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Free & BrEasy - Hurray It's Richards Bay!



 

Hurray It’s Richards Bay!

With less than 200 miles to go we thought that we had all our gear breakages behind us and were already putting beers in the fridge. Never count your harbours before you enter them! We had just reefed and were sailing beautifully with under 20 knots of wind in big and lumpy, but not excessive seas, when there was a krump and the boom appeared to drop 6 inches. Hearts in mouths, we went forward to look at the forestay but that was OK. Everything looked fine until Roger noticed a crack in the boom. We had broken the boom! We quickly pulled the main sail down and strapped the boom down and were on our way again under motor and jib power. Would this be the end of circumnavigating with the World ARC fleet? How long would it take to fix or get a new boom? Gloomily we set our course to Richards Bay imagining the worst!

Mercifully the rest of the passage was event and trouble free. We experienced a few boat stopping waves which screwed the 24 ton catamaran round like a child’s top but survived them all. Even crossing the Agulhas was just uncomfortable and the boat handled well under motor and jib. We came into the dimly lit Zululand Marina in Richard’s Bay at 3.00 am, welcomed in by a flash light held by Joel from World ARC who had set an alarm especially for us! The sight of his good natured grin was a balm to our spirits. I won’t say we kissed the dock but a few beers were necessary to persuade us that we had arrived safely. In fact more than a few beers and very soon we were with Wollf on ChikaLu hearing about their stories of boat stopping waves and injuries to crew. Subsequently, we learnt that most boats had suffered some kind of gear failure and stressful moments caused by the big seas. The Bumpy Windy Indy had indeed lived up to its reputation!

The next day we had to remove the boom (in two halves) and autopilot rams, so that we could take them to the well equipped chandlery. It seemed possible to repair the boom with an inner sleeve and welding. Please, please mend them as soon possible as Alejandro and Michael have flights home from Cape Town in December for a brief visit home before returning in early January! The clock is ticking. A look at the weather forecasts brought further depressing news. A very big depression was heading up from the south and was going to keep us in Richards Bay for at least 5 days. To make matters worse, Roger’s back took a dislike to carrying the heavy boom to the chandlery. Back to square one back-wise.

To lighten are load we had the World ARC dinner and prize giving to look forward to. Joel had organised an evening of entertainment. It started with the NIRDS, a two man dance group that were exhausting just to watch their exquisitely timed gyrations. Then a sumptuous dinner warmly hosted by the Zulu Land Yacht Club, followed by Zulu warriors performing a dance designed to impress the ladies. Just to make sure we appreciated their prowess, they pulled out of the audience some fellow circumnavigators who had to try and copy kicking their height without falling backwards! Not good for Roger’s back but thankfully he did not try. Then followed an interesting competition in which contestants put antelope droppings in their mouth to see which boat could spit them out the furthest! Alejandro represented Free & BrEasy but needs more antelope dropping practice!

The next day we were up early for the coaches to Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Wildlife Park. We transferred to open sided land rovers and were off on safari. The animals appeared to have been lined up waiting for us! Within a few hours we had watched and shot (with cameras!) black rhino, buffalo, wildebeest, zebra, giraffe, impala, waterbuck and warthogs! But the best were the elephants. About 50 of these magnificent animals and their off spring passed close to our land rovers – sometimes only 5 metres away! Spectacular-some! We did not see the lions or leopards but were more than happy with seeing the Big Four! The birdlife was also amazing. We watched fascinated as a toucan tried to swallow a dragon fly, flipping the poor thing in the air like a pancake. The experience of seeing animals in zoos is so often sad and demeaning for both the animals and humans. If you’re lucky enough, this is the opportunity to witness African wild life in its natural habitat. What was surprising was the sheer beauty of the African Landscape. They called it the Thornveld and the park was originally the hunting grounds of the Zulu King Shaka. It has been expertly maintained and round every corner there was a 360 degree vista of rolling hills and valleys, muddy rivers at the bottom, and the land covered by trees and shrubs, all underneath a big big sky. A day to remember!

As we will be in Richards Bay for a few days it is time to explore the area. There is a morning walk / run along a sandy road to the Indian Ocean where breakers crash on to the sand beach. Offshore there is the remains of a cargo ship that broke in two after turning too soon and running aground. On the other side of the harbour there is another Marina which is very well developed with restaurants and accommodation.

We watched South Africa annihilate England at Rugby and then very much enjoyed a lovely meal with Jenny, Jonathan and Ziggy on Merlin of Poole. As we write this we have no idea whether our boom and autopilot rams will be fixed. All we know is that when the weather window turns to our advantage we will have to leave even if we have to hand steer all the way to Cape Town with the two halves of the boom lashed to the deck! For Alejandro and Michael, the call of home is becoming stronger than the circumnavigation! Annabelle is flying to Cape Town to spend the festive season with Roger. The Atlantic leg of the circumnavigation starts on the 11th January which allows time in Cape Town for repairs but not too much when the holiday season is taken into account. It all shows that circumnavigation is a combination of sailing, navigational and boat repair management skills. Fingers crossed we will be on time!



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