MADAGASCAR

MADAGASCAR

SEPTEMBER 6^TH TO OCTOBER 15^TH, 2016

Madagascar has some of the best cruising areas to be found anywhere.  The alternating sea/land breezes provide the means for the ancient dhows to safely navigate back and forth to various destinations in benign seas.  At night, when the sea breeze dies out, they anchor off the coast or in an anchorage until the land breeze kicks in, at which time they resume sailing.  It is an impressive sight to see these dhows sailing along without any assistance other than wind and sail.  Some of the coastal dhows are very big in the 60-80 ft range.  Most of the fising dhows are much smaller.  Essentially, they are made from a hollowed out log with an outrigger attached.  The sides are then built up with frames, floors and gunwales.  Then they are caulked and painted.  They leak so someone is always bailing out water.  The sails used come in many different forms from heavy canvas to plastic bags, tablecloths, bed sheets, potato sacks and anything else that can be used.  The ropes used to control the sails are pieces of scrap lines to homemade hemp fiber.  The mast is tilted forward and supports a lateen rigged sail.  The dhows are fast and move along beautifully.

Madagascar has to be one of the most interesting countries in the world.  Amidst all the poverty, there are family villages that are self-sustaining and remote.  They have nothing more than what they can produce or gather.  They only way out is by pirogue or dhow.  There are no medical facilities or roads for many of these villages.  Nosy Be is a tourist mecca.  Everything can be found that tourists demand:  luxurious resorts and restaurants, medical facilities (not great), sports fishing, scuba diving, liveaborard chartered Catamarans.  And everything is unbelievably cheap for a westerner with money.

Once this part of Madagascar is left behind by the ocean cruiser, the mainland to the South presents an entirely different picture and reality.  There will be no electricity in most of the villages; fruit and vegetables with be difficult to find; water is more difficult to get.  The beautiful indigo blue sea fo Nosy Be turns green and turbid to muddy by the time one reaches Moramba Bay.  The lack of many modern conveniences dries up.  Still, it is a stunningly beautiful place:  the friendliness and dignity of the Malagasy people makes it a sublime experience to be there.  The weather starts to change the further South one sails.  The SE Trade winds start to blow more frequently:  Sea/Land breezes are still there.  Moramba Bay (14-53.293’ S; 047-20.426’ E) was as far South as we sailed.  It was from here that we set sail for Richards Bay, South Africa: 1240nm.

The places we visited and anchored while in Madagascar are as follows:  Hellville, Nosy Be (13-24.411’ S; 048-17.068’ E); Crater Bay, Nosy Be (13-23.976’ S; 048-13.233’ E); Sakatia, Nosy Be (13-18.991’ S; 048-09.645’ E); Russian Bay (13-32.244’ S; 047-59.904’ E) on the mainland; Nosy Komba (13-26.528’ S; 048-21.291’ E); Baramahamay Bay (Honey River) 13-42.733’ S; 047-54.175’ E; Moramba Bay (14-53.262’ S; 047-20.420’ E).  There are so many other beautiful bays and anchorages that one could go to that it would take several seasons to see it.  Madagascar is so remote from most of the world that only the South Africans can sail back and forth between the two countries during the winter season.  The cyclone season begins on November 1^st , in Madagascar.  This is the time that most cruising boats make the crossing over to South Africa to escape that area.

We would gladly spend a few more sailing seasons in Madagascar but age and time constraints make this impossible.  One thought is that it is possible to bare boat charter a Catamaran from Crater Bay and sail around for a month or two.  It will, probably, never happen.