by Judy Handley | Jul 20, 2010 | Madagascar, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 267, Year 5 Mora Mora
Date: Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Weather: Mostly Overcast Day-Not the Usual
Location: Ambavatoby Bay (Russian Bay), NW Madagascar
‘Mora Mora’ means ‘slowly slowly.” And that is how things progressed today. Mark worked on the watermater doing the required 1000 hour rebuild. I wrote long overdue emails and worked on naming photos. The sun didn’t shine. The day went mora mora, but it was a good day. The watermaker rebuild went well and the watermaker is back up and running. I just about have all of the Madagascar photos organized and named and have a few folders with just three or four photos each ready to post when we get back to Nosy Sakatia where we can get on the very slow Madagascar internet. And Mark and I have made the decision that we are not going to continue our trip south right now. We are going to return to Nosy Sakatia tomorrow to talk to Ed and Lynne about the possibility of changing our game plan and heading for southern Madagascar by the middle of August. That means we need to do our land travel here now. So lots of decisions and lots to think about . . . mora mora.
Lynne saw the doctor today and things are progressing nicely. She has to go back to the doctor on Thursday for another check, but it looks like the antibiotic has things under control. We’ll find out more when we get back to Nosy Sakatia tomorrow afternoon, but basically it sounds like a good time for Mark and I to take off and do some inland travel while Ed and Lynne just have to sit and wait for things to get better. They can watch Windbird while they are waiting. And by the time we return (we’re only going for 3-4 days), maybe Lynne’s leg will be healed enough for them to travel while we watch their boat. Sounds like a plan.
by Judy Handley | Jul 19, 2010 | Madagascar, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 266, Year 5 But on the Other Hand.
Date: Monday, July 19, 2010
Weather: Another Sunny Day with Madagascar Clouds
Location: Ambavatoby Bay (Russian Bay), NW Madagascar
It was a quiet day in Russian Bay. We got up at 6 am to try and receive email. The past few days we have been having great difficulty sending email in the evening and have not been able to receive except in the early morning. But this morning it took more than an hour before we got a connection. The problem is location and propagation and we just have to find the right time. We did finally receive email and I baked banana bread and two loaves of whole wheat bread before 10 am when we went to visit Carla and Peter on Odulphus. They reported to us what they have learned from the South African cruisers they have met and have given us a whole new option for getting from here to South Africa. We spent most of the rest of the day looking at the new option of heading further south down the Madagascar coast before going across the Mozambique Channel to South Africa. There is not a lot of information we have to check, but we plotted the possible anchorages listed in the East Africa Pilot and checked the mileages from anchor point to anchor point. Tomorrow I will read the Lonely Planet to see what the inland possibilities are from the anchor points. And slowly we will make a decision. If we do decide that we are going to southern Madagascar, we might return to Nosy Sakatia, to do our inland travel from here now, and then head south. So we keep weighing the options and saying, “But on the other hand.” We feel like Tevia in the Fiddler on the Roof.
We did take a dinghy ride deep into this bay today. We found another ruin from the days of the Russians, a long stretch of stone and concrete pier, but other than that there was nothing else. Not even any villages. Just after we returned to Windbird, a young man named Paul who lives in the village on shore came by in his outrigger. He speaks passable English and has a notebook with tours outlined. His tours cost somewhere between $10-20 US for two people. So this is another option for us to learn more about this area.
We know nothing more of Lynne’s situation except that she is feeling better. She sees the doctor again tomorrow and will see the infected area for the first time since the doctor bandaged it on Saturday. We are all on pins and needles waiting to see how things are going. We just hope the fact that she is feeling better and that the soreness has abated means that things are better. More on that tomorrow night.
by Judy Handley | Jul 18, 2010 | Madagascar, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 265, Year 5 Russian Bay-Not Alone
Date: Sunday, July 18, 2010
Weather: Another Sunny Day with Madagascar Clouds
Latitude: 13 degrees 32.169 minutes S
Longitude: 047 degrees 59.826 minutes E
Location: Ambavatoby Bay (Russian Bay) NW Madagascar
We left Andranira Bay at sunrise this morning and motored our way north and then west. There was no wind but we did have current with us. Even with the motor running, we had an incredibly peaceful journey. The waters here are full of life. There are dolphins and fish that jump so high out of the water that they look like they are flying by the time they land with quite a splash. There were so many fish jumping this morning that I thought I was seeing whales blowing. And in the sky there are white terns and boobies. We caught a beauty of a fish, looked like a tuna, but lost it just as Mark pulled it up to the boat. By 11 am we were in Ambavatoby Bay where we found four other boats at anchor. All of a sudden, we were no longer alone. This bay is commonly called Russian Bay and according to the East Africa Pilot the story behind the name goes like this: “There are many stories about how the bay got its name, but his is the one we like most. It concerns the crew of the Vlötny, a Russian warship that in 1905 had been sent to fight the Russo-Japanese war. The mostly Uralian crew only needed one sight of life in Madagascar to realize that they did not want to go back to Uralia, even if they did win the war. They had barely organized a mutiny before their officers gave in, having seen more than the crew of the attractive Madagascan girls.” The story goes on telling how the ship was hidden in this bay. They went out twice to pirate other vessels in the Mozambique Channel, but then they ran out of fuel for the boilers. They settled in this bay but malaria and other diseases took their toll. Those that survived settled on the shore just in front of us and built a large stone dormitory, Uralian-style. We walked on the beach today and saw the ruins of the huge building. It is said that the last of the survivors died in 1936 and we met a local named Johnny on the beach who showed us where the Russians were buried. We spent a great deal of time chasing birds-bee eaters and some beautiful little kingfishers-and got a few photos. Bird photos are hard to get without a telephoto lens but we do the best we can. We also met some people from Reunion, France, and the Seychelles (all from the same boat). It turns out the captain is from the Seychelles and the boat resides there. Fred is the captain’s name and somehow we got ourselves invited to Turquoise, a Marquises 56 foot catamaran, for sundowners. The people aboard were Claude (a physican) and Mizou and Jean-Pierre and Jacqueline from Reunion. There was another couple from France and at least two crew. We had a delightful time and found that Claude, the physician, is very interested in following Lynne’s progress and will lend assistance or advice as needed. We got cell numbers and set up a radio sched to keep in touch.
We also found Peitra and Carla of Odulphus whom we met in Chagos. We spoke with them briefly and found that they have been talking with South African cruisers here who are recommending that the best way from here to South Africa is to go much further down the south coast of Madagascar than we had thought possible. They are planning on going south to Toliara (Tulear) before heading across to South Africa. They were meeting with two more South African couples tonight and have invited us over for coffee at 10 am to report on their findings. This cruising life is very fluid. I never dreamed that we could explore southern Madagascar, but evidently I was wrong. We may have a very different plan after tomorrow.
We returned to Windbird at 6 pm to talk to Ed and Lynne on HF radio. Lynne is feeling much better and walking on her foot is no longer painful. So the antibiotics must be helping. We are just so happy that things seem better. She will see the doctor again tomorrow afternoon or on Tuesday and then she and Ed will have a better idea of whether or not they will be able to join us as we make our jaunt south. We’ll know more about that tomorrow night.
by Judy Handley | Jul 17, 2010 | Madagascar, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 264, Year 5 Exploring Bays within Bays
Date: Saturday, July 17, 2010
Weather: Another Sunny Day with Madagascar Clouds
Latitude: 13 degrees 44.522 minutes S
Longitude: 048 degrees 10.426 minutes E
Location: Andranira Bay in SW Ampasindava Bay, NW Madagascar
The very tip top of Madagascar looks like a triangle with Cap d’Ambre being the point at the top. We have traveled down the west side of that triangle to the island of Nosy Be. The bottom of my triangle would be Nosy Be and just south there is a mainland peninsula that extends out into the Mozambique Channel further west than we have been to date. We are currently in a deep bay on the east side of that peninsula, Ampasindava Bay. Our first stop in this bay at the northwest corner was in the little bay across from Nosy Kisimani. We now know that was Ambararata Bay. Then we ventured further south in the larger Ampasindava Bay to Nosy Mamoko, still staying on the west side. Today we headed to the southwest corner to an anchorage off a tiny village with a little waterfall right in the village. Then we decided that we just had to explore the only other anchorage in the larger Ampasindava Bay by tucking Windbird into a tiny little bay called Andranira Bay. So for five days we have been exploring bays within bays. Tomorrow we will go back north and across the top of the peninsula to fan-shaped Ambavatoby Bay, more commonly referred to as Russian Bay. Once we get there we sit still for a few days, so you won’t have to learn the names of any more bays beginning with ‘A’ and rambling on for ten more letters.
The waterfall village anchorage was the first stop this morning. We could see the traditional huts peeking out from behind the mangroves and just as soon as we were anchored a young boy rowed out to greet us. Bon Jour is as much as we can mutually understand but we motioned to him that we would come to the village. We took the dinghy in an opening in the mangroves and could then see that the little village was on the right bank, the waterfall was directly in front of us, and there was a man on the left bank motioning us to come in there. There were two brand new picnic tables on the shore that looked like they just came from Home Depot but everything else was totally traditional. I figure resort boats must bring tourists here to see the little waterfall and village and have a picnic lunch. The man motioned for us to walk up a path and this led to the waterfall. Once there we saw a pipe hanging over the top of the waterfall rock and a steady stream of water was coming out of the pipe. Fresh water for laundry! We hurried back to the dinghy and back to Windbird to get our water jerry jugs. By the time we got back a couple of women were sitting at the base of the falls doing laundry. One was dressed but the other was topless, I stayed with the dinghy and sent Mark to get the water. The young woman pulled a wrap around her top when Mark arrived. Then another women come to the falls and immediately started taking off her clothing. We have been where you cannot show your knees or shoulders for so long that it seemed strange for women to be so nonchalant about not being covered. But Mark survived and the second woman waited until he walked away with the full jugs before starting to bath. Whew! I gave the young woman who been topless a bag of sugar in trade for the water and tried to motion that she should share with the other women. I guess I really do need to learn at least a few French or Malagasy phrases.
Once back on Windbird, we decided to up anchor and move to the only anchorage in this area that we had not yet visited. We motored a mile and half to the west and into tiny Andranira Bay. It is protected and there is supposed to be a walking track here, but we could not find it. There are two tiny villages or maybe just single huts in two different places, and we have been visited by people from both. Two young women came with four eggs that we traded for rice. Then they returned wanting something else that we simply could not understand. The teenager motioned for something to write on but when we read the words it was obvious that she was writing in Malagasy and not French. I could have looked up French words, but we have only a few phrases of Malagasy in the back of our Lonely Planet. Then two men came by wanting a pair of reading glasses in return for some fish. We have a whole bag of reading glasses to give away, so we got one pair out and just gave it to the man rather than trade. The fish were very tiny and Mark decided he’d rather wait for the big guys. The man put the glasses on, looked at his hand, then stood up in his dugout and started to boogie. I guess we made at least one person in this world a happier person today.
We just talked to Ed and Lynne on the radio. Lynne saw the doctor this morning and he confirmed her suspicion that she was probably bitten by something and that it is now infected. He prescribed an antibiotic that none of us have ever heard of, Pyostacine, and it is super expensive here. She has to take four pills a day for ten days and each pill costs $2.50US. But if it does the job, the expense will be nothing. She has to go back to the doctor on Monday or Tuesday and at that point, they will make a decision as to what they are doing next. The doctor indicated that the healing process might take a long time. What a bummer for Lynne. We just hope that the antibiotic works and that things are better soon. They might catch up with us in Russian Bay or as we work our way further south. We’ll just have to wait and see about that. In the meantime, we are just hoping that things heal quickly for Lynne.
by Judy Handley | Jul 16, 2010 | Madagascar, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 263, Year 5 All Alone
Date: Friday, July 16, 2010
Weather: Sunny Day with Madagascar Clouds
Location: Nosy Mamoka, NW Madagascar
It was a quiet day here at Nosy Mamoko. Constance left before sunrise headed back to Nosy Sakatia and the other two boats which were here also left early. So for the first time in a long time, we were all alone. Lynne has a place on her ankle that has developed into an open sore that will not heal. At first thought it was a bite, but now she is just not sure as another place has developed beside the first one. So she needs to see a doctor and she talked John at Sakatia Towers and asked him to help her make arrangements for this. She couldn’t get an appointment today, but has a 6:15 am appointment tomorrow morning. The doctor has to fly out to one of the islands to do an operation and is only available early. Getting from Constance to land in a dinghy before dawn won’t be fun, but when they get there, John’s driver Anatole will pick them up and take it from there. We won’t know what the doctor says until tomorrow evening at 6 pm when we will talk to Ed and Lynne on the radio. There is absolutely no cell service here, so there is no chance of a phone call. We’re certainly hoping this is a simple infection, but we’ll just have to wait and see.
In the meantime, we are going to move a little further southwest to another anchorage tomorrow that is supposed to have a village and a waterfall. The next day we will probably leave very early and try to make it to Russian Bay where we plan to spend a week or so. Hopefully, Ed and Lynne will be able to catch up with us there. Today we had lots of visitors wanting to trade for eggs, small fish, bananas, and papaya. We traded rope, fish hooks, and empty glass and plastic bottles for a beautiful stock of bananas and three papayas. I don’t need eggs yet and we keep hoping to catch our own fish, but that is looking grim at this point. Fish are jumping out of the water all over the place here, so we went out in the dinghy this afternoon and tried to catch some of them. But no luck! We have some beautiful dinner-sized fish living under our boat, but we can’t catch them either. Even the locals tried with their spears, but they were not successful. But we’ll keep trying. We walked along the beach at low tide this afternoon and enjoyed seeing many of the same trees and bushes that we saw in Chagos. We found one stand of baobab trees and chased a heron to get photos, but that was about it. We took the dinghy past the village but we did not go ashore. Tomorrow we will go ashore at the village in the next anchorage, so I’ll report on that tomorrow night.
by Judy Handley | Jul 15, 2010 | Madagascar, Sailing Logs Year 5 |
Day 262, Year 5 Beautiful Sail to Nosy Mamoka
Date: Thursday, July 15, 2010
Weather: Sunny Day; Afternoon Winds NW 18-20
Latitude: 13 degrees 43.440 minutes S
Longitude: 048 degrees 11.312 minutes E
Location: Nosy Mamoka, NW Madagascar
Our strategy of not leaving our little bay near Nosy Kisimani until noon worked. The winds started to build and came in from the northwest just before noon. This is the sea breeze being sucked in as the land warms up during the day. And we successfully used that wind to have a beautiful broad reach sail for most of the 17 miles. So now we are anchored in a pass between the mainland and the island of Nosy Mamoko. It was high tide when we arrived here so we will be interested in seeing what it looks like in the morning at low tide. We are close to a village on the island and there was a charter catamaran anchored here when we arrived. The yacht Swerver, a Dutch boat we met in Chagos, is also anchored over closer to the mainland. We enjoyed watching the play of light on the mainland mountains to our east as the sun went down. The mountains look like the Rockies, and that is part of the beauty here. You are anchored by an island with a mix of deciduous trees and palm trees, watching dolphins play near the shore, and looking in the distance at these beautiful mountains. It is quite striking.
