Richards Bay and Durban to East London

Richards Bay was nice and we had a berth at the Tuzi Gazi marina.  The docks were a little rickety but better than the Zulu Yacht club.  Free water and Electric made it more desirable.  We ran two air conditioners on warm days and had unlimited hot, fresh water showers every day.

We had some trouble finding workers to fix our broken bits.  We loaded the dingy on a trailer the first day and felt good as it headed to Nell’s marine.  He promised to fix everything in 2 weeks but after 4 weeks, I was still bugging him daily to finish.  Ultimately he fixed most of the items and the dingy now has smooth steering.  We also finally found Eric who was more professional and sorted out our clogged genset heat exchanger in 3 days, so that is again running at full power.  We never found anyone competent to try our transmission repair, so we tried to line up help in Durban.

 

We obviously enjoyed the game parks and driving around Richards Bay was easy.  One day we visited Shakaland and learned about the Zulu people and enjoyed their dancing and crafts.   

The dancers were energetic and their most distinctive move was a front high-kick to simulate that used in battle.  

 

A short $6 taxi ride took us several times to a large mall where we got a few bits and pieces, some birthday gifts and several inexpensive meals off the boat.  The food is good and here and we are enjoying some new treats.  They all eat a type of meat jerky here that comes in 20 different flavors and come from cow and more exotic animals.  

Emily had the “best (12^th) birthday in 4 years” as she enjoyed it with 7 other cruiser kids complete with presents, a movie, and cake and ice cream!

We had a smooth overnight passage down to Durban, but so many visiting boats were there, we could not get into the marinas.  We anchored for the first 3 nights and had a 54 knot storm sweep through on one night.  12 boats were anchored nearby but happily nobody dragged anchor.  When the weather improved, several boats moved on south and we grabbed a spot at the dock.  The next day, we had the transmission taken out and other than spilling some dirty oil on our new salon rug, it went rather smoothly.  Despite a one-day delay from a hangover and several requests for a proper receipt, the transmission got a fresh paint job and enough new innards to make it happy.  

We used our time in Durban to visit with our longtime friends, Gerald and Di who live here.  We saw their boat Whiskers at the dock and they have a lovely home in Durban North.  Di fixed us a wonderful steak meal one evening and we finally got to see the impressive shell collection Gerald has accumulated over his two circumnavigations.  

They were gracious enough to drive us around and show us some of Durban and to collect a few more needed items.  There were more and bigger malls here and Santa Claus got all loaded up here since we intend to arrive in Simonstown just before Christmas.  They even presented me with a piece of Jerky bigger than my head for my 55^th birthday and had us over again for a barbeque (braai) at their home.  We were happy to hear that their two circumnavigations were not enough and they are planning on returning to sea in the coming years and will be heading to the Caribbean.  We hope they will pay us a similar visit to our home in Massachusetts as they pass through!

 

Emily got some more play time with the kids of Cat Mousses and Mojombo and we discovered that all three crews may be together for Christmas.  We also rented a car for 2 days and took a trip to see the Natal Lion Park, the Birds of Prey Sanctuary and enjoy some more shopping on the Midlands Meander.  

 

We stayed a lovely Bed and Breakfast in Howick and the breakfast was really scrumptious with sliced fruit and yogurt, French press coffee, juice, poached eggs, toast, sausage and ham and hash brown potatoes… and of course the room came equipped with an oversized soaking tub.  We stumbled into a German brewery and sampled 4 of their home brews and enjoyed a massive lunch.   

 

We were recognized as American by the roaming musicians and Emily got a private song that some US readers may recognize.

Only minutes after the installation and dock-testing of the transmission, we untied the dock lines and headed to sea for the two-day trip to a river town called East London.  We were worried about the first 8 hours since the wind was just shifting around from the south which tends to whip up the waves against the strong southbound Agulhas Current. We were pleasantly surprised as the first 12 hours was smooth with light winds, small seas and boat speeds over 10 knots with the 4 knot push of the Agulhas Current.  The winds shifted, as predicted, to North easterly (right behind us) but increased to 35 knots instead of the 22 knots predicted.  Seas built to 3-4 meters and it was a little uncomfortable but bearable since it was behind us.  Later that night around 9PM we had another (totally unpredicted) squall that brought 38 to 40 knots from the west.  Seas were whipped into a frenzy and we ran around the boat securing doors and flying objects in the pitch dark.  Tom headed closer to shore (the direction that the wind was coming from) but it took several hours at 5-6 knots to move the 10 miles that was needed to reduce the fetch and gain calmer waters.  By the end of Tom’s watch at 1AM, seas were calmer and the wind had dropped back to (the predicted) 15-20 knots.  Nothing seemed broken although one wave managed to enter (around a closed door) into the pilothouse and soak a small rug and the Emily Grace nameboard was ripped half off.  Both the door and nameboard are more than 7 feet above the waterline!

Despite the drama, we entered the river at East London and dropped the hook at 5 AM in calm waters and all enjoyed naps.

Tom

African Game Park- by Emily

 

Early in the morning we left Richards bay in our rental car. Our destination: Zululand game parks and African animals where we would go in search of the big five. 

The phrase Big Five Game was coined by big game hunters and refers to the five most difficult animals in Africa to hunt on foot. Subsequently the term was adopted by Safari tour operators for marketing purposes. The term is still used in most tourist and wildlife guides that discuss African wildlife safaris. The collection consists of the lion, African elephant, Cape buffalo, leopard, and rhinoceros. The members of the Big Five were chosen for the difficulty in hunting them and the degree of danger involved, rather than their size.

    

Isimangaliso Wetland Park, the first park we were going to visit, is situated on the southeastern part of the African coast line, in St Lucia. The warm waters are home to many species of fish and aquatic animals and it keeps the park comfortably warm. The dunes that mark the beach are the huge nesting grounds of the leatherback turtle. The grasslands are dotted with waterholes, rivers, and the world’s deepest peat swamp. Lake St Lucia houses thousands of fish and crocodiles, but it is the hippos that do the most for the ecosystem. They make masses of droppings that fertilize the water making an important fish and prawn nursery ground. The last part of the park is what I think of when I think of Africa, the Savannah, which is the typical Big Five ecosystem.

 After a long drive we arrived at Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park where we drove on a bumpy road. Mom was very busy shifting the standard car and dodging potholes. We saw numerous Nyala and bushbuck through the bushes and we got a few glimpses of the shy red duiker. I liked the Nyala best with their stripes, dots, and horns.

 

We saw three warthogs, and they were humorous characters! When they ran their slender pencil thin tails went straight up! 

 

A couple of big, awkward water buffalo watched us moving by in the car. They were the first of the big five that we saw. 

 

We saw a herd of zebra drinking at a waterhole along with a mama and her baby. I always thought of zebra being just black and white, but there was a little brown mixed in with the white on some of them.

 

After that, mom and dad went in a ferry down the St. Lucia Estuary to see a bloat of hippos. They saw plenty of hippos as well as one Nile crocodile while I stayed at our hotel room, for I was a bit sick. I found it interesting to hear that the mangroves sense the tide going out and drop their seeds. During the short time the tide’s out, the seed sprout roots and are anchored by the time the tide comes back in. 

 

They reached the St. Lucia Wetlands Reserve in time for the 2-hour estuary boat tour.  As they waited for the boat to leave they watched yellow weaver birds building their unique round nests.

The guide brought the shallow draft barge very close to the feeding hippopotamus and was familiar enough with the families as to be able to recognize individuals and explain their behavior.  A “yawn” is actually meant to be a sign of aggression and is used when the animal feels threatened.  These animals don’t actually swim but, rather, walk along the river floor and bob to the surface for air.  While they may appear ponderous and slow, they can easily outrun a human so, if you find yourself being chased by an enraged hippopotamus, you must climb the nearest tree and wait for it to go away.

That was the end of day one and mom and dad came back to the hotel room which was like Shangri-La compared to the one in Ankarana Park.

The next day we traveled through Imfolozi (pronounced oom-fa-low-zee) game reserve. This reserve is situated north of Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa and is situated in the southern section of the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park. The Hluhluwe Game Park (pronounced shu-shlu-wee) has been connected with the iMfolozi Game Park. This KwaZulu-Natal park is the oldest game reserve in South Africa. It was established in 1895. Today, the Hluhluwe Imfolozi Park is world renowned for its White Rhino conservation. We drove through the park by ourselves, partially on smooth paved roads, partially on reasonable dirt roads.

Herds of impala lifted their horns to greet us, and wildebeest cantered on the hills. 

The second of the big five turned out to be a white rhino leisurely chewing his grass. I still don’t know what defines a white rhino from a black except for its wrinkles. 

The third of the big five nearly scared us out of our wits when he appeared on the road. It was an elephant. He was twice as big as our car with huge tusks and he was leisurely crossing the road to get the leaves on the other side. When he got in trunk range he didn’t bother to move his rear, but stood half in, half out of the road grabbing leaves in his nose and shoveling them in by the bucketful. We cautiously edged past him, coming within six feet of his tail. That was our closest encounter with an elephant. We also saw two hyenas that walked by our car. 

Just when we were starting to think we wouldn’t see any more animals, a spotted one on stilts walked across the road. It was a giraffe.

One of nature’s most pretty mistakes must be the kudu. I wonder how he can keep his head up with those magnificent curly horns on his head. They are twice as high as his head! I think he was the prettiest antelope we saw with his horns, stripes, and the dainty way he walks.

We saw a lot of birds too. We saw an African fish eagle many times, looking over the land like he owned it. 

 

We saw a water thick knee and a woolly necked stork, but the African hoopoe and the white-fronted bee-eater were the most beautiful.  We stopped the car to watch a dung beetle roll its prize across the road and found an enormous land snail sliming his way along.

 

   

And that about sums it up. I can only think of one more thing to say; the animals were everywhere and I had an exciting time.

Emily (and Dad)

Passage from Madagascar to South Africa

We left Madagascar from Baly Bay, just north of Cap Saint Andre, on October 13 and arrived in South Africa at Richards Bay on October 20. We had several anchoring spots on the Mozambique coast researched and plotted since most boats are not lucky enough to get a weather window long enough to make the entire trip non-stop. The planned passage covered 1113 miles in seven days. Here are more details about our planning and experiences:

Planning the Mozambique Channel Crossing

Cyclones became a slight threat in northern Madagascar in November. South Africa was warming in the southern hemisphere Spring season and temperatures there were becoming more suitable for us. Some cruising boats made the crossing a month or two earlier and they encountered chilly air and somewhat stormy conditions. Jimmy Cornell's "World Cruising Routes" says the best time to go down this channel is October-November. Some South African cruisers also recommended leaving in November. We decided to leave Madagascar early before any chance for a cyclone.

The Agulhas Current is famous for its strength and for the tremendous waves which can be produced by winds blowing from the south against it. This current becomes important south of Madagascar's latitude, near the end of the passage to South Africa. Directly west of Madagascar a fairly weak current of 1-2 knots runs northward along the Madagascar side of the channel while the Mozambique Current of 1-3 knots runs southward near the African coast. Large ships apparently take advantage of these currents by traveling north on the Madagascar side and south on the African side. 

Some cruisers chose to work slowly down the Madagascar coast against the current as far south as Tulear but there were few secure anchorages south of Cap Saint Andre and we did not see any advantage in that route. We felt the best course was to sail west from Cap Saint Andre until we passed north of Juan de Nova Island where we hoped to enjoy the south-flowing Mozambique Current and then ride that down towards South Africa.

Typical winds along the Madagascar west coast were easterly in the mornings, westerly in the afternoons and seldom strong. This made for delightful coastal motoring in almost flat water. This wind pattern extended out into the Mozambique Channel and affected boats trying to sail the rhumb line from Cap Saint Andre to Richards Bay. The combination of light and variable breezes plus a slight northerly current resulted in very slow progress for some of those sailing boats. The two sailboats that left with us had very slow going and were forced to stop in Mozambique and wait.  We had a forecast of several days of light northerly winds when we started across the channel and we enjoyed flat water for the first 4 or 5 days towards Africa. Tropical latitudes usually do not have strong winds (excepting squalls and cyclones) so we had no worries about winds in the northern part of the Mozambique Channel. Below the Tropic of Capricorn the winds were often stronger. Low and high pressure systems constantly moving from west to east across southern Africa seemed to spawn fronts which swept up the channel about once per week. Most important to avoid were strong southerly winds blowing against the strong Agulhas Current.

Weather Forecasts

We seldom bothered with weather forecasts while cruising along Madagascar's northwest coast. Winds there were almost always light, usually blew from the land in the morning and towards the land in the afternoon, and waves were never large. When we needed forecasts for the crossing to South Africa we obtained GRIB files through Airmail and listened to SSB nets hosted by volunteers in South Africa. The passage from Cap Saint Andre to Richards Bay was over 1000 nautical miles. Extended weather forecasts for a week or more in the future were not accurate enough to insure good weather for the last part of the passage, the part where wind strength and direction was most critical for cruising boats. The best we could do was leave with what appeared to be a good "weather window" and be prepared to duck into emergency anchorages in Mozambique if the forecast changed.

The most-used SSB weather net was "Peri-Peri" on 8101 khz at 07:00 and 17:00 South African time (GMT + 2). The net controllers used BuoyWeather to get forecasts for the locations of calling boats. Another valuable net was the South African Maritime Mobile Net hosted by Graeme on 14316 khz at 8:30 and 13:30 South African time but we never heard him with our lousy radio.  We seldom called but often listened and found the Peri-Peri net very useful. We were very grateful to the dedicated South African volunteers who made sure weather information was available to cruising boats every day.

Madagascar to Africa

We raised anchor in Baly Bay and left Madagascar at 3AM the morning of October 13. Lovina and Daemon were going to wait for first light and be 3 hours behind us. The wind was a light, as usual, and we headed out into deep water before turning west. Along the coast we were bid a final farewell.

By midnight we were about 30 miles directly north of Cap Saint Andre and had already landed a 1 meter long Spanish mackerel and had enough fish for our passage.  

Alternator Troubles

Unfortunately, a gremlin returned with our main engine 200 amp alternator and once the batteries were full, the alternator output started pulsing.  I have a meter on my main electrical panel that shows the alternator output and I could watch it swing back and forth from 100 amps to 0 amps.  I suspected that it was a failure of the “sensing” wire between the alternator and the batteries but had no desire to spend extended time in the 130 degree engine room.  We also carry a complete spare alternator, but changing that underway was similarly not desirable.

Although this condition was worrying, it was not critical since the batteries were remaining fully charged.  The main concern was that these large current fluctuations were creating a lot of interference in my SSB radio and I could barely hear any boats or weather nets more than about 200 miles away.  Since my generator starting battery is completely separated from the house and engine batteries, I ran some temporary wires from the radio to the generator battery but saw no noticeable improvement.  Ultimately, we were unable to get any weather GRIBs or send in position reports during this passage. We figured that we could still talk to other cruising boats and would be able to hear the African nets as we neared Mozambique.

Over the first two days we made steady progress and were able to speak daily on the SSB with Lovina and Daemon. We still had not found the helpful Mozambique Current, but we also had no adverse current and we kept on moving.  We were visited by leaping dolphins and humpback whales and we fell into passagemaking mode.  Emily even did a regular watch after dinner until 9PM to shorten Kim’s normal watch.

Lovina and Daemon could not find good wind so they headed more westward and we slowly drifted apart and after 4 days we could not hear them anymore.  We crossed the Tropic of Capricorn and continued southwest looking for helpful current. Two boats, Mojombo and Cats Paw, had left two days before us and as we caught up to them, we started communicating with them on the SSB.  They had good radios and verbally relayed weather reports, and we all decided to push non-stop to Richards Bay.  We passed our safe anchorages on the Mozambique coast and still had not found the Agulhas Current 60 miles off the coast.

Dirty Fuel

We had taken on almost twenty 55 gallon drums of fuel in Madagascar over our stay there and even though we had filtered it all, Tom noticed the vacuum gage on the primary engine filter steadily rising (indicating the engine working harder to suck through the dirty filter).  We do have two filters installed and simply changing two valves, we switched over to a clean filter and all was well for a few hours.  This secondary filter housing, however, must have a small air leak and we were getting air into the fuel that would cause the engine speed to surge as the air moved through the engine.  Tom managed to remove the old dirty filter, install a new one with the engine running in the 130 degree engine room in record time.  Unfortunately, enough air got into the fuel line and the main engine died.  The seas were relatively calm still, so Tom managed to re-prime the main engine and get her running again quickly.  He still carries a burn on his priming finger from the hot metal pumping handle on the engine-mounted priming lever!

Finally just south of Caldiera Island and only 20 miles from the coast, we started to fly.  Most of the next 2 days we had more than two knots of current and had speeds over ground of 7, 8 and 9 knots.  Emily had fun watching our boat speed go past 10 knots as we surfed down some of the steeper following seas.

As we got closer to Richards Bay, the seas got bumpier and more confused although not too big.  The last 20 miles were really bumpy as we had 25 knots of wind on the nose. We snuck ahead of both Mojombo and Cats Paw even though they had left 2 days ahead of us.  

Before entering Richards Bay it was necessary to call Harbor Control on VHF channel 12 (or 16) and ask permission to enter. They controlled movement of large ships in and out of this port. We were told it was the largest coal exporting port in the world, also exported large amounts of aluminum, chrome and wood chips and accounted for over half of all South African shipping. On October 20^th at 11AM, we motored to the International Dock area of the small craft harbor guided by friends on Erica who heard us on the VHF and guided us in.  We did not have long to wait for official clearance. Immigration and Customs officials arrived later that day to quickly clear us into South Africa with three-month visas. It was very nice to deal with professional officials who charged no fees and asked for no "gifts." We then moved into the Tuzi Gazi marina to take care of business, enjoy good Internet and telephone services, and begin our visit in Africa.

We had some outboard motor parts and a new mileage flag from the Nordhavn folks waiting for us at the marina.  Monkeys scampering across the docks gave us a hint that we are not in New England any more…

Tom