Durban Update - Zac

Zac in Rodrigues Island

Copyright Zac Sunderland 2008

OK, so as you know I'm safe and sound in Durban now but it was quite a time to get in. On the morning of my scheduled arrival I was bombing along at 6 to 7 knots with full sail. I had about 60 miles to go so I was getting ready for making port by organizing my paperwork and cleaning up the boat. I sailed along nicely for around 3 hrs but after that the wind just died away to almost nothing. About an hour later I had a light SW wind. I put up the sails and continued heading towards my waypoint thirty miles up the coast from Durban and about 10 miles offshore. The wind built slowly and as I closed in on my way point I began to realize that I would have to tack if the wind I had held up. I called home to compare my weather with what was showing on Clearpoint Weather and it showed the wind steady from the opposite direction. The forcast showed that it would shift as I got closer to shore. A little unsure of the plan, I kept going. Right as I reached my waypoint the full force of the buster kicked in and I had 25 and 30 knots on the nose. Now the wind is no problem, I can tack into it. It is slower and a real pain but doable. The problem came from the 5 knot current going the opposite direction than normal against me. I called a friend, advisor and former South African sailor, Rob Jordan, and after talking with him decided to beat into the wind and current and hope for it to die down. I tacked and tacked slamming through squalls and dodging ships but wasn't making any progress because of the current so I set on a tack out to sea about 30 miles. Finally, the current slackened and I was able to make some progress down the coast. I sailed my way past Durban and then tried to tack back in but the wind shifted and the current swept me to 20 miles from Durban. It was now morning and I hadn't slept all night with tons of shipping and electrical storms. So with the out-to-sea strategy not working I tried going inshore but the current was just as strong. I ended up just tacking into it and making very slow progress. At around 3:00 pm some boats from the yacht club came out and took some pictures - I was about 12 miles out of the harbor. At 11:00 pm I was 7 miles out and there was a ship on a collision course about a mile away so I went to start up the engine but nothing happened. It sounded like the starter wasn't working so I grabbed a screw driver and arched the solenoid across but still nothing. I had been on the phone with Mom and Dad back home during all of this. Mom had just received an email from Phillip Strauss of the S/V Abracadabra. We had met Phillip and his family in Mexico years ago while our family was cruising there. He and his family had been in Cape Town but came out to Durban to see me in. His email gave his cell phone number and said that if I needed anything to just give him a call. Mom called him and told him about the wind, current, ships, squalls and failing engine. Phillip was berthed at the Point Yacht Club and was able to organise some guys from the club to give me a tow in. I was able to pick up a little wind and sail right to the mouth of the harbor. The shipping out there was so heavy - there was a constant stream of ships coming in and out and 60 standing off the entrance. So I tacked out to about two miles from the harbor and went hove-to. The guys from the yacht club were having trouble finding me in the maze of lights so I turned on my strobe. When they found me they threw me a line and a cold Coke and towed me in. Now I was so tired coming in that I was falling asleep with the wind in my face. I finally got docked about 4:30 in the morning and went over to Phil's boat for a very light dinner. Then I went back to my boat and passed out until about 9:00 am. I woke up and got busy, getting ready for customs and immigration, meeting people and finding my way around.

The last few days here in Durban have been great. Since I am still on Mauritian time and the sun rises early here, I wake up early and spend a few hours working on the boat. The people here at the Point Yacht Club have been taking caring of me, showing me around taking me on some trips and helping to organise my boat work. Work that needs doing includes: having the new genoa cut down a bit, having the engine troubleshot and serviced, having a complete rigging inspection, major reprovisioning, and various other odd jobs.

As usual, I am having trouble finding good internet connections and while in port the sat phone reception is pretty bad so my communication is not as easy as I would like. Now that I am settled in and have things more under control, I will get a blog out everyday or so.

Thanks to all who sent cards and presents - when I get my photos to upload, I'll send out a few photos and notes on that.

Cheers,

Zac