Picture - Water spout on the way, trying to avoid.
We left with a light wind and fair seas for our 3 day passage to Sainte Marie, on the east coast of Madagascar. It was a mixed bag passage with everything from no wind to light winds to the occasional squall, but nothing major. The sea state was mostly kind to us with just a few hours of what we have come to know and hate as the Indian Ocean swell. We found out that the Dutch boats we were to travel with were unable to leave St Pierre due to the large swell closing the marina entrance. So we progressed on our own. We did get to watch a spectacular water spout form as a squally band of clouds passed us. Luckily it dissipated before it reached us. We made the end of the island just before dawn and I was thrilled to be watching whales on both sides of us frolicking in the channel between the mainland and the island as we made our way to the anchorage at Ambodifototra. Other than the wind generator having a hernia and the watermaker having a major coronary, it was an uneventful passage. We are gutted about the watermaker though, as this means back to schlepping water to the boat. We have decided it is better that hassle than the hassle of trying to get parts shipped to this 3rd world paradise.