East African sailing trip – log 16
SAILING LOG16
August 21, 2004
At 4:30am we really do have a close encounter. A trawler is bearing down on us at about 20kn. Wolf cranks both motors to almost full throttle to get out of the way. Suddenly one engine dies due to fuel starvation, before he gets that one started the other one dies… Panic strikes!
The trawler calls us on the radio to order us to alter course which we are powerless to do.
I switch on the deck lights to show that we are under sail. I call back and assume he must have heard the panic in my voice.
He tells me he can’t alter course as he is towing cables but says I should wait… when he comes back on the radio he says that if we both keep the same course we should be OK.
In the meantime Rhett on Manatee has turned around and is coming back to make sure that we are OK.
After struggling with the fuel filters, fuel hoses, and air-vents, Wolf finally bleeds the system and the motors roar into life. They purr along like innocent kittens as the dawn dresses the sky in gorgeous shades of red, orange and yellow.
Our spirits are lifted as we realize that we are only 10nm from Epidendron Island. the most Northern Island in the chain of little islands known as Ilhas das Primeira, about 9nm off the mainland. They are protected on the seaward side by a coral reef and offer a relatively calm anchorage from the Southerlies.
We anchor at 12:30pm in 8mt of greenish water over sand and can see reef around the island because it is extreme low-tide. The protruding rocks look bare and ominously jagged – not somewhere one would like to end up in a bad blow.
After a short refreshing sleep we go ashore on “duck-Manatee” (Manatee’s dingy, a beautiful semi-rigid rubber inflatable boat with a 50hp motor) We explore this beach-combers paradise and then sit together on Manatee sipping sundowners; relaxing after 3 exhausting days of sailing.
August 22, 2004
Happy Birthday Rob (my son in Australia) so sad that I can not call to wish you but I think about you all day and wish you could be here to enjoy this wonderful place.
We wake early and sit in the cockpit enjoying our morning cuppa. The serenity and beauty around us is overwhelming. Manatee has invited us to join them for breakfast which is mid-morning. What a delicious spread Denise has prepared.
They want to go exploring the wreck on the other side of the Island while we decide to explore the reef between our boat and the shore. The sea is calm and the visibility much improved from yesterday. The corals are absolutely stunning. We are in watery heaven at last! Every conceivable type and colour, all in pristine condition, look majestically up at us as we float overhead in awe. This is the reason we embarked on this trip…
Hours later we catch a tiny “Coras Formosa” (a red & white striped wrasse) the size of my thumbnail, and a pair of small Alardi Clarki (clown-fish) We finally drag ourselves back to Karibu.
We could have stayed forever but I have invited Manatee for Sundowners and freshly baked Pizza
- Our yachts lie anchored off this isolated beautiful beach
We spend a fun evening together getting to know our new friends and chat about the amazing new destinations to come. From here on up the coast we will have no more hassles with the hundreds of trawlers which are stripping this untouched coastline of all its sea life.
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