Passage from Durban to East London

Find the whale!

We were on the club pontoon, however most boats were on mooring balls in the Buffalo River

View of yacht club, moored boats, and Maggie at the head of the pontoon.

Hard to see, but the parking lot in the right rear has C Class Mercedes Benz cars waiting to be shipped to the US

Passage from Durban to East London, 260nm

Oct.7, 2016

Monday at sunset, our three boats left Durban Marina. As we were untying a squall was brewing to hit us. We waited for the worst of the gust front to pass over, and then exited. But the squall itself carried on for hours. Shortly after leaving we heard that the harbour entrance was closed due to 7meter waves in the entrance channel. At least we got underway. In the first few hours we were only going about 2 kn with the engine revved up into the seas and wind. It was the first time in a while that we were feeling a bit seasick. Made  only 36nm in the first 12 hours. After that, things calmed down and the wind turned to the NE for a downwind run. We were also in the Agulhas current that gave us an extra 1 to 5 knots speed. With a wind eventually up to 30 kn pushing us, we were going 8 to 10 knots.

The strong NE and falling barometer indicated a strong SW coming soon. Also, we have internet weather sites and Will, our weather router,  telling us the same thing. The other two boats thought they could make it to the Port Elizabeth, before it changed. They arrived Wed in the evening. Tahawas had a very slow last couple of hours beating. We decided to stop in East London instead and arrived midday Wed. We were happy to get 2 good nights' sleep before heading out again. We are leaving after supper tonight, Fri, to get to PE sometime tomorrow. It is about 130nm. The weather still isn't ideal, but we are giving up on that.

One of the really exciting things on the trip were several sightings of whales. I had never seen one jumping right out of the water. The other boats saw them as well so there must be several pods about.

There is a visitor dock here at the Buffalo River Yacht club. But there is only room for one boat. It was tight getting to it through all the mooring lines for the boats on buoys. There are lines attached in rows parallel to the river bank with boats tied bow and stern.

The club isn't officially open for the season yet. But there is someone to pay, and showers available. Nothing interesting within walking distance that is considered safe. On Thurs we took a cab to a mall and did some browsing. It had a grocery store and place to top up the phones . Because there is a casino, hotel, and movie theatre we had no trouble finding a restaurant for dinner.

The primary industry here is a Mercedes Benz factory. The entrance is next to the marina where the cars are loaded onto car carrying freighters.

We are following the news of hurricane, Matthew, and its trail of damage. It will hit Florida today. Good luck to those of you living there, and/or having your boat there.

Happy Thanksgiving this weekend to our Canadian friends and family!