13 November 2010
An opportunity to escape from Richards Bay and move on down the coast presented itself. We went to the marina office and collected our flight plan with the intention of leaving at 6am the following morning for the next hop down the coast to Durban. For days the wind had been blowing from the south west but a change to north east was forecast. Richards Bay was a wonderful safe haven for us but in the high winds the pontoons started to bend under the strain of all WARC yachts. The locking pins at each intersection were bending. It started to concern us. But the marina staff were alert to the problem and a diver was sent down to set another anchor chain. We busied ourselves preparing the boat for sea.
John and Jenny came for sundowners and then we all went out for dinner to a local steakhouse. They will leave for Durban a day later where there is a crane to take Tzigane's mast down. Their mainsail is jammed inside it and they cannot furl or unfurl it. We had an early night, the alarm set for 05.30am. Lady Lisa left with us, Basia a couple of hours behind. We motor sailed the full distance of 95nm reaching Durban at twilight. The city is spread out for many miles along the coast. It is a very long time since we had seen such a backdrop of skyscrapers. Durban is the biggest, busiest, shipping port in South Africa and we were right in the midst of them entering the channel behind the breakwater, as we followed in the wake of three huge ships. A local catamaran heard us talking on the VHF with Lady Lisa and offered to guide us all in to the marina. After a very long wait to we were finally directed to a berth. The advice is not to walk outside the marina at night. We were quite content to stay aboard and it was three tired and hungry sailors who sat down for dinner at 9pm.
Susan Mackay