We arrived in Durban around lunch time yesterday,
Sunday. After a thorough clean up of Kasuje, it was straight into the
nearest yacht club (there are three here) for some beer that stays where you put
it down and a really nice meal in the fish restaurant beside the
marina. Bit of a hangover this morning. But, hey it was worth
it.
We, along with the rest of the fleet had a pretty
rough crossing at times, which was actually quite exhilerating. Especially
when you realise that Kasuje can actually take in her stride everything
that was thrown at her and a lot more if necessary.
It is probably quite difficult for those who
haven't experienced "heavy" weather in an open ocean to appreciate what it is
like. It is also quite difficult to describe. However I would like
to try to paint a picture of one aspect for you.
When I arrived in Mauritius a couple of weeks
ago last week, which incidentally feels like about a year ago now, Steve
asked "where would you like to sleep on the boat?" There is a choice
of three cabins. One at the front, one just behind that, and one at the
back. Steve had the one at the back. The one in the middle seemed
pretty small. The one at the front is a good size with a berth on either
side, lots of cupboards, space to spread yourself out etc etc. Luxury I
thought. So that is the one I chose. Now this was fine when we were
in the port in Mauritius and also on the very benign crossing to Reunion, when
we didn't sleep much anyway. Then for the 4 days in Reunion -
brilliant. I had managed to spread myself out with drying clothes, half
dirty clothes, spare pillow, sun hat, towel and various other paraphenalia
scattered liberally about. Luxury. Then we set off for South
Africa. To start with, the weather was fairly calm. Still OK.
Then it got a bit rougher - and everything changed. Luxury turned to
bedlam.
I think everybody can appreciate that, when a boat
is on the sea and there are waves around, the boat goes up and down with
the waves. And we have had some pretty big waves over the last two or
three days. When you watch a boat it is obvious that this vertical
movement is a lot more pronounced at the front. So - time for a
sleep. Lie down on the berth and immediately this vertical movement
becomes apparent. The problem is that is never regular. It might
start with a gentle up and down motion. You think "ah this is quite
nice". That is fine. Then all of a suden the boat hits a bigger wave
or one at a slightly different angle. She rears up like a frightened
stallion and you are launched towards the ceiling. Soon after this,
you briefly experience weightlessness before starting the downward
fall back to the berth. You then wait in dread for it to happen
again. But you have no idea when this will be. That is the vertcal
movement. Then there is the horizontal movement. Due to the
random nature of the sea, this is also competely unpredictable. The boat
is constantly being pushed and pulled sideways by the waves and you have no
option but to go with it. If you are lying on your back, this plays havoc
with your internal organs and a stomach full of the curry that you
have just eaten. Furthermore, the wave that propelled you towards the
ceiling might also push the boat sideways. So that it is not always
certain that the berh will be under you when you complete
your downward journey. Then there is the rotational motion. As
the wind blows with varying gusts and the waves hit the side of the boat, the
boat rolls from side to side. Generally you lie on the downhill berth in
the join between the berth and the side of the boat. Theoretically this
should be reasonably stable. However, when this rotational motion really
gets going, you end up either rolling across the berth or up the side of
the boat. Very confusing. On top of all this there is the
heat. It is really is quite warm out here at the moment. As the seas
are quite large, all the hatches have to be closed. This has the
effect of making this little cabin pretty hot and stuffy. Then there is
the noise. As the boat progresses through the sea, it makes a nice, from
the outside, pretty little bow wave. From the inside in the middle of the
night, and separated from this bow wave by only a centimetre or so of
fibreglass, this sounds quite like the Niagra Falls. On top of
that, at completely random intervals, a slightly different wave will break on
the side of the boat right by your ear. KER-BANG!!! You think
"Bloody hell we have just run into a supertanker!"
All the above combine to make your periods off
watch not that conducive to the peaceful sleep that you are starting to
need. So last night I gave up and went to join Steve in his cabin (not in
the biblical sense you understand) at the back of the boat. He has
two large berths in that cabin with boards, known as lee boards. These fix
along the length of the berth to prevent you rolling sideways by
effectively reducing the width of the bed to about 2 feet. Now as I said
before, the boat's up and down movement is generally most pronounced at the
front. At the back there appears to be very little up and down as the boat
seems to rotate about that end. It just gently follows the swell of the
sea. The effects of the sideways movements, which also are greatly reduced
at the back are completely taken care of by the lee boards, in that you
are gently, but firmly, held in place. Similarly with the
rotation. Without the vertical catapulting you stay in your little
nest. Then there is the peace and quiet. As all the waves are
hitting the front of the boat, by the time they get to the back they have been
subdued and the water quietly slips past the outside of the hull. No
noise! In fact the only really discernible noise is the autohelm that
quietly purrs away as it magically steers the boat towards it's
destination. You drift off to sleep quietly trying to make a song out of
this purring. Very soporific. A good night's sleep
at last.
So to summarise. The difference between the
two ends of the boat can be likened to being gently rocked to sleep by your Mum
as she sang you a lullaby when you were a baby - or trying to sleep in her
tumble drier with knackered bearings!
Love to all
From Dennis and
Kasuje crew