Ann, from Cat’s Paw IV, came to see us off and watched us try to reverse from our berth with a spring line still attached! No damage done, except to our pride, and off we went on a short 35 mile passage to Dassen Island. The anchorage was very sheltered once we’d found our way past the numerous crayfish pots and fishing vessels. We were not allowed to go ashore as Dassen Island is a bird sanctuary. We enjoyed watching the penguins waddling along the shore in the evening. Jeremy spent 40 minutes in the freezing water cleaning the hull.
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| Fishing boats at Dassen Island |
It was about 60 miles to Sandy Bay in the corner of the huge
St Helena Bay. We motorsailed into a head wind. The swell was quite big but not
breaking so we were reasonably comfortable. On our approach we heard a severe
weather warning on the VHF radio. We could expect dangerous swell of more than
4-6 metres. The only refuge port on this stretch of coast is Port Owen and we
were quite close. Jeremy phoned the marina explaining about the severe weather
warning. We were turned away. The man said, “We’re full. There’s no room.”
Great. So much for a port of refuge! We anchored just outside the fishing
harbour in Sandy Bay where there was good protection from the SW swell. As
Jeremy had predicted, no swell entered our anchorage. Guess what follows an unusually
big swell. Correct. Unusually strong winds. The anchor dragged and we had to
re-anchor in winds of 42 knots. Later, when the wind was gusting to 49 knots,
Jeremy let out all 50 metres of our anchor chain, more than 10 times the depth.
The anchor held.
We stayed in Sandy Bay for 3 nights. Jeremy went to top up
the batteries and found that our oldest one was very hot. Fortunately, we had a
spare from Malaysia. Jeremy took the old battery out, replaced it and
reconnected the wiring. The bendix on the starter motor had been making a
grinding noise so he removed it, inspected it, found it to be OK and gave it a
good clean.
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| Dutch Reformed church at Lambert's Bay |
On the way to Lambert’s Bay the next day, motoring in calm
seas, I saw a school of whales and counted 8 tails upended as they dived.
Ashore we could see signs of cultivation in the desert and learned later that
Red Bush tea is grown here, the only place in the world apparently. There were
groups of seals sunning themselves. We’re now quite used to them lying on their
backs with their feet in the air and sometimes appearing to wave a flipper. We
stayed for one night in Lambert’s Bay and as it was our last night in South
Africa, we celebrated by eating ashore and sharing a bottle of wine at
Isabellas. We met an Englishman called Andrew and he was very helpful to us,
explaining where to tie the dinghy, where the supermarket was and where to eat.
Thanks Andrew.
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| Looking down on Luderitz |
The trip to Luderitz took three and a half days. You won’t
believe how cold it is on the edge of the desert. Inland it’s 40 degrees C. The
sea temperature is 6 degrees C. At night fog rolls in from the sea and waters
the desert. When there’s no wind, visibility is less than half a mile. We wore
several layers of clothes, woolly hats, socks, boots, and even thermal underwear
at night. Often we came across huge branches of kelp which would wrap themselves around the prop, so a good look out was needed. One day Jeremy swatted a fly
with a piece of rope and put a hole in the windscreen of the sprayhood. He
patched it within the hour so at least water cannot come in and soak the
instruments, but the view ahead is not quite as good as it was. A ship with two
cranes appeared out of the mist so we put the radar on. The next day the middle
lazy jack caught on its cleat and snapped. Three lines called lazy jacks on
each side of the boom hold the mainsail in place when it’s down. This repair
would have to wait a while. As always happens along this coast, the wind gives
you all or nothing. We’d been motoring for a while and just as it was going
dark the wind started to blow and carried on blowing all night. Jeremy must
have done about five sail changes as the wind swung from N to W to SW to S and
to SSE, increasing to 27 knots behind us. By the end of the next day, we were
motoring again in light winds.
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| Scary bows in the mist |
We met two more ships. I called one on the VHF and received
no response. I watched it overtake us and pass within half a mile. Soon
afterwards another ship called on the VHF, “Sailing vessel in position ……….I am
just ahead of you. How would you like me to pass”. A huge bow was coming out of
the mist ahead. I had not seen it. I replied, “Steer to starboard. We’ll pass
port to port.” It’s very rare for a ship to call us. I think this is only the
second time in three years. We need to buy an AIS, which warns us of ships
nearby and gives their name, position and course. We changed our course and
moved inshore away from the shipping. A few hours later we were tied up to a
mooring in Luderitz harbour having been helped by another Andrew. Good luck
with your trimaran, Andrew.
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| The bakery at Kolmanskop |
We had a fright in Immigration as my passport was missing.
It was last used to clear out of Cape Town. Fortunately, a return to Sal Darago
revealed my passport in the chart table. It must have slipped out of our
documents file. Back we went to Immigration to clear in, followed by Customs
and Port Control. There were no charges. Tagish arrived that evening with
Dorothy and Brian on board and Cat’s Paw IV arrived the next evening with Ann
and Barry on board. We celebrated with beers at the yacht club and arranged to
visit the ghost diamond mining town of Kolmanskop the next day.
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| The Manager's house at Kolmanskop |
The six of us went in Marion’s minibus for N$50 each. The
permit to the ghost town cost N$55 each. That’s about £8 each in total. We were
driven 10km into the desert – nothing but rock and sand – to Kolmanskop. Most
of the houses were still intact although some of them were almost filled with
sand. The main hall/gym and a few houses had been restored. There had been
families, single men, labourers, managers, a shop, a bakery, a butchery, an ice
house and a hospital. The town was built by Germans using wood and machinery
sent out from Germany. After the guided tour we were free to wander around the
site and go in and out of many of the buildings. It is said that once diamonds
could be picked up from the sand. Not anymore. The whole town was abandoned
when a huge deposit of diamonds was discovered at the Orange River mouth. It
was strange to walk around and see the empty houses, gaining an insight into life during the diamond rush.
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| Sand dunes at Hottentot Bay |
On Saturday 19th January 4 yachts left Luderitz
on passage to Walvis Bay. These were the German yacht Mango, the Canadian
yachts Tagish and Cat’s Paw IV and the British yacht Sal Darago. We were last
to leave at 0745. We had a look at Boat Bay just 12 miles north of Luderitz and
carried on to Hottentot Bay where we stayed the night. The wind blew hard and
when I dropped the anchor the chain jammed with only about 2 metres overboard,
not enough to reach the bottom. Jeremy came forward and could not shift the
chain either. He had to go down below, empty half the front cabin and untangle
the chain in the forward locker, while I kept SD as steady as I could under
engine with her stern into the wind. It was important not to drift as there were
crayfish nets and pots nearby. After several minutes Jeremy freed the chain and
we anchored securely. We were almost surrounded by beautiful curved sand dunes.
There were a few remains of buildings and one or two fishing boats.
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| Wreck and seal colony at Spencer Bay |
The next
day we motored in misty conditions to our namesake anchorage – Spencer Bay.
There was a wreck on the headland surrounded by hundreds of seals. As we
entered the bay the wind doubled in force but we anchored this time with no
problems. We both wanted to go ashore but the surf was surging up all the
beaches making landing risky. Jeremy had hurt his leg the previous day when he
was caught in a gybe. The mainsheet nearly put him overboard, but he held on
and was smacked into the rear bimini upright pole. Was it worth risking possible
further injury being flung out of the dinghy? We were miles from anywhere in a
remote, wild and beautiful place on our own. If we damaged the outboard we
couldn’t row back against the gale force wind and the desert is not the best
place to spend the night! We had lunch and spent 4 hours on anchor before
continuing our journey of 2 nights and 1 day to Walvis Bay.
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| Strange rock formation at Spencer Bay |
The first night the wind gusted to gale force from behind,
the swell increased in size and waves broke on top descending in waterfalls
against our hull. One came right into the cockpit. I was so glad I’d put a
board in the companionway or the saloon would have been drenched. Jeremy put on
his thermal underwear and I was wearing 4 layers of clothing on top and 2 pairs
of trousers. The southerly wind blew straight from Antarctica. Our thoughts
went out to Nick Bubb doing the Shackelton Re-enactment in the Southern Ocean.
We motored all of the second night. The engine revs kept going up and down and
we expected it to cut out at any minute. However, the good old Vetus Mitsibushi
did not let us down and we reached Walvis Bay, picking up a yacht club mooring
at 0800 hours. Nearby were Mango, Tagish and Cat’s Paw IV.
We’re here until Saturday 26th January; then we’re off to St Helena, a British island
about 10 days’ journey away in the South Atlantic. We are looking forward to
being in the SE Trade Winds again. Perhaps we’ll be able to take our fleeces
and thermals off soon.
