The night before last, we dropped sails and motored into the harbour of Victoria, Seychelles. We could smell land, there were lights everywhere, and we couldn’t wait to see what it looked like when we woke up the next morning!
After seven days at sea, we were pooped. It had been a good passage overall, but still interesting—as they always are. So what was the Chagos to Seychelles sailing passage like? What are the things to expect? What would we do differently in hindsight?
Well, no more wondering! This post shares our experience of the Chagos to Seychelles sailing passage, with day-by-day notes, lessons learned, and plenty of fish tales. Let’s dive into our Indian Ocean Crossing: Part Four – Chagos to Seychelles.
Related:
Indian Ocean Crossing: Part One – Thailand to Sri Lanka
Indian Ocean Crossing: Part Two – Sri Lanka to Maldives
Indian Ocean Crossing: Part Three – Maldives to Chagos
DAY ONE: 13/05/2025 – Departing Chagos
We anchored up in the Salomon Atoll around 7 a.m., waving at the other boats as we made our way out. Crossing the reef, we soon had white sails up and turned the engine off. For the first little while, we had the wind at 60–90° apparent, which was good because the wind wasn’t that strong.
So, the first day consisted of good sailing, passing another atoll, and then losing sight of land altogether as sunset closed in. We continued into the first night under sail.
DAY TWO: 14/05/2025
Dad woke me up around 5:00 a.m. and I jumped on the helm while he headed off to bed. We’d ended up motoring part of the night but had just switched it off again. The mainsail would flog every now and then, and we weren’t breaking records, but it was working.
That’s how most of the day went sailing-wise, though it did improve a little. I headed downstairs around 10 a.m., did a few school and work things, then crashed for a nap. The rest of the day looked like watching a movie, making lip balm, and reading.
The engine went on at 6 p.m., and was on and off throughout the night. We played up at the bow, did workouts, took pictures, then headed inside. Dad and I played our nightly game of chess (or two)… the results tonight = 2 wins for me, none for Dad.
DAY THREE: 15/05/2025
Once again, I was woken early for my shift around 5:15 a.m. Dad and I decided to get the spinnaker out—we hadn’t set it up in the dark before, but hey, first time for everything. We had it flying before we knew it, and as he headed off to bed, we were sailing nicely!
We had a tiny squall where I held on as we did 8–9 kts for a few minutes. After a little rain, it was gone, and Miss Violet (the spinnaker) was nailing it once again.
The day continued as usual: school, writing, nap, movie, reading, workout, sunset, chess, and dinner. Most days followed this rhythm, so I’ll only repeat the exciting stuff.
Into the night, we had the spinnaker up again after motoring for a bit. So, we flew Miss Violet into the night.
Chess score = 2 wins for me, zero for Dad.
DAY FOUR: 16/05/2025
My watch was pretty good, though we were going slow with the spinnaker still pulling us along. This is when we started to encounter the currents that would be our nemesis for the rest of the Chagos to Seychelles sailing passage… The ocean would go from “normal” to messed-up wind-against-current patches, then back to normal. We dealt with it and did our best to stay comfy during those weird stretches.
Eventually, the slogging slowness got too annoying and we wanted to make ground. So, we socked Miss Violet and motored for a while—it felt good to be going somewhere!
The day continued uneventfully, with a spinnaker up/down, engine on/off kind of vibe.
I finished my second book and got the other three to join me for high knees at the end of my workout.
Chess score = 1 all!
DAY FIVE: 17/05/2025
This morning we had slightly less current, and Miss Violet had been flying since midnight. Hence, my watch went smoothly and soon Mum was up to take over. The others cooked a delicious breakfast of eggs on toast, but before we could eat it, we…
Caught a fish! If you know anything about our trawling history, you’ll know how excited we were when we finally got this beautiful bigeye tuna on board! Oh, we were having fish for dinner, people!
After our special breakfast, I slept for ages, and woke up to find we still had the spinnaker up and were making good time!
On sunset we took more photos and tested our theories on how to sock Miss Violet when dead downwind and blowing… then continued into the fifth night at sea.
Chess score = 1 all!
DAY SIX: 18/05/2025
Sunday morning was slow again. No one stirred for four hours straight! When people finally woke, we tried to sock the spinnaker so we could motor, but it got stuck. Turns out the line used to pull it up had jammed. It definitely made us aware that we could’ve been trying to do that in the dark with 20kts. So yeah, spinnaker down—we motored for a while.
I made pancakes and we did church.
The rest of the day passed as usual. But up on the bow enjoying the sunset, Finn was reeling in the fishing lines when he hooked something! In the torchlight we spotted yellow and green, and it was jumping around heaps—yep, it was a mahi-mahi! Our second fish this passage! We must be doing something right…
A delicious fish dinner later, we motored into the night.
Chess score = 1 all again.
DAY SEVEN: 19/05/2025
Still motoring, I was woken around 5:30 a.m. and continued watch as we burned through miles with zero wind and flat sea.
That’s how it stayed the whole day. This was truly the doldrums—we just had to deal with it and keep moving.
Dad and I did some boat jobs before dark, then workouts, chess (ahem, the score = 3 wins for me, zero for Dad—he was pretty tired), and dinner after a very uneventful day.
DAY EIGHT: 20/05/2025
Waking up on the last day is always exciting—especially when you’re speeding along at 7–8 kts with white sails. The wind was back! The ETA read 7–8 p.m., and the faster we went, the earlier it got. So we were charging along and having a blast.
The others woke and tried to spot land even though we were still 70 NM out—but hey, the clouds kind of looked like mountains.
Later that day, after school, work, and a nap, I looked out front and saw it… for real this time:
LAND HO! It looked so mountainous and beautiful.
The rest of the day was spent watching a movie, reading, and watching the spot on the horizon grow darker and higher. We zoomed along, but the most exciting thing wasn’t land or speed—it was fishing!
We couldn’t believe it. First, a Job fish—keeper. Then two bonito—kept one, released the other. Next, a barracuda, which we released. Archie begged us to leave the line out a bit longer—convinced we’d catch something else…
And we did.
I looked across and saw the line hook up—bam! It bungeed out. I told Archie, and he ran over and started pulling it in. Casually at first, then with effort. As it got closer, we tried to guess—Barracuda? No…
It was a WAHOO! Our first ever! We were so excited. Archie lay next to it and it was as long as he was. He wanted to fillet it, which was a mission, but he did it—and we ended up with four plates full of perfect white meat.
ARRIVING
Back to the passage. We sailed fast and, by sunset, had only an hour to the entrance. The wind bent around the island and we sailed right in. Around 7:30 p.m. we dropped sails and motored through the channel to the quarantine anchorage.
The air smelled like land. Lights twinkled all over the hillside—it was amazing.
We dropped anchor, turned off the engine, and had dinner before crashing into bed—thankful for no more night watches.
We’d made it.
Key Learnings & What We’d Do Differently
Route Choice: We went south the first two days to get wind, then pretty much rum-lined it. Other boats went further south and found more wind and less current—but also more thunderstorms. We had none. Pros and cons.
Current Issues: We had current against us for five out of the seven days. Painful to watch our speed drop, and frustrating not being able to sail fast in light winds like we usually can.
Coming In At Night: Normally we prefer entering a new place by day. But Victoria is a port, and the anchorage was fairly straightforward, so we were comfortable arriving in the dark.
Final Thoughts
The Chagos to Seychelles sailing passage was, overall, a good one. Though the winds were lighter than expected and we battled current, it was comfortable, safe, and quick. If you’re planning a Chagos to Seychelles sailing passage, I hope this gives you an idea of what to expect along the way—from flat calm days to currents and sail changes.
Now, I know you’re probably very interested in how I managed to beat Dad so much in chess. I think it’s likely because he taught me and I know all his tricks. But… there’s also the small chance it’s because he gets less sleep than me, being the one who helps with sail changes at night. I’ll let you decide.
Also, an important tip: download enough books before a passage. I read four books on this crossing and finished the last one on the last morning… a close call if you ask me!
Some extra helpful links: Windy for local or global weather, Predict Wind for passage planning and tracking, and Noonsite for sailing Seychelles.
Have you crossed from Chagos to Seychelles or planning to? Got questions or thoughts? I’d love to hear them—drop a comment below!