RUNNING THE GAUNTLET
“Quick, close the hatches!” my partner Wietze calls down while we prepare an early Monday breakfast. All is ready to leave Seychelles, we’ve mustered our courage to tackle the difficult passage south, but now there is thunder, lightning, and pouring rain. None of this was forecast.
We need to fill our diesel tanks but with the rain gushing over the deck there is no way we can open the filler caps. So we wait some more. Only in late afternoon does it finally stop pouring; too late to go to the fuel dock. “Okay, we leave tomorrow,” Wietze says with barely concealed frustration.
Fortunately the next day dawns bright and sunny, so we say our goodbyes again and are at the fuel dock by 0730. A few hundred litres later we cast off and, finally, are on our way.
Sailing from the Seychelles to South Africa, across the Mozambique Channel, is a challenging crossing, fraught with currents and adverse winds generated by strong systems that pass south of Africa. Normally, Madagascar or Mozambique offer some respite for the tired cruiser. But not this year: with both countries closed, we’ll have to make the 2,000-mile passage in one go.
