Madagascar

We surfed to the north cape of Madagscar with 35kn. The counter current on the west side of Madagascar immediately introduced itself. Our average speed of 5 - 6 knots declined in ten counts to 2 knots. It is the oddest feeling to come to such a quick 'stand stil' after 24 days of full-on sailing. The Southeaster peaked at 45kn and helped us on beams-end over white waters to Nose Hara. Finally – rest. Nose Hara is a fascinating island with very interesting rock formations and landscape. It is very impressive and we enjoyed our rest there where we could air out the boat after the long ocean voyage.
         On towards Nosy Mitsio and we got acquited with the tremendous variable currents and wind directions in the space of one day. It must have been the most frustrating day skipper has yet experienced.

We arrived in Hellville, Nose Be, mid morning. And were almost immediately greeted and welcomed by Kool, who in partnership with Jimmy, take care of the dinghies for a fee. The quay has no facilities for dinghies and the port is over crowded with local boats and ferries all day long. Thus, it was real handy to have Kool and Jimmy there for help. Jimmy speaks English and went with us for the clearing in procedures, for a fee. If you speak french, you might be able to have the bribes pass you by. If you don't, like we, you're bound to pay all the bribes. Which ofcourse you expect at the time, but are unable to voice a stand-off.

Nosi Mamoko was our first experience of village life. The lady chief (who arrived long after us) was a proper b...t.. Honestly the worst experience of 'local' we have yet had in any country. Our initial good feelings she wiped clean with her unfriendly, demanding, un-accommodating attitude. We had no reason to stay in her village where filth abound and lemurs are sick looking, therefore left.

Russian Bay was super good. Andre's Restaurant was a delight.

Value for money. Hearty meals (ordered before). Good tasting Madagascar beer -  English style - and locally produced good rice wine and all kinds of interesting things, like good and happy looking lemurs. Fresh baked bread can be ordered – which we did more than once. Andreas is actually a wealth of information. We made a tour with Paul over the mountains and were very happy with the care he took and the local knowledge he could share with us in English. Again – value for money. Watch out for Polene(sp?). Confirm with Andre's who's the good and who's the bad guys. One day and night a tent safari pitched camp under the palms on the beach front. The tour guide, Ravo, made a good impression when we met on shore. It reminded me of catered safaris we did in Namibia. We sailed twice to Russian Bay and

stayed fourteen days total even though we only planned two days. Snorkeling was good. Schools of fish stayed happily around our boat. Russian Bay was good.

The Honey River had no honey but the school was very happy with the English / Malagasy dictionary we gave them. No-where did we had security issues yet, but everywhere alertness is high. The people in general are friendly. 

SAILMAIL FAILED

We were 18 days on Indian Ocean passage without contact to weather info or any other people. 

World wide coverage by Sailmail is not true. 

There is just one Africa station and it does not function properly.  

INDIAN OCEAN CROSSING 2015

From Cocos Keeling to north Madagascar was a hard, looooooong sail. Uncomfortable. Heavy, huge seas and swell which ran in no co-herent fashion - all the time. 30-40 kn winds were a constant. Two days - out of the twenty four days - were ideal blue water sailing. The windvane steering sometimes could not keep up with the repetitive onslaught of the seas. In due course the steering line snapped. Eelco dressed up in his safety harness and clipped himself to the pushpit then clambered over board down the stern while the liquid mountains charged onto us. He retrieved the broken line and strung the replacement line successfully. I was so uptight and worried, I forgot to take pictures. The heavy seas took its toll on the steering gear too. A couple of times there were a big 'bang!'. One of the 'bangs' was the starboard main stay snapped off a 12mm rod. We also discovered with dismay that the weight of the danbuoy has rusted off. Hooray for life on the saltwater.... Two good things about the Indian Ocean. 1) The current is a true plus. 2) The weather was mostly sunny, warm and dry.