Chartering in the Seychelles

After Praslin, we started with île Curieuse, where we anchored in the bay of La Raie. As this is a nature park, you’re only allowed ashore from 9 am to 5 pm, at a cost of €25 per person. So we waited for the next day to admire the giant turtles. After a good night’s sleep, we headed back to La Digue. We decided to have lunch ashore; with eight of us in the dinghy, the approach to the shore proved to be quite sporting with big rollers. On our return to the boats, the swell was breaking just as much as on the outward journey. The crew put on their swimsuits and made a first attempt to get into the dinghy, which promptly filled up with water and then with sand, so we had to go back to the beach. At the second attempt, only two people succeeded in boarding the dinghy, and managed to pass through the breakers as quickly as possible, with the rest of the crew boarding the dinghy after having swum out through the critical zone. We sailed as a squadron, and every evening the skippers met to review the day - and the next day’s program, depending on the weather and what everyone wanted to do. The islands of the Seychelles have beautiful landscapes, and the vegetation is rich as the aquatic fauna. The pink granite formations often reminded us of Ploumanac’h (in Brittany, France). The inhabitants are very affable and engage in conversation easily. However, we were rather shocked by the high cost of living (around €35 for a meal in a restaurant, for example). Food generally seemed more expensive than in France. The weather was often wet with not much wind, but we were in the middle of the monsoon season. Originally this cruise had been planned in the dry season, in September, but Covid postponements meant that we had had to adapt our plans.