7-4-01 Happy Independence Day America! We put all SIMMER's flags up and dressed ship to celebrate our freedom day. A few other Americans in the harbor to celebrate with. Funny thing, Colleen spent most of the day ashore with a British friend, and she was joking that in England they call this day "thanksgiving" day - thankful that they are rid of us Yanks! Two ways to look at it. No fireworks or parades here in Mayotte for the 4th of July. French Bastille Day (July 14th) is coming up, so maybe a small parade and parties here on the island for the holiday. We haven't had any luck finding a 12 volt lift pump for our diesel engine. We were so sure we'd find one in Mayotte - most cars and trucks use them. Luckily, another cruiser had a spare one and sold it to us. We are finally back to running our engine from the main full tank (which is in the bilge, hence the pump required). We have been running out of a gravity-fed 5 gallon jerrycan in the cockpit for the last 3 months, seems like longer. Nice to be be back to normal again. Hope the air leak problem is solved. We've been enjoying Mayotte, especially the food and wine. Of course, we are gaining weight from bread, pastries and cheese, but we had lost some weight in Chagos with all the swimming, walking and healthy eating habits (fish, fish and more fish). Hope to do some sight seeing in the next couple weeks. All we've done so far is shop, eat and drink. Life is good.
7-10-01 Well, the fuel pump certainly works, but we still have a problem in our fuel system. Air is introduced somewhere along the line, which causes the fuel pump to run continuously and eventually the engine to shut down since diesels don't like air. We've fault isolated the air leak to the RacorŽ filter. The RacorŽ filter is important as it traps water and any foreign particles from getting to the engine. We bought a similar filter from another cruiser. Hopefully it'll solve our air/fuel problem .... stay tuned. In the meantime, we've added another section to our webpage - "Cruising Costs". We've had many emails from wannabe cruisers requesting info on our budget. We've kept diligent track of our spending (down to the .50 cent ice cream cone) and with the help of QuickenŽ software, we created a spreadsheet. We'll update it as we go. Just keep in mind, the cost of the boat and previous outfitting in the USA are not included. Our costs start in the Bahamas, our first country visited. Also we supplement our food provisions by catching fish and seafood as much as possible, and we don't eat in restaurants very often unless it is very cheap, like in SE Asia. Many types of ways to cruise. You can do it quite inexpensively, or you can spend lots of money (eating out, staying in marinas, traveling, etc). Depends on your financial status and your priorities. For those of you who asked, hope our spreadsheet helps.
7-12-01 Been in Mayotte almost 3 weeks now and have certainly enjoyed getting back into civilization. It's somewhat expensive to provision here, but since the US dollar is strong, it's not too bad and we've found some good bargains. We were hoping we could buy some excellent French wines at "duty free" prices, but no luck - they are European prices. We've enjoyed getting together with many of the other yachties here - most that we know from SE Asia and Chagos. Each Sunday afternoon, we've had a pot luck brunch at the yacht club and it's the social event of the week. Everyone brings a dish to share and we exchange info over a cold beer and good food. The yacht club also has lovely washing machines and showers, so we clean ourselves and our clothes at the same time. Cruisers really are satisfied very easily - beer, laundry, showers .... heaven.
7-20-01 We decided we haven't seen enough of Mayotte - SIMMER hasn't moved from her spot in Dzaoudzi harbor since we arrived. So we purchased a visa which extended our time in Mayotte for another 2 months. As US citizens, we get the first month free without a visa, then to stay longer, a visa costs $80 Francs ($11 USD) each. Not sure we'll stay the entire 2 months, maybe just one more month, then back to Madagascar. So we plan to circumnavigate the island, about 60 nm around, and see more of the landscape and people. We've enjoyed the colorful Comoran people in and around Dzaoudzi and Mamoudzou. The Comorans are descended from slaves from the African mainland who mixed with various groups such as Malay-Polynesians, Arabs, and Persians. In the capital, Mamoudzou, we've seen a bit of the Comoran culture - women draped in bright, colorful wraps (chiromani) - around their bodies and covering their heads, also lots of gold jewelry, to include pierced nose. Most women also wear a yellow facial masks (m'sidzanou) made of ground sandalwood. It's a beauty mask that they wear all day long! Also many locals carry their packages on their heads - we saw a woman carrying a 10 kilo sack of potatoes on her head, with no hands involved! Most men wear a woven skullcaps (koffia) and some long robes. However, the younger Comorans are into western clothes and fashion, wearing jeans and an occasional chiromani wrap, keeping their ties to the Comoran dress. We have found that they do not liked to be photographed, so no pictures, as we are respecting their wishes.
7-26-01 We're on the southwest corner of Mayotte, enjoying the beautiful scenery along the way. Volcanic mountains, black sand beaches, baobab trees, sea turtles and even a whale inside the lagoon. The baobab trees are endemic to Mayotte, Madagascar and Africa. They are very interesting looking trees - thick trunks, large fruit shaped gourds and remarkable branches that look like the roots are on the top of the tree, instead of underground. Some are estimated to be 1,000 years old. The sea turtles lumber up the beaches at high tide to lay their eggs. Haven't seen one yet, only their nests and the telltale tracks. Hoping to see one on the beach or maybe witness baby turtles hatching. That would be exciting. Besides enjoying the flora and fauna of the island, we've been working on the engine a bit. Yes, unfortunately our newly installed fuel pump failed and we're back to running the engine from a gravity-fed jerrycan can in the cockpit. Very frustrating. This time the rubber diaphragm in the pump developed a hole. Not sure what we are going to do, we've exhausted all the local resources. Our original fuel pump lasted over 1,800 engine hours and the last two have only lasted about 40 hours. We're not sure if the first pump was a "magic" pump or if the second two were "lemons"! We'll probably just live with the jury-rigged system until we reach South Africa. We plan to do some work on the engine there and we'll be in a marina to facilitate maintenance. Also we'll have better access to ship chandlers and parts in South Africa.
Back to Log Book