Bazaruto, Mozambique To Richards Bay, South Africa.

Thursday 30.08 (Day 1) Bazaruto to Richards Bay, South Africa.

Yesterday I received an email from Des saying:

“Paul,

Confirm low tide 1230 LT  1030 UTC – would give it hour and a half to settle as there is a hell of a lot of water as you are close to springs. Assuming 150nm\day you should be at 28S 32E Sun 2\9 1200UTC which puts you short as Rbay turns S\SW<10 between 0000UTC and 0600UTC Sunday 2\9. This is one of those one day ‘wonders’ as it switches back to NE by Monday 0600UTC. So you either take the whip out and get above 150nm\day or delay departure to Friday and miss the whole event.

If you maintain 170nm\day with 2-3 kts current you will be in before the S comes through on Sunday.

The alternative is to leave Friday first light ( superstitious) with tide still pushing and then stick to 150\nm \day and get in after the S has switched back to NE in Rbay.

Your call

Des

PS you can leave first light tomorrow with pushing tide but would still have to maintain above 150nm\day. High tide tomorrow morning 0545LT”.

I choose his PS option and we lifted anchor this morning at 06:15 and took the safe, but longer, route back north of Bazaruto, but we were against the current and wind, so we motor-sailed against waves of 4 meters. It was a slow process and very bouncy. Now at 10:29 LT, we are still motor-sailing as the wind is almost on the nose. Frustrating, as the forecast was for N-NE wind.

Again we have a very tight schedule as according to Des, Sunday morning a S-SW blow is expected and I am not sure we will be able to arrive Richards Bay before 02:00 LT, as we have 526 NM to cover, meaning an average of 7.3 KN/h, or 175 NM/24 h, which looks doubtful. But if I can find the S flowing current, we might make it in time. In addition, the Grip Files I have downloaded, does not show these S-SW winds before a few days later. So who will be right? At least I am taking the risk.

Aad again the whales were present at the north tip of Bazaruto and much more when we sailed along the east coast of the island. Several swam very close to us and so close that we could hear them breathe. Wonderful, but I have to keep a good look out, as not to hit any.

While waiting at Bazaruto we did a lot of boat jobs. Harry polished most of the SS and did a great job. I got the generator working again, so I could run the water maker. I also filled up with cooling at the engine and tidied up the hall-yards, etc..

As to the provisioning, we did not manage to do more shopping before leaving Madagascar, so we will have to do with whatever there is on board. I am glad I have bought a lot of things like Tuna and Paté in tins. We still have a lot of beers, but the milk is running out. The freezer still have a lot of good meat left and it will be sufficient till South Africa.

Friday 31.08 (Day 2).

Last night was difficult sailing as we had an unexpected strong SSE 17-24 kn wind. The problem was that the wind went against the current, raising steep waves of 3.5 m and as the wind was on the nose I had to use the engine to make any progress and New Dawn got fully washed with salt water. It was like sailing in a washing machine. However, by 21:00 the wind started to moderate and veered more to the S-ESE, which was what the forecast had predicted. I could then roll out the genoa and the speed increase nicely, but soon I had to reef the sails again as the wind freshened.

I tried to get an hour sleep in the saloon, so Harry can call me easily if he need me. My watch started at 00:00 and at 02:15 I had a sleeping whale right next to the boat. This time we did not hit it, but it was very close and I heard its loud breathing only a few meters away. There are still a large amount of whales in the area and along the Mozambique east coast. A bit scary as they sleep on the surface and I doubt they will hear us when we are on sails.

It is problematic to find the east flowing current and I have to experiment to try to find it. So far we have not managed too well to find that current, but I start to understand how it works, namely to be 15-25 NM east of the coastline. At least it seems to be working in this area. But I receive an email from Des, a retired sailor living in South Africa, telling me that a bit further south I should plan to make a straight line across the large bay around Maputo and that the current should be there. If this is correct, parts of my findings are incorrect, as I had expected the current would continue to follow the coast line. We shall see.

As to our timing it does not look good and we don’t seem to get the required daily average NM and if I can’t get a better speed, we will not make it to Richards Bay before the next system arrives early Sunday morning 2.9. I will thus have to consider changing the course for Mauputo anchorage which is 225 NM away, but this will add milage to the trip to Richards Bay, which is now 399 NM away.

At sunrise it was amazing to see so many whales. Some stuck their tail out of the water and banged it on the water surface. Does this give the whale family the morning call to wake up and start breakfast?

The wind has settled to 14-17 kn from E, which is good and I rolled out almost completely both sails, but kept 2 reefs in them both. The waves are more manageable in these conditions. The first 24 h we have covered 146 NM and had 377 NM to go. I still doubt we can make Richards Bay in time and I hope the forecast will become more favourable to give us more time.

We had a beautiful sunrise and it started to warm us again, but during the night we wear long pants and jumpers, as well as socks.

Again today the wind became variable and we had to use the engine, but finally by 17:30 the wind returned and came from NE at 14 kn. Thus I rolled out the sails and we are making 6.8-7.5 SOG at 216° COG with a nice south setting current of 1.1-1.3 kn. No waves yet to slow us down, so at dinner we had great sailing conditions again.

Harry cooked a nice rice and bacon dish. He insist on cooking all the meals and I don’t protest.

Again we have had a huge amount of whales around us all PM and again they are jumping and turn all the time. We have tried to photo and film them, but they appear to be camera shy and stop performing as soon as we show them the cameras. No seriously, they are usually too far away to get a good shot and also when they jump out of the water, my camera is too slow and only capture their return splash and no whale on the photos. I am now trying to video them, but so far no luck.

We have in 36 hours sailed 227 NM and have 299 NM to go. The forecast looks to me to be OK for the coming days, but Des have warned that the blow will arrive Sunday morning and we will not be able to find any shelter before it arrives. He might have better information than what I can download, so I have emailed him several times during the last 24 hours, but have had no answer. I hope he will reply by tomorrow morning Saturday, but I start to doubt he has better information than me, so I will use my data if he does not answer in time.

Tomorrow we will be in September and I have been on board for eight months, visited eight countries, including South Africa and sailed over 6.000 NM.

It continues to get cooler each day and the water temperature is now 22°. I am on watch just now and am wearing long pants, jumper and socks, which is the first time since I left Luxembourg early January.

Sunday 2.9 (Day 4).

Too busy to write anything yesterday, Saturday.

It is now 08:30 and we are 6.9 NM from the entrance to Richards Bay Harbour. We have had a difficult night and a difficult passage, but  managed to sail the 526 NM in 3 days and 4 hours, which is a good and fast passage. Our daily mileage are 149, 164 and 192 NM.

There continue to be whales all around us and I might have managed this morning to video one, although it was a bit far away, but it is difficult to get them into my camera (sic). One dived only 20 meters in front of us and I feared we would hit it with the keel. Another one crossed our bow, blew out and dived to SB. Great show again from these whales welcoming us to South Africa.

Outside the harbour wait 15 commercial ships to enter and unload/load cargo. We entered the international dock at 10:00 and we are finally standing still and in a protected harbour. 

 Harry came with these nice glasses.

 New Dawn in Richards Bay Harbour.