Just over a day and a half from Mauritius to Réunion. One day, two nights. We left late in the afternoon on December the second and arrived in Réunion on the morning of the fourth. Sailing, especially in the beginning, was rather slow but picked up getting closer to Réunion. However, two nights, two incidents.
On the first night, with the wind almost directly on our tail, a situation where it pays off to pole out the genoa, the sail up front, Steve tried to lower the pole, which is attached vertically to the front of the mast. It’s 19 feet long and has a diameter of four inches. It’s entirely made of carbon fiber, making it much lighter than its aluminum counterpart. The idea is to attach the pole horizontally to the mast, have the other side stick out over the water, and have the sheets to the genoa, go through a ring on the end, holding the sail out, maximizing the sail surface, and joyfully, stopping it from flapping. A bit of a job setting it up, but well worth the effort under the right circumstances.
Steve had problems lowering the pole. Supposedly the top of the pole comes down and stays attached to the mast while the bottom swings out and up until the pole is in a horizontal position. Halfway down, it got stuck, and Steve attached the halyard, connected to the bottom of the pole, to a winch. He tried to move the pole sideways and up with the idea that it would automatically come down from the top. But too much tension made the pole snap at the top from its mast attachment. Instantaneously, the low side swung out like a releasing spring. The top of the pole bounced right off Steve’s head. I thought he’d be knocked out, but no, just blood gashing from an inch-and-a-half cut from the front of his head just north of the hairline.
We stopped the bleeding, surprised at how easy that was, and cleaned and patched the cut. He’ll have a scar to go with the story for the rest of his life, and it probably needed stitches. The pole repair will have to wait until Réunion.
The second day we were flying the A-symmetrical, a type of spinnaker, a really lightweight but huge sail, one of those colorful balloons you sometimes see extending from the front of sailboats in light winds, and we got caught in a squall. It came out of nowhere, just when it was getting dark. Steve made his way forward to grab the sail while I frantically tried to throw the boat into the wind while releasing the lines to the A-sym. What was less than a minute ago a sea of tranquility now was a dark, vicious place on the planet with the wind screaming through the rigging and the rain pelting the deck. And I wasn’t sure if all our portholes and hatches were closed.
Standing in the middle of this turmoil, it is easy to understand how a sail can get blown out in weather like this. Steve is holding on to the sail with all his might while trying to lower the sock, a tube attached to the top of the mast that would envelop the sail when pulled down. The whole sail lives in that tube, perhaps with a diameter of two feet and almost as long as from the deck to the top of the mast. The sock is hoisted and then, by pulling a line, is pulled to the top, releasing the sail from within. Steve tries to lower the sock by pulling the opposite line, but the wind blows the sail and its lines all over the place. He is grabbing and holding on to whatever he can, preventing the A-sym from getting damaged. After having donned a life jacket, I also crawled my way forward, and together we managed to lower the sock, take the sail down, and stow it below.
Not even five minutes later, the sea of tranquility returned as if nothing had happened. Still, some nasty rope burns across Steve’s right leg tell a different story.
We make our way into the small harbor of Pointe des Galets, generally called Le Port. It’s the only place on the island that clears boats, so we had no choice where to go. After customs have cleared you, you can go wherever you want, but to leave Réunion, you’d have to go back to get cleared once again and receive your exit permit.
It’s Sunday morning, and most shops are closed, but a few are open for one more hour, and then the place shuts down until tomorrow afternoon. That’s so European, and although the islanders aren’t European, they certainly are French. La Réunion never gained independence from the old colonial power and, to this day, is a French territory.
In this all too familiar story, the Portuguese discover the island. The French settle it with their abundance of slaves. The British take possession during the Napoleonic wars. The French introduced sugar after they re-established their rule. After the French abolished slavery, they brought in contract labor from India to work the plantations.
Today the population is around 800,000. Most Réunionais are of French, African, or Indian origin. Unfortunately, unemployment is a huge problem, and many young people move to France to try their luck there. The place and I must admit I haven’t been beyond Pointe des Galets, doesn’t look all that prosperous. The once beautiful government buildings that lined the port, with their unobstructed views of the harbor, now lie in ruins. Their adjoining neglected gardens are fenced off to discourage people from entering. However, I talked to some yachties who have been here just short of a month and fully intended to sit out the remainder of the cyclone season, and they love it. They rent a car occasionally and make their way all over the island. They talk about great hiking, beautiful towns, swimming, diving, and many other activities.
The island people, once again, are fantastic. Jean conducts his sightseeing business from the marina slip next to us. He operates a 38 feet boat, very sleek looking, powered by two huge outboard engines, accommodating up to fifteen people. Mostly whale watching, he says, sometimes three trips a day, humpbacks, but the season is over. We’re in the slow months now and watch dolphins primarily. Just one tour a day now. He saw us sailing into the marina and was initially disappointed to find that neither the captain nor I spoke french. But we had great conversations with the help of Google translate, which he had hooked up to his boat’s sound system for the whole marina to hear. Just before our departure, he drove us to the market. We happily would have walked, but he really wanted to do something for us.
I don’t get to do as much sightseeing as I would like, it’s a shame, but I’m okay with it. I am very fortunate to be here, visit these islands, and see what I see. However, the prime objective of this trip is sailing and everything related to it. If I can’t go on a tour because a sail needs repairing, so be it.
In the cabin below hangs a blown-up beach ball, the size of a basketball, representing the globe, accounting for all seas and countries. And when I look from where we started in Darwin and where we are now in Réunion, we have sailed a long way on that Indian Ocean, and I have almost loved every minute of it.
Réunion to South Africa can be quite an ordeal and generally is the most challenging section across the south Indian Ocean. We’ll keep you posted.
So within that one hour, until the few open shops close until Monday afternoon, we found a few bottles of Bordeaux and some fresh baguettes. What more can you ask for?