Reunion

One step closer to Africa. I arrived St. Pierre on the southwest coast of Reunion Island yesterday afternoon. Check in with customs, immigration, etc. was a breeze. Again I'm wishing I knew French. This would be a place where I think I would enjoy spending several months and working on that (learning French). I left Port Mathurin, Rodrigues Friday the 19th (I think) in the company of Hadar and Rebellion. They soon left me behind as I was sailing with a considerably smaller jib than normal (kindly lent to me by the lovely people on Ocean Lady) and I didn't want to push the rig too much by putting up the big asymmetrical spinnaker. It was an uneventful passage (though I did see many ships along the way--apropos that, I was told that ships sailing towards the Suez Canal stop in Mauritius to pick up armed mercenary type men to fight off potential pirates off Somalia, so maybe that's why I saw so many ships on this passage). Couldn't be  bothered to put out the fishing line, and by time I arrived Reunion, my remaining provisions were becoming rather unexciting (rice, lentils, etc). Rebellion beat me here by half a day. I'm hoping we can have another competition when Twister is at full power. I'm planning to stay here ten-ish days before the final push to South Africa. Like sailing down to New Zealand from the tropics, the passage to South Africa and then around The Cape Of Good Hope has a reputation for being potentially rough.

Reunion is a volcanic island somewhat similar to Tahiti--green and lush with dramatic canyons cutting through the mountain slopes, but Reunion has a less extensive barrier reef than Tahiti. Speaking of reefs, there is a nice (reef) surf break about 100 meters from where Twister is docked, so I plan to take full advantage of that. Went for my first session this morning.  Got worked in the 8-10 foot waves.  Gave the lungs a good workout with a couple of good hold-downs. The locals were friendly. No hint of the territorial bullshit you see every day surfing in Southern California. That probably has something to do with this being a smaller place and that it's apparently very sharky (8 "attacks" this year I was told)--so another body in the water reduces everyone else's chance of being shark lunch.

Apparently I did not make the recent photos I posted accessible, so here is the link again.