When the Ship came in - Rodrigues
13 August 2008 | Mauritius
When the ship came in - Port Mathurin
Rodrigues
9 August 2008
"Crackle crackle .....Port Mathurin.......cinq heure....." went the radio at 4.45am this morning. Sure enough out in the darkness a ship's lights could be seen rounding the small island just off Port Mathurin. Jim had to move his yacht Alii Kai Too yesterday close to the reef and to us to make room for the ship. The ship "Mauritius Pride" causes great excitement in this town. The little fishing boats full of fisherman were hovering around talking excitedly. The two tug boats were moving to the harbour entrance all spic and span after a month of polishing by 4 full time men. People were on the shore waving, cheering and clapping. The usually empty quiet wharf is a hive of activity today. It is very early Sunday morning. A small group of passengers waved to us and took photos. We could see several containers, cars and a new fire engine on board the ship. Further up form the wharf we could hear cows mooing and pigs squealing along the shore being moved off trucks ready to be slaughtered. The Mauritius Pride's captain maneuvered her into the tiny harbour passing the two of us yachts within metres. Perhaps the two yacht captains should partake in petite dejeuner with the ship's captain?!!
For a whole 24 hours the wharf was a hive of activity. Many people are gainfully employed from this town 'when the ship comes'. Many don't have much employment the rest of the month. Actually the Mauritius Pride had been in 'dry dock' for 8 weeks this time so the employment and produce arriving was most welcome. Containers, vehicles etc were unloaded then more containers , crates of fresh vegetables and cages of animals (cows, pigs, goats, chickens) were loaded. We witnessed the pigs waiting to be loaded in on the grassy land nearby fighting, biting and snorting. One of the workers kicked and picked one up by the tail that had strayed. They wont enjoy their ride in the ship's dark hold.... At 7am on Monday morning the ship moved from the wharf with the two tug boats hovering on standby. Again it passed us by within metres with a couple of loud 'toots'.
Later we met one of the tug employees - (there are about 8 employed full time on the 2 tugs.) who was keen for us to move back tied up to them. Perhaps they get a bit bored polishing, reading the paper etc every day waiting another month for 'the ship to come'.