Departing from Mauritius on Maverick Island Home

Island Home explored Mauritius for a month, and now it was time again to go
and seek out the deep blue ocean again. I flew in from South Africa and
Tim, Geoff's brother, flew in from Australia on the 17th. Once again, we
were six aboard Island Home, and getting ready ready for our sail to
Fremantle, Australia. Portitis set in a bit, Marina's word for that
restless feeling when you have been sitting in the same spot for a few
days, especially in port. We had to wait for some repair work to be done
and decided to spend the weekend in Grand Bay, the main spot in Mauritius
for yachties. Tim and myself decided to explore a bit and had lunch at the
Beach House. A fairly famous restaurant and pub owned by Cabous van der
Westhuizen, a colourful rugby character from South Africa. Long hair and a
flair for a gap, Cabous is fondly remembered by most South African rugby
fans. We each had a beer to contemplate what we will have for lunch, and
another beer to enjoy with our burger and chips. I have never seen such a
big burger patty anywhere, and the centre was filled with cheese. Donna,
our waittress, made sure we were well looked after.

Monday morning at first light we lifted our anchor and set course back to
Port Louis, a nice and easy downwind run. Our windscreen was supposed to be
replaced on Monday morning and we tied up at the boatyard. It took quite a
bit of time to remove the windscreen which was completed on Monday. On
Tuesday the sealant that held the broken windscreen in place was removed
and a primer was applied and allowed to dry before the windscreen was
sealed into place and allowed to set. Wednesday the outer bead of sealant
was applied and Thursday morning the final finishing touches were done. By
which time we all had a spell of portitis and departed on Diwali which fell
on 23rd October. Tuesday the bulk provisioning was done, and Wednesday
fresh produce was sourced in a fairly big fresh fruit and veggie market. I
was impressed with the quality and variety of fresh produce on sale. Diwali
is a Hindu festival and lots of fireworks can be expected.

We cleared customs and immigration on Wednesday, and on Thursday at about
10am casted off. We called port control on the VHF radio and they granted
us permission to depart. We motored into the wind to round the island on
the north, and set sail under a spectacular cliff called Gunner's Quoin.
Loads of tropical fairy terns were nesting on the cliff. A smallish white
coloured tropical bird with a long white tail. Our sails filled with wind
and we were sailing south for a while before we tacked sailing north east
again to miss Mauritius. When we tacked back we had a good line and sailed
down the easter side of Mauritius. The night set in and bright displays of
fireworks were lighting up the evening skies. Quite a fitting farewell to
this colourful island. Some fairly heavy squalls also kept us on our toes
with fairly strong gusts of wind and heavy rain pouring down for short
periods of time. It was a bit choppy, but once we reached the southern tip
of Mauritius and entered the deeper waters, things settled a bit.

Our route to Australia is taking us in a south easterly direction into the
Southern Ocean from where we will head east towards our destination. Our
weather predictions were fairly accurate and we sailed conservatively with
second reef in our main and head sails for the first night. The wind at
first will be from more or less an easterly direction and slowly back to
north until we get to the westerlies which is the trade mark of the
Southern Ocean. We are not planning to go down too deep in the Southern
Ocean. 40 degrees south is called the roaring forties for a reason. It is
mostly one big storm after the other coming through. We might go down to
38 degrees south to check out an extremely small island called St.Paul, or
to use it as a safe haven should a fierce front come our way. We should be
there in about 8 days or so, and from there on we will curve back up to
Fremantle which is on the south westerly coast of Australia.

Friday we still had some fairly strong weather and kept to our second reef
sail settings. We are doing close to 6kts average since we left Mauritius.
On Friday we also landed a fair size dorado, and today we had a totally
delectable fish curry served on basmati rice prepared by Marina. Just after
lunch the sea was settling nicely and it was time to to get more sail up
and we tied first reef on the main and head sails. Starting to sail really
smoothly and loving every moment being out here. From Mauritius to
Fremantle is about 3250nm and we will probably sail it in three weeks or
so. We have full tanks of diesel on board, but will mostly have to use it
for charging our batteries.

Everyone on board is settling in nicely. Scott had a quick seasick session,
and wished at that moment that he flew to Australia instead of sailing.
Given that it was a bit rough and it was the first few days out, he is once
again in his element and happy to be out here. That is how we know Scotty.
Tim is fine and enjoying his time out here. A bit hot still and his cabin a
bit too hot for his liking, he is joining the saloon sleepers. Smooth and
with a bit of a breeze, definitely the best place to sleep. He woke me
early this morning as there was a ship that was on a collision course with
us. Waited half an hour before calling the ship and requested the captain
to alter their course 10 degrees to starboard to give us room to sail.
Fortunately they have spotted us and have already altered course by 10
degrees, altered another 10 degrees just to give us extra peace of mind,
and wished us a safe journey onwards.

Soon we will have the wind and waves from behind and do what we enjoy doing
most; running with the wind. Wishing you all the best until we touch base
again.

Paul