After our sporty 1100 mile passage from Chagos to Rodriguez, a blow out genoa sail, and little sleep the past 24-36 hours…we were relived to be at Port Mathurin and looked forward to exploring, relaxing, and quite frankly…NOT MOVING! However, Rodriguez had another idea for us (LOL)!
Port Mathurin, Rodriguez…really the only place to stop as the island is fringed with reefs. We had read there is a protected anchorage around to the south of the island but with the amount of wind we experienced in the Port Mathurin, which is on the leeward side of the island (side of the island where it’s protected form wind by the land), we didn’t have much incentive to go south into the SE trade winds.
We can’t talk about our time here without mentioning, as others have written before us, the topics of docking at the wharf, anchoring in the inner harbor, and the cruiser ‘Congo Line’ in/out of the inner harbor when the supply ship comes to port.
Don’t get us wrong…. this post may sound negative at first but don’t let that deter you…. it’s just to give others our account and maybe a few tips to be apprised of when you do visit this incredibly friendly place!
The Wharf….
When we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised that both our Garmin charts and iSailor were accurate for both depths and GPS coordinates. We happily tied up to the concrete wharf that is used for the supply ship and the Coast Guard.
Google image of the outer harbor ….. 
iSailor image of the outer harbor… 
Google image of the channel and the inner harbor…. 
iSailor image of the channel and the inner harbor.
We are now accustom to the concrete wharfs here in the Indian Ocean (both Sri Lanka and in the Maldives). We only had our “little” fenders which do not do ANYTHING for protection from the tires or the large black “bumpers” rubbing against our white hull: When the boat surges forward or back, our fenders roll in between or off to the side of the “bumpers” or when the tide rises and falls our fenders find them selves under/over the “bumpers”…. We would re-adjust as best we could trying to keep up with the tides and so forth. In the end we had to accept our hull would have round black marks…. we thought of it as a sort of “war” paint …LOL!!!!
However, here we had an additional consideration to add to the equation…the wave surge! When the tide and wind would finds the perfect combination….we found the wharf to be unsafe for us.
One night at the wharf, our hull came dangerously close to the steal brackets that held the “bumpers” to the concrete. We didn’t want to take away a fender from its original position…so we decided to leave the wharf and go try to anchor out in the inner harbor. This meant we had to untie bow, stern and 2 spring lines in winds and tidal surge that were pushing us into the wharf. Of course this happens at about 11 pm while it was raining (WTF?!).
After discussing the situation for about 30 minutes, we winched a spring line to the boat attached to the wharf to keep the boat in one place while we untied the rest of the lines. But to get our bow line off, Trevor had to be on land and “pull” the boat to loosen the pressure off the bow line so he could undo a knot. As soon as that line was free, he had to quickly jump aboard, release the line on the winch, which had a good amount of pressure on it, while I “hammer down” on the engine and steer away from the wharf…. I almost hit the tug boat directly behind us and our dinghy (on the davits) definitely scraped the wharf as we were trying to bear away. Trust us…we had an anchor beer…or a few!!!
I know it’s hard to see but the main point here is the position of the steal bracket which is parallel to our hull. The “bumper” was just below but was not providing protection when our boat would “lean” into the concrete wharf as the wind and tidal surge pushed us against the concrete wharf….literally coming inches from the bracket.
Otherwise, being on the wharf was fine…. AND it is free! There is also a rain water tank at the wharf (not for drinking though) that was available to us for free as well. When anchored out, there is a barge right behind the larger coast guard tug you can tie up the dinghy.
Google image of the wharf…. 
Dinghy landing on the barge behind the large tug.
Just for fun…here is Harry who has worked for the Mauritius Port Authority ….taking a nap on the little tug boat.
The Inner Harbor Anchorage…..
Most recently, SV Alba who visited back in 2017, wrote a report regarding the anchorage in Port Mathurin’s inner harbor on Noonsite (these guys are incredibly generous with their information on both Noonsite and their blog).
SV Alba offered anchoring advice for the soft mud bottom over hard rock: Based on their experience, let your anchor just “sit” and “sink” into the mud before you back down on the anchor to set it to ensure the best opportunity for your anchor to grab hold of something (hopefully not garbage). It took them a few tries to set anchor (their words not mine) and they felt confident this strategy worked for them in 20-30 knots of wind while others dragged anchor. So when you read accounts like these it is generally best you learn from OTHERS rather than learning these lessons ourselves and the HARD way!
We followed their strategy: We let our anchor “marinate” while the wind would push us back and let our anchor gently dig in for about 30 minutes to an hour. Then we would back down on the anchor with our engine to make sure we are holding under a load…then we would just hang out on the boat and watch how we swing relative to our boat neighbors to ensure we all had enough swinging room….we had no problems….Thanks SV Alba!!!!
We also witnessed a small current that runs parallel to the wharf created from a near by river. The area around the current seemed to have less mud… but closer to the “corner” reef, there was plenty of mud for holding. Our friends on SV Mirari anchored in this current and when the wind was weak their boat swung on anchor in all kinds of directions….needless to say…they moved.
The inner harbor is very small (for our comfort) and surrounded by reefs so you don’t want to drag anchor! When we were there only 5 boats were present so we could space out a bit but even so, we often had only 60 feet between us and the reef behind us after letting out about 150 feet of chain out. If you did drag your anchor… you only had about 15 seconds to react…depending of the strength of the wind…that’s not a lot of time!
The reef is too close for comfort for us but we didn’t really have a choice….or I guess we could have been on the wharf…but I think I covered why that was not a viable option : )
Speaking of wind!!!!….. The video below is a typical day we experienced. You can see the wind push us around pretty good and we swing a good 40 degrees or so. The wind can gust down the mountains and one second be a pleasant 10-15 knots to a gusty 30 knots…but generally it would be blowing 15-20 like in this video below.
The Supply Ship “Congo line”….
Most of Rodriguez supplies comes from the supply ship, The Black Rhino, from the island of Mauritius. The Black Rhino makes port here every week and 1/2. When it arrives, it stays for 2 -3 days offloading and reloading then leaves again. The inner harbor is too small for both the anchored sailing vessels and the supply ship to dock at the wharf…especially if the supply ship has to turn around or needs to maneuver for any reason at all. So twice a week or so, we have lift anchor or leave the wharf and move to the outer harbor. Then after the supply ship has docked or left the wharf, we all head back in and re-anchor…aka….the “Congo Line”…
Mind you we realize that our food and beer supply comes from this supply ship so we don’t mind moving to make way for it to come to port, however, the disadvantage is that it both sucks up time away from exploring the island and we have to move…rain or shine!
One time we had to move….. it was predicted to blow 30 knots! But off we go….
Visibility was literally ZERO!!! We all had our running lights on and AIS to see where each other were. The seas were so rough in the outer harbor, 1 boat lost their engine due to a clogged fuel filter and had to sail back into the inner harbor. 
Yup….35 knots of wind!!!!
Other times it was fine weather…in fact almost pleasant….
Trevor was having way too much fun drawing “things” … here are our tracks on one of our trips out for the supply ship….I am pretty sure our fellow cruisers were wondering WTF!!!! 
AHHHH…the AIS “Congo Line”… all headed back in. Generally we all agreed to anchor about where we were originally to not cause confusion and haste.
Another time when we were headed out for the supply ship, we realized we had a new winged crew member. He stayed aboard all day: during our quick trip around the outer harbor and throughout the afternoon while we anchored. He took flight sometime around dusk…we were thoroughly entertained!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rodrigues_flying_fox
All in all, it was not a big deal and of course we want to make the least impact on the people here as possible. Selfishly, the only downfall was the time we lost just hanging around waiting for the boat to leave and then again to set our anchors in a new spot! It really only takes about an hour from the time you lift anchor to the time you re-drop your anchor but ends up being an all day or at least half a day event.
Generally, we waited and watched for the supply ship (could be between 6 am -3pm). When you can see the supply ship approaching the outer harbor, you should have your engines started and lifting anchor. By the time we are in the outer harbor the supply ship will be greeted by the tug boats and you either anchor in the outer harbor or just sail/motor around. We always just motored or sailed around. Then when we see the tugs back in their respective places on the wharf, we know it’s safe to go back…..one by one…. we all drop anchor again…then sit having an anchor beer waiting to set the anchor….could be worse : )
Here is a photo of ALL of our tracks we made in the inner harbor: To the wharf, midnight anchor, 4 trips in and out of the inner harbor for the supply ship. 
Our anchor watch just before we left for Mauritius. The green “blobs” are our tracks as we swung on our anchor.
Clearance procedures: Quick, organized, and all around kind….
Even though Rodriguez island is technically considered part of the country of Mauritius, it considers itself as a semi-separate “state”, if you will…and has it’s own unique rules and regulations. This means even though we cleared into Rodriguez, we still have to do another clearance procedure when we arrive to the island of Mauritius. Different costs and different items customs cared about.
Prior to our arrival, when we were underway and determined we were to experience heavy weather, we thought it would be a good idea to inform the Rodriguez Coast Guard that we were en-route to both put them on notice just in case something happened and to ask permission in advance to seek “safe harbor” in case our “technology fails” and were unable to contact them when we arrived. We emailed (through our satellite Iridium Go!) Gilbert Mallet specifically and his Rodriguez Coast Guard email address is listed on Noonsite. We informed him of our current location, a few details of our vessel and crew, and an approximate ETA. Gilbert responded the same day and after our request was forwarded to someone on the island of Mauritius, it was approved. I note this to exemplify our first impressions of Rodriguez and were incredibly pleased!
Once on land, the Rodriguez officials were incredibility efficient. The Coast Guard office was manned 24/7 and right next door customs and immigration had people waiting for us.
The building to the right had 3 little offices… 
Immigration…free… 
Customs…free…besides the fact we truned in our spear gun…it’s illegal here.
The only “clearance” errand we had to do was pay and turn in our receipt for a $40 usd payment for the health office right above the market.
Don’t blink…you would miss the cashiers window…. 
All paid up… 
The Health Office above the market place.
The Fleet….
Dinners, French lessons, shopping, hiking, happy hours…and bonding over our experiences anchoring (LOL)…..so glad we met these guys!
SV C. Coquin (Claude and Louise – Quebec) 
SV Neptune’s Highway (Bruce and Laura – St. John USVI ) 
Sv Mirari (Iker and Noemi- – Spain) 
The French Guy : ) 
The Fleet…Hugs!
Again, don’t get us wrong….this post is not to deter you away from visiting this amazing place that many cruisers do not have a chance to visit due to weather….But is just a friendly reminder when you visit…you will be anchoring… A LOT!!!! : )
Next up: Rodriguez Island, Mauritius: “I am not Mauritian…. I am from Rodrig”…
I just spent an hour typing and it all disappeared Ugh!!!will try tomorrow! All I s well here!