svbeachhouse

Category: By Date Blog

  • Knysna to Simon\’s Town, Around Cape Agulhas – End Book Two…..

    Knysna to Simon\’s Town, Around Cape Aghulhas – End Book Two…..

    16 February – 17 February, 2013 As the \”Heads\” had such a bad nautical reputation and our next weather window would be blustery, we again planned our exit cautiously. This time, prepared from Cousin Gill that the \”heads\” had a web cam, we sent out a blog to several of our close followers to watch at 7:30 a.m as we\’d be leaving the heads for Simon\’s Town. Indeed, I was able to send out a quick email just before we departed and several people (including Gill and David), sent us screen shots from there computers and telephones of \”Beach House\” departing the heads. That was cool!

    The exit was no worry as we again left at high slack water. The swell was up to 3 meters (9-10 feet). The winds were not up yet, but we expected a very breezy passage with winds up to 30+ knot gusts from astern. After a few hours of motoring, the Southeasterly began to increase. We had a nice look at Wilderness and Mossel Bay in the distance and by dark, the winds were a blowin\’….! The \”breeze\” was a constant 25 knots with many gusts into the low/mid 30\’s. The swell was a constant 3 meters and the odd 4 meter (12-13 door) swell would go by. The big deal here was all the ship traffic.

    Once we were in the vicinity of Cape Agulhas, we had constant \”heavy metal\” (big ship) traffic. I was a bit surprised when I hailed one \”thousand footer\” and the deck officer came back with a lovely feminine voice! Not unheard of, but unusual. I asked if she saw us as she was overtaking us from astern very quickly and coming right at us. She said she did and would alter course to starboard (her right), to leave us on her port (left side). This indeed she did, but if it had been daytime, I could have asked her if she had any \”Grey Poupon\” she was so close. Complicating matters was the other \”thousand footer\” on our port side who was fortunately a bit further away. It did indeed feel like a freeway out there and on Alexandra\’s watch, she felt one ship was too close and woke me to decide what to do. Thank You Alexandra!

    No drama\’s or trauma\’s were had, but the big sea and wind kept a blowin\’. We made excellent time and passed Cape Agulhas, (The Southern most tip of the African Continent) at around 0500 on 17 February. I said a prayer for Cindy as we rounded. She and I always sang \”Lighthouse\” by James Taylor (which I of course played on the IPOD). If you\’ve never heard the song, give it a listen. It said a lot about who we were and what we were doing; dreaming safe at home in Marina del Rey…..

    Now another of the Earth\’s three great oceans behind us. The Pacific, The Indian and now the Atlantic before us……

    Once around the Cape, we were able to head more northwesterly toward Simon\’s Town. Simon\’s Town is a small old British Navy town only 30 minutes by car but an entire day\’s sail away from Cape Town. We gybed at first light and on starboard tack, headed fast for the barn. We knew it would take most of the day to get there, but at least the big ships were starting to head around Cape Point and the Cape of Good Hope (more famous than Agulhas). We sailed till we entered False Bay and a bit past the very wide entrance where we began to see lots of Sea Lions. The water temperature had dropped over 7 degrees F (4 degees C) since our rounding of Agulhas. Agulhas is where the Agulhas Current (warm) meets the Benguela Current (cold) which runs north along the West African Coast. All the marine life would now change. False Bay is home to the \”Flying White Sharks\”. This is a most unusual place as the Great White Sharks accelerate from below lazy/sleeping Sea Lions and literally fly out of the water attacking their prey. We did not witness this, but it is well documented if you google \”Flying White Sharks of False Bay\”. Lots of still photos and YOU TUBE Videos about it.

    As we arrived, the winds were blowing 35 knots. Fortunately, as we came around the corner into the marina, it dropped to 13 knots! What a difference. We were met by quite a docking committee of cruisers who were expecting us thanks to an email sent by Dave and Kathie of \”Sunflower\” (whose boat was also there, but they were touring the countryside). We quickly found out that False Bay Yacht Club was another \”surg-o-rama\” marina. In fact, it would be the worst ever; destroying at least two dock lines.

    False Bay is where we\’ll do some touring and have our planned crew change. Alexandra will be flying back to the UK for work and other sailing adventures. Nikki will be re-arriving in South Africa soon where she was attending sad family business…. This was in effect, the end of \”Book Two\” of the planned trilogy of Scott and Cindy. Book One was the Pacific Ocean. Book Two the Indian Ocean. Book Three begins soon, the Atlantic before us. Lastly, the Epilogue and journeys end…….

    Hugs,

    KIT Scott and Alexandra (Next – touring Simon\’s Town and Cape Town)……

  • Knysna……..

    Knysna…..

    12 February – 15 February, 2013

    We left Port Elizabeth with lovely Southeasterly conditions and after clearing the point, we were soon able to set sail. The trip would be all day, all night with a 7 a.m. arrival to enter the infamous Knysna Heads right before high tide. These \”heads\”, which are two promontories with a very narrow pass are some of the trickiest of the South African ports to enter. Several vessels have been lost here including very experienced locals. I think the biggest problem is in Winter storms and it is Summer here now, but still we must enter cautiously, the heads are not to be trifled with. The predictions were for 2 meter (6 foot swells) and little wind. So as we would be entering at high slack water I wasn\’t too concerned. There is an underwater rock in the entry. It is now well charted and with our daggerboards in shoal draft position, we couldn\’t hit it if I aimed at it. The entry at first light was indeed dramatic, but only as to the scenery. No worries mate! We went along the winding channel getting a luscious view of all the very expensatanium real estate. There is Thiesen and Leisure Islands, high bluffs, great views and a most beautiful setting.

    As it turns out, my cousins David and Gill Block used to have a house here! Gill is from South Africa. I had emailed her and asked about recommendations for things to do here. One of the things she said we should do was, \”take a boat out the heads. They\’re beautiful but very dangerous\”. I reminded her I would be sailing THROUGH the heads in less than 18 hours!….:-)  Gill also noted that there was a webcam at the heads (in a follow up email) and that I should let her know when we would be leaving so she and David could see if they could see us. More on this in the next blog.

    After we checked in with the Knysna Yacht Club, we were told we\’d have to anchor out as the marina was full and their guest dock was \”just that\”. It\’s very shallow in the lagoon and we were in mostly 2 meters of water (6 feet). The current is very strong as the water flows through the narrow \”heads\”; the width of which is about 200 feet at most. The boat swung with the tide and if against the wind, it could be a bit uncomfy. Overall, it was okay. > After we got settled, we walked around town which was very touristy, but lovely. There was a nice art gallery there and Alexandra particularly enjoyed it.

    The next day, we hired a car and drove to Plettenburg Bay and Buffles (Buffaloe) Bay. Plettenburg was not overly interesting, but Buffles Bay was quite nice. We \”did lunch\”. The following day, we drove to Mossel Bay and stopped at a small beach town called Wilderness which was a highlight. We found a really nice restaurant here called \”Salinas\” and walked along the beach looking at the very very expensive large beach houses on the cliffs. Most of them were almost \”B&B\’s\” or for rental. These were by and large huge homes, perhaps 4-6,000 square feet (350-425 square meters). The owner of the restaurant was of Italian descent and born in Kenya. Welcome to diverse South Africa! The food was great, the area a bit of magic. Alexandra kept raving about \”Wilderness\”.

    We had a nice dinner at \”Sirocco\” on Thiessen Island.  This is where we first had a bottle of wine from the \”Hillock Vinyard\”. (More on this when I blog about Nikki and my trip around the Western Cape).

    The next day, we\’d be off for Alex\’s final leg, from Knysna to Simon\’s Town going around one of the world\’s \”great capes\”; Cape Agulhas. Cape Agulhas is the southern tip of the African continent and where the Indian and Atlantic Oceans meet.

    Standby, more to come. KIT,

    Scott with Alexandra

  • Port Elizabeth………

    Port Elizabeth to Knysna…..

    09 February – 12 February, 2013

    We pulled into Algoa Bay Yacht Club in Port Elizabeth late in afternoon and luckily were able to get a slip assignment before the dock master left for the day. First of all, the docks here were extremely surgey. Worse, they were lined with rusty metal facing the boat edgewise. If you touched the sides, a big gash would be guaranteed. Surgey docks are never fun as you feel like you\’re doing a smash dance. Having a dull razor blade aimed at us, all the more distressing.

    The more interesting story was when we woke up the next morning. A very smallish German woman came up to us and told us we were in a private slip. That we should pay her as the representative of the owner who would otherwise never receive any money from the yacht club. She explained there was local politics going on and this would be the best way to handle it…..NOT (thought I).

    The next day, Alexandra and I returned from getting supplies and had several jerry cans of fuel with us. As soon as I came aboard, she confronted us asking if we now intended to leave and not pay the slip fee! I told her that we would be staying several days and that I would work out the slip arrangements with the Yacht Club on Monday (it was Sunday), and I wished to stay out of it. We\’d been assigned the slip by their dock master, etc. She proceeded to get very \”huffy\”. I asked for the owner of the slips phone number to explain that I understood all politics are local, but leave me out of it. She did indeed give me his phone number and I called. \”Mr. Davis\” as it turned out, was very nice on the phone. He did not know his friend would be trying to intervene on his behalf. I asked him to please call the Yacht Club on Monday and get their arrangements straightened out. He said he would call. His friend came by again. I\’m a bit large, she was a bit small. I shooed her away with glares and stares. She complied…..:-)

    The next day, I informed the Yacht Club of the situation. They were needless to say a bit perturbed at the \”local\” trying to get involved. We paid the Yacht Club the fee. Now get this…. We\’re talking 10.00 USD/day. You\’d of thought from the way we were approached by Ms. Local, we were trying to abscond with the proceeds from the local church.

    Welcome to boating around the world…….:-)

    The next day, Alex and I hired a car and drove to Cape St. Francis and Jeffery\’s Bay. These were the legendary surf spots from the 1960\’s cult surfing film, \”The Endless Summer\”. Cape St. Francis was touted to have, \”The Perfect Wave.\” It was a lovely drive and a pretty cool place to watch the warm Indian Ocean peel off some nice waves. Jeffery\’s Bay was featured in the follow up film of about 10 years ago, \”Step Into Liquid\”. Both films are cool viewing if you\’re of a mind.

    The following day, we drove on recommendation to Ado Elephant Park about an hour north of Port Elizabeth. It\’s a very mini Kruger Park; part of the South African National Park system. At first, it was just a nice drive. Then, we got to see four or five elephants and finally a large male lion just sleeping on the side of the road. The thing about lions is, you don\’t realize how big they are till you\’re right next to them. I was (IN THE CAR), about 10-15 feet away. He was completely disinterested, but wow, was he big.

    All good things must come to an end and as the weather window for our next coastal hop was arriving, we did some shopping and got some more fuel preparing to head off to Knysna, our next stop and pro-ported to be one of the more spectacular locations along the South African coast. Standby!

    Scott with Alexandra

  • Richards Bay to Port Elizabeth with stop in Durban…..

    Richards Bay to Durban, South Africa…..

    02 February – 08 February 2013

    Alexandra and I had just had a lovely time exploring the Thorny Bush Game park near Kruger National Park in northeast South Africa. Included was a spectacularly scenic drive near Nelspruit, just west of Swaziland. The game park was terrific with sightings of all the \”Big 5\”. Elephants, Cape Buffalo, Lion, Rhinoceros and Leopard. (We got to see a Cheetah too!). If you want to see an amazing YOU TUBE video, google \”Battle at Kruger\”. I won\’t swear to this link, but give it a try. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM This was shot in 2010 by tourists.It\’s 8 minutes long and don\’t leave till the very end. It will give you a feel for what we saw, but without the dramatics of the video.

    The drive back through Swaziland (an independent nation), had the scenic highlights of \”God\’s Window\” and more dramatic vistas. It was time to start moving toward Cape Town and to that end, after the usual provisioning and boat projects, we left Richards Bay at 3:30 a.m. to make the long day trip to Durban.

    When we left, it was pitch black and we had a short period 2.5 meter (8 foot) swell running which made our first several hours quite bumpy and uncomfortable. The good news was that we got to sail for several hours and Alex quickly adapted with a big sailing smile as we were going through the miles on a nice port tack beam reach with the geneker and full main. We entered Durban Harbor around 3:30 pm and were fortunately able to get a slip where we settled in nicely at the Point Yacht Club.

    Durban (Downtown) is a bit dodgy as to crime, etc. and we were warned to be cautious. We actually walked to Customs/Immigration/Port Authority (which was fine), but then continued on to see the Aquarium. We were actually stopped by a local who warned us to move out of the area as it wasn\’t safe. NOTED! We took the taxi back whose driver laughed at us for being not too smart for where we were walking about. Parts of Durban (outskirts) are lovely and very nice; \”Downtown\”, not so much.

    The next day we took the taxi to the Aquarium (it was closed when we arrived yesterday) and enjoyed the afternoon watching the dolphin show and seeing the \”big fish\” in their tank. Monterey it\’s not, but it was quite nice. We also saw a big 50 foot monohull that limped in coming up from the south. He had an accidental gybe in a big gust and broke his boom. One of the crew had a badly cut hand, but seemed that all would recover. They were on a delivery up from Knysna; one of our planned stops.

    We were getting a bit noodgie as to moving on and with a seemingly \”ok\” weather window, would be off the next day on the 6th of February. The weather reports in this part of the world are pretty accurate as to direction and timing of the wind and sea. BUT awful as to the strength of the wind. If it says 5 knots, it could be……or 30 knots…ummm!

    We left with a predicted 10-15 knot norther which turned out to be 25+. This should have been my first clue! The day was decent, a bit bumpy and we were sailing off on the 3 day, 2 night passage to Port Elizabeth. That night, the winds went down, the sea went down and we thought a lovely motor with the strong Agulhas Current would be an okay way to fly. Then the LIGHTENING started. At first, it was behind us and not gaining. It moved north as we headed south. Then, on Alex\’s off watch. I started to see lightening on the bow about 5 miles ahead. Shortly thereafter, it started bolting down in front of us. First a mile off to port, then a half mile dead ahead, then a quarter mile off the right side, Then back in front of us and finally – WHAM! About 200 yards off our port beam (left – middle for you land lubbers), we had a strike. The wind instruments died, the AIS died, the bilge alarms went off and the sound was not only deafening, but you could feel the air shock from the hit. Alex quickly came up from her cabin and it started to POUR LIKE CRAZY. Then the outside/helm auto pilot went down. We took a deep breath and turned inshore as what can only be described as a surreal \”Tesla Coil Event\” was going off from cloud to cloud every few seconds. This was less than a few miles away to our seaward (left) side and the show went on for at least 3 hours!

    The final synopsis was: Lightening 1, Autopilot Zero, Wind Instruments came back but slowly would die off over the next few weeks. AIS came back to life. The Bilge Alarms were damaged and will need to be replaced. AMAZINGLY, our chart plotters (Raymarine e-127 and e-125), never went offline and didn\’t seem to care! Needless to say, \”That was exciting\”… but stand by…more to come!

    So the lightening went away…YEA! The wind slowly then died off during the night and we ended up motoring. The next morning, the predicted 5-10 knots from the south became 20-30 knots from the south! YIKES. The danger here is not the wind, but that the Agulhas Current in it\’s fastest area at the fastest time of year was pushing us down the coast (where we wanted to go by the way!!) at 4-7 knots!!! However, the wind and more importantly, the sea was against us. This created not a dangerous situation, but a very uncomfortable situation. Alex made a small offering of pre-digested meal to Neptune and was quickly back in action. Our speed through the water looked dismal. We were only going 1-2 knots. BUT, it was WITH the current so we were actually going 7 knots down the coast. We decided to tough it out and took our lumps for 18 hours. It finally subsided and we motored in flat seas past East London at dusk. A thankfully flat evening and the next day had us at Algoa Bay Yacht Club in Port Elizabeth by 3:30 p.m.

    The really cool thing about the last 50 miles was that we saw our first African Penguins in big groups as we entered the bay to Port Elizabeth along with distant Right Whales and nice weather. More soon,

    Scott with Alexandra (Her \”Deegness\”)…..recovering in Port Elizabeth, Algoa Bay Yacht Club

  • The Journey Begins a new!…..

    01 February 2013 (Eastern Hemisphere) UTC +2

    Dear F&F,

    After some R&R in Santa Barbara and London, I\’ve returned back to South Africa with Alexandra Deegan from the UK who will crew with me from Richard\’s Bay to Cape Town. Once in Cape Town, Alexandra will head back to the UK and Nicola Woodrow will rejoin me for the Atlantic crossing. This leg of the voyage will be approximately 1000 miles and take us from the Indian to the Atlantic Ocean. The highlights will be Durban (where we will be heading off to tomorrow very early), Port Elizabeth, possibly Knysna, Mossell Bay, around Cape Agulhas (the Southern tip of Africa) and into the Simon\’s Town/Cape Town area where we hope to be by the third week of February. Alexandra and I did a lovely private game park called Thorny Bush immediately adjacent to Kruger National Park and a quick one day tour of Swaziland. We saw Elephants, Lions, Rhinoceros, a Cheetah and a Leopard as well as all the usual suspects. It was a terrific experience. Again…photos…one day!…:-) Hopefully Nikki and I will have an opportunity to do a similar experience once in Cape Town. But for now….stay tuned as we\’re off again…..heading to Durban tomorrow!… Scott with Alexandra!

  • The Wind is in from Africa…..

    The wind is in from Africa….. (Joni Mitchell)

    24 November 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere)

    Dear F&F,

    Well…it\’s been 10,000 miles this season! Wow… Lots to reflect upon.

    We arrived here on the 20th in a blustery Northeaster of 20-25 knots. We did see a 38 knot gust here in the harbor at Richard\’s Bay on the night of the 21st. We\’re all checked in, we have internet and phone. We\’ve gotten the boat in the slip where Beach House will be for a few months while I\’m back in the UK/USA. Nice to be able to go to a restaurant too!

    We\’ve found our \”boat guy\”, Hebron (a local Zulu chap), who works on lots of boats here at Richard\’s Bay. Geoff and Chris from \”Shambala\” highly recommended him.

    I was very lucky. AS A COMPLETE COINCIDENCE, the boat across the dock from me had the fuel polisher guys up from Durban today. They only come a few times per year without huge travel fees. $220.00 US later, I\’m clean and polished down to 1 micron. What a bonus! They are all about installing the \”Algae X\” system. I may consider it. The fuel was black for awhile while being polished. Apparently, in either Indonesia or Nose Be (or both?), the fuel companies added paraffin to the fuel. This saves them money, but causes the fuel to turn brown and is not good for the diesels. It has a much heavier smell to it too. So between the water/dirt/paraffin, this may be my \”power problem\”.

    The fuel guys said it could easily cut performance by the 1/3rd I\’m seeing. The mechanic wants to check my exhausts on Monday. We may go for a boat ride to see if \”Mr. Fuel\” made a difference. I still need the alternator fixed and major oil/filter change. I replace the impellers, belts, etc. \”Sunflower\” got in yesterday noon. And a good thing. It blowing like stink outside right now. This will all be gone when I \”go around\” the 900 miles to Cape Town in Jan/Feb. They say then, that motoring is just as likely as sailing. Apparently, it\’s unusually wet/windy here for this time of year. The sailmaker arrives Monday to take the main and genoa to Durban, they come up here once/week. (Quantum Sails).

    We\’ll be going 1 hour north to Cape St. Lucia where hippos roam the streets! Upscale town too! Then a Hippo/Croc river tour. Don\’t mess with the Hippos or the Cape Buffalo. They kill more people annually than all other animals combined. They are not aggressive and they don\’t eat meat. It\’s a problem only if you threaten them or scare or corner them. A local up in St. Lucia, recently had his leg taken off by a Hippo whom he startled. They really do roam the streets at Cape St. Lucia, especially around dusk.

    After our Monday afternoon and evening at Cape St. Lucia, we\’ll drive to Umfolozi Game Park on Tuesday which has everything in terms of animals in high density except big cats. We can easily do the whole place in one day. It\’s only an hour and 15 minutes from here. We\’ll do Kruger National Park upon return in January. It takes about 3-4 days to do that park. An 8 hours drive each way. It has all the big cats.

    We\’re cleaning and decommissioning…. Happy Thanksgiving to all in the USA!

    KIT, Scott and Naturally Nice Nikki…..:-)

  • A little bit of stress for the end of the ride…..

    A little bit of stress for the end of the ride…..

    19 November 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere now on +2 UTC)

    Dear F&F,

    We left Linga Linga yesterday morning and had no trouble getting out of the estuary. We headed south into the SSW head wind, but it didn\’t seem too bad and we found the current. Unfortunately, we soon lost the current and the seas and wind built right on our nose.

    Eventually, we gave up the pounding and headed toward Inhaca. A look at the weather showed we have 48 hours to get to Richard\’s Bay if we proceeded, but a few issues have come to light.

    First, BOTH engines are only giving us 75% power. I don\’t know why? I have changed both sets of filters on both engines and turned on the priming pumps. No more than 2350 on each engine. Second, if we don\’t get to Richard\’s Bay on this weather window, we might be stuck at Inhaca for a week!

    We also have not reacquired the current… Paul Teanby of Peri Peri sent me coordinates and I wrote one down wrong. So, with our course adjustment we should get back into the current in about 5 1/2 hours. My calculations of 6.5 knots gets us to Richard\’s Bay well ahead of the weather event. But then Murphy was an optimist!

    As long as this engine speed can be maintained we\’re good. The wind should start to come back up behind us (currently we have none), late this afternoon. By then, we hope to have found the current and we\’ll take it right to the beach. With those to good things hopefully to come, we should be good. Do you hear a little trepidation in my voice?….:-)

    Okay, the last 200 miles of the previous 10,000 may be the hardest. Let\’s hope not!

    KIT, Scott and Watch Commander Nikki

  • A little bit of stress for the end of the ride…..

    A little bit of stress for the end of the ride…..

    19 November 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere now on +2 UTC)

    Dear F&F,

    We left Linga Linga yesterday morning and had no trouble getting out of the estuary. We headed south into the SSW head wind, but it didn\’t seem too bad and we found the current. Unfortunately, we soon lost the current and the seas and wind built right on our nose.

    Eventually, we gave up the pounding and headed toward Inhaca. A look at the weather showed we have 48 hours to get to Richard\’s Bay if we proceeded, but a few issues have come to light.

    First, BOTH engines are only giving us 75% power. I don\’t know why? I have changed both sets of filters on both engines and turned on the priming pumps. No more than 2350 on each engine. Second, if we don\’t get to Richard\’s Bay on this weather window, we might be stuck at Inhaca for a week!

    We also have not reacquired the current… Paul Teanby of Peri Peri sent me coordinates and I wrote one down wrong. So, with our course adjustment we should get back into the current in about 5 1/2 hours. My calculations of 6.5 knots gets us to Richard\’s Bay well ahead of the weather event. But then Murphy was an optimist!

    As long as this engine speed can be maintained we\’re good. The wind should start to come back up behind us (currently we have none), late this afternoon. By then, we hope to have found the current and we\’ll take it right to the beach. With those to good things hopefully to come, we should be good. Do you hear a little trepidation in my voice?….:-)

    Okay, the last 200 miles of the previous 10,000 may be the hardest. Let\’s hope not!

    KIT, Scott and Watch Commander Nikki

  • Linga Linga, Mozambique……

    Linga Linga, Mozambique…..

    17 November 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere), now UTC+2

    Dear F&F,

    Ah the best laid plans! We thought it would be easy to anchor at the Light House anchorage here in Inhambane Bay, but no such luck. The NNE at 25 knots makes the anchorage a lee shore and it would be horribly uncomfortable. We have come inside the bay and are anchored here at Linga Linga (which I suspect means long or big tongue). The peninsula we are on looks just like a long tongue. This spot would not be good for a SWesterly, but we\’re tucked in close and the winds are supposed to be Southeasterly which we should be okay with. We came in on the rising tide with Des\’s waypoints which were spot on. We never saw less than 10 feet (3.1 meters) under the hulls and that was only briefly.

    We\’re here due to the expected strong Southeastly tonight. It will have solid 25 knots and going directly against the Mozambique current which was 1.5-2 knots outside Inhambane Bay. This same current will give us a great sleigh ride once we get going tomorrow early. The rising tide will be about 1.5 hours before high as we leave this river estuary. We\’ve a good track on the chart plotter and expect no dramas… That\’s saying a lot on this trip!

    Yesterday, we had the STARBOARD engine\’s \”V\” belt brake. No drama replacement and away we went. We still have 3/4th of our fuel tanks full too and 66 liters in reserve.

    Once we get going tomorrow, we will make BEST TIME to Richard\’s Bay directly and will hopefully be there by the end of Tuesday the 20th. There is expected a much stronger SWesterly on the afternoon of the 21st at Richard\’s Bay and we want to be tied to the dock by then!

    Hopefully, a nice night\’s rest and away we go!

    KIT, Scott and Nikki (Welcome to Africa!)

  • Getting busier around here……

    Getting busier around here…..

    16 November 2012 (Eastern Hemisphere)

    Dear F&F,

    We sailed all night and ran out of wind per usual by 9:30 a.m. BEFORE I would start the port engine, I wanted to check on my Rube Goldberg. Good thing too! I used one clear plastic hose OVER the main fuel tank hose and hose clamped (Jubilee Clamped for our UK friends). This was good. This clear hose had a plastic reducer to a smaller hose which I clamped to the priming pump. When I looked at my \”Goldberg\”, I saw the plastic reducer had melted in the diesel fuel!

    So, I had to re-do it with some bronze fittings. Just as \”Rube\”, but more durable. We\’re back in the port engine business!

    We\’re beginning to close the coast of Mozambique and are starting to see several cargo ships on the AIS. As we go by Inhambane, we expect to see lots more vessels. About 10:30 this morning, I got a little nervous when we were on a reciprocal heading with a 50 meter rust bucket fishing type vessel. He was 3 miles abeam of me and suddenly turned toward me. I immediately made a 140 degree turn to starboard to keep our distance and pass as quickly as possible, port to port. He then turned back to his original course. He did this again. I responded as above, he turned back to his original course again. He did this a third time and I did not respond. He turned back to his original course and we both proceeded away from each other. This was in a current area and this could be some fishing technique (most likely?), but it did get my attention for awhile. I\’m sure it was nothing and we\’re all a bit jumpy since the \”Quest\” incident last year…. There have been no bad guy reports this far south that I\’m even aware of.

    We did use both motors to go away faster and we still are with 148 miles to Inhambane, Mozambique. This may be a stop for us tomorrow? We\’ll let you know re: weather. It\’s the second of three \”Hidey Holes\” on the coast. We would be in a remote area and not go to the mainland of Mozambique. It\’s about 350 miles north of Richard\’s Bay. We\’ll let you know…. A brief Southerly may effect us if we proceeded directly. Not sure until tomorrow\’s weather report. Checking with Paul from Peri Peri Radio to get his opinion as well.

    It\’s a lovely day, motoring away! Should be in a fast current pushing us, anytime soon. Now it\’s just a bit positive. We\’re still 80 miles offshore, so it\’s strength will be closer in.

    No wind now, and I mean NONE! The pattern is, wind in the late afternoon and all night, not much during the day…. This will start to change a bit as we get south of Inhambane and the South African weather pattern starts to take hold.

    KIT, Scott and Nikki the Navagatrix