Indian Ocean
Chagos Archipelago
Salomon Islands
Ile Fouquet
SY "Kamu II" at anchor, northwest of Ile Fouquet, at 24 m depth, on sand and coral.
Click below for an interactive satellite view of our anchorage:Enjoying weeks of free, uncivilised and autarkical island life, together with our great friends and seasoned international yotties (i) Elmari & Luki from SY “Skebenga”, many thanks for all the lekker fish and for being great Seffrican buddies, (ii) Judy & Terry from SY “Drifter”, many thanks for all the practical information about Australia's backyard, (iii) Sue & John from SY “Susan Margret”, many thanks for the great English palm-wine recipe and for teaching Konni the therapeutic crab walk, (iv) Joergen from SY “Sea Tramp”, many thanks for the home-cooked but always very reliable white rice, (v) Deena & Jacob from SY “Crimson Tide”, many thanks for sharing the last toilet paper with us, (vi) Cathy & Jeff from SY “Mirage”, many thanks for teaching how to successfully catch live bait and how to shore-fish for trevally, and Marlyse & Bill from SY “Jenain”, many thanks for one thousand and one friendly turns and for being great buddies, thus having a wonderful time together with many rowdy beach parties and nice mutual cockpit visits: "Here's to the nights we'll never remember with the friends we'll never forget, cheers!"
Birdwatching over land and over water: brown boobies (Sula leucogaster) and red-footed boobies (Sula sula) who observed us from the safety of their colonies in the trees; fairy terns (Sternula nereis) by the hundreds; common noddies (Anous stolidus) who enjoyed producing guano on our elevated pulpit and to whom we developed a love-hate relationship; lesser frigatebirds (Fregata ariel) who harassed and robbed other seabirds high above our anchorage; white-tailed tropicbirds (Phaethon lepturus) who performed the most elegant aerobatics, and last but not least many waders such as whimbrels (Numenius phaeopus) and sandpipers (Scolopacidae) strutting along the beaches.
Fishing for red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) from the swim platform of SY “Kamu II” at anchor, shore-fishing with live bait for trevallies and always trawling a hand line behind the dinghy for little tunas.
Exploring the tiny, uninhabited islets north and south of our anchorage: Ile Mapou and Ile Sepulture.
Walking through hip-deep water over the outer reef at low tide to the eerie wreck of a grounded and burned-out wooden fishing vessel which had hit the reef a few years ago.
Experiencing at this anchorage heavy squalls from northwest (gusting up to 40 knots and turning this seemingly protected anchorage into a dangerous lee-shore with steep 2 m waves) and from southeast (gusting up to 50 knots over the tree tops) and later scubadiving the wreck of the sunken Canadian sailing yacht (SY “Lasqueti”) on the reef off Ile Fouquet whose anchor had dragged in one of those northwesterly squalls during the southeast trade wind season in 2002.
Having a great farewell potluck party amongst the last five sailing yachts at this anchorage with home-made palm wine and with (i) pasta salad from the UAE, (ii) crab mayonnaise and tuna/potato stew from
Using up whilst staying in Chagos for three months: 23 kg of flour, 9 kg of sugar, 35 litres of milk (both UHT and powder), 5 kg of pasta, 8 kg of rice, 1 kg of couscous, 3 kg of oats, 11 bottles of tomato ketchup, 5 bottles of chilli-garlic sauce, 8 tins of tuna, 9 tins of sardines, 13 tins of fruit, 3 litres of olive oil, 3 litres of cooking oil, 750 g of Nescafe, 16 rolls of toilet paper, 6 kitchen rolls, 3 cans of insect spray and some more minor stuff.
Click below for more blog posts about subsistence fishing
02 Feb - 12 Feb 2008 Bombay
16 Jul - 19 Jul 2007 Marsa Fijab
31 Aug - 02 Sep 2006 Marsa Thelemet
Recommended books - click below for your Amazon order from the United Kingdom:
02 Feb - 12 Feb 2008 Bombay
16 Jul - 19 Jul 2007 Marsa Fijab
31 Aug - 02 Sep 2006 Marsa Thelemet
Click below for a summary of this year's travels
2008 Map Konni & Matt
2008 Map Konni & Matt
Recommended books - click below for your Amazon order from the United Kingdom:
