Mauritius, 27/10/2016

First of all my apologies for the lack of  any blogs recently. Internet access, or the lack of, is my only excuse.
As you can see from the title we have moved on from Lombok and have crossed most of the Indian Ocean successfully. As this was the last of the Worlds 5 oceans for me to sail on I am very happy to have achieved this.
In Lombok there was a crew change with Garry and Dawn Cleaver joining and Peter and Cheryl departing. It was great having Pete and  Cheryl on board. However work was calling them home. Garry and Dawn  will be on till Cape Town in December, then there will be another crew change.
From Lombok we  set off to Christmas Island, about 660 miles or 4 days travel. A fair amount of motoring, but some pleasant sailing also. Christmas Isalnd was a rolly anchorage, and despite being still the dry time, was very wet!  Tropical rains and red crabs being the lasting memories of the stay a total of 9 days in the anchorage.
Next up was the leg to Cocos Keeling Islands, a little shorter at 3 days. Initially  a bit rough and rolly but then settled into good conditions. The log shows us cruising along at 7 to 8 knots and little engine use. The generator developed a fault and would not run. Tracked down a broken oil pressure sensor wire and fixed it. Also found the water pump leaking, not much I can do with it except keep checking and cleaning off the salt deposits.
We anchored in the lagoon at Direction Island, beatiful clean water with great visibility. We did some swimming in the area and D and G went on a rip swim hanging onto laid rope and admiring the sea life going by. 5 days here mostly in sunshine and lovely conditions.
Next leg was the biggie at about 2400 miles all with a fearsome reputation! The dreaded Indian Ocean to Mauritius. It turned out to be mostly a glorious sail, speeds up to 10.5 knots, sails set and not touched for 4 days in a row. Dawn caught a Flying Fish in her life jacket in the middle of the onight, and I caught a Spanish Mackerel too. We ate mine. We had  beautiful large moons most nights and loads of stars for company.
To be continued soon.