Part II:

Last month, we tagged along in Derrick Levy’s suitcase, so to speak, as he travelled to picturesque Seychelles to deliver the latest Riviera 43 Flybridge. Day one and two saw Derrick and the rest of the Boating World team circumnavigating the local islands in pursuit of perfection of possibly the world’s most beautiful bays after all, where else would the Riviera be more at home? We follow up with day three where the new 43 Fly bridge, named uShaka, comes into her own… Derrick Levy continues the tale.

Day 3

Having spent our previous days touring Seychelles by boat, we wanted to give uShaka a good run but unfortunately, the weather was completely on its head, with a 2.5 m swell and a short chop, it was akin to washing machine water! So, we decided to rather run along the leeward side of Mahe Island, because of the Westerly wind, and travelled past the south of the island and continued 30 miles.
When we came to rest, Mahe was out of sight and we had arrived at the 1 000 m drop-off spot. We fished for 90 minutes and were very lucky to have double Marlin strikes, which creates palpable excitement as the elusive ocean hunter hits the lures! Once the adrenalin had subsided, it was time to move on which was a 2 hour and 30 minute trip back onto the rough seas, straight to the lee of the island where we could open up again and head for home.

In the saloon is a good looking, solid Rose wood and glass drinks cabinet, which holds bottles of whiskey, as well as Riviera engraved glasses for all drinks. UShaka was selected without the optional lower station, making the lounger space huge for a boat of this size and easily seating six to eight passengers. There’s also a quality table to match in high gloss wood and is a beautiful touch to the interior.
A huge, concealed, electric rod hatch is lowered down electrically from the ceiling and one can fit plenty a rod in there – out of harm’s way when you’re not fishing. On the 40 mile trip from the drop off, one of our team members made use of his time by having a little kip (sleep) on the Queen-size bed in the main cabin, located in the forward section of the Riviera. Here, there’s also an en suite, private shower and vacuum flush toilet. He slept for over an hour, and apart from one or two unusual three-meter swells which almost sent him onto the roof, had a fantastic comfortable sleep. The centre cabin is huge with a double bed and two bunk beds, which is where Frances and Aaron slept – with its own en suite, second massive head, which includes a shower and vacuum flush toilet beautifully appointed.

We had done over 50 hours in the first three days and pushed her hard in calm and rough conditions – and she definitely stood up to the mark. Every evening, we played back to memories of the day with photos and videos on the slide-up 30-inch TV in the saloon, and there were some great shots – some of which we will put onto the Boating World website and Facebook page.

Day 4
This was another full day of fishing, chasing up another nine hours of cruising and angling for more large bonny. These were set to become sushi and curried Creole style.
At this stage, the live bait Jabsco pump is being replaced under warranty. Although working well, two hoses were short supplied, which otherwise, made this an almost faultless hand over for our Boating World team.

Frances, Aaron and Gareth then got ‘uShaka’ into ship-shape condition in time for their Marlin competition, which offered 200 000 Rupee’s for first prize, which was held during mid January. They did well and managed to land two Marlin and one Sailfish strike, and caught a few Dorado too. Soon, the new crew will get more experience and have lots of success in the Billfish competitions. The Boating World team flew back to South Africa after a great week, having lived the Seychelles and fallen in love with the Riviera 43.