The Seychelles

October 9 – 24

Seven days sailing around Praslin and La Digue followed by another week exploring the main island of Mahe.

We had rain almost everyday as well as blue skies and beautiful tropical sunsets. Slow sailing, fantastic snorkelling, great fishing and therefore great food, together with picturesque beaches – the Seychelles.

A reunion with Claire and Jonathan in Abu Dhabi airport was followed by a five hour flight to Mahe. The first faux pas was discovered on the plane when Jonathan handed Sue his newly purchased Lonely Planet Guide to the Seychelles and we discovered that it was all in French. C’est la vie.

After a ferry trip to Praslin and an overnight stay in the Palm Beach Hotel, Grande Anse, we finally boarded a Lagoon 39 and set off for seven days of sailing.

Not wishing to repeat the provisioning mistakes from the last trip we have brought extra champagne instead of McEwans and agreed to make do with local beer. Life is full of compromises.

There was some logic to the routes chosen – it is just not very obvious from this picture!

Day 1: Light winds on day one took us from the marina in Baie St. Anne to a sheltered anchorage at the western end of Cote d’Or Beach and the first of many tropical sunsets.

Day 2: A short trip to St Pierre islet – typical Seychelles rounded granite rocks topped with palm trees. Excellent snorkelling in clear water with the usual tropical fish and turtles (well one turtle anyway).

Then a short sail to Curieuse island for breakfast (brunch) and a trip ashore to explore this National Park area.

Jonathan discovered that the fish seem to eat anything. The small spotted dart were caught on a bacon and capsicum bait and happily went for cucumber. I am sure that expert fishermen around the world use vegetables for bait! Fish for dinner tonight.

Curieuse is home to about 100 giant tortoises that are completely unafraid of human visitors.

Another short sail to Anse Lazio. A beautiful cove on the northern tip of Praslin. The fishing continued and remora was added to tonights menu.

Day 3: A long, slow sail around Curieuse. Tropical downpours revealed numerous leaks on the boat so we headed back to the marina to collect extra towels, top up with water and collect more ice for the champagne. Claire had our first trolling success – tuna for dinner tonight

Day 4: Yesterdays tropical downpour also brought wind gusts of over 30 knots. Nigel and Jonathan attempted to furl the gib during one of these gusts resulting in a broken pulley that threatened to decapitate anyone within range as it flailed wildly on the end of the jib sheet. It is good to have learning experiences on somebody else’s boat! This needed replacing before we could sail again as did the anchor fairlead that had finally come off completely. As a result we spent the morning at anchor at Cote d’Or Beach while the repairs were completed.

This left time for a leisurely sail back to Anse Lazio where we had spent the second night.

The cove looks deceptively tranquil in these photos. But our attempts to go ashore led to disaster.

The first beach we visited had no paths leading inland so we attempted to land on the main beach.

We had successfully negotiated the breakers on the beach when a wave caught us unawares. Standing beside the dinghy, Sue caught its full weight sideways on her knee. We did not know it at the time but she had pulverised some of the bone at the top of her tibia and damaged ligaments.

All we could do was ferry her back to the boat for ice, compression, elevation and champagne.

(Six weeks later the doctor in Abu Dhabi told Sue that she should never have walked on the injured leg and will now need surgery to correct the damage caused by walking on a broken tibia)

Day 5: Sue opted to try and rest her knee for a day while the rest of us visited the bird sanctuary on Cousine Island. This was as close as we got. The wardens onshore had obviously met their quota for the day and so the anticipated ferry boat never materialised. Instead we had breakfast and spent the rest of the day sailing to La Digue.

Day 6: We had opted to anchor overnight just outside the tiny port on La Digue. This morning we tied up in the harbour and spent the day exploring the island. Many people hire bicycles but that was never going to be an option for Sue. Instead we got a taxi to give us a guided tour. Beautiful beaches, glorious views and then a magnificent sunset to end the day.

Day 7: While on La Digue yesterday Sue visited the hospital and was promptly ordered to have her knee X-rayed. So today, as a special birthday treat for her, we made an early start to motor across to Praslin and visit the hospital. What the doctor had neglected to tell us was that although we could get an X-ray in Praslin there was no one to actually read it unless we went to Mahe. A complete waste of time.

Fortunately the day was not wasted as we sailed to Coco Island and Petite Soeur for the best snorkelling of the trip.

Birthday girl hooked a tuna – no chance of starving on this trip

One last sunset before handing the boat back tomorrow morning

Lost and found

Above each bed on the boat was a narrow shelf, perfect for placing water bottles, jewellery and watches overnight. Just above the ledge was a porthole, perfect for a cooling breeze throughout the night.

Problems arise when the edge of the porthole is mistaken for the edge of the shelf.

Nigel dropped his watch onto the shelf only to hear a faint splash indicating the mistake that he had made.

This was our last night. We had to leave early the next morning to return the boat. So Day 8 began at 5.45am with Nigel desperately snorkelling around the boat in 10 metres of water looking for the watch that had been a 50th birthday gift from his family.

Persistence pays off especially when combined with a little bit of luck…

Rain forest and pearls

Our last day on Praslin saw Sue choosing a birthday gift from Pearl Farm de Praslin – one black pearl to go on a pendant and another that will eventually end up on a Pandora bracelet.

Meanwhile Jonathan and Claire explored Praslin National Park and its famous coco de mer. Then after being told it was too good to miss, Nigel used Jonathan’s ticket to see for himself.

Jonathan stayed in the visitors centre cafe with a very frustrated Sue. There was no way she could have walked the forest paths with her injured knee.

Week 2

We are landlubbers for our second week. The ferry docked in torrential rain in Victoria. So we were all a tad damp by the time all the luggage was loaded into the ‘only just big enough’ hire car and we were able to set off in search of our rented villa on the north coast of Mahe.

A non-functioning computer meant that we couldn’t read the directions to the villa without an internet connection. So the 30 minute drive took all evening and involved stopping at the bar in the Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort & Spa – just to use the wi-fi of course.

The villa was was set into a hillside giving it wonderful ocean views. The price you pay is of course lots of very steep steps. This hadn’t been seen as an issue when we booked but Sue can tell you exactly how many steps there were.

With serious trekking off the agenda it was decided that Nigel, Jonathan and Claire would walk early each morning, before it got too hot, and dedicate the rest of the day to car tours and sitting on beaches.

This worked well for two of the threesome – you won’t see Jonathan in any of the early morning walking photos!

Clearly we are not meant to be landlubbers. On our last full day we chartered a boat for a cruising, fishing, swimming, snorkelling, champagne sipping and barbecuing experience – as if we hadn’t done enough of this.

The fishing turned out to be very exciting – Jonathan provided sailfish steaks for dinner this evening