Cruising the Seychelles

 

Baie Georgette - Our view after a long hike from Anse Lazio

Most of our time in the Seychelles has been spent on the main island of Mahé. These last few weeks we were finally able to get over to the other two 'big' islands: Praslin and La Digue.

Anse Lazio (in Baie Chevalier on Praslin)

Our sail to Baie Chevalier on Praslin took about 8 hours rather than the normal 4 hours because the normally ever-present wind had died for the day. We knew this but were eager to escape the waters near Eden Marina. So we hiked up our spinnaker and sailed verrrry slowly.

The view from 'Zimbabwe' (the local nickname for Grand Fond on Praslin)

It was nice to get back to what we think of as cruising, which involves anchoring in less crowded areas where we can explore (and fix the boat as needed). Praslin and La Digue, although chock full of tourists, did not disappoint. We found beaches with interesting surf and soft, white sand. There were stunning views and tortoises. We were again grateful to be able to spend the time to enjoy all this at a leisurely pace.

On the 'no this isn't just a permanent vacation' front, we're still doing school, laundry in a bucket and boat maintenance. Matt had to replace a seal in one of our water-maker pumps, re-bedded a trampoline eye-bolt, installed some of the boat parts I brought back with me, and has been chasing down the air that keeps building up in the port engine fuel lines (which makes itself known by shutting down the engine at inconvenient times).

We love the rocks in the Seychelles

Mark and Conrad have been enjoying the surf at Anse Lazio. It has made landing the dinghy a bit challenging at times and we did get a face full of water once. But at least we didn't suffer the fate of a recent charter boat passenger who had to be rushed to the hospital after the dinghy he was in flipped. The outboard engine prop sliced him open in a few places, but we heard that he was mostly okay after a number of stitches.

Ile Curieuse: This reminded us of Angkor Wat

Ile Curieuse is filled with tortoises

Up close and personal with a Coco de Mer nut

 

We only spent a couple nights at La Digue because the anchorage was rolly and uncomfortable (and there was no room to tie up inside the harbor). However, we were able to rent bicycles and see most of the island. We spent a long but fun day biking around the island, doing a walk from one beach to a couple others, and stopping for lunch at the first restaurant we have been to since the Maldives.

La Digue was as great as everyone said. It is a sleepier version of Mahé. The mostly car-less roads allowed us to re-hone our bike skills without being run over, though some of the hills were a challenge for our sea-level legs. Also, it's a good thing Matt used to spend his college summers fixing bikes because we had a couple of technical glitches with the rental bikes. Tourists with busted bikes must be a common sight around the island.

Local 'speed bump'

Where else can you find a tortoise in the middle of the road? Tortoises are not quite as common as pigeons in the Seychelles but there certainly is no shortage of the shelled reptiles. We hadn't been particularly afraid of them even though they come right up to you to look for food. But then we read about this apparently carnivorous tortoise.

Mark skirting a road tortoise - it takes a steady hand

We continue to be impressed by the friendliness of the Seychellois people and the beauty of the country. The cool nights and relative lack of mosquitos are a bonus too.

More rocks, this time on La Digue

Making the kids walk from one beach to see another beach

Green flash count: 1 (Matt, allegedly)

Around Seychelles

View of our anchorage at Praslin Island

This is a bit of a catch-up post, since it's been awhile (I was in the States for about a month visiting family).

 We made it to Praslin, which is one of the other "main" islands that we are allowed to go to in the Seychelles (there's a quirky mix of private/public/ and marine national park islands here, so you need to to do your research or else you can get turned away or hit with a pretty hefty visitor fee). It's nice to have clearer water after the Eden Island anchorage, which has very 'nutrient rich' (aka 'poopy') waters.

Little Big Ben is the best-known landmark in Victoria, the Capitol

 

And we escaped the long-stay inducing, flat water of Eden just in time, too. Perry's bottom needs a good scrubbing and it was time to make water again.

Jen on Longreach made these festive cupcakes. And she's an Aussie!

 

We had a July 4 celebration hosted on Perry with several other boats in the anchorage: Americans, Brits ('oppressors'), and Australians ('fellow oppressed'). Andrew on Sonrisa organized everything and everyone contributed. We had all the fixings: burgers, hot dogs, fried chicken, corn on the cob, watermelon, and salads and desserts. It was a fun time with friends and, as with all the best celebrations, everyone ate and drank too much.

Sauzier Waterfall

Before I left, we took a drive around Mahé (the main island) where we have spent most of our time in the Seychelles. Sauzier waterfall in Port Glaud is one of the sights that you need a car to reach.

While I was away, Matt did fun things like remove the generator injectors to have them serviced. Of course, things like that never go very smoothly and it took a couple days of effort to extract one stubborn injector. In the end, Matt prevailed and we now have a much cleaner-running generator. There was also a fuel selector valve that allowed air in the line and caused the port engine to die when Matt and the kids took Perry out to make water.  Oh, and the kitchen faucet that sprung a leak and was letting out our precious fresh water. The fun never stops around here.

There are more rainbows here than anywhere we've been. Which is just another way of saying that constant sprinkles (no, not the good cupcake kind) are a way of life here.

 

We visited SMAC Adventures for a really fun zip-lining outing. Rather than just one or two lines, you follow a progression of eight (I think?--I lost count!) lines down the hill. 'Coming in hot' might be one of their taglines and it was a little disconcerting at first because it wasn't clear what was going to stop you at the end of the line. Fortunately, they were well-designed to slow you down at the right time (helped at times by the crew creating friction by vigorously pulling the line up and down--I hope your arm isn't getting tired, dude).

Conrad of the jungle.

Does this harness make my butt look big?

Fun with used rubber gloves. He could not fit it over his head.

After Praslin, we will head over to La Digue. There are almost no cars on the island and everyone rides bikes everywhere. Everyone keeps telling us that we will love it, which is making me a little afraid that it won't live up to our expectations. There are benefits and drawbacks to visiting places where so many of your friends and other cruisers have already been.

In the meantime, we are cleaning the science-project of a boat bottom. It's been over 3 months since it was last done properly. The growth comes off relatively easily but was definitely slowing us down (our trip to Praslin averaged only 3 knots with the spinnaker, mostly because of the lack of wind, but our dirty bottom certainly didn't help). Our days right now are all cold water (80 degrees is cold for us), bitey shrimp, and complaining. But there's a nice beach and clean water at the other end of the rainbow (which means it's raining again... gotta run and close the hatches).