by Judy Handley | May 10, 2010 | Chagos, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 196, Year 5: Another Rainy Day in Paradise
Date: Monday, May 10, 2010
Weather: Overcast, Rainy Day; Winds from the S and W
Location: Ile Fouquet, Salomon Atoll, Chagos
We seem to be getting more than our share of rainy days, but we took advantage of this one to do some sewing jobs that we have put off for weeks. Today’s tasks were clothes repair jobs. You tend to wear the same clothes over and over when out here. I have a pair of REI shorts that I have been wearing since we left in 2005. They are so comfortable, take very little water to wash, and dry quickly. When we were in Thailand this year, the material got so weak that the bottom starting tearing. The same thing happened to my favorite pair of Columbia capris except that it was the knee that tore on those. Mark has been wearing the same Hook and Tackle shorts since we left in 2005. The material is still fine, but the elastic was shot. So today we sewed in new elastic, patched pants, hemmed long pants to make capris, and hemmed other pants that are just simply too long. These long pants we will use once we arrive in South Africa. While Mark was working on the repair jobs, I ripped the zippers out of our old bimini. We have looked for this for two weeks now, and we had run out of places to look. But this morning I thought of one more place to look-in the very bottom of a suitcase of cool weather clothes. There it was. I have now removed all the zippers and it is ready to be turned in to a rain catcher. Once we get this done, I’m sure we will have no more rain, but we’ll be ready just in case.
The day has been more overcast than rainy, but it is the winds that are a bit of a problem. When the winds come from the west, it puts us on a lee shore. With a reef behind us, this is not our favorite position. But winds are light and we are really hoping that they turn by morning. We are now in our second bout with west winds in this anchorage, so if this persists into tomorrow we might have to move down to Boddam. The new moon is on Friday, so we are starting into days when there is a much greater range from high to low tide. The low tides are much lower, so sometime in the next few days will be a good time to walk out on the reef again. We’d like to stay here to do that, but we will move if it seems unsafe.
by Judy Handley | May 9, 2010 | Chagos, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 195, Year 5: Happy Mother’s Day
Date: Sunday, May 9, 2010
Weather: Partly Sunny; Threatening Clouds
Location: Ile Fouquet, Salomon Atoll, Chagos
What a wonderful day! I borrowed Lynne and Ed’s satellite phone and called both of my favorite mothers, our daughter Heather and our daughter-in-law Jo. It was so good to hear their voices and hear a squeaking Ziggy and Jonah in the background and Sam marching around the house chanting, “Mother’s Day, Mother’s Day.” I also got to talk to Jed and to Justin, so it was a perfect Mother’s Day for me. Thank you, Ed and Lynne, for being so gracious.
The day was also perfect in other ways. Although the skies are constantly threatening, we actually had a mostly sunny day. I got up super early and sanded my Dorade boxes and then Mark and I went snorkeling on the big bommie to the south of where we are anchored. Low tide was at 6 am so it was two hours after low when we went out this morning. We were able to snorkel towing the dinghy over the bommie without the bottom touching any coral. We saw a beautiful moray eel, hundreds of six-inch long Blue-and-Yellow Fusiliers swimming in schools, and a number of a deep red fish that we are yet to identify. We then moved further in toward shore and snorkeled along the reef there. Mark tapped me on the shoulder to ask if I had seen the shark and I asked him if he meant the grouper I was watching. This grouper was so big that in the distance he did look a bit like a black-tip shark. We also saw the largest Blackstreak Surgeonfish that we have ever seen. He was probably eighteen inches long when most of the ones we see are more like ten inches. And to top it off we saw Saddleback Coralgrouper that was probably two feet in length. Any of these guys would have made a great dinner, but it wasn’t on that reef that dinner was caught. Mark and Ed went out through the pass later in the morning and Mark caught a Giant Trevally. This guy was over two feet in length and he made a great Mother’s Day dinner! I used a recipe from a seafood cookbook that Justin and Jo gave me for Christmas a couple of years ago. It said that trevally is so good that you don’t want to overpower the delicious taste. So I followed the directions for Florida Pompano barbeque marinade and the fish turned out just superb. We had Ed and Lynne over and we enjoyed the catch together.
The low point for the day was that my only five-gallon bucket got a crack in it. This is my main laundry bucket, in other words, my washing machine, but Mark also takes it with him when he goes fishing to hold all his gear and then to hold the fish. When we left Boston, we left without a five-gallon bucket. By the time we reached Samoa, I was desperate for one and when our son Justin came there to visit, he walked from hardware store to hardware store trying to find one for me. He finally saw an empty one in a store. It was a bucket of rat poison that had just been emptied, and Justin talked the people in the store into selling it to him. They could not understand why he wanted an empty rat poison bucket, but they let him have it and it has been my mainstay bucket for the past four years. Smaller plastic buckets are always plentiful, but a sturdy five-gallon bucket is hard to come by in the islands. So our first search in Madagascar will be for a new ‘washing machine’ for me-my belated Mother’s Day gift.
by Judy Handley | May 8, 2010 | Chagos, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 194, Year 5: Day Trip to Boddam
Date: Saturday, May 8, 2010
Weather: Still Unsettled; Winds Backing SE to SW
Location: Ile Fouquet, Salomon Atoll, Chagos
The swell from the west is still with us, but it has settled tremendously so that we do not rock and roll much at all. The real test will be the middle of the night as that always seems to be the worst time. This morning was mostly overcast with some periods of sun, but by noon the sky was blue with white puffy clouds and we decided to take off in the dinghy for Ile Boddam. It is about three miles, but only takes fifteen minutes with fairly calm seas. So before one o’clock, we were on the island and ready to explore. There were eight boats at anchor but no dinghies on shore, so we had the whole island to ourselves. We started in the main camp area and just followed the path. Some of the cruisers who come here year after year maintain a trail system so you don’t have to beat your way through the bush to see the old buildings. It is hard to conceive that there was a thriving community on Boddam only forty years ago. Nature has taken over and reclaimed the buildings, so the coral stone walls stand without a roof, windows, and doors. Trees grow in doorways and entwine themselves trying to reclaim the stone. We could tell which building was a copra drying shed, a jail, a church, and the homes of the management were obvious. They had stone walls, a main house, a separate kitchen, separate pantry, and an outhouse in the far corner of the stone fenced backyard. There were other buildings, however, that we couldn’t figure out. We are going to watch a Chagos CD that we have and see if we get any hints. The trails took us in many different directions. At one point we ended up on the southside of the island watching the breakers make their way to shore. When we got back to the main camp, a few cruisers were there. Rolfe and Ute from Maraposa were taking apart a FAD that they had recovered yesterday. Ron from Tigger was there and Claire and Humphrey from Brumby came by a little later. We enjoyed getting to know new people and hope to visit again in a few days. But we knew we needed to get going before the sun got too low in the sky so that we could have time to fish our way home. We trolled all the way home, but we didn’t get one bite. So once again, no fish for dinner. But we did see the largest sea turtle that either of us has ever seen. What a thrill to see such a beautiful creature.
When we got home, I called Constance to let them know that we didn’t bring home fish for dinner. They invited us to grab a beer and come join them for Happy Hour. Somehow we managed to get ourselves invited to dinner and had a great pesto pasta dinner. Hopefully we’ll catch fish tomorrow and we can invite Ed and Lynne over for a fish barbecue to reciprocate.
by Judy Handley | May 7, 2010 | Chagos, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 193, Year 5: Changing Weather
Date: Friday, May 7, 2010
Weather: Unsettled, but NO Rain
Location: Ile Fouquet, Salomon Atoll, Chagos
We are dealing with some changing weather. The rain stopped but it is still only partly sunny. And the winds, what little there is of it, are coming from all directions. We had north and west winds during the night and a good swell is now coming in causing us to rock and roll. Far Niente left this morning and went down to Boddam and then two French boats followed. So that leaves only Constance, Susan Margaret, and Windbird. We considered moving but then decided that we really would rather stay here and wait out the swell. We will take advantage of the fact that there is little to no wind and take the dinghy down to Boddam tomorrow to visit and explore the island. We might even do a little fishing on the way home. So that is tomorrow’s plan, weather permitting.
Today was spent reading for pleasure, doing more laundry, and putting the first coat of varnish on the Dorade boxes. Yesterday we put our bimini back up so we once again have a dry cockpit where I can varnish without worrying about the rain. We also took everything stored on our aft berth off so we could search in the storage space below for our old bimini. It would make a great rain catcher, but we can’t find it. Tomorrow we will look under the v-berth one more time, but then we will give up looking for it. Mark spent time on the computer getting new GRIB files in, did a little fishing, and put out a pole for the Brown Noddies to roost on. This was amazing. We have tried everything to keep these birds from roosting on our bow pulpit. They are so cute, but the mess they leave behind is no fun at all to clean up. Mark read somewhere that if you take your boat hook and extend it out from your bow pulpit that the birds will roost there and not on the boat. He put the pole out and was starting to tie it in place when the birds came. They didn’t wait for him to complete his job. By the time he finished, he had six birds on the pole and none on the boat. He said it was as if they knew he was putting the pole out for them. We’ll see if this is still working tomorrow.
While we were out in the dinghy taking photos of the birds on the pole, John from Susan Margaret came by to invite us over for a wine tasting. He has been making his own wine and a new batch was ready to taste. He also invited Ed and Lynne, so we picked them up and went over to Susan Margaret. The wine was superb and we had a great time. At one point, John said he would have to invite the guys back for a beer tasting when his beer is ready. I reminded him that some ladies, myself in particular, also drink beer. That prompted him to start telling beer drinking stories from his childhood in the New Forest in England. The British do not drink their beer cold, but he said he can remember when the men would actually take hot pokers and stick them in the beer to warm it up. His parents still live in the New Forest and when he visits he loves to go to the Hare and Hound Pub. Our daughter-in-law Jo’s parents love visiting the New Forest, so I will have to email them and see if they have visited the Hare and Hound. Such a small world.
by Judy Handley | May 6, 2010 | Chagos, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 192, Year 5: Buckets of Rain
Date: Thursday, May 6, 2010
Weather: Rain, Rain, and More Rain
Location: Ile Fouquet, Salomon Atoll, Chagos
Today was all about water. The rain that started in earnest at around 8 pm last night is still coming down 24 hours later. By 9 am, Constance had filled her water tank and all available buckets and offered to let us borrow their rain catcher. One of our water tanks had run dry last night, so the timing was perfect. The rain catcher is a piece of vinyl that stretches from mast to inner-forestay and from one side of the boat to the other. You tie the sides high and let the middle drop down. The water collects in the center and there is a hose there that leads directly into a water tank. So we used that system as well as our old bucket system. At the end of the day, we have poured 70 gallons of water into the one empty tank but we are still working to fill the second tank. We have filled four 5-gallon water jugs and a 5-gallon bucket. Some of that water came from the dinghy which fills up quickly in these down pours. We can use that water for showers and clothes washing and the rain water collected in buckets on deck for drinking. When the rain really pours, our two bright yellow buckets fill up quickly and once full, Mark would carry them down into the cabin and pour them directly into the water tank. This required lifting the floor board and taking the metal top off the tank, but filling the completely empty tank without running the watermaker was a real gift. It would take three 8-hour days of running the watermaker to fill that tank, so it was a labor intensive day of carrying bucket after bucket of water, but it kept us from having to run the engine all day for three days to keep the water maker going.. I once again had bad timing on doing a laundry. I put it in to soak overnight supposing that the rain would stop by morning. We have damp laundry hanging everywhere. So we are surely hoping for a sunny day tomorrow.
We’ve heard from our sailing friends Zbyszek and Tina on Shirena. They have safely made it to Port Suez and they are happy to have the Red Sea behind them. Jim and Carole of Nepenthe who left here headed for Madagascar are nearing the east coast of Madagascar and will follow the current north and around the tip of the island. They have had some strong winds, but basically have had a good passage so far. Mirage left here today for Malaysia. What an ugly day for the start of a passage, but as Kathy said, “So it can’t get any worse.” At least that is the hope. We have also heard from our children. Our son-in-law has been sending up piracy updates. Those pirates have been busy this year and have attacked a number of ships north of Madagascar and over to the Tanzania coast, but it looks like the activity is settling down now and the route over the top of Madagascar looks safe. Justin wrote that Ziggy is starting to walk. He had been standing and taking a step, but just a few days ago he took three steps. So it won’t be long before he is walking. Heather writes that Jonah is trying desperately to get his two front teeth. The gums are swollen, but no teeth as yet. Sam wrote us a note the other day. He had picked out symbols on Heather’s computer which got translated a bit when coming through the HAM email system. Kisses came through as: :-* and Cool (a happy face with sunglasses) came through as 8-). I especially liked that one as the number 8 does look a bit like sunglasses. So I’ll end with that. 8-). That makes me :.
by Judy Handley | May 5, 2010 | Chagos, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 191, Year 5: Work Day, Play Evening
Date: Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Weather: Sun Mixed with Rain and Wind
Location: Ile Fouquet, Salomon Atoll, Chagos
Today was all work. We didn’t intend for it to be that way, but things happen. I sanded and varnished the cockpit one last time (maybe) while Mark took off the wooden Dorade vent covers and prepared them to be sanded and varnished. I cleaned the sides of the cabin top, polished all of the stainless frames that hold up the bimini, and polished the stainless frames around all the ports/windows on the boat. Somewhere in there, it decided to rain on my freshly varnished cockpit wood, but I am hopeful that it was dry enough to withstand the wet. When things dry tomorrow, I’ll look carefully and hope that I don’t have to varnish yet another time as paint supplies are running low. I have only two more pieces of 220 sandpaper and fewer foam brushes than I thought. I usually sand the Dorade vent covers by hand, but due to the shortage of sandpaper, Mark offered to sand them with his orbital sander. So I put him in the dinghy, handed down the Dorade boxes, let out the extension cord, and let him drift behind the boat to do the sanding. We didn’t want to chance getting sanding dust in the not yet cured varnish in the cockpit. When all of this was done, it was time to get ready to go to Constance for our Cinco de Mayo celebration with Ed and Lynne and Jeff and Kathy of Mirage.. Ed margaritas were great and the Mexican food was yummy and we enjoyed it all despite the heavy evening rain. Jeff and Kathy on Mirage are probably leaving for Malaysia tomorrow, so this evening was also a farewell to them. Constance and Mirage have known each other for the many years that they have been cruising in Southeast Asia, so this was a major parting for them.
Tomorrow I’ll do the first of many coats of varnish on the Dorade boxes, we’ll put the cockpit back together (if the varnish cures okay with all the dampness), and take some time for the snorkeling that got put off today. I’m not sure what is on Mark’s list of To Do’s, but I have a feeling fishing might be on that list somewhere. The cupboard is bare.
