat of our choosing in the outer marina (also full).
• Apparently, the reason there are so many boats in the outer harbor is that they are awaiting the marina's travel lift to be repaired so they can be hauled out. The harbormaster didn't know when the repair would be completed however a only temporary consequence.
• Clearance and immigration are straightforward and quick. I was initially asked if we had come from Madagascar (not) as then this would entail a search of the boat.
• Marina fees: An astounding Euro 30/day! St Pierre is apparently 50% of this. They jacked up the prices earlier this year based on demand taking advantage of their full marina and expected visiting yachts. The shower facilities are dismal, there are laundry machines available. Price is inclusive of wifi (reasonably fast), water and electricity. Fortunately we have a long enough power cable and water hose.
• Diesel is available at the marina's fuel dock at Euro 0.71/L at the duty free price subject to providing your foreign boats registration, passport and clearance papers. Contrary to what's documented in Noonsite, this is cheaper than Mauritius (MR 27.8/L or USD 0.79/L).
• You need a car! There isn't much around the marina and the immediate town is a good few km walk. Our rental for a small Peugeot worked out at Euro 24/day for a 2 week hire. Cheaper if you can settle with being an advertising billboard i.e. adverts along the car sides.
More to come as we visit this rocky and green country! As a western Canadian from the Rockies which I've hiked extensively, the benchmark is set!