12.13.2021 - 12.17.2021 Farewell Port Louis...

We spent this week doing final prep to get out of the marina and on anchor!

• Got our new decals with our boat name installed 12/14-12/15

• Scrubbed the decks (literally!)

• Refueled the dinghy

• Refilled water tank

• Cleaned up around the boat

• Last run for provisions

• Returned dinghy to davits

• Last prep for boat renaming ceremony

• Checked weather

• Chart plotted our route to Prickly Bay anchorage

  • 10.2NM, 2 hr 2 min, 18.5L fuel

• Checked out of marina

• WOBBLE engine checks

• Zoom’d with Jackie and Brad

Once we were all ready to go, Mike took the helm and started up the engines. I removed the bow lines first, then the stern (dock) lines. We were able to pretty easily maneuver out of our slip (and without the help of the dockmaster!), but within seconds of leaving the slip, our starboard engine started making some loud noises and water from the exhaust stopped flowing out of the engine compartment. We had to turn off our starboard engine for safety and continued out of the marina without any other problems. We had a small squall coming out of the marina and another small one on our route to Prickly Bay. Our original plan was to take a longer route and bring up the sails for a bit, but because of the engine issue, we decided to just get to Prickly Bay ASAP so we could troubleshoot. It took us about 1.5 hours and motored 7.5NM – because of the weather, we hit up to 30 knots of speed!

When we got to Prickly Bay, the anchorage looked pretty busy. We opted to drop anchor on the outer edge of the anchorage at a depth of 45 feet. We were successful in our first anchoring solo!! I’m so thankful for what Captain Andy taught us because it was more challenging to anchor with only one engine, but we did it! We spent a bit of the afternoon enjoying the wind and the views of our new base, then got to work diagnosing the engine problem.

Our first anchorage!

360 view of Prickly Bay