It’s the end of this long weekend, before the next one in France, for in Mozambique May 8 is not a holiday. It’s better for preparing the arrival because the heat here tends to slow things down, i.e. slow in the morning and not too fast in the afternoon, as our saying goes. But of course you should not generalize. Yesterday noon the four bungalows of the Bush Camp were previously booked so we took to our tents and it was of course the first night we have had a storm and heavy rain since our arrival April 25. Our baggage was well packed in the pick-up, under a tarp; however we didn’t realize the tarp leaked so this noon when were able to have our bungalow it was to dry out our wet baggage. All this took considerable time.
After a good day yesterday, this morning Serge told me that he hardly slept. There was a non-identified boat (it was not the first and there seem to be a lot in the area) in Middleton’s path. Serge could not go around it and there was no contact since all the lights were out and the electronics must have been turned off. Serge decided to use a white flare to signal his presence. In the minutes that followed, the boat cleared off. This Mozambique Channel is reassuring… Serge can’t sleep soundly and we can understand the nervous tension that has been omnipresent for the past 12 days.
Then this morning there was heavy rain and strong wind. Serge was frozen by the rain and wind, unfortunately SSE so it pushed him too far west. He needs to head north before he will catch the favorable current. There is nothing alarming because Serge is far enough from the Grande Comore; but he is not reassured, I can hear it in his voice, which is full of doubt and fatigue. This morning he could not row because of the rain and wind. He could not be outside on a level with the water. Tomorrow the winds are supposed to be from the south, which will put Serge on a better heading. We will talk about the Ideal Heading, this famous “Ideal” so difficult to hold in this turbulent channel.
This evening Serge is sea sick. He endured the day in order to use the term. The sky was overcast all day, the rain stopped but the wind never let up. “It’s rocky” he said. After one minute on the phone he said he would stop because he did not feel well. He changed his patch of Scopoderm and put an acpunture needle in his chin as Guillaumette showed him.
I’m going to bed and will pray that God Eole will be favorable tomorrow, i.e. from the south and that the sea will not be so rough so he will feel less nauseous and can row again. I can’t think of anything else and René and I have not taken any photos today.
Yesterday evening David and Bertrand were already in Zimbabwe. They are at Mutare, near Mozambique. What anxiety! How can we relax? I have no idea but this feeling of helplessness is rather unpleasant.