September 2025
At 09.30 on the 1st, Shawn was ashore to meet the remaining oncoming crew members. Katie was returning having been onboard for the Fiji to Vanuatu leg in September 2023 and Karyn and Julie were joining for the first time. Back onboard, there was time for introductions, orientation and chatting before heading off for lunch followed by the dreaded provisioning, which in reality wasn’t too bad. The evening involved lots of lively conversations with much laughter……and for some, it was a very late night! They were away from the Eden Island anchorage by 8am the next morning and sailed for just over 4 hours to Anse Lazio on Praslin Island, with everyone taking a turn at the helm. After lunch, Katie stayed on board resting while everyone else went ashore to spend the afternoon relaxing on the gorgeous beach. The arrival to the beach, however was less than gorgeous, being more like a scene from a comedy show. With the rolling waves, Shawn had to keep the dinghy out and away from the breaking waves and so the plan was for everyone else to jump in and wade ashore, bags aloft. However, Karyn somehow managed to fall in, disappearing beneath the waves for a short while, Ally dropped in but soon lost the ocean floor before swimming to the shoreline and then Julie was bowled over near the shore by an large incoming wave, knocking the cool box out of her hands which was in turn safely pushed to the feet on Ally and Karyn on the beach, closely followed by Julie saying “ delivery”!! Only the boys reached the beach with their dignity intact. How the couple sat on the beach did not find the whole debarkle funny was beyond us…not a glimmer of hilarity was evident on their faces. I think the reality was that they were terrified the riffraff were going to invade their space, but were hugely relieved they moved further down the beach to a nice shady area. It was a lovely few hours with dips in the refreshing water, fresh coconut drinks, chit chat and relaxation. On the 3rd, there was a change in the weather with cloud and rain hanging around. Much of the day was spent onboard with Ally catching up on some admin while the others chatted and played various games before going ashore mid afternoon for a beer at the beach bar.
They moved around to Anse Gouvernement (still on Praslin Island) on the 4th arriving by 10.30. Everyone got in the water with a scraper and had a good go and removing barnacles and weed from Imaginations hulls, rudders, props and keels. Some went ashore for a walk and to shop while others remained onboard. On Friday 5th, though, everyone went ashore to enjoy a brilliant afternoon together while having a BBQ, drinks and messing around in the water. It was a short 2 hour sail over to La Digue on the morning of the 6th and soon after arrival, everyone was ashore. This is a great little island with a very chilled, almost European vibe and most people, residents and visitors alike, use pedal and electric bikes to get around. First they took a walk to Anse Source d’Argent, one of the most famous areas in the Seychelles where huge, smooth boulders stand along the waters edge creating arches and walkways between them. It was then back into town ( after an extended walk for Shawn, Ally, Shawn and John to find fruit bats, unsuccessfully) to a fab bakery for fish/veg. samosas, quiche, cakes and a drink before continuing on to an area where 2 giant tortoises roam free and where they enjoyed a cool off in the water. It was back to the Eden Island anchorage on Mahé on the 7th where they had to anchor a little further out to avoid the thick, noxious smoke coming from a large fire that had broken out at the land fill site, moving into the anchorage late afternoon when the wind had switched direction.
John, Katie, Karyn and Julie spent the day on Monday 8th exploring the island in a car they had hired for 2 days. Ally and Shawn attended to laundry, maintenance and a couple of small mainsail repairs as well as going ashore to visit the SMSA ( Seychelles Marine Safety Association) and the Ports Authority to pay their dues ahead of clearing out the following day. On the 9th, the four crew went ashore together again, and early afternoon, Ally and Shawn returned to the Port area, where they had to wear Hi-vis jackets to complete the clearing out process with the Harbour Master, Immigration and Customs, all of whom were very friendly and helpful and wished them a safe passage. Everyone met up at the supermarket where final provisioning was done and it was a relaxed evening onboard with time spent discussing the upcoming voyage.
The Marine Police were alongside Imagination at 07.30 on Wednesday 10th just long enough to return the spear gun that they had taken to look after for the duration of their stay. After that, it was a quick visit ashore for some to return the hire car and try to exchange cash before coming back to up anchor. They were on their way by 09.35.
During that first day of sailing, they caught two fish – a very small tuna that was returned to the sea to continue it’s life and then later, a large sailfish that was also set free as there was not enough room in the freezers for all the meat – his lucky day! The next few days consisted of choppy to rough seas and strong gusting winds – it was noisy and uncomfortable, but the crew dealt with it all admirably, remaining cheerful and coping well with their shifts. After 3 days, having looked at the forecast, Shawn decided it would be best to anchor at an outlying Island belonging to Seychelles to allow the strongest of the winds in the compression zone off the NE coast of Madagascar to pass through. So, on the evening of the 13th, the anchor went down to the NW of Cerf Island in the Providence Island group. It was a rolly, exposed anchorage, but everyone was happy not to be beating into strong winds and big waves and the next day was spent relaxing onboard, catching up on laundry and playing games. They were off again on the morning of the 15th and this time the conditions were more settled and more comfortable and they passed over the northern tip of Madagascar mid afternoon on the 16th. As they started sailing down the NW coast, the winds that were predicted to become much weaker, actually increased in strength and the Port side lazy line ( thin rope that holds the sail bag up along the boom) snapped and the mainsail tore in several places along the luff ( outer edge). They motorsailed with the head sail through the night and the following morning anchored off of Nosy Ankarea where they spent several relaxed hours before heading a couple of miles more to an anchorage on Mitsio Island. Here, repairs to the sail were done by Ally, Katie and Karyn while Shawn and John cracked on with repairs to the forward navigation light that had also stopped working. Shawn, Ally and John also worked together to repair/replace the snapped lazy line. That evening they were able to continue on down to Hell-Ville, Nosy Be, Madagascar, arriving at 10.10 on Friday 19th September. The clearance process was pretty simple, with Shawn going ashore to meet a local “agent” ( not really an agent, more a translator, but very helpful in speeding up the process) before returning to Imagination with the Harbour Master and an Immigration Police Officer about an hour and half later. Both were very friendly and once they had done a cursory look around and seen everyone, they announced that clearance was complete. They enjoyed a beer and chat before being taken back ashore.
After lunch, everyone went ashore to pick up the Cruising Permit, find SIM cards ( what a lengthy process that was!!) and then have a beer or two. Early on Saturday morning, they motored 5nm around to the more pleasant anchorage at Crater Bay, towing a local dhow/fishing boat which, despite having a massive sail up, wasn’t going anywhere in the very low winds…..the guys were very grateful. The anchor was down by 08.40, and shortly afterwards, everyone went ashore and found a driver to take them to a Lemuria Land where several species of lemurs roam and visitors can interact with them and feed them bananas. It was an incredible time with a knowledgeable guide and everyone really enjoyed the close encounters with the Lemurs, several of which had very young babies, and they even caught a glimpse of a small nocturnal Lemur. As well as the lemurs, they also saw geckos, lizards and chameleons as well as giant tortoises and they had a look around the ylang ylang distillery/museum. It was time for lunch when they had finished and so they went back into town and found a great restaurant, Bambou, where everyone enjoyed a really tasty, well presented meal. Madagascar is a very poor country and as such, visitors in “ holiday” areas are constantly hounded by vendors of all ages selling their wares of jewellery, sarongs, ylang ylang oil, mangoes, bananas and vanilla by the kilo etc. Even sitting in a restaurant doesn’t give you a break from the constant stream. It can be a little intimidating, especially as the minute you engage with one, you are swamped by 10 others and they are very, very persistent. There is a very African vibe here ( no surprise!), and the people that they were coming into contact with, all seemed cheerful, helpful and friendly.
On Sunday 21st, they sailed 3.5 hours to Andassi Be ( aka Russian Bay) with everyone staying onboard for the day and on Monday they moved around to Nosy Antsoha. They were ashore on this very small private island by 09.30, ready to pay a small fee to spend more time with the 3 species of Lemur that live there. Once all the bananas were gone, Shawn, Ally, John and Katie walked around the island, taking in the views as they went. Everyone sat on the small beach or in the shallow water for a while until it was time to return to Imagination for lunch, after which, they moved across to Coco Beach. Shawn and John were going to go ashore to have a look around, but the outboard packed up, so they spent time on repairs instead!
They sailed with the spinnaker to Nosy Iranja using the spinnaker on the 23rd where there are 2 islands joined by a large sandspit at low tide. The dinghy was pulled high onto the beach and the anchor dug into the sand before everyone went off for a walk through the small village and up to the Lighthouse via a paved walkway lined with stalls selling wooden souvenirs, hand stitched tablecloths and lots of other nik naks. The 20 metre tall metal Lighthouse was made in France by the Eiffel Company, founded by Gustave Eiffel (Eiffel tower) and was erected in 1909. The former keepers nearby home is now used as the islands school. It was time for beer and food after the walk, so they sat in the Tiki Bar on the beach where local musicians entertained them for a while before the food arrived. In high spirits and with full bellies, they walked back along the beach and it became clear the tide had come in….alot. Shawn and Ally couldn’t see the dinghy initially, but they finally spotted it quite a way off ( the anchor obviously slipped), bobbing on the short, choppy waves. Shawn had to swim out to retrieve it and everyone else had to wade chest deep into the water, beyond where the waves were starting to break, to jump in to the dinghy…some with more dignity than others 😀
It took 5.5 hours to get back to Crater Bay on the 24th and almost as soon as the anchor was down, Shawn and John, Karyn and Julie went ashore for fuel. The cleaning was done on the 25th, and the ladies departed to get to their hotels late morning. John remained onboard for most of the rest of the day and helped Shawn get the dive compressor running again. Shawn and Ally went ashore at lunchtime on the 26th and met up with John and Katie for another very tasty lunch at Bambou with everyone choosing the Zebu which was so tender and full of flavour. It was lovely to be able to spend time together one last time before Katie and John were to fly out on the same flight the following day. On the 27th, Ally and Shawn got busy onboard, working their way through their “to do” lists, but mid afternoon they discovered that while Katie had been checked in for the outward flight, John and 2 other single travellers had been bumped off and put onto the next available flight….on Tuesday 30th! Over the last week or so, civil unrest had broken out in the Capital and elsewhere, with the airport in Antananarivo being closed due to rioting/ violence, which had a knock on effect on the flights in Nosy Be. Of course, Ally and Shawn invited John back onboard to stay, but with the airline paying for a hotel and food etc, he stayed ashore in the company of Celia and Peter. He did return to Imagination for a while on the 28th and helped Ally and Shawn deal with a slow fresh water leak that meant taking shelving and panels down in their cabin, locating the crack in the tank and repairing it. Having left it exposed overnight just to be sure the leak had stopped, Ally and Shawn put their cabin back together on the morning of 29th and after a quick lunch they met John, Celia and Peter at the beach restaurant linked with their hotel. It was a fun afternoon and evening with Karyn joining for a little while after she saw them as she was walking along the beach. Again, they were thankful to be able to spend the extra time with John and to be there for him through a frustrating time. Shawn enjoyed 2 dives on the 30th and Ally remained onboard to finish getting Imagination ready for the arrival of next crew months crew.
