We arrived in Port Louis and it couldn't have been easier with the officials, after half hour we were cleared in and had a 3 month visa with no cost at all and very friendly officials. We then made our way over the other side of the harbour to the marina. For $12 a day you have water, power and hot showers right in the middle of the town, it's great. It had been nearly 6 months since we had had a proper hot shower and to say Julie was very excited would be an understatement! Sunflower thoroughly enjoyed a freshwater scrub also. We stayed for 3 nights and had a look about the town and ticked of a few jobs also. The main job was meeting up with Julien from MU Sails to repair the head sail. The sail was pretty trashed and the fabric very old so we ended up deciding to go with having a new one made. He gave us a very competitive price and the sail is now ready to pick up from his loft as soon as I get back which will be very exciting (amongst other things:)
Port Louis was a bit of a shock also to us after life being so quiet, it is bloody busy! With the main population of Indian descant it can get pretty hectic in the markets but still relaxed compared with India. The vege markets are great with everything you could ask for and the prices are pretty good also.
After a few days of doing that and our washing we had had enough though and were looking forward to being on anchor again so we headed up to Grand Baie up the top of the island and anchored in front of the yacht club. There was a regatta on that day and Julien the sailmaker was racing on his dad Phillips boat so we went for a few beers at the clubhouse when they got in. Was great, there must have been about a dozen boats racing and most of the crew involved were reasonably young and the club had a really good vibe and we made a few new friends very easily. And that was it, we slipped into the Mauritian lifestyle very easily, Julieta more so as she is still there enjoying herself and making more friends. Other cruisers we had met previously were also there and coming and going which was great so there is always someone about. The World Cup on the big screen in town took up quite a few good nights with a few beers also which was good fun with our friends from Holland, Brazil and France and obviously Julie's from Argentina and very passionate about football so it was a good laugh.
We hired cars and motorbikes on different occasions normally to do boat jobs but we did do a little sight seeing but have still got to go for a proper look down south for a couple of days were it's meant to be really nice.
It was quite a shock though how modern Mauritius is, I didn't imagine massive shopping Malls and the biggest supermarkets I have ever been in! Big duel lane motorways with really good roads but the driving is pretty ordinary to say the least, I think they definitely brought their skills from India.
We managed to get a few boat jobs done like re galvanise the anchor chain, service sewing machine, big service on outboard, some stainless work, finally finishing the cockpit table and the most important job of all was having a new burner fabricated for the BBQ.
Julie is still really busy ticking of loads of jobs as I write this now! The star that she is, busy varnishing, painting and got lots of sewing projects on the go. Through a friend she managed to find in town a fella selling Sunbrella canvas for the bargain price of $13 a metre for the charcoal grey we wanted. So there's grey popping up everywhere, new liferaft cover, BBQ cover, winch covers, covers for covers and even talk of a new cover for the mainsail!
When she's not busy with jobs she has been having a fine time with friends she has made. A young Mauritian couple we met, Sebastian and Dian have been really good. Dian always inviting her out for lunch or to parties and introducing Julie to a lot of new people so she even had the opportunity to go diving the other day which she really enjoyed. The Mauritian people couldn't be friendlier, it's great.
Phillip, Julian's dad has leant us his cyclone mooring which was also a really great thing. Just before I left we had a couple of 30knot days and since then Julie has had quite a few more. It's quite some job for her raising and lowering the dingy alone when it's blowing so some days she is confined to the boat but so far she hasn't gone too crazy :)
If it wasn't for the cyclones that sometimes make their way there it would be a great place to make a base for a year and see some of the islands around there. But it would be too hard for me to leave the boat to come back to work and not have somewhere safe to keep her so we plan to move on when I get back hopefully to South Africa via Madagascar but it is also subject to change with work!
I've got a couple of weeks left of work and thoroughly enjoying it after having so much time off. Making the most of the chef cooked meals and freezer full of ice cream makes it even easier to deal with and the cash injection hasn't hurt either.
