July 16 - Safe arrival in Richards Bay

We arrived in Richards Bay after a fast trip down from Maputo. All's well, and we're already cleared in. More later.

July 13 - Inhaca

Pos: S25deg57.639min/ E032deg58.586min. We motorsailed around to Inhaca, anchoring at low tide in 16' water with a 3 meter tidal range. For those following us, we used the following wpts to go across the shallows: wpt S25deg52.3050min/ E032deg53.3977min to wpt S25deg53.3458min/ E032deg55.7950min. We saw nothing below 29'; but depth will depend on the state of the tide when transit occurs. Our charts were way off, sandbars change over time, and there was a bit of guesswork involved, but no drama. There's protection here from the southerlies, and we're staging to head south when the expected northerlies come thru early Tuesday. All's well aboard.
Pic: Anchorage off Cape Inhaca. Good in S & SW winds.

July 12 - Isla Portugueses, Cape Inhaca

Pos: S25deg58.844min/ E032deg54.135min. We had a cloudless day and night, but the wind dropped to variable and we had to motorsail about 10 hours. The north wind of 20-25 knots finally came up at 0200 this morning, the Perkins went to sleep, and we had a double reefed main and partial jib out, purposely limiting our speed to about 6-6.5 knots to ensure a daytime arrival in Inhaca, which is just outside Maputo. We then did a bit of exploring and anchored behind (alongside) Is. Portugueses with good protection from the expected 30 (read 35...) knot northerly wind expected later today. We'll be here a few days waiting for favorable weather for our next stop, Richards Bay.

July 11 - Boisterous day and night

Pos: S24deg51min/ E035deg00min. We departed Inhambane and had strong southerlies all day and night of 25-30 knots, with higher gusts. We short tacked down the coastline, staying 2.5-8 mi offshore. Rough weather; heavy seas, and tiring. This morning, the wind has moderated a bit, but we don't have a sustained weather window to get to Richards Bay, so will be going to Inhaca (approx S25deg58min E032deg54min), just outside Maputo. There's good protection from north or south winds there in two different spots, and we plan arrival tomorrow morning. All's well aboard.

July 7 - Inhambane

Pos: S23deg46.9min/ E035deg31.2min. We flew south last night at 7.5-8.5 knots; a smooth ride. This morning we were 20 mi south of Inhambane, analyzed the morning weather forecast, and decided to turn back. Fortunately, the steady 25-30 knots south wind was on our stern, but seas were rough and it would not have been pretty out there. Inhambane offers good protection from those S-SW winds, so we'll stay here until things moderate. Today we also saw about a dozen whales up close and personal. Tail flaps, fin waves, breaching....all close. At one point I looked over the port side of the boat and a large whale was right there, about 4 feet away. Fortunately, he was parallel to us, but when we went by he turned around and followed us; kind of gets the adrenalin going. We're a bit tired, otherwise, all's well aboard.
We watched the fishing boats come and go in all types of weather while anchored here off Barrow Pt., Inhambane

July 5 - Change of plans

Pos: S21deg49.353min E035deg22.501min. We were motoring this morning and couldn't hear the SAMM net, missing the weather. I had emailed Sam our position, but also checked in to the afternoon net with him and got an updataed weather forecast (which he was kind enough to email to me also). Fortunately, the low pressure system coming up to Durban has moderated and wobbled off a bit, bringing us a completely new forecast to head south. So, instead of spending 4-5 days here in Bazaruto, we moved down island to stage for departure tomorrow morning thru a narrow channel that demands good visibility. We dropped anchor at sunset (too late to transit the channel) in 25' water, there are 2 meter tides around here today, and it's an open roadstead; open to the north where the wind's coming from, but no significant swells. The water has been crystal clear and the shallows easy to spot. Some of the nearby hills have giant sand dunes on them and it's just a beautiful big bay. It looks like a great place to explore and there are many resorts around.

July 4 - Safe arrival at Bazaruto, Mozambique

Pos: S21deg31.82min/ E035deg24.59min. An anticipated "intensifying low" coming to Durban in a few days helped us make our minds up which direction to sail. Those lows pack strong winds and severe seas, so it didn't take too much mental strain to decide to hide out in Bazaruto. We arrived at 2300 tonight and anchored in 33' sand. Up to today's weather forecast, we had considered going further south to Maputo, which is two days north of Richards Bay, but it would have taken us too long to get there and the weather would have started changing before our arrival. It will still take a few days for the high winds to get this far north, so it would appear we'll be here for 5-6 days waiting for decent weather to head south. This has been a slow trip, but noteworthy for making decent enough speeds in very light winds. And, get ready...not motoring! Save that diesel! The other thing is that we're here safely, Infini is in great shape, no problems encountered, and we'll have a chance to rest up. A dual celebration on July 4th!

July 3 - A very special sunset

Pos: S20deg00.2min/ E037deg18.4min. We've had slow going these last few days with winds from 4-15 knots. Boat speed has ranged from 1.0-6.5 knots, but we've seen the Mozambique Channel at its best behavior; flat seas and calm winds. Our present destination is Bazaruto, an area of small, low islets and sandbars on the coast of Mozambique, at S21deg28.9min/ E035deg27.6min. Unfortunately, the Navionics and paper charts are not accurate, although we use CM93 and Garmin charts as well. We'll anchor to have shelter from an expected SW blow coming our way in the next few days which will kick up high winds against the Agulhas current, and waves that we don't want any part of. Tonight, at sunset, I saw my first "green flash," an atmospheric phenomenon which produces an emerald green color just as the sun falls below the horizon on the water. Sue's seen it two times before, and we happened to be watching sunset together this evening. How special is that! We're about 70nm away from the coast and all's well. Also, Happy July 4th everyone! Btw, it's been very difficult to connect to SailMail or Winlink stations, but we'll keep trying.
Pic: The sunset from last night...