Sesriem to Etosha
From Sesriem we headed towards the west coast of Namibia and the town of Walvis Bay. This route took us through the Namib-Nakluft National Park which is made up primarily of the Namib-Nakluft desert.
The route took us through Solitaire, a small settlement out what appears to be in the middle of nowhere. Solitaire is a small centre servicing not only the tourists passing through on the roads but also the local farming community. Like many of the small settlements we passed through they always provided a welcome relief from the desert surroundings and usually specialized in some tantalizing treat. In Solitaire’s case it was cinnamon buns and good coffee.
Welcome to Solitaire
Neat and tidy as usual, fuel, repairs if necessary, bakery, coffee shop and even a non-profit organization.
No it’s not, by any stretch of the imagination, Sania, the carnivore, although we tried our best to turn her into one! It was actually an organization focusing on the rehabilitation of leopards
There was also a pub but closed when we were there but the small hotel was open. There were great little gems dotted around some of which are in the below.
David Bowie had just died the day before and this was posted on the blackboard of the gas station. The stickers covered all the windows of the gas station. The cactus couldn’t be more representative of the area and the vehicle is just one of the many types of privately owned tourist vehicles we saw on the road.
Solitaire was the last stop we made before dropping down to the Namib-Nakluft desert and heading across to Walvis Bay. But before that we had a stop at the Tropic of Capricorn.
Sania, Rob, Connie, Tony, Sierd, Elsbie
Starting the crossing of the Namib-Nakult desert
So this brings me close to explaining where I finished the previous post. There was never much traffic on the roads we travelled and we always travelled in tandem never losing site of the other vehicle other than for a short while.
Along the route to Walvis Bay I was driving the lead vehicle. We had lost sight of the vehicle behind with Sierd, Rob and Sania. I stopped at a large rock outcropping waiting for Sierd to catch up. Sitting there chatting we decided to turn into the road leading to the rock outcropping. With no-one else around I put the truck into reverse to back up to the turn off. Not looking I continued in reverse until I backed into Sierd’s truck not realizing they had caught up and parked behind me. The result:
Upper left – Connie looking disgustedly at some damage, the towing vehicle, Sierd’s disable vehicle X 2
Yes, a disabled vehicle and the other a back drop-down gate that was badly dented. After a few phone calls and a few epithets thrown at me we sent one truck on to Walvis Bay while Rob and I waited in the truck for the towing vehicle. Thank god for cell phone coverage.
Within 90 minutes we were off to Walvis Bay in the tow truck and another couple of hours ensconced in a hotel. Numerous phone calls to Bushlore resolved our dilemma. Bushlore could not have been more understanding. I give them high marks for responding quickly and making arrangements for us to be back on the road. Yes, there were some expenses incurred but we lost a bit of time for sightseeing and got to experience a different Walvis Bay what with visits to wreckers yards, truck dealers etc.
Two replacement trucks were delivered to Walvis Bay and we were on our way once again. One truck was slightly different this time and an improvement.
One of the replacement truck with a brilliant galley. Take note of the fridge on the right hand side. A great feature of all the trucks we had. Small but efficient and kept everything cool – mostly wine!
Walvis Bay only got a quick look around as we resolved transportation issues and after two nights we were on our way north towards Swakopmund and Hentiesbaai. We spent only a short time in Swakopmund before heading the Hentiesbaai, a very small German holiday settlement perched between the dunes of the desert and the cold-current washed west coast of Namibia.
Fog was a constant companion on the west coast with the cold current moving north through the ocean from the Antarctic where it meets the heat generated by the Namibian mainland. Fog rolls in from the ocean very similar to that found on the west coast of Canada.
Hentiesbaai camp-site – flat, featureless but close to the small town. Each camp-site had its own ablution and cooking block. It is a fisherman’s delight being close to the ocean and the main road that runs up the west coast
It was cool and damp which was a relief from the intense heat and dryness of the interior. However, Etosha, the holy grail, was waiting and off we rushed inland.
Before getting to Etosha we have a scheduled stop in Twyfelfontein, a place that has been inhabited for some 6,000 years and is the site of some spectacular rock engravings.
So, back across the desert and up into the hills around Twyfelfontein.
Sierd and the bionic woman, Sania, off to the side of the road searching (see pic below) for gems purported to be lying in the desert for the picking. If they only knew what they were looking at.
Sania and Sierd testing out the durability of desert vehicles. Perhaps left over from the filming of the most recent Mad Max film?
And then, with a new desert car, a trip to the mall
A real treat awaited us in Twyfelfontein. Not only were we approaching a World Heritage Site but after a search we found an amazing private campground that was linked to a hotel. The campground was nestled amongst large boulders with consideration given in design to limit the visual impact yet provide a comfortable camping spot.
Great view over the valley. I’ve never been to New Mexico but this is the landscape I envision for that area of the world. Stunningly beautiful
Only one night was spent here unfortunately. We spent the following day taking a walking tour of the World Heritage Site. Unfortunately the photos of the engravings don’t show well. Our tour guide walked us through the site providing an excellent narrative of the history and the importance of the site. One reason for its existence was the water hole which acted as a magnet to the indigenous populations. Today things are drying up and the fauna changing.
On to Etosha and the main southern entrance to the park, Okaukuejo.
Etosha is part of a large wildlife park which, at the time of the year we visited, was supposed to be in the middle of the wet season. However, with a 3 year drought persisting the large salt pan which makes up a good part of Etosha was dry. This is an advantage as it concentrates the animals into those areas that still do have water available. In a normal wet season the animals are supposed to be scattered as water is more widely available.
I don’t pretend to be a wildlife photographer so here I am only giving you a taste of what we saw in terms of animals. Both birds and other wildlife were in abundance, the camping was good with empty sites, viewing water holes a short site from the campsite and cold beer at the restaurant as well as a swimming pool to gather around in the hottest part of the day.
We spent 4 days in Etosha – two nights at Okaukuejo and two nights at Halali. We usually got going early in the morning and drove out of the campsites to see a few animals amongst the numerous back roads and then returned for lunch and a huddle around the pool. Then in the late afternoon some left in trucks again to catch the last of the light and the animals. Dinner around the campfire and then over to the waterhole to watch the animals under lighted conditions. There you could stay all night with a constantly changing scene with different animals coming and going.
So, here’s Etosha
The beginning
Etosha Salt Pan
Elephants – always a pleasure to watch. And the African elephant is massive. They tower over most animals and seem to move without worry unlike most others who are always on the lookout for predators
Party time at the watering hole
Always an interesting mixture of animals vying for space and wary of each other
A grand old dame
Lions – a gem but not often seen by us. They were elusive but could sit and watch for hours
Time to relax after a tasty meal
Out looking for dessert
Giraffes – incredibly graceful. We generally saw them in larger groups and they were majestic to see moving over the landscape
Always an interesting mixture of animals vying for space and wary of each other
Wary is the word. Always watching and sometimes hours to get to water even though it’s a short distance away
Always time to relax
And believe it or not this is what giraffes eat. I’m not sure how that works but sure isn’t something I want to tangle with
Camelthorn
Zebras – they are incredibly picturesque and compete with elephants as the most enjoyable to photograph. They are also very numerous
Looking good
Ecstasy
Lovely mane
Rhinos – powerful. Not large when compared to an elephant but when you think of them charging the car, which they will do, then you play it careful
Power personified
They love to roll in mud
A variety
Cape Town to Sesriem
Saldanha Bay
I guess one starts close to where it all began. Saldhana Bay is still in South Africa and at this time we were trying to get used to our camping vehicles. We had two trucks between six people. It was perfect.
The two trucks had one tent each on the roof and the third tent was a ground tent.
No wonder it took us a month to cover Namibia
Oh, I guess this was the wrong picture.
At times though it felt like we were going at this pace as miles after miles of desert does tend to make it all feel like one is at a standstill.
Two Toyota Hi-Lux trucks with storage compartments in the back and 1 tent each on the roof per truck
The camping configurations proved perfect. South African/Namibia weather is perfect for camping. (Rentals were from a company called Bushlore – can highly recommend) In 4 weeks we had only one day of rain even though it was the rainy season. The downside of this is that all the rivers were dry, animals were dying of thirst and crops are failing. This is the third year of drought for Southern Africa with Mozambique probably the one country currently suffering the most.
Starting our journey in Cape Town we headed north trying to get into Namibia as quickly as possible. One of our first stops was a viewpoint overlooking Saldanha Bay in South Africa’s West Coast National Park.
Saldanha Bay
From a sailing viewpoint this is a significant historical landmark having been a harbour used by sealers for many years but it was also a harbour entered by numerous very early explores from both the eastern and western hemispheres .To see the print on the plaque open photo in a separate window and all history will be revealed.
Fascinating
It’s a very shallow bay but provides excellent protection in all weathers. It was also the location of a fresh water spring, vital to sailing ships of previous centuries.
Coming down to Saldanha Bay
Onwards to the border we crossed into Namibia with no problems. Our first stop being Fish River Canyon with anecdotal information stating this is the next largest canyon to the Grand Canyon in the United States. We camped in Ais-Ais as rumour had it there were hot springs! Yes, who wants hot springs when the daytime temperatures rise over 32C? We arrived but the pools were empty for maintenance.
Maintenance? Yes, we were travelling in the wet and slow season. Wet it wasn’t but slow it was. All campsites were very quiet with only 4-5 other campers in an area that, on average, held 30 campers. It was heaven.
We spent a little time in the Fish River Canyon exploring. There was a great viewing site overlooking the canyon and here are a few pics from the main viewpoint which again had only 2 other tourists looking out at the view.
Thelma and Louise. Oops, no, it’s Rob and Sierd overlooking the Fish River Canyon
Fish River Canyon panorama view
From Fish River Canyon it was on to Helmeringhausen but not without stopping at Canon Roadhouse. Here, out in the middle of nowhere is this amazing coffee/coach stop/camping spot. The Roadhouse is part of a large conglomerate of tourist related businesses with interests in the South African and Namibia tourist trade. However I have to say they have done this amazing job of building a rest stop that is a must stop if you are travelling this way. The camping was also very comfortable complete with a pool to cool off in.
Interior and exterior of Canon Roadhouse
But what was most spectacular while we were camped there was a storm that moved in creating huge clouds of billowing sand and incredible colours in the sky complete with a rainbow.
That’s sand moving our way. Luckily the wind moved it off in another direction
Canon Roadhouse storm sky
Time to move on and move on we did to Helmeringhausen and a visit with Moki. Funny, looking back on the trip one would have thought we would have been bored by the landscape with much of the trip being through desert like territory. However, I don’t think any of us got bored. At least speaking for myself I never tired of the landscape as it always changed in some minute way. It wasn’t a quick change but one that came slowly and suddenly one found themselves in a completely different environment.
Yes, it’s flat but never boring. Always watching for animals and small changes
Stunning landscapes
Finally we arrived in Moki’s home town, Helmeringhausen. A quiet little village of a few hundred people. It included a lovely little hotel with a very small, about 15, campsites. We were the only ones there and it included a great ablutions block, water at each site, a braai, picnic table with a roof overhead.
Helmeringhausen camp-site
We settled in nicely and had some time to ourselves catching up on various items.
Clockwise from upper left – Sania enjoying life as usual. Connie and Rob trying to figure out how to use the tire gauge, Elsbie hard at work writing postcards and Sierd, well, what does everyone do these days? On his cell phone!
I’ve mentioned Moki. Here is a picture of Moki
Moki – the pest
Yes, Moki is a springbok. He was rescued by the cook at the hotel after his mother was killed on the road just on the edge of town. Moki has grown up as the centre of attention at the hotel and tends to be extremely friendly. However, Moki is reaching puberty, or should I say past puberty. Now he’s a pest and believe it or not, in the campground, made a nuisance of himself trying to hump everyone in site. Now, it’s no easy matter taking a springbok by the horns and dragging him away but that’s what we would have to do. That worked a few times and he stayed away for a while but would always return. When he wasn’t happy he could use his horns in a very effective way and that drew the line at which time the hotel was called and Moki ended up in Moki jail i.e. a pen
So much for Moki and his antics. On to Sesriem, a stunningly unusual place. I won’t say much here as the pictures tell most of the story. The photos begin with the approach to Sesriem in which the dunes can be seen from afar as though pillowy clouds.
Approaching the Sesriem area
In the middle of the Namib desert a road leading to where? Too enticing….
These dunes stretch over an incredible distance with a width of close to 200 miles and Sesriem is the entrance to Nakluft National Park and is the main tourist entrance to Soussesvlei . Soussesvlei is a salt pan surrounded by dunes and further along is Deadvlei, a salt pan with the remains of acacia trees.
Namib Sand Sea
Get up at 0430hrs, drive 45 km then climb the dune. Umm, it’s worth it
Getting there
On top of Dune 45 and off to the left would be Deadvlei
Dune 45
Deadvlei lying to the right
There’s a fast way down to the shade
Rob, Sania, Sierd, Tony Elsbie and Connie in Deadvlei
Relaxing after getting stuck twice in the sand on the way out from Deadvlei
This was definitely one of the highlights of our camping trip. It’s a place that will remain in my memory for a long time.
I’ll continue this in a sequel but to give you and teaser to get you to look at chapter 2 I will leave you with one picture to ponder:
Rob doesn’t look too happy!
Back from safari
Okay. I hope you’ve been wondering where we have been.
Just after Christmas we gave up sailing to Cape Town to meet friends coming in from Canada. We rented a car and drove instead of sailing. Our New Years was spent in Simon’s Town with our Canadian friends Sierd and Elsbie. Then we picked up two more friends, Sania and Rob, and headed off on a week in the wine district north of Cape Town.
Happy times in Franshoek
After a thorough time of sampling wines we went on a 4 week camping trip to Namibia starting off in Cape Town and driving up the west coast of South Africa then into Namibia and ending up in Windhoek before flying back to South Africa.
The starred places are places we visited on our camping trip
We are now back on-board Sage waiting for the right weather window to take us to Simon’s Town.
Hold on a little longer for a pictorial review. It takes a little time to organize a thousand photos!
Happy New Year From Kalk Bay
Season’s Greetings
Season’s Greetings
And
A Happy New Years
Durban
We were warned many times ‘don’t go to Durban’? It’s dangerous, it’s dirty, there’s nothing there etc etc.
We actually heeded these warnings and thought we don’t need to stop there. We were short of time as we want to get to Simon’s Town for Christmas. So, we left Richard’s Bay in what is referred to here as a ‘weather window’ i.e. a switch in the SW wind to NE allowing a run along the coast with the current.
Richard’s Bay to Durban – Note: in the picture above the shallow section extends about 12 miles out from the coast and one has to get off the shelf to take fill advantage of a current that sometimes runs up to 4 knots in a SW direction.
We actually made the 90 miles in 14 hours with help from the current but we ended up in Durban. Yikes, what are we going to do here we thought. Surely we can get out of Durban within 48 hours and keep heading south-west.
No. After 10 days we are still here and now short of time to make it all the way to Simon’s Town to greet our friends coming in on December 29th. There is a very short weather window which everyone is dwelling on arriving early Thursday. We want to go but know that will only get us to East London and who knows how long we will have to wait there to get another window to Port Elizabeth? Mossel Bay? Kynsna? or….
So, despite everyone’s warning here we are in Durban enjoying ourselves. Here are a few photos of Durban:
First is an area called the beaches. I know now why the New York Times listed Durban as one of the 10 best coastal cities in the world. There is an amazing board walk that stretches about 8 km and is growing.
The board-walk runs between the coast and a string of apartments, a hospital and a hotel/casino. The hotel/casino is an old art deco styled building for which the owners deserve kudos for their enhancements and maintenance of the property.
Havana Bar and Suncoast Hotel
The casino is housed in part of the art deco structure along with shops and restaurants
Gorgeous backdrops
The models are gorgeous too!
Main entranceway
Inside the mall
And then there is the beach itself with the board-walk
Addington Beach on a hot day
There are lots of people who use the beaches and board-walk with restaurants every 1/2 kilometres, showers for people to use after swimming, wading pools for the kids and of course a number of buskers:
Sand castle (car)
Any way to make a buck – 10R for a picture, ? for a ride and, and….
We strolled for hours along the beachfront but there are many other areas to explore in Durban.
Next was Esther Roberts Road:
What drew us to Esther Roberts Road was the Phansi Museum.
The museum has an awesome collection of traditional crafts and an excellent guide to take us through. The museum was a taxi ride away from Durban Marina.
We spent a couple of hours walking through the museum marvelling at all the traditional and modern works that were on display. It is necessary to make an appointment to see the exhibition and it’s worth the effort and planning.
Here are some pictures of things we saw in the museum:
This is the South African equivalent to the button blanket of the Pacific North-West coastal First Nations
An exploded view of a safety-pin blanket
Walking stick anyone. I think more of a cudgel
Detail of a hat
One of the many examples of traditional clothing
I believe the symbolism here relates to the prisoner number given to Nelson Mandela. Modern beaded jacket
A new bride
doll collection
Incredible display of baskets
There was a lot more but tempting our stomachs was a bakery we spotted on the way to the museum in the taxi. It looked like the real thing and believe me in South Africa bread is not a strength. We had been looking for ages for good bread and walking into the Glenwood Bakery.
Glenwood Bakery
There on the shelf was a Tartine cookbook so I knew we had hit a goldmine.
Next to the Glenwood Bakery was a small restaurant called Parc
We dragged a couple of yachties back to Parc for a wonderful breakfast. Both the restaurant and bakery are highly recommended.
Amy, Arthur and Connie enjoying a well earned full cholesterol breakfast
Next area to explore was Windermere. What attracted us to this area is that it’s one of the oldest residential neighbourhoods but it is also the location of the African Arts Centre:
And just outside the African Art Centre – the shopper!
It’s Christmas
South Africa – Wow
Here are some first photo impressions of South Africa
Driving out to a couple of wildlife areas we kept seeing these wonderful road signs
Okay we’re ready for all the animals you’ve got
Are we actually going to see some wildlife
promising sights of all the animals that we had been dreaming of seeing in South Africa. We weren’t to be disappointed.
Our first foray into the wilds of the interior took us to two places – Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park and iSimangalis0 Wetland Park.
Neither of them disappointed us. We took a water tour in the wetland areas and then drove through the drier area. On another trip we rented a car and headed inland to higher ground away from the ocean to Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park.
Here are some of those pictures from the two trips:
At the entrance to the park was this tree that was teaming with building their nests. Could have stood for hours watching.
One of the challenges of the game parks in South Africa, both public and private, is to stop poaching.
Seen on the beach in Durban
Although the one above is made from sand we had plenty of opportunities to view the real thing:
Don’t piss me off!
Right – well we didn’t exactly piss this guy off. There were four others of them in the middle of the road and we needed to get back to our accommodation before nightfall. So, we waited a while they play fought on the road then they kind of moved off. We made a run for it and roared past them hoping they wouldn’t lunge at us. Our car was only 1/4 the size of these guys so you can imagine we would have made nice ‘meat-on-a-skewer’ for them!
They also like rolling around in the mud just like me
There were lots of sightings of these guys but along the wetlands we saw different kinds of animals
The wetlands at iSimangalis0 Wetlands Park
Here we took a guided boat ride through the wetlands providing our first glimpse of hippos, crocs and various birds
Ah for the sun and some mud
Kirsten spotting another rhino on the river
Hippos generally lie around in the water all day and then forage at night.
We were unfortunate in that we didn’t get to see any hippos out of the water nor even bothering to rise up as we cruised by. However, we were glad of that as we were told that these, being one of the big 5 in Africa, are not something you want to meet up with on a path at night. Hippos, we were told kill over 3,000/year in South Africa!
Along the edge of the water in the wetlands birds build their nests
Great raptors
And great water birds
Beautiful
And then more:
you’re in my stomping grounds
Another animal in the middle of the road. He flapped his ears at us, lifted his tusk and then roared. We quickly backed up and got out of his way staying at a respectful distance.
Kudu – somewhat elegant but, for most South Africans, very edible
Majestic
Bacon anyone
Of course, this viewing all brings a thirst and what better than a cold bottle of wine to end the day and watch the sunset from our rondaval.
Our one and only night in a rondaval
*Note: all pics have been reduced in size hence they don’t have the same quality for viewing as the originals. I have done this to save up/download times as the wi-fi here is expensive and the free wi-fi slow. Hopefully I will be able to go back at some time to uploading the full pixel versions
Madagascar Remembered
Amazing. I think that word best sums up Madagascar.
For quite some time we had been hearing about how wonderful Madagascar is and that we should plan on giving Madagascar plenty of time. We miscalculated!
We got to spend approximately 6 weeks along the coast, ducking into bays, anchored in exposed offshore islands and sitting in river mouth entrances as well as spending time in the discos of Nosy Be! We loved it. From a boating perspective it can hardly get better. The winds are constant and predictable on the northwest coast, the anchorages are secure, the food is excellent and the people friendly.
From the chameleons to the lemurs to the crocodiles you have to love Madagascar for the wildlife. The countryside probably hasn’t changed in decades. Land transportation along roughly hewn roads takes hours to get anywhere and thus its boats that run everywhere. Not fast ferries but rather the old dhows with a occasional outboard powered pirogue or a very small coastal steamer.
Try flying. Or better yet try booking a flight within the country. Everything is booked solid and even though you may have a ticket in your hand it’s not uncommon to hear your seat is gone when you get to the airport. Air Madagascar does not have a reputation for courteous, friendly and efficient service.
So, that’s why the best way to see Madagascar is by water. Venturing off and away from Nosy Be, a small but popular tourist area, takes you into places that still have no electricity, residents move by sailing dhow or pirogue and life moves at the pace of the changing cycles of the moon. There are still plenty of fish in the sea to sustain the family, land available for small-scale cultivation and just enough rainfall to support their basic needs.
What we loved most were the sailing dhows both big and small. There was always a smile and an enthusiastic wave between ourselves and the dhows as we each measured up the others boat. The locals know the winds and shoals as well as the currents and inevitably, if going the same way, can sometimes out-sail our modern boats. But whenever we pass close there are always big smiles and it seems to be when the locals are out on the dhows they provide a little bit of a break in an otherwise hard scrabble life.
Here are a few pics from our Madagascar picture book:
The modern and the old.
The ylang yland factory/farm. Used as the bases for a lot of perfumes. The copper kettles used to extract the oils are over 100 years old
These guys are everywhere
Chameleons come in all colours
More chameleons
I know. It’s not a chameleon but I couldn’t resist
Slow, old and wise
And then there are the lemurs – irresistible
Our favourite lemur
No-one is going to take my banana
And then there are the people:
The people were friendly, helpful and stylish!
It’s a very young country. Average life expectancy is 45.
Always friendly faces
Great handicrafts
Incredible old house that once belonged to one of the early traders from India
And I leave you with an iconic Madagascar picture of a baobab tree.
Baobab Tree – Marumba Bay
Books of note recently read:
Muddling Through Madagascar by Dervla Murphy – a wonderful travel story about Dervla and her 14 year old daughter walking through a large section of Madagascar in the 1980s. Reading this just emphasized that things have changed very little in the last 30 years.
The Orphan Master’s Son – a chilling novel set in modern day North Korea. It doesn’t instill much desire to visit/experience North Korea. A kafkaesque nightmare of life and survival in an autocratic regime. It’s a Pulitzer prize winner.
Hardboiled Wonder and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami – for Murakami fans, and I am one, a wonderful stroll through the baffling and strange mind of Murakami.
Looking for Lovedu by Ann Jones – a saga of overland travel by two young adventurers who travel from northwest Africa to Capetown by Land Rover passing through Morocco, Western Sahara, Senegal, Mali, Nigeria, Zaire, Tanzania, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and finally Sputh Africa.
Fashionable sailors
One of the essentials not paid much attention in mainstream sailing media is fashion. What do long distance cruisers wear? At least, when we do wear clothes. Now we don’t always wear clothes but in port and anchored close to other boats and/or local villages we do try to aspire to be respectful and cover up. But when we don’t, what clothes do we wear?
So, one day in the Seychelles Yacht Club we were all having lunch and decided to take a few photos of what people were wearing. Of course, the women were far more discerning about what they were wearing compared to the men. You judge with the following pictures.
THE WOMEN
Sunday Brunch finery with Utta from Imagine, Davina from Divanty, Marcia from Strider and Connie from Sage
Marcia dressing very tropical with Fijian cotton print shirt, REI capris and Keen shoes
Davina is wearing a matching short set with croc shoes to match
Utta is most fashionable wearing a dress by Isayake (?)
Connie fashions a hand embroidered top from Sri Lanka and shoes by Keens
Of course there are always those moments where hi-fashion has to be put aside for practical reasons:
For those hikes where cool waterfalls or streams are available it’s always handy to have a wrap to use after bathing. Connie hard on the slopes
Nives, our Seychelles crew/guest, sports the latest in Seychelloise millinery fashion with a hand-woven husk hat
Looking good in the dinghy is important – here Kirsten from Lop To and Connie from Sage display the latest in dinghy wear
THE MEN
Men haven’t caught on to the importance of fashion wear in the cruising community but there are some great displays and attempts at trying to fit in to the highly competitive world of cruisers fashion
Leading the men’s pack is Bernie onboard Momo
Second in the ‘men’ pack is Dave sporting a Fijian cotton print with Tilley shorts
And then there is the group attempt to fit in.
For visiting the sacred banyan tree in Nosy Be one has to be appropriately dressed. Standing from left to right: Kirsten (Lop To), Peter and Utta (crew on Pipistrelle), Helmut (Lop To), Bob (Pipistrelle), Rose and Steve (Emerald Sea).
And then there is yours truly:
Tony at rest – hat by Tilley, scarf by Enoki and shirt from a thrift shop in Victoria
Madagascar to Mozambique
Morumba Bay – point of departure from Madagascar
If the sail from the Seychelles to Madagascar was an exercise in physical stamina and endurance the trip from Madagascar to South Africa was a test of mental stability edging towards insanity.
The stretch of water I refer to lies between 15 and 25 degrees of south latitude and between the east coast of Mozambique and the west coast of Madagascar. Most waters of the world in these latitudes usually offer gentle sailing, consistent winds and generally pleasant experiences. However, the Mozambique Channel offers a number of challenges and sailors are wary of these waters especially south of 20 degrees south latitude.
The group of sailors who have moved across the Indian Ocean this season are a cautious lot and as with many sailors leaving for a crossing there are a great number of conversations about weather and tactics.
Modern technologies and access to weather sites are numerous. Most weather sites use grib files to make predictions for future wind patterns. These are great guides to sailors planning an ocean crossing but they are fallible. As I write the prediction for our particular location calls for south-east winds of 10-12 knots but we have 12-15 knots of north-west wind! Not to belittle the grib but it’s best to understand they are built on models and love it or hate it nature always tends to surprise us.
Well, the Mozambique channel was a surprise. We made our departure a day after two or three boats making the same passage, Morumba Bay, Madagascar to Richard’s Bay, South Africa. The grib files showed southerly winds but the channel was a few days sail away and first was getting off the coast of Madagascar to turn south.
The winds along and close to Madagascar near Morumba Bay follow a daily pattern of easterly winds in the late evening until early morning turning to westerly during the late morning as the land mass heats up. Getting off the coast and into open water is a matter of timing so we left in the early hours of the morning and by late evening we were clear of shallow water and out in the open ocean. Great, step one accomplished.
In the meantime one can listen to boats on passage by tuning in to a scheduled radio broadcast twice a day. Again modern technologies are in play as people continue to download grib files and watch the weather. Most interesting and telling for us is to listen to the position reports of other boats. At this time of the year there are usually 10-15 boats participating in the broadcast and they are scattered throughout the Mozambique Channel and the stretch of water from Reunion to South Africa.
Our main struggle became the adverse current at play. Sailing south became a cat and mouse game with the current, and, we lost many times. The contrary current mixed with southerly winds was a deadly combination. Just trying to make forward progress became a mental challenge to a boat and crew used to making good 120+ miles to a destination. There were days where forward progress was hard-fought against headwinds resulting in daily runs that amounted to 60 miles!
It soon became apparent we needed a break. With a storm forecast to be overhead in a few days
Hiding from the coming storm
we headed towards Bazaruto. Bazaruto is a large bay on the east coast of Mozambique.
Bazaruto National Park
It’s a stunningly huge bay protected from the ocean with sand dunes rising 250 metres.
Ilha do Bazaruto
The bay is shallow with numerous sandbars but with careful navigation one can maneuver into anchorages none of which offer 360 degree protection. However, we did find a location which in the end accommodated 8 other sailing yachts each seeking shelter from the storm.
Under tow by Crystal Blues in Bazaruto Bay. This is another story
Leaving Bazaruto was a real nail biter. An uncertain engine, an incoming tide, a storm swell, a shallow (2.5 metre) bar with breaking waves to manoeuvre and 8 boats leaving at the same time made for some tense moments. We made it through and headed south with an ever-increasing wind from, can you believe it, the east and shifting north-east. Yahoo, and on top of the good wind direction over the next two days we caught the occasional exhilaration of a current that moved south at upwards of 4 knots. We thought we were home free.
55 miles from Richards Bay the wind died, the motor broke down and for the third time in two months we were towed into port. This time though we sailed to within 6 miles of Richards Bay. We were within VHF contact of cruising friends and support from the local volunteer organization here called the NSRI, National Sea Rescue Institute.
Under tow at 6.5 knots and all to windward
towing bridle
They needed some practice, put a team together and within a few hours we were comfortably tied up to the dock in Richards Bay and collapsed.
Sage on sail 