La Reunion to Richards Bay, South Africa

 

Last walk Chemin des Anglais, Reunion

We checked the weather. Our neighbours, Alain and Therese, checked the weather. We met with the crew of Endo2 and checked the weather together. It was agreed that the weather was probably as good as we were likely to get on this passage.

Last lunch at La Caz, Le Port

We walked over to the Capitainerie, paid our bill (25 euros per night) and filled in the departure forms for Customs and Immigration. We intended to leave on Tuesday 4^th October at midday.

Hydrovane steering

Monday was spent doing laundry, shopping, cooking a three day stew and preparing Sal Darago for a 12-14 day passage. Udo, Heike and Woolfgang from Endo2 decided that they would leave the same day as us.

We were up early on Tuesday, finished all the preparations and waited for Customs and Immigration to arrive, stamp our passports and clear us out. They arrived about 1100, went to Endo2 first and told us we should be flying our yellow flag so they could see us in the marina. Whoops! We always thought the yellow flag was to be flown on arrival, but we weren’t going to argue with officials. Within minutes our passports were stamped and we were free to leave.

Big following sea

We had lunch first, motored round to the fuel berth for diesel and finally left Le Port at 1338. Endo2 had their sails up and were on their way ahead of us. We were in a wind shadow for several hours with light WSW or SW winds instead of the usual SE Trades. We motorsailed south. Endo2 did likewise. It was decided to keep in touch via VHF at 0800 and 2100, as long as we were in range (15 miles). We picked up the Trade Winds just before midnight and switched the engine off.

Small genoa

We were lucky to have the moon shining every night and fairly clear skies at first. However, it was a case of engine on then engine off as the wind speeds varied from 6-12 knots. We flew twin headsails with the full genoa poled out to starboard and the no.2 jib to port. When the wind died down in the afternoon, we flew the ghoster(half spinnaker) and the genoa. Jeremy struggled to take the ghoster down when the wind increased at midnight.

Passengers not usually allowed!

As we approached the area of generally bad weather SE of Madagascar, Endo2 gave us a weather update. They were in email contact with a weather router who told them to expect wind speeds of 28knots from the NE or ENE with gusts up to 35knots for the next 24-36 hours. And so it came to pass.

The swell came first giving us a boisterous sea, then the wind. We reefed down. We made a gradual turn 150 miles south of Madagascar towards Richards Bay. It was rough for a while but very few waves broke over us. When the front passed the wind died and we had to motor again. The pattern of variable wind speeds returned. The last VHF message from Endo2 before they went out of range reported SW winds of 20 knots on Saturday morning. The advice from their router was to make Richards Bay on Friday or stay out at sea until Monday as it would be too dangerous for small craft to cross the Agulhas current. It was Wednesday afternoon and we had 327nm to go to our waypoint off Richards Bay.

Sunrise arrival at Richards Bay

We decided to go for it engine on, sails flying, swell increasing and conditions becoming scarier. The Transequatorial Current, which had always been with us, giving us an extra one to one and a half knots, turned against us; the engine cut out and Neco, our power steering device, was making alarming noises. Jeremy found a loose grub screw and it sounded as if a cog was missing from a different part. The engine was suffering from lack of diesel and eventually all was well with a new primary filter fitted. Our wind pilot, Hydrovane, steered under engine and sail for hours.

SD tied to the international dock

The SW winds came 12 hours early. The twin headsails were taken down, the mainsail was raised and reefed twice and the genoa was furled to a small triangle. It was a bumpy ride. A passing bird obviously thought so too and took refuge on our stern for four hours. Jeremy saw the cruise ship Saga Voyager on our AIS. He called them on VHF and asked about the state of the Agulhas current. They said to expect waves of 2-3metres. As we had that amount of swell anyway, we decided to continue, crossing the two mile stretch in the dark in the small hours of Saturday 15^th October.

Almost empty Tuzi Gazi

Port Control at Richards Bay could not find any evidence that we had permission to enter and suggested we remain at sea. They accepted we had permission when Jeremy told them the amount he’d paid (300 rand) and the date he paid it. We entered an almost empty Tuzi Gazi. The marina had gone. Endo2 was tied up to the centre dock; they had arrived seven hours earlier than us. We tied up on the opposite dock. It was 0640 and the sun was rising. We had completed the 1411nm in 11 days.

Lunch at Dros, Tuzi Gazi