Sailing Trance

Wednesday October 20, farmer’s market day! Thursday October 21, Happy Birthday Danielle! On the Indian Ocean crossing we discovered two water leaks in the boat which turned out to be coming in from chain plates. Standing rigging (shrouds and stays) which hold up and secure the mast, are connected to steel strapping attached to the … Continue reading Reunion

Here next to the marina is the French ship Marion Dufresne, based in Reunion Island, is one of the largest research vessels in the world (423 feet) and covers all oceanographic fields except fisheries. She is also utilized as as a supply, cargo and fuel ship. Additionally there is an aircraft landing pad for helicopters. … Continue reading Reunion – Week 3

Sunday October 10, The Cirque de Mafate is a caldera, a large cauldron like hollow that forms shortly after the emptying of a magma chamber in a volcanic eruption. It was formed from the collapse of a large inactive shield volcano the Piton des Neiges. It is 10,069 feet tall, the highest point in the … Continue reading Reunion – Mafate, Turtles, Dinner and Baluchon

Saturday October 9, a day trip to Sainte-Suzanne. First stop the Bel-Air Lighthouse. Built in 1845, it was the first and still is the only lighthouse on the island. Next stop, La Vanilleraie Plantation. Vanilla planifolia, a species of vanilla orchid, is the primary source of vanilla flavoring. This plant is native to Mexico, Guatemala … Continue reading Reunion – Lighthouse, Vanilla & Waterfalls

Thursday October 7, trip into the capital, Sainte Denis. In search of the Camara shop to see if they can fix my Nikon or maybe buy a replacement. Their web site indicated the camera body I was interested in was in stock, only to find out it was in stock in Paris. Next stop the … Continue reading Reunion Island – Sainte Denis

Thursday September 30, it’s great to back on land again! shortly after docking at the Marina Titan in Le Port, customs officers arrived at the boat. I had previously completed required forms and sent to them via email. This check-in was the quickest ever. Passports stamped! Reunion Island has no Indigenous peoples. It was an … Continue reading Reunion Island

Friday September 24, Day - 15, Total nautical miles traveled 2572, 178 nautical miles traveled in the past 24 hours. 53 days at sea since leaving Fiji. Trance is blue fish and red arrow. Le Rebelle is orange, Falbala is green, Ohana is purple, Estran is the blue pin. We’ve noticed some drips of water … Continue reading Week 3 – West to Reunion Island

Friday September 17, Day - 8, Total nautical miles traveled 1299, 187 (3 days in a row, same distance) nautical miles traveled in the past 24 hours. 46 days at sea since leaving Fiji. A new time zone today, GMT+6. Same as Dhaka, Bangladesh. 7:30am Friday, 9:30 pm Thursday in Philadelphia. Since departing Indonesia 8 … Continue reading Week 2 – West to Reunion Island

Friday September 10, Day - 1by 7:00am we were off the mooring ball. We waved to Shirley as we passed by. We “flew” out of the Lombok Strait with 3+ knots of positive current, reaching 12 knots speed over ground a few times. We are using a weather person, Des Cason who is based in … Continue reading Week 1- West to Reunion Island

Saturday September 4, We made it! Confined to the boat, maybe for the duration while we are here. The country may reopen September 7, but then we’ll need 8 days of quarantine and 2 COVID PCR test $$ before we can go ashore. The plan is to depart around September 10. Our timeline is centered … Continue reading Indonesia