Report from SY Gryphon 2

21 October 2014

Unfortunately Bo Ronn (see report below) was unavailable when we were in

Mauritius having hurt his back earlier in the year. The other options were to leave the boat with a local “wheeler-dealer” by the name of Sunil, or with the more professional Bertrand Hardy of Mauritius Yacht Services. The former is likely to find you whereas the contact for Bertrand is via the website www.yachtmauritius.com.

As stated in the previous report, you must leave the boat with a local qualified skipper and present all the papers as outlined to the Immigration department. The logic of the qualified skipper requirement is so that if an unseasonal cyclone comes through there is someone who can move your boat to safety.

The 2 places to leave the boat are in the yacht harbour at Caudan or on a mooring in Grand Baie. We decided with the advice of our insurers to leave the boat in Caudan. Yachts moor to a quay with a nasty lip that could damage a boat with poor fenders or the wrong height of toerail, so it is a good idea to moor outside a larger boat if possible. The rise and fall is not great but there is some. Some amount of swell also enters the basin mostly from tugs and the Coastguard. It also feels more secure to be on the outside but we did not worry too much as the marina is in a rather up-market shopping mall separated from the rest of the town by a busy main road. The dock is surrounded by car parking with security cameras (pointed at the cars rather than the dock) and there is a 24/7 security presence.

Those leaving their boats on a mooring with Sunil were happy enough, but we were not keen on leaving the boat on a swinging mooring, nor were we impressed by Sunil’s professionalism. When we told him that we were leaving the boat with Bertrand he became very unpleasant toward us. However other yachties found Sunil generous and polite.

One important point to note is that you need the letter from immigration when you clear out of the country but you may well need some documentation when you check in at the airport on your return to prove that you have a yacht. Fortunately we had our boat registration and a copy of the letter from Bertrand to prove this to the airline.

Our boat was safe and secure when we returned after 2 months. Cost for Bertrand’s services was 3 Euro a day and the marina was about 10 Euro a day. Sunil’s services are cheaper but not much so, although he does include taking you to and from the airport.

Chris and Lorraine Marchant

SY Grypon 2

Report from S/V Ambika, Port Louis, Mauritius 

12 August, 2013

If you need to travel from Mauritius for a while and need a qualified, reliable and helpful person while leaving your yacht in Port Louis, Mauritius, Captain Bo Ronn is the perfect solution.

Very rigorous procedures apply if you want to leave Mauritius by air/ship and have your yacht stay in Mauritius in the meantime. The yacht skipper (not the crew) has to get a letter from the visa section in immigrations main office in Port Louis, permitting him to fly out.

To get this letter (which one has to show at the passport control at the airport) you have to:

·         employ a skipper who will be responsible for the boat while you are away

·         bring a letter from that skipper as well as a copy of his skipper’s certificate and national I.D.

·         also needed are copies of your passport first page, the page with the entry stamp, a copy of the health check document, your agreement with the Caudan marina, or any other place you plan to leave the boat at, plus the receipt for the payment to it.

·         bring a copy of your confirmed airline ticket out and in again at specific dates. Some people say that the airport immigration officers may not enforce this rule but a possible penalty could be losing your flight, not something one would want to take a chance with

At arrival in Port Louis, Mauritius, we contacted Bo Ronn, a Swedish Sea Captain and Pilot living in Mauritius since forty years with his Mauritian wife. We got his name from the Port Captain in Rodrigues.

When we decided to leave Mauritius for eight weeks to visit our family in Sweden we found out that the authorities in Mauritius has very rigorous procedures when leaving your yacht while you are away. It came as a pleasant surprise when Captain Bo Ronn offered to help us out and look after Ambika in “Caudan Waterfront Marina” in Port Louis.  Captain Bo Ronn has the right qualifications, is a known and honoured profile on the island, he speaks Creole, French and English and he is also a very pleasant person to deal with.

We give Bo Ronn our best recommendations; your yacht will be very safe in his hands at a very reasonable price.

Qualifications, Captain Bo Ronn:

– Certificate of Competency as Master Mariner (Sweden)

– On retirement from the merchant marine and Port Louis harbour pilot services

– Mauritian passport holder, Mauritius National Identity Card

Contact information:

Email: [email protected]

Local Phone number:  4909773

Lars and Erja Odmark

S/V Ambika

www.ambikasailing.blogg.se