27 Dec 2011 | Start: 0615, finish: 0100 | Eng hrs: 1810.6 – 1812.9 | Avg RPM: 2,200 | Conditions: 6-10kt winds N/NE, 1m swell
Early start at #7, going to get to Elephant Bay the easy way after our hiking fiasco. Motor sailed, tough to sail going north, and only 6-10kts of breeze for most of it. Seems like there is always a reason why sailing is difficult or impossible – feel guilty for using the motor as frequently as we do. Anchored just off a shelf in 10m and snorkeled to shore. Very close to 3m bombies. Visibility pretty poor, apparently due to recent rains and the sea temperature last year reaching 31 degrees Celsius, which bleached the coral, algae came, etc. Deserted beach full of white corpses of once-majestic trees, white sand, hermit crabs, and small water snakes. The tourist boats began to arrive around 9am, Indian tourists changing into their swimming costumes all over the beach. Found some reasonable snorkeling visibility away from the many streams / rivers coming into the sea from the beach. Angel fish, parrot fish, puffers, etc but nothing magnificent. Picked up anchor and motored to Laccam, along the way I managed to spill a cup of tea, which instantly stained the white gelcoat in many places, as well as a shirt being laundered on the sugar scoop – oops. Took several hours of working with bleach to eliminate the tea trail. Ian and I went to get Airtel credit (R240 each), then continued to #3 for Internet to submit docs for our CAIT. Luckily dial-up worked – slowly. Got eggs, limes, sodas, snacks, and bread. Back to the boat, Payal made aloo masala sandwiches, and we had a couple drinks before going ashore again. For dinner, Café del Mar at Barefoot Scuba. Got scuba spots and advice, they refill tanks for R300, and even picked up an Indian flag from a nice guy named Gaurav (the flag subsequently disintegrated in the wind and blew away, unfortunately). Ran the dinghy aground on coral heading into shore in pitch blackness. Paddled back out to the boat using – shocker – the oars.
