Posted by Graham Cox
Another eventful week in the MGR saw Renaud, Dan, Keri and Pilar arrive in Port Louis, Mauritius, after the short leg from Rodrigues Island, with Adam departing for Mauritius on Tuesday, 14 October, and the other skippers still enjoying the wonderful food, friendly locals, and unique attractions of Rodrigues.
On 9 October, Renaud posted, ‘Hello. Departure last night at sunset for the last part of Leg 2.5 to Port Louis, Mauritius. The 6-day stopover in Rodrigues was fantastic. I think it’s the one I enjoyed the most. The smile, the kindness of the locals, the beauty of the island and its lagoon.
Now on the road since 13 hours, the sky is gray, the wind carrying, the speed is good. Not much of a tactic to do. Just slide CAPUCINETTE as much as possible. I will have to watch out for the many cargoes coming to and from South Africa.’
He later said that the weather had been moderate and steady, allowing for fast progress, but the endless parade of cargo ships made it impossible to sleep for longer than 10-15 minutes at a time, if at all. He was looking very tired when he sailed into Port Louis, receiving a warm welcome from his brother and sister, not to mention Christine Turner, who once again has flown in to spend time visiting the MGR skippers.
After clearing in, Renaud set sail for Grand Baie, 10 miles to the north, with his siblings aboard, where he planned to find a motel and have a long sleep. Being the first to arrive, he will have the longest rest. The group restart for the passage to Durban is scheduled for late October.
Dan Turner was the next away from Rodrigues. On 11 October, he posted, ‘For the past couple of days I have been out of action with suspected food poisoning, being unable to do much other than be in bed or hang off the side of the boat. Thankfully I am now on the mend and this passage has been in generally benign conditions. (There was) a lot of shipping traffic on the ocean last night, and now Mauritius is just 50 miles away, so I am looking forward to arriving, resting up and seeing my wife (Nikki), who arrives on Monday.’
On 13 October, he posted images of IMMORTAL GAME moored in the stunningly beautiful waters of Grand Baie, alongside CAPUCINETTE in a marina. Like Renaud, Dan is looking forward to a long rest before tackling the passage to Durban. To add to his delight, his wife, biggest supporter and campaign manager, Nikki, flew in that day.
Keri was the next to arrive in Mauritius, surging down past Grand Baie in bright sunshine on 12 October, under full mainsail and his faithful A3 kite, heading for Port Louis. Serge Piat, who made the beautiful models of TREKKA, JOSHUA, and SUHAILI for McIntyre Adventures, went out to meet Keri, and took some captivating video footage of ORIGAMI’s arrival, with the majestic mountains of Mauritius in the background.
Judging by ORIGAMI’s somewhat erratic track in the approaches to Mauritius, I assume that Keri was dealing with an uncomfortable sea state, and was sailing courses that gave him the most speed through the waves, though we have yet to hear much about his passage from Cocos Keeling to Rodrigues, let alone the more recent one from Rodrigues.
He has not checked in with this scribe for some time, though on 24 September, his 5th day out of Cocos, he reported in a brief video that conditions had calmed down a little since his departure from the atoll, although the sea state was still quite chaotic, with lots of wind shifts and sail changes.
He was sailing south of the rhumb line, but noted that he was close to the Great Circle route, which is theoretically the shortest distance between two points on the ocean (although it does not always work out like that on a small yacht). Then, in a pre-dawn video post on 26 September, he mentioned that ORIGAMI had been knocked down twice that night by nasty beam seas, with the boat surfing down the face of waves at 9 knots at times.
On 13 October, after his arrival in Mauritius, he posted the following comment, ‘We were privileged to spend six days in Rodrigues; slightly off the beaten track and entirely authentic. I met some of the friendliest islanders and voyagers, exploring on foot and by motorbike. The octopus season had just reopened, yielding the island’s famed cuisine.’
At 0500 Mauritius time on 13 October, Pilar was about 20 miles from Port Louis, and cleared into Mauritius later that morning. She had also been tracking further south than the rhumb line during her approach to the northern tip of the island, though this might have something to do with the strong north-setting current predicted by WINDY. She has not been in contact either, so details of her passage remain unknown.
While the frontrunners closed in on Mauritius, the last of the fleet were making landfall on Rodrigues, or partying ashore. Eric and Jasmine created MGR history, with SUNBEAR and NUMBATOU arriving at Port Mathurin side by side, after a passage of 2000 miles from Cocos (Keeling) Atoll.
Jasmine’s last few days before landfall were not easy. Her mum, Susan, posted, ‘After being becalmed on Monday, Jasmine had a long, long night of constant squalls, zero sleep, was freezing cold and then realised that the Hydrovane had broken (a pin sheered inside). Her Starlink also wasn’t working for about 48 hours, so it was back to Satellite phone communication only (which made it difficult to get up-to-date weather information at a time when the weather was being unpredictable).
‘The delay also means arriving at Rodrigues Island at night time, and anchoring outside the channel. So near yet so far when you just want to sleep. Thankfully things are improving. She still has squalls around her but the wind has picked up and she’s moving well again. Starlink is now back up and running, and Hydrovane customer services have given advice for a fix, and she already carries the spares needed.
‘Arrival is still going to be in the dark, and because the fortnightly supply ship arrives on Friday, it’s likely that Jasmine and Eric will have to wait until the ship’s been in before they will be permitted entry. On the plus side, there’ll be some fresh produce that the lead MGR pack didn’t get their hands on!
In a later post, Susan commented, ‘Jasmine arrived at Rodrigues Island under a beautiful moonlight sky. The crew of SIPI, a yacht that Jasmine had met in Cocos Keeling, invited her to raft alongside them for the night, and served her a very welcome tea of fish and rice, and a chilled drink!
‘Meanwhile, the rest of the MGR pack still in Rodrigues were also banished out to the anchorage, to wait for the supply ship to come in. Jasmine had a lovely sleep until morning, when SIPI left, after which she rafted to another boat. Once Customs were cleared, she had an amazing greeting from Rotary Club de Rodrigues on the dockside, who played music and presented her with flowers. Jasmine is a Rotary Club of Thirsk member, and is supported by Rotary International in Great Britain & Ireland. She has been warmly welcomed by Rotary members across the world.
‘It’s been a challenging leg. Jasmine has sailed almost 7000 miles since Fiji, and there’s lots of sleep to catch up on, so she found a very welcome B&B and went to bed as soon as it was dark!’
Two days after her arrival, Jasmine reported, “I’m still not even cleared in, I’ve got to go there this morning. It’s the most difficult place that we’ve been to for clearing in. But I really like it here. Today I’ve got to move the boat, because the supply ship is leaving. It’s been here for four days. Whenever it moves, you have to be out of the harbour. Luckily, the local Rotary Club put me up in a really nice hotel, which one of their members owns.
“I need to sign into customs, provision, sort some of stuff out, and move the boat when the ship leaves. Tomorrow, I need to be out of the harbour before dark, ready to leave in the evening.”
Jasmine plans to wait until Mauritius before preparing the boat for South African waters, due to the lack of resources in Rodrigues. Her major concern is whether there will be enough time to do what is necessary, while still trying to relax and enjoy the island. She will have less than a full week in Mauritius, after taking into account the time lost in clearing in and out Port Louis, plus sailing up to Grand Baie and back. There is insufficient room to berth the MGR fleet at Port Louis, due to their visit coinciding with that of the ARC World Rally.
The restart will present its own challenges. As Jasmine says, “We’ve got to lift anchor in Grand Baie, sail 10 miles down the coast in wind holes, because we’re in the lee of the island, to get to Port Louis in time for the officials to start clearing us out at 10 o’clock, then cross the start line at midday. We’re going to get up at like four o’clock in the morning – it is a logistical nightmare.”
She is also worried about having sufficient power for the outboard motor. “Although I have charged my batteries, we’re going to need the motor to get out of Grand Baie, then motor through the calms in the lee of the island, to keep to our schedule, then in and out of Port Louis Harbor. By the time we get to Durban, we’re not going to have any power left to get into the harbour there. There’s no way to charge the batteries at sea.”
Asked to reflect on the passage from Cocos, she said, “So, big seas, really strong winds. Just with the jib, I was still rounding up, and was really uncomfortable. And then I had some good weather. And then I had a really difficult 24 hours because I got hit with a massive squall that took all of my wind, then gave me a headwind for about 10 hours, which forced me to go really far north. Eventually the tradewind came back in, but instead of arriving Thursday morning at like 4am local time, I ended up arriving Thursday 9pm.
“So that meant that Ertan and Josh caught Eric and me up by 120 miles in the space of 2 days, which now means that because Ertan only has 4 days here and I have 5, he leaves Rodrigues before me, which is quite funny.”
In the end, the race will be measured only on elapsed time at sea, so it will all pan out in the end, though it will bring a wry smile to Jasmine’s face when she watches Ertan depart.
On Friday 10 October, Eric posted, ‘After the light winds earlier on, the breeze finally kicked in. Good sailing the last few days with 17 to 20 kt breezes. We arrived at Rodrigues last night under a full moon, now anchored in outer anchorage waiting to be called into the main harbour and be cleared. Looking forward to a 5-day break on this island.’
Later, he commented, ‘I’m just sitting here in Rodrigues in the anchorage. We’ve cleared now. Great place. I’ve been over to the town this morning to do a bit of shopping, and I’m just sitting here having a rum and coke, which is nice.
‘I bought myself some nice fresh grapes. There is heaps of local produce in the town, fruit and vegetables, etc. So yeah, it’s really nice, Rodriguez. I went for a walk up to Kings Bay, which is about, I don’t know, four kilometres east of the main harbour. It’s quite a busy place this morning, because there’s a cruise ship in – a lot of people around, very vibrant in the city.
‘The people are lovely; they are just so friendly. Great food, too, and reasonably priced. I am quite enjoying it at the moment. Had to move the boat this morning, as the anchor dragged a bit overnight. I’ve moved up a bit closer to the supply ship. You have to be a bit careful of getting too close to it.
‘I’m anchored close to Adam Waugh (LITTLE WREN). I saw Adam, Jasmine and Ertan yesterday, but they’re staying at a hotel, I believe. I haven’t caught up with them this morning. But all’s well. I’m enjoying sitting on SUNBEAR.’
The skippers have been having a great time on Rodrigues, in between having to move their vessels back out into the windy, exposed, outer anchorage for two days when the supply ship visited. Jasmine, Jakub, Christian and Adam rented scooters for two days and toured the island, while they have all enjoyed eating meals off a plate, as Jasmine put it (fresh, and prepared by someone else).
Ertan also rented a scooter and explored the island. He has had a wonderful time, and enjoyed living ashore and eating well, but says he is ready to move on now. He never looks too far ahead, but I suspect he is keen to get the Cape of Good Hope behind TREKKA’s transom.
Reflecting on the passage from Cocos, Jakub said, “It was quite challenging. We started with some heavy weather, but after four days, the conditions calmed down. I then had a couple of days of beautiful sailing, before another 3-4 days of bad weather, then another (spell of) good weather. During the good weather, I didn’t touch the rudder, sails or tiller for two days. I was just sleeping and reading, sleeping and reading.
“Then, just before the last day, the storm came. I woke up in the morning and the boat was jumping off big, messy waves. I dropped the rest of the main and left only the jib up, but the boat was still pointing into the wind in the strong gusts. I then came up with the idea of putting the storm jib up, sheeted to windward, as if hove-to. It wasn’t very fast, but the course was steady, because each time the boat wanted to point up (round up), the storm jib pushed BIBI back.
“I was still making 4.6 knots average, but then I saw Christian (on ARGO) doing much more than me. So, I said, ‘Okay, I need to change something.’ So I took down the storm jib and hand-steered with just the jib. When the weather calmed down, I started putting up more sails, like the A7. On the very last approach, I had the A5 on.”
He also disposed of some water, etc, to lighten the boat, and shifted stuff around to make BIBI go faster, though kept his tactics secret. By this time his competitive spirit was in full roar! If there was anything he could do to stay ahead of ARGO, he was going to do it.
“When I was outside of Mathurin Bay, I put the main and jib up. The weather was good, with a full moon, quite bright, as I sailed into the anchorage, tacking between the reefs. It was beautiful.
Asked about how BIBI withstood the rigors of the passage, he said, “I was conscious about looking after the sails. If I go wing and wing with the jib poled out to windward opposite the A7, for example, sometimes the jib backwinds, and when it fills again, the cloth chafes against the hanks. I put glued-on patches in those places, and have maybe 15 patches on the jib now. I know Christian put soft shackles on his headsails (instead of traditional metal ones) and I’m thinking, if I can get some small Dyneema rope in Mauritius, I might do this too.
“The mainsail is good. However, I was using it a little bit more on this passage, and yesterday I spotted some wearing where it presses against the shrouds and the spreaders. So again, I put glued-on patches on the sail to reinforce those places.
“I’m leaving tonight at 2117 UTC, which is 0117 local time, Christian is leaving two hours after me, because we are exactly two hours apart. I have to leave harbor in daylight, so I’m gonna do my departure paperwork after breakfast today, and then before sunset will leave port, because no one is allowed to sail through the entrance channel in the dark. I’ll drop the hook for a few hours outside, and then at about 2000 UTC, I’ll leave Mathurin Bay and tack around outside, waiting for the time to cross the line.” He plans to cross at exactly 0117, to make sure he does not waste a single minute. Christian is breathing down his neck!
Josh says that his passage from Cocos was varied and challenging. “The Indian Ocean, for me, has always been the most intriguing one to cross. I can’t help but feeling part of a more exclusive group, the further we sail on this voyage. A lot less boats cross the Indian Ocean than either the Atlantic or the Pacific.” (And even less cross all three.)
“Cocos Keeling to Rodrigues Island did not disappoint. From sustained winds of 30+ kts and big breaking waves crashing over the boat, to beautiful sunny skies, fair winds, and following seas, this passage had it all. It was truly a rewarding experience, and many days were spent glad to be alive and being in those glorious moments.
“The worst conditions I have experienced so far in the MGR were in the Gulf Stream, on the east coast of North America. Those were the biggest waves and the highest winds that I have had, which I guess is pretty fortunate. The northern half of this passage was like that, with 4-5 metre waves and winds of 30 knots, gusting 35. I often had just the minimal amount of jib rolled out, just a tiny little square. But the boat handled it great. The waves were breaking over the side of SKOOKUM at times, but it handled the situation just fine.
“The biggest problem was that I destroyed my mainsail about five days after leaving Cocos, with 1200 miles still to go to Rodrigues. We were steering 255°M, and the waves were from the port side on the beam, or just after the beam. I was down below, with the windvane driving, when a wave came out of nowhere from the starboard side. It picked the boat up and spun it to starboard, from 255 to like 330°, and the mainsail gybed. I was on the third reef, so it wasn’t like there was a whole lot of sail up. By the time I got out into the cockpit, the windvane had turned the boat back, and so the mainsail gybed again.
“It wasn’t laying on the spreaders, so didn’t hit the rigging, and I didn’t think much of it. But I thought, ‘I’d better just check to make sure everything’s okay. I looked up and there was a huge tear in the mainsail, all the way across from luff to leech, right underneath the Globe 580 logo. My theory is that the logo sticker is stiff and strong, while the material underneath it is light. The sticker didn’t have any stretch in it, so the sailcloth took all the strain.
“Jasmine has an appointment at the sailmaker in Mauritius that she’s willing to let me use, so I will get it looked at, but I’m afraid that it won’t be able to be repaired, because the material seems to have no integrity left – it’s really thin, like tissue paper.
“I had to sail two-thirds of the passage from Cocos without using the main, which was fine for the most part. I was able to use the A sails, though there were a couple of days when it was too windy for the A7, but the jib wasn’t quite enough sail area. I couldn’t put up a second or third reefed mainsail like I normally would have in those conditions, so I went a bit slower on those days. I still made it in 17 days. I was trying to average 120 miles a day, and I averaged 117, so I didn’t lose too much time.
“I can’t afford a new mainsail, but I think somebody has a spare that they’re not using that I might be able to buy, so I’m going to explore that option. After Mauritius, you absolutely have to have it. The biggest problem is that I’m worried about time to sort it out. Don wants to do a restart on the 25th, potentially as early as the 23rd, and I leave here on Wednesday night, Thursday morning, so I’ll get to Mauritius on Saturday night, Sunday morning, and that would leave me about three days in Mauritius before they want to restart.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do about the restart, but that’s a problem for the future. I’ll leave when I’m ready to go. I’m not going to try to push it, because this next passage is serious sailing. Right now, there’s a big system just south of Madagascar, with 40-knot winds from the SW. Mauritius to Durban is the ticket, because you’re the most exposed, you’re offshore and you can’t really hide from anything. Once you leave Durban, heading for Cape Town, the passages are a lot shorter, and there are several places to stop if needed.
“Coming into Rodriguez was easy. I came in during the night and anchored outside in the bay, because they don’t let you come into the inner harbor at night, then I came in yesterday morning and anchored in the inner harbour. I will tie up to the harbour wall when the supply ship leaves, but there’s no rush.
“I’m pretty much set, because the next passage is only three days, and there’s not a lot of boat work you can do here because there are limited facilities. Even when it comes to Mauritius, I don’t have much that I need to do, apart from sorting out the mainsail. I’m just going to end-over-end a couple of lines.
“I still have plenty of water. I take 100L every time I set off, and I only used 25L on this last passage. I only have one jug to fill, and I still have plenty of food. I just need to buy some snacks like crisps, biscuits and bars – stuff like that. Good mood foods.”
He was looking forward to his brief time ashore, eating out and catching up with the remaining MGR skippers. As always, Josh shines a positive light on whatever comes his way. He is running his own race, sailing as fast as possible, although not allowing outside influences to influence his strategy. I suspect he may be enjoying this race more than anyone else in the fleet, and for me, he embodies the spirit of John Guzzwell more than anyone. Last but not least, as the old saying goes.
Image shows Keri creating a bit of a stir as he sails ORIGAMI into the inner harbour at Port Louis, Mauritius, sculling the last few yards to the dock. Christine Turner photo.
