[password] brucelaura

[Position] 19 40.8s 063 25.24E

[Status] May 27, Monday, 9:00 am. BREAK OUT THE CHAMPAGNE! WE'RE HERE!
1034 miles, 7 days. It's drizzly but we are tied to the municipal wharf waiting for the customs man. No wind or wave. This passage is notorious for being difficult but thanks to Bruce's Irish luck and hours of studying daily weather forecasts, we picked the right day to leave Chagos and had a most excellent sail. Tonight the weather is supposed to turn nasty and stay that way so we are ecstatic to be here!
Everyday of the trip it seemed I would come on deck and Bruce would tell me about the fish strikes he had so I was somewhat suspicious. But yesterday I witnessed a big beautiful mahi on the line. As we were lifting it from the water, in a burst of energy the fish thrashed, hitting it's head on the transom which knocked the hook out of its mouth. He quickly swam away, grateful for the headache. A few hours later just as a huge squall was closing in on us, we landed a slightly smaller mahi ( the big one always gets away). We were in a downpour until sunset so we were happy to finally catch a fish on our last opportunity.
We are eager to get cleared in, anchor the boat in the harbor, and come ashore for some exploring. Priorities are ATM, lunch, beer, wine, groceries, SIM card, locate laundromat, try the Dhal Puri Roti that street vendors sell. Then SLEEP! Bruce has been up since 1:00 am and I am so tired that when I stepped on shore it bucked and rolled more than the boat!
We will be here for at least 2 weeks so no more updates for a while. We should have internet by tomorrow and will be using our usual Gmail address. Thanks to everyone who sent us emails during our 6 week internet blackout. B&L

Sent from Iridium Mail & Web.

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