Stuck in the Seychelles Part 2

Our view from Cool Runnings in Eden Island Marina

We've decided this place is like the Hotel California...you can check in any time you like, but you can never leave!  Well, we did get a short reprieve, and were able to leave the marina for 4 days, but we are back and are stuck once more, since Immigration has our passports, and we certainly can't leave without them!!  It's the first time EVER on our whole trip that our passports have been taken from us!  We are not very happy about that!  But once again, let me back track...

Our friend Stephan arrived late on the evening of September 6th (last Wednesday) and on Thursday morning we put those newly fixed engines into gear and high tailed it out of here!  Of course the weather, which had been picture perfect for the 3 weeks that we had been stuck, decided to turn nasty and we had an extremely rough ride with about 25 - 30 knots of wind on a very tight reach, which means the wind was coming almost from in front of us.  Baptism by fire for Stephan!!  It took us about 3.5 hours to cover the roughly (no pun intended) 30 miles from Mahe to Praslin, and we were happy to round the top of the island and get into its lee and some shelter!

A map of the inner islands to provide some orientation.  We sailed from Victoria on Mahe to Praslin and then to La Digue

We anchored in Anse Lazio, a large protected bay on the northeast of the island.  We took the afternoon to relax and recover from the rough ride.  

Heineken on tap...rough seas were quickly forgotten!

We spent the next day exploring the beach and swimming in the surf.  The huge granite rocks we had already seen on Mahe were even more pronounced here on Praslin (and later we were to see even more spectacular rocks on La Digue), and made for a stunning backdrop to the blue water.  The granite rocks are not volcanic, but are said to have originated from an upthrust of the earth's crust some 650 million years ago, so they are very, very old rocks!!

Ben and Gaby on the rocks on the beach at Anse Lazio

These rocks are pure granite...we wish we could take a slab or two for our kitchen counter at home!

The beach at Anse Lazio

We took the dinghy around the corner to see what was there, and if it was worth moving the big boat to another anchorage, but the wind was so strong, and we were so well protected where we were, we decided to stay put and spent two nights at this anchorage, leaving the following day (Saturday morning) to head to La Digue.  

On our way to La Digue, we passed this tiny island with the most amazing rocky outcrop.  We marvel at their formation, and we had read somewhere that some scientists are even baffled at the origin and formation of the rocks.

The island of La Digue has a tiny harbor, and we had to drop anchor, reverse, and then tie up to a tree on shore.  But it was also nice and protected so we were happy to go through the rigmarole of doing so!

Dave in the dinghy after dropping us on shore and going back to secure the dinghy

A Panoramic of La Digue's harbor...Stephan looks on...

We had a great time in La Digue.  Up until a few years ago, there were no cars on the island, and bicycles were the only means of transportation.  There are still hundreds of bicycles, but unfortunately, also a fair number of cars.  The easiest way to get around is still by bicycle, so we rented them for the day on Sunday and explored.

La Digue's main drag

Some pretty berries on the side of the road

Dave, Gaby, Ben and Stephan enjoying the view

The Seychelles is home to many unique flora and fauna, including the giant tortoise.  We got to see a couple of these guys in Galapagos, but the ones we saw in the Seychelles were just as big, if not bigger.  We saw a few in the wild while we were cycling around, but we we also able to get up close and personal to this lot, that are kept in an enclosure at the Union Estate:

Gaby and her special friend

They are very messy eaters!

They are friendly and very curious.  Here Ben has a chat to two tortoises

The Union Estate is also the gateway to the Anse Source d' Argent...one of the world's most photographed beaches.  We rode our bikes as far as we could, and then we got to walk along the beach.  I'm sure if we'd been there on a sunny day, it would have looked even more spectacular, but it was the magnitude of the rocks that really blew us away!

Then it was time to move on.  We cycled our bikes all the way over to the other side of the island, to Grand Anse.  Great exercise...my bum was sore from the saddle and the thighs were burning from the uphill climbs!!

A map of La Digue.  We cycled the solid paths, and the dotted paths are walking trails.  There's just the one road over to Grand Anse

The windward side of the island - Grand Anse

Dave and Steph and a narly old tree!

We treated ourselves to a banana smoothie on the way back down, at this little stand on the side of the road.  The price was exactly half of what we would have paid down at the beach!

Stephan enjoyed coconut water

 Our final push was to explore the north end of La Digue, so we followed the coastal road, until it literally came to an end!  On the way we saw some more tortoises, and some more beautiful scenery.

The end of the road...

And then it was time to head back to Mahe.  Although it was only 4 days, and the weather was not so great, it still felt like we had been on holiday for 2 weeks after being stuck in the marina for so long!!  Monday morning dawned and it was, of course, a beautiful day!!  But at least this allowed us to have a lovely sail back to Mahe.  It was a little slower than our way over, but it was very pleasant, and we caught 3 fish on the way back!  We caught a big Green Job fish, a tuna and a fish we couldn't name...it looked like an oversized needle fish.  We returned both the tuna and the unknown fish back into the sea, but the Job fish was to be dinner!  We called Shuti and Moby, letting them know that potluck dinner was on Cool Runnings that evening...we were supplying the fish!

Dinner!

It was a great reunion back on Cool Runnings that evening.  7 adults and 8 children make for a rowdy bunch...luckily most of the boats here are charter boats and there are not too many people around in the evenings!

The squad kids back together again

On a side note:  While we were out and about on our very brief island hopping adventure, Hurricane Irma was barreling down on our home in Florida, having just destroyed the Caribbean islands.  We spent each morning and evening monitoring the news, tracking the hurricane and touching base with Dave's sister Kim and his parents, Rosemary and Allen, while they boarded up our house and were forced to evacuate.  Our deepest, deepest thanks go out to Kim and her daughter Kayla who single handedly put up the majority of the hurricane shutters on our house, and then to our incredibly kind neighbors, Scott, and his friend (I'm sorry, I don't know his name!!), and Charlie, who took the time to help Kim with the very hard to reach upstairs windows, all the while still having their own homes to worry about.  Also a huge thank you to John, our neighbor two doors down, who did not evacuate and provided updates on the condition of the house after doing a perimeter check after the worst of the storm was over.  While I'm at it, thank you John, for the kindness you show to Kim, Allen and Rosemary in our absence.  John is like a garden fairy who magically cuts the grass and trims the trees!  It makes you feel very grateful that there are such kind people in the world!  Our deepest thanks to all of you!!  Overall we fared really well, and luckily, our house was fine, with no structural damage, no flooding, and apparently only a ton of debris to be cleaned up.  Thanks to everyone who sent messages of support.  It was very frustrating being so far away and not being able to help!  Our hearts go out to those who were not so lucky and are now dealing with the aftermath of this monster storm.

Back in the marina on Tuesday, we begin the check-out process.  Nowhere has it taken more than a few hours to check out of the country, get the clearance paperwork and move on.  We now see why so few cruising boats come here.  We came back on Monday, started the process on Tuesday, continued today (Wednesday) and if we are lucky, we can leave tomorrow!!  It is the most ridiculous and the most expensive check out we have ever encountered!  It is also the first time that our passports have been taken from us.  They were taken from us today, and will apparently be returned to us tomorrow, and then we can leave.  Passports are extremely valuable, and we don't think anyone has the right to take them from us and keep them for any length of time, but what choice do we have?!   I can't even begin to tell you what it took to get to this point, as poor Dave, being the Captain, had to endure it all, but it entailed going from one authority to another, obtaining letters and approvals and paying fees, just one big bureaucratic nightmare!

Loic (from Moby), Momi (from Shuti) and Dave...all smiles after receiving final clearance (but still without passports!)

Once we are able to leave, Shuti and Cool Runnings will head towards Mayotte, and Moby will head towards Mauritius.  Loic and Benedicte lived in Mauritius for 15 years, so for them it's like going home...they couldn't miss it!  Both routes will be tough...Moby's a little tougher than ours.  We will be with Shuti all the way to South Africa and hope to meet up with Moby again, probably in Cape Town.

Our next destination, Mayotte, is geographically part of the Comores archipelago, but voted to remain an overseas territory of France, while the other islands of the Comores voted for independence.  It is situated about 200 miles off the northern tip of Madagascar between Madagascar and East Africa.  It will take us about 5 days to get there and while all of our major passages thus far have been predominantly downwind (with the wind behind us), this will be our first passage where the wind will be side-on, and possibly a little from the front.  The biggest difference will be the movement of the boat in the sideways swells.  It will be a different motion that can become uncomfortable if the waves get big.  We have chosen the best weather window we could find in this time period, and expect to have lighter winds to start off with, but then they pick up the closer we get to the tip of Madagascar, which is notorious for strong wind.  It is what it is...we have prepared the best we can, as we always do.  Now we just need our passports...!

See you in Mayotte!

Sunset in Anse Lazio, Praslin island, Seychelles