INDIAN OCEAN-

Christmas Island and the Seychelles

October 26th, 2006

For the photo album go to : http://www.cometosea.us/albums/Slideshow/VietnamToUSA.pdf

And start at Slide # 271

I am on a day crossing from Victoria to Praslin in the Seychelles; a pleasant 8 knot breeze and flat seas.  This is a good opportunity to start the Log update.

It was a very fast four day 569m mile passage from Bali to the Christmas Islands. The third day I had my best 24 hour mileage so-far, 155 nautical miles. This was because of strong winds and a favorable current of as much as 2 knots. I arrived in Flying Fish cove on Christmas Island at dusk. I had anchored in the dark and got my anchor line wrapped around the coral heads. In the morning I found out that you are supposed to use the buoys that are put out by the harbor master and provided for a fee. The harbor master sent out a diver to free me from the coral heads, for free. I was supposed to have come in with a Visa, because this is Australian territory.

They let me stay  a few days to make repairs to my water tank. I had wanted to also stop at Cocos Keeling, another Australian atoll, further West, but that was denied, without a Visa. Christmas Island was an uninhabited island till about 100 years ago. The phosphate mining brought Chinese and Malays to the island. The Malays live on the shores of Flying Fish cove and the Chinese took up residence higher up the hills overlooking the cove. Much of the island has been turned into a wild life preserve. A nesting place for Boobies, Frigate Birds, Tropic Birds, etc. One particular striking bird is the Golden Bosun. I managed to get a photo of one of them a few days out of the Christmas Islands, see my photo album. Another rare endemic specie is the Red Land Crab and the Abbot's Booby.

No one is allowed to buy property, all the real estate is either owned by the phosphate mining company or the local government. So, there is no way to farm anything and all food items are imported from Singapore or Australia, making for an expensive provisioning.

The locals are very friendly, there was no need to dismount my bicycle, from the boat. When you are walking along the road from the anchorage, someone will immediately stop and offer you a lift.

When I arrived there were three French yachts. A singlehandler, Alfonso, on a 28 foot Jeanneau. He left for the Maldives on September 

2nd. Two large French Amel ketches, "Jimmy Bee" and "Goemonhour" also left on the 2nd of September. They both had come from the Australian mainland and had Australian visas that they used to stop here and at Cocos Keeling.  "Jimmy Bee" with Jean Marie and Marie Blanche Carlotti set out for Chagos from Cocos Keeling and  "Goemonhour" with Pierre and Dominique headed for Madagascar.

The weather reports, from "Richard's" S.E. Asia Mobile Maritime Net for Chagos were dismal. Lots of rain and strong winds. Most of the boats had left Chagos for Langakawi in N.W. Malaysia or Phuket in Western Thailand.

Both "Jimmy Bee" and "Fleetwood" decided to drop Chagos from the itinerary and instead head for the Seychelles.

I left Christmas Island on Sunday, September 3rd. Before departure I attended mass at the local Catholic Church. There is no resident priest and an eucharistic service was held in the old church by a lay minister. 

The winds were upwards from 25 knots and the small jib was all I needed, I did not take the cover off the main sail till September 16.

And that was just a teaser because from the 17th through the 19th I ran under bare poles doing 100 mile days. The seas were very rough and the wind in the 35 to 40 knots an hour range. This had to be the roughest 27 day passage I have had thus far.

On September 4th we were asked to keep a look lout for "Scherzo". The Australian Air force reported to have received a report of their Emergency Beacon to have sent out a distress signal. They located the boat a few days later, with a Neptune plane. They tried to raise the crew on the VHF radio, without any response. They dropped a VHF radio near the boat but the crew made no attempt to recover it. Then a freighter was diverted to their location. The freighter got within a 100 feet and tried to talk to the crew. No response.

I had seen  "Scherzo" in Bali. They left about a week ahead of me for, reportedly, Chagos. They never showed up in Chagos.

They did not stop at Christmas Island or Cocos Keeling and it is a long way to the next civilization. This remains a mystery as to where they finally made landfall. It sounds like it might have been a delivery crew. Four Frenchmen.  I  tried to make a conversation with the crew, in Bali. No luck, they appeared to be on a different planet.

I regretted not being able to stop at Chagos and according to an e-mail I received yesterday from Richard at the S.E.Asian mobile net,

this will become an even more difficult place to visit. The British overseers have just instituted new regulations and higher fees that have to be posted in advance. This is most likely due to the fact that some of the yachties abused the system and left after being in arrear on their fees. The Brits come around once a week from Diego Garcia to collect the fees. Chagos, without any population, has been a roosting place for the seafaring vagabonds, living off the rich fishing and diving in the lagoons.

I did not manage to catch a single fish on this passage. I had two hits. A Red Footed Booby took up quarters on the boom for a couple nights in a row. And made an awful mess. I have made a new rule, when they check in they are to be diapered before they get their roost key.

Early morning of the 27th of September I spotted the first island of the Seychelles and I made it in to Victoria, the Capital of the Seychelles, by late afternoon. Customs and Immigration, Quarantine etc., did not show up till midday Sunday.

I anchored close to the Seychelles Yacht Club jetty. My bicycle has been a big help for getting around on the main island of Mahe.

The YC provides showers, laundry, water and reasonably priced food and drinks in their facility for a one time fee of 300 Rupees.

A Rupee exchanges for US 20 cents at the official bank rate and for half of that, green backs, on the black market. So, the trick is to have enough dollars or euroes in cash on you. Many of the hotels and even government run tourist attractions accept only dollars and euroes. Even with black market exchange the prices here are about four times higher than, for example, the Philippines.

The Seychelles never had a native population. The majority of the current population came here as slaves from Africa, two hundred years ago, to work for the French and later the English colonists. More recently a small number of Chinese and East Indians came to the islands. Intermarriage with the European colonists, Asians and passing seamen have deluded the pure African ancestry. Many of the women are exotically attractive.

The common language here is Creole, based on French with some African and Portuguese influences. And nowadays a lot of English expressions are creeping in to their speech.  Creole uses only the present tense and  the written Creole has none of the many French accents. I have been told that the Creole spoken in Reunion, Mauritius and the Caribbean islands like Guadeloupe is very similar. Most everyone here speaks also French and English besides Creole.

The 9 a.m. Sunday mass at the Victoria cathedral was celebrated in French with some of the songs in English and Creole.

In the nearly one month that I have been here I have met just two American cruisers. Neil and Nancy Sirman from Poulsbo, Wa. on "Active Light". The Sirmen left shortly after my arrival for Madagascar. The second boat, "Ptarmigan" with Jim and Cheryl from Breckenridge, Colorado, they have been cruising for the last 27 years and this is as far West from the US West coast they have come so far. "Ptarmigan" covered every spot in between, thoroughly. They are now off to the East African coast.

"Jimmy Bee" had arrived here in Victoria three days ahead of me and continued their voyage back to France through the Red Sea.

My best buddy here was Roland of "Samarcande", a Frenchman who has been in this area for the last 17 years and spends most of his time on Nossi Be, Madagascar. He spends the mornings working on his current novel. A great story teller and a good source of information on the whole East and South African coast and off lying islands.

I rode my bicycle to Beau Vallon, twice, it is a short distance from Victoria to the North West side of the Island. A steep climb over the mountain ridge with great vistas of the surrounding islands. The weekend before my departure was a three day Creole festival with lots of activities in Victoria and on the beach at Beau Vallon; a parade, entertainment, food and crafts booths, etc.

The highlight of my Seychelles stay was the short excursion to the neighboring islands of Praslin and La Digue. I would have wanted to spend more time there but I needed to move on with the cyclone season coming up on the route I will be traveling. Too much time was spent in Victoria on my battery charging problems. These two islands are covered with tropical rain forest, surrounded by reefs and isolated bays and picture perfect beaches, small sleepy towns. I visited the Vallee de Mai national park to see the famous Coco de Mer palm trees. They are a very unusual coconut palm, with a very suggestive looking fruit, only found on Praslin and in the Maldives.

The picture album speaks for itself on the unusual fruit's shape. In the harbor of La Passe on La Digue, I managed to anchor Med style with a stern line ashore, because of my low draft. The other yachts anchored just outside of the harbor. The typical laid back, slow pace

of the island reminded me of an outing to the San Juan islands. Tourist and locals get around on bicycles and only an occasional small truck is seen here.

I am finishing this log edition in Hellville on Nossi Be, Madagascar, where I arrived on November 9. I left the Seychelles on October 31.

I was fortunate that the winds did not come from the South and afforded me to stay on a tight reach. At first the winds were very light and fluky but closer to Madagascar I got clobbered with winds in the 25 to 30 knots range but steep and confused seas. "Fleetwood" took some hard hits from cresting waves against the hull and over the top of the boat. Once I made it beyond the northern tip of Madagascar the seas and wind calmed down and I had two days of very pleasant conditions.

Hellvile on Nossi Be is magical. Watch out for the next edition and the album. I will be working my way south down the Madagascar West Coast and then cross over  to the East African coast with the intention to reach Cape Town by Christmas.