Mauritius - Enroute to the Antarctic

The layover in Mauritius lasted 36 hours. We needed the sheltered space on the leeward side of the island to open up the holds, and extract all the winter clothing and gear needed for the next leg of the journey to the Antarctic. Mauritius is a neat little place tucked away in the middle of no where. "Little blobs of sh..t" was the only expletive that Rakesh had offered that dawn when he bounded into our cabin, woke me and Pat and half dragged us out the door and up a few flights of ladders to the open area just above the bridge. We were still sailing at a steady 24 knots into the fresh morning mist. The blue of the Indian Ocean stretched infinitely before us as the first rays of the morning hit us. "Where the hell is it? I can't see a damn thing?" That was Pat in his usual drawl. Rakesh pointed them out. Nothing more than a few blobs as he had described them. "That cant be it. Mauritius is a fairly large island", I chimed in. This thing in our path did not even seem capable of being landed on for it rose almost pillar like from the ocean. It was well past 10 am when we sailed into the main harbour at Port Louis and dropped anchor.