Day 219, Year 5: Last Day in Chagos
Date: Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Weather: Beautiful Day, SE Winds 10 Knots
Location: Ile Fouquet, Salomon Atoll, Chagos

This is it. It is time to exit paradise. We are having a very hard time thinking about pulling ourselves away from here but our permit expires at midnight and we plan to leave by 10 am. The Pacific Marlin came in tonight, so I am sure they will be coming into the anchorage tomorrow morning to make sure we are on our way. We are bummed that we missed both of the wonderful barbecues that they have for cruisers, but that was not in the picture for us. But everything else about our visit here has been perfect, so no complaints.

We did our farewell round late this afternoon. The boats in this anchorage have become our Chagos family. Whether we have known the cruisers for three weeks or three days, we bond and feel we have known each other for a very long time. Mr. Curley and Susan Margaret are headed back to Southeast Asia, so more than likely we will not be seeing them again. Kea, Galateia, and Ventana we will probably see in Madagascar in September or later in South Africa. Aries Tor is still conflicted about which way to go. Last night they thought they were headed to Madagascar and then on to South Africa, but this morning a South African on the net strongly encouraged them not to approach the South African coast without an engine. So now they are thinking they might return to Southeast Asia or possibly head south to Mauritius and get repairs done there. If they do that, they could still be in Madagascar by September. We wish them the best in whatever decision they finally make.

We our going to miss the underwater world here, the land treks, the Brown Noddy Terns that have roosted on our bow even though they have made another mess after our clean-up yesterday, and we will miss the people we have met. But as always, we will move on and enjoy the adventures ahead.

100602 Day 219 Salomon, Chagos–Boats in Takamaka-Fouquet Anchorage