American Spirit II - Day 318; Arrival in Durban & a Fine Day in Durban; Wednesday, November 19, 2014


Joel is on watch from 1:00 AM to 3:00 AM, when he wakes me. I am in a dead sleep state. Closer to death than consciousness. But as he's waking me Jeanine miraculously stirs and volunteers to take the 3:00 AM to 5:00 AM watch. She's no longer sick. I go back to sleep and get up again at 4:50 AM, just in time to see the sunrise at 4:55 AM. No green flash because of clouds on the horizon. But still its a nice sunrise. We're surrounded by anchored ships off Durban. A lot (a few dozen?). We're 11 miles from the port entrance. Saphir is ahead of us about a mile and Civetta II is behind us maybe 3 miles. I increase the RPM from 1400 to 1600 and our speed increases from 4.9 to 5.4 knots. I want to close the distance between us and Saphir.

At 5:50 AM I called the Durban port control office on VHF channel 09. They answer and tell me to call them back when I'm one mile out from the 'jetty.' I have a hard time understanding the lady on the radio. We may all talk English, but South African English is almost like a foreign language. Some people we can easily understand, others not even close. At 6:00 AM the wind is 8/9 knots and we're moving at 7.1 knots thru the water and 6.1 knots over the land. A 1 knot counter current. Welcome to the east coast of South Africa!

Saphir drops their mainsail at 6:30 AM, and we follow suit. A short while later port control calls back and tells us to stay in the right side of the channel because 2 ships are coming in. Civetta II, still outside the harbor, is told to wait outside the harbor entrance until the ships transit inside.

I have a cruising guide called 'South African Cruising Notes' that is not as helpful as it could be in entering Durban because it doesn't identify the location of the Durban Marina, where we're headed. What an oversight. And it doesn't identify where you go to tie up prior to getting your slip assignment from the marina.

At 7:43 AM we tie up behind Saphir at a small dock; and after being shown where our slips are, we untie and proceed to dock space B 71. Once there we notice that we have the lines and fenders on the wrong side, so instead of changing them I back into the slip instead of going bow first. The 3rd time in my life I've done a 'med-moor' (backing in) type of entry. It goes well. Civetta II, Lluiton and Festina Lente are berthed near us on B dock. Its about 200 yards to the marina office. A long dock. There is some water available but no electricity. Saphir is on a different dock at C 38. Erling on Saphir tells me they saw another whale demonstration, along with Civetta II, that we missed. When I asked him why he didn't call us on the radio he said that at the time of the display we were too far away from the whale.

I check in at the marina office and receive 2 swipe security cards and some brochures on Durban. I fill out a bunch of forms, give them a copy of my boat registration document and they make copies of our passports. There are two yacht clubs bracketing the marina: the Point Yacht Club and the Royal Natal Yacht Club. Once I get back to the boat I have a run and coke waiting for me. Thank you Jeanine!

Bob Fraser from the Point Yacht Club comes by the boat in my absence and invites us to the yacht club for free drinks.

Breakfast at 9:30 AM is eggs, potato, chilled pineapple pieces and bread. Joel and I have coffee and Jeanine has tea.

Immigration comes by the boat at 11:00 AM, waking me from a deep sleep. Again. I fill out some forms and they ask if we have any stowaways, guns or illegal drugs on board. I say no. The immigration officer says thanks and doesn't go below to check the boat.

Later the Border Police come to the boat. I fill out more forms in the cockpit and the officer asks if we have an stowaways, guns or illegal drugs on board. I say no, again. And he also doesn't go below to check the boat.

We go to the Point Yacht Club and have drinks with Bob around 2:00 PM. Bob is very helpful with giving us information. He's 82 years old, never been married, sailed to America twice, once in a 30 foot boat and another in a 32 foot boat; and sold both boats in the USA. He was one of the founders of the Durban Marina back in the late 70's. While we're having a drink and some food, I talk with Ed, another yacht club member, and he uses his laptop to order us some tickets for a theater production called Sinder-Fella tonight. Bob says in 1983 the Rand is on parity with the Dollar. Today its 11 to 1. That's why everything is so cheap in South Africa. The Rand is not doing very well.

Joel and I shower at 5:30 PM at the Point Yacht Club. We're all 'temporary members' now so we can use all their services. Cool.

I turn on the SSB at 6:00 PM to see if anyone is on the net and no one is.

We depart the marina at 6:30 PM, get a taxi and take it to the Suncoast casino building. I show the tickets to the taxi driver and he has no idea where the theater is. So we decide its at the Suncoast Casino complex. We get there at 7:00 PM and have a bite to eat before going to the show. I have a small KFC dinner, which costs 28.86 Rand or $2.60. Joel and Jeanine have a small pizza.

We go to the theater to see Sinder-Fella, which starts at 7:30 PM. Think 'Cinderella' with a male, black lead. The show is riske, adult themes, and two of the characters are dressed as females but are males. In Cinderella its the two bad sisters. Here its the two bad sisters, but they're guys dressed in drag to look like ladies. We're seated at table 13 by ourselves. The layout is comedy theater, with maybe 100 people in attendance. You can bring in your own food and order drinks from the bar. The show is very good, with a lot of laughs. Its a long show, with a 20 minute intermission, and it ends at about 9:45 PM.

We then get some ice cream and head to the casino. Jeanine plays 'Wheel of Gold' or something like that, and turns 200 Rand into 500; then calls it quits.

We take a cab back to the boat, and like the first taxi cab driver, this one has no idea that there is a marina in town. We finally get there and am back on the boat at 11:15 PM. Joel goes right to bed; Jeanine does business email and I read a little. Then lights out, for me, at 12:15 AM.

Brian Fox