Day 324, Year 5 Making Pirogue Sails
Date: Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Weather: Sunny Day with Variable Winds
Location: Nosy Sakatia, NW Madagascar
Mark was off early this morning to the southern end of Nosy Sakatia to cut pirogue sails from a giant spinnaker donated to the local Rotary Club. When completed, the Rotary club will donate the sails to local fishermen. John from Sakatia Towers picked up Bruce on Pioneer and then Mark and off they went. A woman named Lisa who is a South African who lives in Russian Bay was also with John. When she lived in South Africa she was a sailmaker. She flew in from South Africa yesterday and is staying at Sakatia Towers until tomorrow when another yachties will take her back to Russian Bay. We had read about her place in Russian Bay but couldn’t find it when we were there. Now we know where to find her and might return there before leaving this area. Between Mark, Bruce, John, and Lisa there was a bit of sail knowledge to aid in the cutting of the sails. While Mark and gang were off cutting sails, I took Lynne and Ed of Constance to Far Niente for coffee cake and conversation. Peppe and Bob called early this morning to invite us and we gladly accepted. Far Niente is a US boat that has just returned from Mayotte. We had a great time sharing information about anchorages we have visited in Madagascar and hearing all about Mayotte. Time passed quickly and it was noon when I noticed that Mark was being dropped off on Windbird. I took Ed and Lynne back to Constance and when I returned to Windbird, Mark reported that they cut thirty-six pirogue sails out of the donated spinnaker and left one huge triangular dhow sail. Mark came back with six pieces of sail material and got three of them sewn this afternoon. Lisa from Russian Bay will sew a few more. It takes about an hour to do one sail, so I’m not sure how many we can get done before we leave here. Mark stopped at three today because he ran out of the line that John’s visiting Aunt and Uncle brought earlier this week. Fellow Rotary member Wendy is returning from South Africa this weekend and she will be bringing more of the line, so more sails can be sewn Obviously this project will continue until we leave and beyond.
The deck at Sakatia Towers was alive tonight. We went up for sundowners and there was a full house between guests and cruisers. We met John’s aunt and uncle from South Africa and the full crew from the South African catamaran CQ that came in yesterday. This forty-seven foot catamaran used to belong to Bruce and Nadine who are here on the delivery boat Pioneer. They sold it in May just before leaving for their Madagascar explore and now CQ has made it here. Kim and Paul are the owners and they have a beautiful little two and a half year-old son named Joshua. Joshua was running around in his normal Madagascar attire this evening (no clothing) and was such a well behaved little one. Kim and Paul have a crew member named James and another couple that has been traveling with them. A sailor named George was on the deck and I have no idea what boat he is from and Bruce and Birget of Irene were also there. Then there was another South African couple staying at the Towers until the weekend, so it was a full-house. As always the conversation was lively and informative. I heard that the politics in my country have gone haywire, so I need to find out what this means. John’s deck is certainly never boring!
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| 100915 Day 324 Nosy Sakatia, Madagascar–Making Pirogue Sails |
