Moving On From Bazaruto, Mozambique

We enjoyed out stay in Bazaruto, but a weather window opened up going south, so we decided to take it. We got on the road today around 1 pm, sailing and motoring through the rest of the chain of islands near Bazaruto, eventually coming out into the ocean. There were a few dicey moments where we touched bottom on the way out. There are lots of shallows throughout that area and great caution should be taken when going through there. Of course it is mostly all sandy and grassy bottom, so we got a free barnacle scraping of our keel, but still, nobody likes touching bottom it they can help it.

I’ve got to say the motor sailing has been quite rough out here, but we kinda knew it would be a little rough the first night out. Being in the vberth, I’m getting slammed around a lot and my leak is back with a vengeance. I put a plastic garbage bag over the hatch in Bazaruto, which fixed the leak before, but not this time. I’ll have to figure out something else. We are beating into the wind with just the main sail up for stability. The wind is supposed to back (counterclockwise turn of the wind to a more favorable direction) a little in the next 12 hours, but until it does we’ll have to suffer through the swells and wind on the nose, making 3-4 knots per hour. The land of Mozambique will also be falling away to the west which will allow us to turn more into the wind as well.

Right after the sun went down, as I was making dinner (warming up chicken fajita meat, retried beans, and making some spicy Spanish rice) I caught another Wahoo! This one was around 3 feet long. It was a bit of a challenge hauling it in and filleting it in the dark on the back step in choppy water. Brian suggested a life vest and safety harness would be prudent; I concurred. Carol has been feeling seasick so she wasn’t able to help as much as she usually does with prepping the fish to go into the fridge, so by the time I was done, I was a quite tired as I finished making dinner and ate. Also the spicy Spanish rice was a little too spicy. I’m sure I’ll be paying for that later.

I feel quite good about our provisions now. Out freezer is stocked with about 10 bags of fish and today we bought some very expensive, but much needed fruit, veggies, and eggs from Tomas, our guide from yesterday. He brought us about $40 worth of veggies and asked us for $100. Wanting to help out the local economy, we offered him $50 and settled on $60. He seemed satisfied with that amount and we were okay paying it, especially since he delivered it all in his boat and we just had to pay for it.

I spent an hour today playing Eric Clapton on Lawanda. For those of you unaware, Lawanda is my guitar that I’ve taken on the road with me since my tent trailer traveling days. She goes everywhere with me and she even joined me in Spain for my 3-month YachtMaster Course. I’m no Eric Clapton, but I do enjoy learning and playing new songs and it’s a fine way to pass the time when you’ve read too many books and watched too many movies. Carol even joins me in a singalong at times. She remembers all the words to all the songs that I can’t remember to save my life. Of course I can cheat a little. I have an app on my iPad that has over 1000 covers on it, with words and chords. I just have to remember how to play the chords.

Although it is quite choppy out, there is an almost full moon, lighting up the ocean. I’m on the midnight to 4 shift again. I really enjoy these solo watches at night. Of course, I’d rather be in bed at anchor, but having this time to reflect, write, and observe Mother Nature, is quite therapeutic. Where in the world are you? I’m motor sailing town the Mozambique Channel, on my way to South Africa.

Thanks for following along on my journey as I circumnavigate by Global Hitchhiking on other people’s boats. Please subscribe by email or follow on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter by searching for Living Large by Living Little. And please leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you and although I don’t currently have Internet, I will reply once I do. Hopefully in South Africa.

Matt