Rodrigues to Mauritius

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Departed Rodrigues today – wanted to leave at 7am, but customs don’t open until 9am. We had to go yesterday to advise of departure, and pleaded our case of leaving early enough to arrive into Mauritius in daylight. They took pity on us and said they’d be down at 8am. As did Immigration. So by about 8:30 we had cleared (cocokai got in before us) and we were about to head out, but I noticed Cocokai dropping their anchor in the channel on the way out. And although we had been told we could go, apparently we also had to sign a form for coast guard. So we waited and called them on over after Cocokai. Eventually departed soon after 8:30.



21^st September

Arrived Mauritius!! Had a good sail over, bit bumpy, but not too bad. Cocokai was in front of us and seemed to get a bit more of the weather, by the time we got there, it didn’t seem so bad. A few squalls and some gusts up to 30kts, but mostly 20 – 25kts. Swell on the beam though and that got a bit large at times. Fortunatley we had the current with us most of the way and by the time we came to a passage that included overfalls, we jagged it to have the current still with us and were doing 8 or 9 kts. As the tide was with us, we didn’t have big overfalls at all. The sea got a bit more choppy, and Phil took the helm to be sure, but all was just fine. Entrance into Mauritius was easy with the channel, but wasn’t clear where to tie up. Found it eventually with lots of hand gestures. Just tied up to a very high concrete wall. Arrived about 4:30pm and cleared with customs and immigration fairly quickly. However, the health guy was out on a ship clearing that, and we had to wait for him to get back. 8pm we’re still waiting for him to get in, so Phil asked if we could get some dinner from the local shop – Tandori Express. Fantastic chicken kebab!! Finally at 8:30pm the health guy came, we signed a few forms and were cleared. Earlier on in the day Andy from Tina and Bill and Cathy from Terrwyn came over and told us there was a spot against the wall in the marina. Pt side tie up, right in front of them and they would be there to give take our lines. So, in the dark, we’re coming in and as I couldn’t call them on VHF, I just called out as we approached and they came out of their boats to help. Easy done!!

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