Zac Sunderland News....Departure from Mauritius...

Back to Sea
Latest Position: 11/25/08 0351Z 20 35.235S 56 36.257E - 60 miles out of Port Louis, Mauritius Greetings from the Indian Ocean! After a hectic afternoon dealing with customs, last minute provisioning and yacht prep I pulled out of Port Louis around 4:00pm yesterday to a calm, flat sea and light wind. It was good to have a slow day to finish putting everything away and organizing things for a few weeks at sea. There were a few ships as I pulled south of Mauritius early in the evening but nothing since then. I have been warned that more and more shipping is being diverted south around the Cape of Good Hope because of the recent increase in piracy along the Red Sea/Suez Canal route. I have also heard that these vessels may be turning off their AIS systems in an effort to hide their identity from would-be pirates. The ships will still show up on my regular radar however. The first days and nights back at sea are always rough because I have to get back into power nap mode. So for now I have an easy passage even though it is slow. I'll take some time today to work on a detailed blog of my time in Mauritius and Part II of my Indian Ocean forstay situation. In case you didn't know, I am 13 hours ahead of you all on the west coast of America so as you are going to bed, I am just getting up (or at least staying up!). Cheers, Zac

Copied from Zac's blog , last entry... So after a couple of serious repairs, a visit of his father and a friend of the family, a trip with a catamaran, a dinner last week with the American ambassador for Mauritius , Mr. Cabrera, and not to forget a persistent cold , Zac set off sails yesterday and is heading to South Africa. More, as usual, you'll find in Zac's blog which is always an interesting read.

Interesting too is also the blog of Jen Edney who by the way is that friend who accompanied Zac's father to Mauritius and who took a couple of nice shots of Zac there as the one I have 'borrowed' here. She is a fantastic photographer and it is fun to discover her gorgeous (and copyrighted!) photos, if you go back you will find a couple of nice crocodile photos of the time Zac was in Darwin....Enjoy!