“Ah oui, les espions, on trouve partout”. It’s 2 am. I’m standing in the deep shadows in an alley off Rue Sadi Carnot, my hat pulled low across my face, a Gauloises hanging from my lips, staring at my phone. My contact is late, not like her. There’s a full moon somewhere above a solid overcast that threaten to rain all day. Walking here I could feel the cool breeze blowing in from the nearby harbor carrying the salty smell of the ocean. The intense green and red lights marking the harbor entrance reflected off the walls of the buildings lining the street at the water’s edge. As I walked I would sometimes quickly duck into a doorway alcove to check for a tail. I saw nothing; if they were back there, they’re good.
We set the meeting at a spot behind a defunct Chinese restaurant with a broken down bamboo fence in front of its forlorn entrance. As I waited the scratching of a restless rat in an empty cardboard box was the only thing disturbing the quiet night. No kung pao chicken tonight, pal.
Everyone knows the next moment, when the world seems to holds its breath, the clock fails to tick forward, a beating heart pauses, and your brain involuntarily skids down a slope of anticipation. Far down the alley, the sound of a scuffle, a panicked shout, and the crack of a gunshot shattered the night. . .
Once an important stop for ships on trade routes to Asia until the Suez Canal opened in 1870, La Reunion is a spy novel of an island that collected more than its share of misfits, miscreants, foreign legion rejects, and con artists, a place Rick and Louis might have headed for instead of Brazzaville. Now it’s a popular French holiday home location (direct flights to Paris!). With my arrival by sailboat yesterday, I’m the latest miscreant to sully its shores.
My passage here from Cocos (Keeling) was pretty fast, total elapsed time about 18 days but it could have been faster. I originally notified Reunion from Cocos I would arrive on July 12 but soon realized I would arrive earlier but not sure when. I finally told them July 10. I stooged around sailing slow the last couple of days so I would arrive at the harbor entrance during daylight on that day. I also slowed down during the passage when the winds were running 25-35 kts and 3.5 – 4 meter confused seas were hitting the boat broadside. When a big wave slams into the side of the boat its like it was hit by a truck. Other waves would break over the deck, briefly inundating it, the seawater cascading down the opposite side. The boat would roll into the deep wave troughs to the point where the edge of the deck was in the water. That roll would also turn the heading of the boat in the direction of the trough forcing the autopilot to throw the rudder hard over to correct the course. This often resulted in an alarm when the rudder was all the way over against its limits. I usually try to trim the sails so the boat is reasonably balanced, not inclined to turn one way or the other, with a bit a weather helm left in. The autopilot doesn’t have to work so hard when the boat is balanced, saving electrical power. In these very rolling conditions such balancing efforts are futile. The best I could do was to reduce sail to slow down so the ride isn’t so rough, like driving slow instead of fast over a rutted road is a bit more comfortable. Otherwise, I stayed below deck in the cabin getting rattled around like a marble in a jar.
The Clearing In process (Entry Formalities) at Reunion was incredibly efficient. Angelique, the marina manager, had prepared all the entry documents and handed them to me as I arrived after helping with the mooring lines at my berth. Fifteen minutes later the Immigration and Customs people showed up. They didn’t need to come aboard, no need to confiscate my eggs, meat, etc. like the morons in Australia. They stood on the dock, I handed them my passport and prepared entry documents, they stamped everything, bid me a pleasant stay and left. It took minutes! I’ve been stuck at red lights that took longer. This was amazing compared to other places I’ve been where I had to take a car to multiple offices all over town to clear in and clear out.
The entry stamp in my passport is important. Reunion, like France and other Schengen countries, limits a stay to 90 days in a 180 day window for non-residents of the Schengen Area. The 90 days started when I arrived on July 10. I need to return home to the US in September to participate in the First World Flight Centennial. Initially I thought I would take the boat across to Richards Bay in South Africa in August and leave it there while I returned home. However, the best month weather-wise to make the tricky passage to Richards Bay is October. I also have security concerns about leaving the boat in Richards Bay where on-board thefts have been a problem in the past. The marina in Reunion is very secure. So I am now thinking I’ll leave the boat here while I return to the US in September, then back again to Reunion in October to make the passage to Richards Bay. From there I’ll make short hops around the South Africa coast to Cape Town where I’ll be positioned to make the homestretch run northwest across the Atlantic to the Caribbean and the US (North America, my 7th and last continent). The days I spend traveling back to the US in September do not count against the 90 day limit, so looking at the numbers, this plan should work out alright.
I’m renting a car on Friday for a week so I’ll have time to explore this amazing volcanic island.
