A Not-so-Nice Trip to Nice-Na (Knysna)

When we sail, and talk about waiting for weather windows, it means that we are waiting for the best wind direction for us, which is usually from behind, or some degree from the side. We don’t want the wind coming from the front, because that will cause the boat to slam into the waves. On this South African coast, for the direction we were going in, from PE to Knysna, we were looking for wind in a south easterly direction, which is the weather window we chose when leaving PE. The South-Easter is usually accompanied by fair weather. However, if the South-Easter is accompanied by a cut-off low as occasionally happens in the spring and autumn months, this can cause heavy rains to fall over the Eastern Cape. It is a violent, fast moving front which, along with the heavy rains, brings strong winds and high seas. It is known as a “black South-Easter”, and this is what we experienced out at sea in the pitch black of night from 7:00pm till around 1:00am on November 14th, when it finally passed over us, and subsided to a relatively calm 25 knots of wind, while the seas still remained huge!

Gaby tried to capture the big seas we were going through

It was only one night, but it far surpassed any bad passages we’ve had to date, in our entire trip. The wind got up to 40 knots, and the seas were coming at us from the side. We had numerous waves breaking right over us, one was so bad, that even with all the canvases down, the water still gushed into the cockpit, through the salon and down the stairs into the starboard hull! The worst of it was between Cape St. Francis and Plettenberg Bay. Our mistake was that we were too close to shore as we rounded Cape St. Francis, because we didn’t want to be too far out, as winds were stronger out there. But what we didn’t anticipate, was the strength of this storm, the wind being so strong and the sea so huge, and it was gradually pushing us closer and closer to shore. Catamarans generally don’t point well into the wind, so we were unable to steer further away from shore, and slowly we got closer and closer, at one point we were just 2 miles off-shore. Luckily, as we got closer to the point of Plettenberg Bay, the wind subsided somewhat, and we were able to point more into the wind, and away from land!

Knysna Heads - view from land - for perspective in the middle of the photo is a 10m (33ft) inflatable RIB dinghy with two big outboard engines coming in through the surf!

By the time we arrived at the Knysna Heads, at about 8:00am on Wednesday morning, November 15th, my nerves were shot, and we still had to negotiate entry into the Knysna Lagoon through the infamous Heads, 2 steep and rocky outcrops that provide a narrow entrance into a tranquil lagoon! We called the local NSRI (National Sea Rescue Institute) to ask if they thought it was OK for us to enter. They said all looked good, and to follow the leading lights into the lagoon. There is a submerged rock in the middle of the entrance, and one side of the entrance is very shallow and rocky, so you have to come in really close to the port side, so close that you feel you can touch the rocks! It was, of course, cold and raining, but we all had full confidence in our excellent skipper, who had negotiated narrow coral-lined passes in the Society Islands and Tuamotus, and conquered the infamous bars in Australia, and true to form, calmly and expertly guided Cool Runnings through the Heads and into the safety of the Knysna Lagoon! It was an exhausted, bedraggled crew that limped into Knysna on that morning, but we were oh, so thankful to be there, and be safe!

This is a shot from the live Knysna webcam.  We managed to capture the moment the camera caught us coming in!

Inside the Lagoon - safe at last!  Ben and Gaby in their foul weather gear.  It was the first time in the entire journey that we have used our foul weather gear!

The Heads on another day.  We watched this boat, but it didn't go out!

The Heads looking back into the lagoon

We were about to anchor, when a voice came on the radio and told us to come and tie up at the Knysna Yacht Club jetty. Colin Forster was there to help with the lines, even though it was pouring with rain. We were made to feel so welcome, it was wonderful! We treated ourselves to a hot, cooked breakfast at the Yacht Club, and were also welcomed there by Alan, the commodore of the club. We stayed on the jetty for the day and that night, and took the time to recover, and then explore our surroundings on foot.

Cool Runnings tied up to the Knysna Yacht Club jetty

A calm morning, a day or two after we arrived - tranquility at last!

The lagoon on a windless morning, looking back to the Heads

The Knysna Quay with its waterfront shops is right behind the yacht club, and a short walk from the boat. Although very much geared to the tour buses that arrived every day, it was still nice to peruse the shops and marvel at all the lovely African souvenirs, I especially love all the wire work…big giraffe and other animals all woven out of wire. On one walk a little further up the main street, we spotted a dentist, and decided it was time for the kids to have a check-up, and for Ben, in particular, to have some teeth removed. He had 2 very stubborn baby teeth that were not coming out, with the grown up teeth growing right over them.

Part of the Knysna waterfront area (unfortunately in the rain!)

The friendly Knysna Yacht Club

We went inside and asked if we could bring the kids in. We made an appointment for later that day, and while I stayed behind and cleaned and tidied the boat, Dave took Ben and Gaby to the dentist! Lucikly for the kids, Dr. van Zyl was fantastic, and they both declared that if she were their dentist at home, they would never mind going to the dentist! Both of them had a checkup, each had teeth removed and x-rays done, and it cost us just over $200! That amount would not even have covered any co-pay we would have had to pay at home!

Gaby at the dentist

Ben's turn!

So, with all the necessary evils of dentist visits, cleaning and vacuuming and laundry done, and with no good weather window to Cape Town for about a week, we decided to rent a car, and do some land exploration. Knysna is situated on the beautiful “Garden Route”, and it is also not a long distance to go inland to Oudtshoorn and the Klein Karoo. So on Saturday morning, November 18th, we left Cool Runnings safely at anchor and headed off in our little VW "Vivo" rental car to see what we could see!

Happy Thanksgiving and A Visit to the Windy City (Port Elizabeth)

Firstly, a very Happy Thanksgiving to all our family and friends in the USA!! We just finished our own small Thanksgiving dinner aboard, and thought back to last year's Thanksgiving meal we enjoyed in New Caledonia, with Lyn & Bruce Savage!  Tomorrow morning at 6:00am we will depart Knysna for the 300 mile trip to Cape Town. We expect to arrive there early Sunday morning.

Happy Thanksgiving from the Hibberds aboard Cool Runnings!

And now back to our next installment of our travels through South Africa!

Our ride to Port Elizabeth from Durban was fast, if not the most comfortable. After leaving Durban, we headed out to sea for a while, and a couple of miles further south, off Aliwal Shoals, we found the Agulhas current. The current is at its strongest between Durban and East London, and then, as the coastline turns towards Port Elizabeth, the current continues straight, and one has to stay further offshore to stay in it.

The first day and night we had speeds of up to 12 knots (at times between 4 – 5 knots of current), and surfed waves at speeds of up to 22 knots!! We had very strong winds and big seas. One wave was so big, it tipped the boat to one side to such an extent that the Engle (our portable fridge/freezer), which is heavy, and a stool with Dave’s tools inside, also extremely heavy, went flying down the starboard hull stairs! It was very scary, and we now have dents both in the stairs and the wall to remind us of it! But we had our fastest passage to date, covering 212 miles in the first 24 hours! Dave and I got very little sleep, as the wind continued to blow the following day and night, and by the time we neared PE, on Saturday morning, November 11th, we were both exhausted! We took down the mainsail, and sailed the last 20 miles across Nelson Mandela Bay (formerly Algoa Bay) on half our jib only. We wanted to arrive in the light, so we had to slow down.

Arriving in PE at dawn

We entered the Port of PE at about 5:00am and headed towards the concrete wall we had been advised to go to. It was indeed just that, a rough concrete wall, and together with wind blowing us onto to it, and the swell coming into the harbor, we were not too thrilled to tie up there. But, having no other alternative, we did, monitoring the movement of the boat closely. We noticed a mooring ball in the middle of the channel, and decided that if we could also tie to the mooring ball, we could pull the boat off the wall a little. So we lowered the dinghy, and Dave ran lines to and from the boat through the mooring ball. We had a web of lines holding Cool Runnings in place, but still, it was a precarious position.

A local couple, working on their boat advised that our best option would be to anchor in the channel, as they predicted the swell would just get worse, and even with all our lines, we would be tossed against the wall! In the meantime, Dave got in touch with his contact, John, at the Algoa BayYacht Club and asked if there were any other options. John advised that there was one walk on mooring (berth) available, and we could use that. Off we went and tried to tie up there. The swell coming into the harbor was so bad, that we actually broke a mooring line, with the violent back and forth motion of the boat tied up to the dock!

Dave inspects the mooring berth.  It doesn't look that bad, but boy, it was terrible!

Our last resort was to go and anchor in the harbor, which turned out to be our best option. There was not a lot of space, but enough for us to anchor and to be able to swing if the wind changed (which it did), and really, we were lucky, as 4 other boats came in after us, and they all really battled to find somewhere to “park”. One ended up tied up to a fishing boat, one ended up on the wall we first tied up to, another tied up to another concrete wall, and the last tied up to the outside of the mooring we had tried (but at that time, the wind had switched and the surge was not as bad as we had experienced!). It was after 9:00am by the time we were finally settled, about 4 hours after we had arrived!

Cool Runnings anchored in PE.  We are the Lagoon on the right of the picture next to the blue ship.  The big Lagoon cat on the left is 62 foot long!  Look how tiny we look in comparison!

"Maria" from Stockholm, a 46ft Hanse ended up tied up against another concrete wall

It turned out that Dave’s good friend from school days, Sean Rushton, had moved to PE a year or two previously, so they were anxious to reconnect! Sean, his wife Lise, and their adorable 10-month old son, Kai, came to the yacht club to meet us for lunch. We had a great meal, and the kids had fun playing with Kai. Eventually, even though he was a very good baby, Kai’s patience ran out, and Lise had to take him home!

At the Algoa Bay Yacht Club with Sean and little Kai

Ben and Gaby with Kai.  They look like they might enjoy a little sibling!!!

We were actually going to joke and send this to everyone saying it's our new family portrait!

Sean was kind enough to drive us around, and take us to “Makro”, (a Walmart type store), as we were in dire need of replacing our big LED flashlights that we need at night to check sails and such, and which had all given up their ghosts on us, all at once! Ben and Gaby enjoyed checking out all the “stuff”…we had not really been in a big store since Australia, and I had a hard time getting them out of the sporting goods section, where they had spied skateboards, boogie boards, scooters and other cool stuff, most of which are too big for the boat (and really, Gaby, where are you going to use a skateboard on a boat? She’ll give you lots of answers, by the way!). Sean came back to the boat to check it out, and then we had an early night that evening, still exhausted from our journey down from Durban.

On Sunday, after assisting two of the international boats that arrived that morning to find a place to tie up, the wind switched and blew ferociously from the south west. We got to see first-hand why Port Elizabeth is called “The Windy City” (it is also known as “The Friendly City”, so that balances it out!!). It was so strong that we were reluctant to leave the boat, and had to change our plans with Sean and Lise. We had originally meant to go to their house for lunch, but undeterred by our predicament, they packed up all the food, and brought it to us, picnic style! Kai did not enjoy the dinghy ride out to the boat, and I don’t blame the little guy! The wind was cold and strong, made a huge noise and no doubt he got wet on the ride over. However, once on board, it didn’t take long for him to relax, and we all enjoyed a delicious lunch of chicken enchiladas, salad and garlic bread, and much to Ben and Gaby’s delight, Milk Tart for desert!! A huge thank you to Lise for preparing such a scrumptious lunch, and bringing it to us!!

Lunch aboard with Sean, Lise and Kai

Sean, Lise and Kai

We think he'd make a fine deckhand!

We watched the weather closely, as we were anxious to get out of PE (no offense, Sean! We loved your city and seeing you, but the harbor was not the best place for Cool Runnings to be!). We were anchored right next to the area where the magnesium iron ore is loaded onto ships, and in just 2 days, our boat was covered in fine, black dust. We had heard about coal dust covering boats in Richard’s Bay, but this was much, much worse!

We were just a couple of boat lengths away from this ship that was being loaded with the magnesium

However, on Monday, even though it had calmed down in strength, the wind was still blowing south west, and we decided to stay another day. Luckily, the sun was out, and Sean took us for a lovely drive along the coast, and in no time we were driving around Cape Recife. It was hard to imagine that the city and this beautiful, unspoilt coastline were in such close proximity to each other! Watching from the shore, we saw a whole pod of whales jumping right out of the water, multiple times! None of us had cameras (other than our phones), so we just decided to enjoy the moment and watch these amazing creatures obviously enjoying themselves!

Fishing boats in PE Harbor

We watched as this tug sprayed its water cannons, escorting a small cruise ship into the harbor

By Tuesday morning, the wind had started to switch, so we pulled up our anchor and headed back out to sea. The forecast looked decent enough, with some stronger wind forecast for part of the way, which didn’t concern us too much, as it was in the right direction, and we knew we could reef down our sails and manage it. Little did we know that this patch of stronger wind would turn into a “black south easter”, a violent, fast-moving cold front, that put Cool Runnings and her crew to the test and would prove to be our toughest passage yet over the past 20 months since leaving Madeira Beach!

A wonderful shot Sean took of us as we headed out of PE...thanks for the great stay and company!!

Durban Days

Cool Runnings is currently anchored in Knysna, waiting for a weather window to get to Cape Town. In the meantime, we’ve been doing some exploring, so my apologies for neglecting the blog! We have a lot to catch you up on, so let me start where we left off last time…heading to Durban.

We had struggled with whether or not to go to Durban, as we had so many conflicting reports about the condition of the harbor after the storm, and whether or not there would be space for us, but in the end, even though it was a short stay, we are all glad we did! Before leaving Richard’s Bay, we called Durban Marina and they confirmed that there were no walk on moorings available, and all they could offer us was water to anchor in. We decided that we could not come all this way, and not sail into our home port!

Arriving in Durban - the Bluff is in the background

Entering the harbor - it always seems to be a miserable day when we enter a new port!

Arriving in Durban reminded us that it is the busiest shipping port in the southern hemisphere. Coming into port we had to dodge a ship turning in front of us, and another coming down the channel towards us. But luckily Dave knows the harbor like the back of his hands and was not at all bothered by all the activity! We sailed past the naval base, and low and behold, the exact Strike Craft (a SA Navy guided missile ship, P1567 - SAS Hendrik Menz) that Dave was stationed on in his navy days was in port! We also passed the huge MSC Ines, the ship that had been blown sideways during the huge storm a few weeks ago, and had been blocking the channel. They were doing repairs on it, since its rudders and propellers were damaged during the incident.

Dave's Strike Craft (minus missiles)!

The huge MSC Ines being repaired after her damage in the storm

Another view of the Ines, along with a crane that was blown over in the storm, still on its side (middle of pic)

Dodging the shipping traffic!

By late afternoon on Saturday, November 4th, we were anchored in Durban harbor, along with a few other international boats that were in the same predicament as us! We launched the dinghy and headed to the Point Yacht Club (PYC) to see who was there, and what was going on. Unfortunately no-one was there, and the restaurant was closed! Everyone was at a big function at the PYC Beach Site, as that clubhouse was due to be demolished in a few weeks, so the club was having a big last bash. Dejectedly we walked over to RNYC (Royal Natal Yacht Club), staunch rivals of the PYC. They welcomed us with open arms and immediately gave us 2 weeks temporary membership! We had also stumbled upon their annual Halloween and Guy Fawkes party, so we enjoyed the evening at our new club, feeling like traitors to PYC!

Yacht Club membership cards!

On Sunday morning Dave’s cousins, the Smith/Stacey clan, came over for a few hours as the kids all desperately wanted to see the boat. Ben and Gaby showed them around the boat and showed them their cabins (it all didn’t take very long!), but it was fun, especially for the younger cousins to all see each other again. 

Dave takes Mandy, Rowen, Lauren, Eric and Colleen back to dry land

A second dingy ride takes the kids (and Brad) back to land

2 of the international boats anchored out with us.  Durban on a sunny day for a change!

The next task was not a nice one. We had toilet troubles again, and just as in Indonesia, another pipe, the one that leads to the holding tank, had calcified inside, and we had to unblock it. Having learnt from our previous experience, it didn’t take as long as the first time, but it still is an unpleasant task, and just a pain taking pipes on and off in awkward positions!! 

Poor Dave...

We finished just in time to get to PYC to meet up with friends for a planned braai (BBQ) that afternoon. Dave saw some friends he had not seen for a very long time, and a very special thanks to Rob and Brenda Tarbotton who drove all the way from Pietermaritzburg, over an hour away, to come and see Dave, and to Chris Sutton who organized the gathering!

Dave enjoying some conversation and a beer

A big thank you to all of you who came to say hi:  from left:  Campbell Alexander, Miles White, Joy Sutton, Wayne, Gudrun, Dave, Andrew de Vlieg, Roy Dunster, Greg Hurter, Rob and Brenda Tarbotton; At the back:  Martin Payne and Chris Sutton

On Monday morning, I went to stay with my parents, while Dave and the kids stayed on the boat. Dave managed to squeeze in a few more visits, having breakfast with an old University friend, Dave Lewis, and also meeting up with Rob Bentley, who, together with his wife Belinda and 2 kids, did a similar thing a couple of years ago, sailing from Durban to Australia. Rob and Belinda had given us some good advice on navigating the Mozambique Channel, so it was great to be able to thank them, and for Rob to see the boat. Later that same day, Dave, Ben and Gaby were also treated to lunch and a nice tour of Durban by old friend Alec Lanham-Love, who picked them up and chauffeured them around! They got to see the Beverly Hills hotel where Dave and I were married, 23 years ago!

Alec, Ben and Gaby with the Beverly Hills hotel behind them, and the lighthouse in Umhlanga that features in our wedding photos!

Alec with Dave with Cool Runnings in the background on the left, anchored in Durban harbor

I enjoyed a lazy day with my folks as the weather was cold, grey and rainy! Never mind…my mom makes a great cup of coffee and had some of my favorite biscuits (cookies) on hand!! I spent the night there on Monday, and on Tuesday drove down to the yacht basin to pick up my family. It was my mom’s 81st birthday, and she said it was the best birthday present she could have had, having us with her on that day! We all spent the day with my folks, enjoying lunch with them at the retirement village and celebrating later over coffee and traditional Wedekind birthday cake (I do mention food a lot in this blog, don’t I !!!). My mom took us back to the boat in the late afternoon, just as the heavens opened up, and it bucketed down with rain! Happy Birthday, Mutti! You look amazing, and not a day over 29! It was such a treat to spend time with you, even if it was a bit short!

Dave and my dad chatting on the patio

With my mom and dad, Sigrid and Juergen, on my mom's 81st birthday

Coffee and cake!!

On Wednesday morning, before braving the bureaucracy of checking out of Durban, we met up with an old Cool Runnings crew member, Adrian Raw! Adrian spent 3 months with us at the start of the trip, meeting us in Panama and helping us with the Pacific crossing. Fransie, it was really good to see you and reminisce! Thanks for the lovely breakfast and for chauffeuring us to the authorities to “check out” of Durban. We are so sorry we didn’t have more time to spend together. And…we forgot to take a photo, so for old time’s sake…

Here is Adrian in the beautiful Tuamotos islands in July last year

We know there are people we didn’t get to see at all, and our apologies to all of those people. But cruising is a difficult beast when it comes to making plans…you really can’t! We are so dependent on the weather, and we often can’t leave the boat for any length of time, and that’s what happened in Durban. A weather window to get to Port Elizabeth opened up, and we had to take it. We spent the rest of the day checking out of Durban.

Adrian dropped us at the Harbor Master/Port office. There we all had to sign in and go to the 4th floor. A gentleman there looked at the reams of paperwork Dave had completed that morning, and stamped two pieces of paper. Then he said to go to Customs and Immigration, another office (I forget which), and then come back to him. Down the elevator, across the road and to the Customs and Excise building we walked. There someone looked at all our paperwork, checked our passports, and stamped something. Then they told us to go to another office. Out the building we went, around the corner, and in another entrance. We signed in again, and entered an inner sanctum. Someone looked at the reams of paperwork and stamped something. Then it was back to the Harbor Master. Sign in again, up to the 4th floor, and then there was a different person there, so he didn’t know that we’d already been to get our initial stamp! When Dave finally sorted that out, he wanted to keep all our paperwork. But the marina office had told Dave that he had to bring the completed paperwork back to them, so THEY could see we had properly checked out. Dave was rudely told that it was not their business and they wouldn’t give him a copy! Knowing that he had to have something to show the marina, he eventually convinced the man to let him take a photo of his paperwork, so he could at least prove to the marina that we’d completed it all! And this, folks, is not to check in or out of a country, it is merely to leave a PORT to sail to another PORT within the same country!!! We have never, in all our travels, come across such unnecessary ridiculousness, and I’m embarrassed that it is in our home country of South Africa!!! The foreign yachts we’ve spoken to are all as befuddled as we are with the whole system! Equally embarrassing, while I’m at it, are the operators on the radios at the Ports. We’ve come to the conclusion that sounding as bored, uninterested and rude as possible is a pre-requisite for getting the job! The conversations we’ve overheard with the radio operators and the ships have been unbelievable, and we, being a lowly sailing vessel, have been treated simply with irritation. Never a please, thank you, good morning or good bye…just common courtesy in my book! OK, I’ll stop my rant now! (PS: Just for the record, and to be fair, I do have to mention that in Port Elizabeth, I did hear some courteous operators on PE Radio, which seemed to be different to the PE Port…)

We enjoyed watching some Wednesday night racing in the harbor.  Even on a chilly evening, there were quite a few boats out there, racing amongst the anchored boats!

At 5:00am on Thursday morning, November 9th, we pulled up anchor and headed out of Port in the direction of Port Elizabeth. We glanced back at Durban with melancholy, not knowing when we’ll see our hometown again, knowing it will almost definitely not be by boat, but glad we made the short stop.

The early morning sun shines onto Durban, with Howard College, part of the University of Kwa Zulu Natal (the University both Dave and I attended) standing tall on the hill, and the sugar terminals, that have been there for as long as I can remember, prominently displayed in the sun

Looking back onto Durban as we leave.  The Moses Mabhida Staduim with its now iconic arch was built for the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup