Nov 13 - Happy Birthday, Matt!

We had a wonderful birthday celebration, but first some other details. When we first arrived, we had anchored near Leu Cat in front of the bridge nearby the Buffalo River Yacht Club. Holding is in thick black mud, but we, and Leu Cat, dragged anchor when a frontal system roared thru with winds topping 40 knots, and we both decided to check out the fore and aft mooring system found directly in front of the YC, alongside of us. By dinghy, we helped each other get our lines sorted and tied to the large orange can buoys fore and aft, and we're now in-line, fore and aft of each other. The buoys are rented from the YC at 50 ZAR/day, and as there is a strong weather system arriving tomorrow, we're more secure and comfortable on these YC maintained moorings. Winds are expected in the 40-50 knot range, for 2 days straight - Yikes! Btw, for those arriving here, a flight plan must be filed with the Port Police as well as Port Control. The Port Police have a one page form to fill out and hand in, but you may email same form to Port Control at portcontrol.portcontrol@transnet.net. OK, moving along to the afternoon...Dave was kind enough to pick us up by dinghy and the five of us had a really nice birthday dinner at Footprints Restaurant at Latimers Landing, about 100 yards away from our moored boats. Finding a spot to tie up the dinghy is a challenge but Dave had reconnoitered the area, and we tied up to a small, private dock and walked up the short ramp to Footprints. The food and presentation was good, and we can recommend this restaurant to others. After dinner, we watched another episode of "Game of Thrones." And to think, we had never even heard of that series (books and HBO TV) before our arrival in Richards Bay! So, Matt enjoyed a unique spot for a birthday celebration, a far cry from Orlando!

Nov 12 - East London

Pos: S33deg01.425min/ E027deg53.854min. The weather window was a very narrow one. We had two days to get into East London before gale force winds from the SW were forecast to arrive at 1800 UTC Nov 12 enroute and covering much of the coast around here. Note to self: next time, dive the propeller to ensure there's no growth; motoring out of Durban at 1630 hours was painfully slow; 3-4 knots. We had 260 miles to East London and several times discussed turning back to the harbor basin in Durban. I had spent hours, along with Dave from Leu Cat, filing a "flight plan," and visiting the marina office, Immigration and Customs. The thought of doing it all for naught, and having to go thru the same rigamarole again wasn't very enticing. Of course, a slow passage south along with weather warnings from Cape Town Radio just accentuated our discomfort. We called Leu Cat at 2200 on VHF. We were doing our 3.5 knots; they were doing 6.7 knots. Talk about getting more depressed by the minute... We were further offshore than they were; maybe they had found the Agulhas current ?; we certainly hadn't. Also, the expected shift in the wind to the NE at 2200 hours never materialized; it was 0230 before it filled in. Up to that time it was SE at about 15 knots, and we beat into it with the motor on. But, when it did turn NE, it came on strong. Wind in the 20's-30's was the norm all night; occasionally higher gusts got our attention also. We were running dead downwind, had a double reef in the main and the pole to windward, and had to do multiple gybes thru out the night. Our speed was consistently around 8-9+ knots, with the highest speed we noted 10.4 knots. The Agulhas current helped a bunch! It was becoming apparent that if we could maintain those speeds, making port before the SW'er hit wouldn't be a problem. And so it went. We entered East London and dropped anchor at 1030 hours, very happy to be here before the weather turned. We're all tired, but Infini and crew are doing well.
Pic: M & M putting up the storm staysail on the inner forestay. This was our weather most of the trip. Thank goodness the wind was from behind. We maintained 8 knots speed under bare poles for awhile, when we had a batten come loose trying to put a third reef in the main. We kept the main down for the remainder of the trip. We can see why they've given the name 'wild coast' to this stretch.

Nov 8 - Durban

The overnight passage from Richards Bay to Durban had a few minor hiccups, but hey, we hadn't been sailing for almost four months, since our arrival in Richards Bay way back in July. What can you expect? The weather window wasn't ideal, but I wanted light winds to get acclimated once again to being aboard, as well as give us some prep time for the expected somewhat heavier winds (20-25 knots) which were forecast to develop around Durban, just in time for our arrival. Well, the winds did indeed stay light, flukey and inconsistent, but at least we didn't get too much of the heavy rain and lightning we saw in the distance. In other words, we ended up motor-sailing most of the way, but, on the positive side, had a mid-morning arrival at the dock here in Durban and all is well. We checked in with the marina office, found out there is no reciprocity with yacht club membership elsewhere, signed a few forms with Immigration, and then moved Infini by squeezing her with a shoe horn into an available slip that will take a very calm day to get out of due to the proximity of other boats around her. One of the members of the Point Yacht Club, Bob Fraser, came over to introduce himself and invite us for a beer, so being the naturally courteous cruisers that we are, we took advantage of his kind offer, also dragging along our dear friend Gaye, who lives nearby in Mt. Edgecombe who had come down to welcome us back to her home turf. The PYC has the internet, showers, bars and restaurant areas the yachties use, so Bob's intervention was most timely and appreciated. Btw, we're berthed alongside Solar Planet (and a big thanks for their help with our dock lines!); Leu Cat is a stone's throw away, Rhythm is nearby, and some friends of ours we haven't seen for a while aboard Alumni are several berths away.
Pic: A landmark coming into Durban; the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Nov 5 - Preparation for departure

We've been here at the Zululand Yacht Club since July, and it's now time to head south towards Cape Town. There's lots of little details to take care of, a few amongst them: provisioning, filling the FW tanks, running the Perkins, doing the laundry, closing out our local chandlary account, washing the deck and cockpit, ensuring the windlass works properly, and filling out a "flight plan," which here, in Richards Bay, means making sure all bills are paid at the marina or yacht club you're at, ensuring all vendors are paid in full, and visiting Immigration, Customs and the Port Police. Their respective stamps go on a four page form, the aforementioned "flight plan," which then allows you to depart the port and go towards your chosen destination. In our case, we'll be using a short weather window to head to Durban, with plans to wait there until the weather once again turns favorable to head further south.
Pic: Matt playing a ball game with the crews from Gromit and Eros.

Nov 1 - Game parks

This past week we took a road trip to Hluhluwe-iMfolozi and Kruger National Parks. The animal encounters were first-rate, up-close and personal. The picture of this male lion was taken as he was lounging with two other males about 30 feet away from us! They were one of several lion sightings we had. There were also herds of elephants crossing the road directly in front of us, as well as a large herd of (we approximate) 500-800 cape buffalo which stopped traffic for about 30 minutes! The giraffes, zebras, and impala were kind enough to scamper across and not hold us up! We also saw white and black rhino, hippos, wildebeest, spotted hyena, wild dog, warthog, nyala, eland and kudu. Of birds, we spotted the lilac-breasted roller, magpie shrikes, crowned hornbills, weavers, African fish eagles, the tawny eagle, and the rare Verreaux eagle. These lists are not inclusive; the wildlife and birds were awesome! Sue enjoyed using our new Canon Power Shot SX50 HS camera, and has posted a Picasa album of our trip. Enjoy!

Oct 24 - Update

Sue arrived last night with her two bags, so we have a full complement of crew. We're planning an excursion to several game parks next week and will update accordingly. The front that brought 50+ knot winds, 10 meter waves and heavy rain has passed, and the weather is delightful. With that change in conditions, we're expecting lots of other international boats to arrive here soon from Mozambique.

Oct 19 - Back aboard

What a time. Today I picked up my lost baggage, full of boat parts, at the Richards Bay Airport, four days after my arrival. If any of you have ever had lost, stolen, or misplaced baggage, you have my sincere sympathy. It has been the most frustrating experience I've encountered in quite some time, and hope to never go thru anything like this again. I'll spare the ugly details, but let's just say we won't fly Qatar Airways ever again. At any rate, it feels good to be back aboard. Our son, Matt, has joined us, and he's unpacked to the starboard V-berth, although night off-watches are always in the salon anyway. Yesterday, he kite-boarded at Pelican Island, his first experience kiting in South Africa. He's off again as I write this, but I had too much unpacking and organizing to do to join him. Pictures of his kiting experience may be found at http://www.sailingalong.org. This morning we re-rove the halyards, replacing the chase lines. The sheets and furling line have been placed. The mainsail has been bent on and we still have the Yankee jib to hoist. There are lots of jobs to do before we go off exploring the game parks again, but things are definitely looking up. As an aside, lots of other international boats have arrived while we've been gone, and it's been good to meet old friends and make new ones. We've rented a car for a bit, so mobility has improved and we're getting around like locals...well, sort of!

Oct 8 - Back in form!

This blog is back to the way it should appear, thanks to our Godson, Joseph, and his team of IT folks. Thanks, Joe, and it was great seeing you! Contact details for anyone needing IT help or website design: DuronMedia 219-916-8003 www.duronmedia.com