September 29, 2022, Praslin, The Seychelles

Rick was up very early this morning (actually night ). The Seychelles are 8 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time and some of our electronics show Seychelles time and some still shows Eastern Standard Time (don’r ask me why) so it can be very confusing. When Rick got up he thought it was 4:00 am (actually it was 4:00 pm in E Brookfield) but it was 2:00 Seychelle time. He figured it out when the sun didn’t rise at 6 and by then he couldn’t go back to sleep. So this is a long winded way of saying he didn’t sleep much. On the other hand I slept until 8am Seychelle time and woke up feeling much better.

Our apartement is very nice. We picked it because it’s close to the ferry dock and the Dream Yacht Charters base. It has a nice view of the water. Here are some pictures of our apartment.

Once we were up any ready to go we walked about 15 minutes to a bakery that Rick found. They drive on the wrong side of the road and some spots have sidewalks and some don’t so the walking can feel a little treacherous at times. At the bakery I had a wonderful chocolate croissant and a pineapple smoothie and Rick had a chicken curry pie which he said was quite good. We had a long conversation with the owner who is from the Seychelles but spent time in the UK and her husband is from Canada.

From there we continued walking into the very small town and to a grocery store that has some imported foods. Here are some pictures from our walk into town.

Everything including food is quite expensive here because it has to be shipped in. We checked out their offering but only bought a couple of limes and a diet coke. We are are still figuring out the provisioning. We want to have the food delivered to the boat on Saturday afternoon because we have be out of our apartment at 10 and can’t get on the boat until 3, and don’t want the stuff sitting out in the hot sun during that time, not to mention that we don’t have a car to get the stuff to the boat. Lots of logistics!

It was quite hot so we decided to return to the apartment. We stopped at the bank on the way back to get some Seychelles Rupees and at the local telcom store to check on getting a SIM card for my phone.

Sortly after we arrived at the apartment our suitcases were delivered, so we are happy to be reunited with our stuff! While unpacking I discovered that I had forgotten the power cord for my PC. We ended up spending a good chunk of the afternoon figuring out how to get a new cord. I couldn’t find an Amazon vendor who would ship to the Seychelles and we checked with our neighbor about send it, but that was going to cost at least $200. Rick was communicating with some local electronic suppliers but no one was optimistic. We will continue to work on this problem tomorrow.

Needing a break from headaches we decided to walk over to the Dream Yacht Charter office. We meet with the customer service manager who was very helpful. She told us where to provision and gave us some ideas about the cord. The boat is out on charter and doesn’t come back until Saturday so we didn’t get to see it.

That evening we walked to a restaurant that was about 1 mile away. As i mentioned sidewalks seem optional. Becase we are near the equator it gets dark here around 6:00. The walk was a little nerve racking but we had flashlights so it was fine. The place we went had two sides, one for take out and one for dine in. The prices were higher for the dine in and there were a lot more options. We were the only people dining in, but there were lots of locals coming for the take away. The food was very good.

A couple of random notes

  1. They speak Creole here which seems to have a lot of French words, some of which i can understand. Most people speak some english, although it helps to speak very slowly.
  2. . The weather is quite hot, especially in the sun. I’m guessing it’s in the mid to high eighties. So far it hasn’t rained but I’m sure that will change soon enough.

Boston to The Seychelles, September 27-28, 2022

After almost 3 years of no travel, we are off again.  This time we are spending almost a month in the Seychelles, then we are going to Africa, specifically Madagascar, Rwanda, Kenya, and Zanzibar for about 3 1/2 weeks.

We left East Brookfield on Monday, September 26 and spent Monday night at the airport because our first flight is left at 8:20 on Tuesday morning.  Our wonderful neighbors, Randy and Karen, drove us to our hotel at Logan.  But first we had to stop at Santarpio’s Pizza.  

Everybody loved the pizza but we can’t recommend the house wine.  

After a lovely dinner, we checked in to our hotel and Rick went to the bar to make new friends. 

We were up early the next day because when we tried to check in with JetBlue (our first flight) they wanted our visa number but the Seychelles does not require a visa.  We tried to resolve the issue with customer service before we left with no joy.  It was no problem at the airport.  

After clearing airport security, we went to the lounge for breakfast and then proceeded to the gate where we discovered that our flight was about an hour late.  We didn’t have a long layover in NY so we were a little worried about making our connection.  In NY we had to change terminals which involved a 10 min walk and more importantly having to go back through security.  Luckily we made it in time and were the last 2 people to board.  

It was a long 12 hour  flight to Dubai and I didn’t think the movies were so great (but the food was pretty good for airline food).  Neither of us got any sleep. We landed at 7:30 in the morning, Dubai time. So although it was light we couldn’t really see the Dubai skyline as we landed. Mostly we saw desert and lots of sand.

The layover in Dubai was also quick as we immediately proceeded to our next flight.  Our initial impression was that the airport was no where as nice as Doha.   We both slept on the flight to the Seychelles since it was the middle of the night according to our body clocks. 

When we arrived on the island of Mahe in the Seychelles we learned that we didn’t need a visa, but we did need a travel authorization which we had could have applied for in advance had we known about it. Instead we spent about 20 mins and a bunch more money applying for it at the airport.  Because of this delay we were the last people to go through customs and when we got to baggage claim our suitcases were not there.  Then we had to wait another 15 minutes for the lady who handles missing bags to come so we could put a claim in.  We hope to get the suitcases either tomorrow or on Friday.  Luckily we have a few things in our backpacks.

We are spending the next 2 days on Praslin (pronounced pralin), the island where we pick up the boat, in an apartment. We will use this time to prepare for our sailing trip.  We took a taxi from the airport to the ferry.  Our taxi driver gave us a very brief history of the Seychelles.  It was first colonized by the French and then the British took it over (they drive on the right as a results of Britain’s influence).  She (our taxi driver) told us that today the Seychelles are independent but part of the commonwealth.  Queen Victoria visited in 1903 and named the capital Victoria.  Queen Elizabeth arrived by boat in 1972 to open the airport.  There are a strong smell of smoke in the air on our way to the ferry.  The landfill had caught on fire yesterday but it was almost out.  

We had to wait about one hour to board (below are a few pictures from the ferry waiting area) the ferry and then had to sanitize our hands and don our masks as we boarded.  The ride was about an hour and very rough.  Between extreme exhaustion and the rough ride I didn’t feel too well.  Rick slept most of the way.  

Once we arrived on Praslin, it was a 5 min walk to our apartment where we were met by Rahib who showed us our apartment.  

We relaxed for about an hour before walking up to the small market to get  water and a few other things.  Back in the apartment I got ready for bed and quickly fell into a deep sleep.  Rick was about an hour behind me.  

June 25, 2021 Newport, RI

Not much to say about today. It rained most of the night and was a very dreary morning. We were up early and finished packing.  Then we took the boat over to the gas dock where we filled up the boat with diesel and water, filled the dingy with gas, and did a final pump out. Then we left the boat and came home.

Overall it was a good trip.  It was really nice to be back on the water and enjoy boat life.  It was also nice to see my friends, Deb and Peter, and Leigh.  All in all great to do a little traveling again.

June 24, 2021 Cuttyhunk to Newport, RI

Today is our last full day on the boat. We had a leisurely morning on the boat.  It was a beautiful and calm morning.  Here is a picture of the boat next to us.  You can see there is hardly a ripple on the water.

We decided to go on a nature walk on Cuttyhunk.  On our way to the island we stopped at our New Castle boat friends.  We were talking to them about boats and they invited us on to their boat, 2006 Sabre 425, for a tour.  They have a lovely boat.  They were giving us tips if we decide to buy a boat.  We got their card and hope to stay in touch with them because they are very nice people.

Then we went for our walk.  Here are some pictures from our walk.

On the way back to the boat, a couple pasted us and as soon as they walked by I realized it was my old Lytron boss, Dave Voorhes and his wife.  He use to rent a house on Cuddyhunk for the summer but he hadn’t been back for 15 years.  Weird that he was there when we were there.  We visited briefly with them.

We returned to the boat and had lunch.  I packed one bag and then it was time to leave.  We had a nice four hour sail back to Newport.

That evening we had dinner with my college friend, Leigh, at a lovely restaurant right on the water.

All in all it was a lovely day even if it was our last whole day on the boat.

June 23, 2021 Menemosha, Martha’s Vineyard to Cuttyhunk

We were up early. Our slip was right at the edge of harbor inlet and the tide was rushing in through the narrow channel. Consequently the boat was rocking and rolling.  All in all it was a terrible location. When the tide was in, we moved the boat to one of the two mooring balls in the harbor. Rick was concerned that we could be pushed into the rocks by the tide rushing out if we waited too long. We were right in front of the Coast Boats.

We left Menemsha at 9:30 and motored through Quicks Hole (a hole is a narrow channel between two islands) with the tide slightly in our favor to Cuttyhunk.  We arrived in Cuttyhunk around 11:30 so it was a short trip.  The harbor had lots of empty mooring balls so we got our pick.  We moored easily and had lunch.  It was really beautiful, peaceful, calm, and serene.  According to Wikipedia, Cuttyhunk has 10 year round residents but the population swells to 400 in the summer.  Here are a couple of pictures from the harbor.

Then we put the motor back on the dingy and went into town. We had a little trouble locating the dingy dock but with the help of a couple of locals we found it. We checked out the menus of the three lobster shacks.  Then we walked up the hill, passing the little general store, post office, library, town hall, and one room school.

There was a lookout at the top of the hill with amazing views.  We also explored the WWII bunkers which were on the edge of the hill.

We returned to town, bought Rick’s dinner, and dingied back to the boat.  The harbor was filling up by then.  Our New Castle friends who we met in Nantucket and saw again in Edgartown pulled in.  It’s fun to get to know sailing people.

That evening we hung out on the boat and watched the full moon.

June 22, 2021 Edgartown to Menemsha, Martha’s Vineyard

It was another exciting day. We woke up really early (4:30 am) to fog and went back to sleep.  When we woke up for the second time, around 6:00, the fog had burned off and it was a beautiful day. We left Edgartown around 6:30. We let the dingy out on its long leash but quickly noticed it was taking on water again so this time we pulled it in tight and it was fine for the rest of the trip. We motored all the way to Menemsha because the wind was on our nose most of the way. We arrived in Menemsha around 11:00.  Here are a couple of pictures from along the way.

Once in Menemsha we pulled up to the fuel dock and got diesel. The harbormaster sent us to a dock which was on the end of the pier. Rick didn’t want to back in so he drove close to the jetty and was turning around. The depth gauge read three feet but there wasn’t three feet of water because we were in the mud. Rick gunned the engine but we were stuck.  The head harbormaster wasn’t in so the summer assistants called him and he said we should put out an anchor and wait for the tide to come up.  It was about 11:45 and the tide was still going out.  Low tide was at about 1:00.  So we just waited and watched the coast guard practice rescue maneuvers outside the harbor. You can’t really tell from the pictures that we were stuck but here they are anyway.

At low tide the boat listed slightly to one side.  A fisherman was helpful and took out anchor out into the channel. People along the dock were watching us and around 1:45 they said they could tell we were starting to float.  Rick was on wheel and I was at the bow and I started pulling in the anchor.  It pulled the boat forward and off whatever we were stuck on (the technical term for this is Kedging.).  Luckily the bottom was muddy and sandy so no damage was done to the boat.  With the help of four people on the dock we were able to dock without further incident. We breathed a sigh of relief!

I went over to the little restaurant to get Rick some chowder.  We topped off our water tanks and did other boat chores.  That evening Rick got a lobster dinner take out and we returned to the boat to cook my dinner.  By then it was raining and it rained for most of the evening.  Our boat is very cozy in the rain!

 

 

June 21, 2021 Nantucket to Edgartown, Martha’s Vineyard

We woke up early because we wanted to be off the mooring between 5 and 6 am. We planned to go to Menemsha which we estimated would be a 9-10 hour sail  However the weather had other plans for us. The harbor was socked in with fog and we had to just wait it out. We finally got off the mooring around 9.

We motored out of the harbor through the channel and then proceeded to put up the main sail. As we finished putting up the sail, I noticed the dingy was half full of water. It has been taking on water over the bow as it plowed through the waves. We had taken the motor off, as it customary for a long sail. This was our first leg without the motor on the dingy. The change in weight distribution resulted in the bow being lower and allowing water to splash in over the bow. This was a problem!

We slowed down by putting the engine into neutral and pondered what to do.  We decided our first effort would be to pull the dingy closer to the boat and bale it with the bucket on a rope that we typically use to swab the deck. We got about 50% of the water out and started motoring again but decided it was riding too low in the water and would just fill up again.

We put the motor back into neutral and took down the sail. Then we lowered the swim platform, pulled the dingy up onto the swim platform and dumped as much water out as we could. Who needs fitness blenders when you have a dingy full of water to haul out!  Then we added another line to the dingy painter (line) to make it longer and started up our journey again. This seemed to work and the dingy was no longer taking on water.  Crisis averted!

Oh, wait, not yet, we motored on and, about an hour later, the fog rolled back in and we only had about 1/4 mile of visibility. Luckily the boat has radar and we were both on lookout. We only saw one boat that was close to us and we used the horn to alert them to us. Eventually the fog cleared and we were back on our way.

After all that we decided to go to Edgartown instead of all the way to Menemsha. We pulled into Edgartown around 1:30. What a day!

We spent the afternoon relaxing on the boat. We didn’t go into town because we didn’t need anything and because we didn’t want to put the motor back on the dingy, only to have to take it off again for the next leg of our journey.  Needless to say we had dinner on the boat and an early evening.

Sorry another day with no pictures.

June 20, 2021 Nantucket

Happy Father’s Day 😘

It was a beautiful day, perfect for our sail with our Nantucket friends, Deb and Peter.  We started our day by going into town to get a few groceries.  We came back to the boat, relaxed, and had some lunch.  After lunch we dinghied to the dingy dock to pick up Deb and Peter.  We took them out for a sail.  The wind picked up on our way back and we were heeled over pretty far so we pulled in the sails and motored back.  Once back on the mooring we had a little happy hour of wine and cheese.  Then we took them back and said good bye.

Back at the boat we readied her to leave because we are planning to go to Menemsha tomorrow which will be a long sail so we want to leave early.  We had dinner on the boat.

It was a great day.  We really enjoyed hosting Deb and Peter on the boat.

(Sorry no pictures, I was enjoying myself and I forgot to take pictures, Oops!)

June 19, 2021 Nantucket

We were supposed to take out our friends, Deb and Peter, out for a sail but when we checked the weather it didn’t look too good. The winds were 20+ mph, with gusts up to 25 mph. There were supposed to be 3-5 foot seas, and small craft advisories. We decided to postpone for a day.

We went into the aquarium to see the exhibits we had missed on our previous visit which included Clementine, the 10 pound orange lobster. We walked through town and had some lunch.  Here are a few pictures from  town.

I followed up lunch with the world’s biggest ice cream sandwich which even I couldn’t finish! We walked out to Brandt Point Lighthouse.

We returned to the boat and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. The wind was howling. Postponing was the right decision!

Rick cooked dinner on the boat. Another early night.

June 18, 2021 Nantucket

Yet another beautiful day on Nantucket!  We started the day by walking to the grocery and liquor stores.  Nantucket is so pretty, here are a couple of pictures from our walk.

Interestingly, after shopping, we had trouble getting an uber, lyft, or taxi back to the boat.  Just as we had given up hope and were planning to push the cart back to the boat, an uber became available.

Once everything was stowed back at the boat we returned to town and went to the aquarium.  It’s a very small building and actually looks like a joke but Deb was on the board for many years and her son worked there so she encouraged us to go.  It houses local species that it collects for the season and then releases back into the ocean at the end of the season.  We were toured around by Jack, the director of the aquarium and a very enthusiastic marine biologist.  It was excellent and we highly recommend it to other Nantucket visitors.  Here’s a picture of the aquarium and Jack.

After our aquarium tour we returned to the boat for lunch.  Rick wasn’t feeling that well so I went into town by myself and went to the Hadwen House and the old Quaker Meeting House.  At the Hadwen House I learned more Nantucket history.  Hadwen made his fortune in candles made from spermaceti (from the sperm whales) which are smokeless, giving them a big advantage.  He built a large house for him and his wife and then built another one for his niece.  The “Three Bricks” are brick houses across the street which were built by Hadwen’s father in law, Joseph Starbuck, for his three sons.  Here are pictures of the Hadwen House and the Three Bricks.

The old Quaker Meeting House was pretty much what you’d expect, a completely plain room with some benches.  Here’s a picture of the outside.

I walked back and returned to the boat.  We had a lazy evening, watching a huge mega yacht dock.  I looked it up it’s for sale, only $40M . . . .