THE LAST CONTINENT

My good friends from Reunion

10 days, 10 hours and 58 minutes is what it took to sail from St. Pierre to Richards Bay, South Africa... 1392 nm. This was the most challenging leg of the voyage so far. Usually when sailing in trade winds one is not concerned about the weather (provided you don't sail during cyclone season). This leg is different because the Agulhas Current must be crossed. It runs just off the coast of South Africa and averages a speed of 3-4 knots. About every three days a weather system called a "southerly buster" moves up the East coast of SA bringing southwesterly winds. These are many times gale force (30-40kts). This wind against current produces more abnormally high and "freak wave" conditions than any place else in the world. The trick is to cross the current with NE winds. This becomes problematic on a ten day passage because the weather forecasts are only accurate for 3 days. As luck would have it I had a small window (4 hours) to reach Richards Bay before a southerly wind arrived. The night before crossing I had winds of 35 knots with gusts of 40+. Its interesting that the highest winds of the journey so far have been on September 26th 2011 and 2012.

GRAND BASSIN

A last set of pictures before I set sail for South Africa. Grand Bassin is a tiny village at the bottom of a 2500 foot ravine. Very near the village is a small lake fed by a waterfall. One must work their way along a vertical wall of rock with very few hand holds to reach it.. Magnifique, as the French would say.

TOUR DE LA REUNION

Looking up the Ravine du Mat toward Hell-Bourg.

The beautiful chapel in St. Philippe

What could be better than sorbet and beer?

I found a cycle shop that rented bikes so I thought I would see some more of the island. The bike was a one year old Trek "Madone" all carbon, about 4000 euros new, for 15 euros/day. I liked the town of Hell - Bourg where I had stayed during the hike so I decided to ride back. The next day I returned to St, Pierre by way of the southern coastline. 140 miles, mostly up and down was well worth my sore sit bones.

THE THREE CIRQUES

One of the reasons I came to Reunion is because I heard the hiking was very good. "Very good", doesn't begin to describe it. Basically the island was one big volcano whose interior collapsed millions of years ago, forming three cirques... Cilaos, Mafate and Salazie with Piton des Neige, the highest point in the Indian Ocean, in the middle. My hike took me to all three cirques and to the top of Piton des Neige.

The chapel in Cilaos

The trail is cut into the solid rock

The beginning of a 7500' climb

This is meters...each 305 meters is = 1000 feet.

The top of Piton des Neige.. just over 10,000 feet

  

SAINT PIERRE, REUNION IS.

Believe it or not this is the entrance to St Pierre harbor. Not for the faint of heart. I'm off to hike the interior of the island this week... I'll take lots of pictures.

REUNION IS. - SOUTH AFRICA NEXT

Ever wonder how a palm tree starts?

It was 1500 nm from Ashmore reef to Cocos Keeling Is., a beautiful atoll in the middle of the Indian Ocean. After a few days at the anchorage off Direction Is. it was back to sea for the 1982 nm sail to Rodrigues Is. 13 days and 5 hours later I was there. During this leg Flyer had her third best day ever... 177 nm. Mauritius was next, only a 2 day sail.
Mauritius is a mountainous island so I decided to go climbing. Next time I'll choose the peak with a trail to the top.

Reunion was an overnight sail from Mauritius. Even more mountainous than Mauritius, Reunion has many kilometers of trail which I am looking forward to. All for now.. 


  

WESTWARD AND THE INDIAN OCEAN

Dive site on the Great Barrier Reef

Over the past two weeks I have, for the most part, "day-sailed" up the East coast of Australia from Cairns to Thursday Island in the Torres Straits. Day-sailing is when you sail by day and anchor at night. Sailing inside the Great Barrier Reef is much more intricate than sailing in the open ocean. There is a very narrow shipping lane which threads it's way between the reefs and the mainland. At night one must navigate constantly and keep a lookout. This makes sleep out of the question. Some anchorages were 65 nm apart which necessitated a 0200 departure... all part of the adventure.

A giant anglefish

The anchorage at beautiful Hope Island

Morris Island



I departed Thursday Island  on June 17th  for the 680 nm sail  across the "top" of Australia. It is a mostly uninhabited coastline called Arnhem Land and all Aboriginal. I stopped for just one night on this leg to Darwin in the Wessel Islands at Two Island Bay... probably the most remote anchorage of the journey so far.

Downwind

I arrived in Darwin on the 22nd. I will re-provision here, top up on fuel and water and complete the departure formalities - then set a westerly course for Ashmore Reef and the Indian Ocean. It is 750 nm to Ashmore then 1600 nm to Cocos Keeling Island. I will bypass Christmas Island (also an Australian possession) as this where the "boat people" from Indonesia try to land and the Aussie's have their hands full.

By the way "nm" stands for nautical mile the length of which is 6076 feet. One degree of latitude is equal to 60 nm, so one minute of latitude equals one nm.

Internet will be even more difficult in the Indian Ocean but I will do my best to keep you updated.