Countdown to Departure

Everything is going well here in Durban. I've just finished getting everything ready to leave. The weather is looking good for departue tomorrow early afternoon. There is a 50 foot catamaran in the marina that is leaving early in the morning that will let me know whether our weather predictions were accurate. I'll be heading for East London - 250 miles away. I have had a fun week with some friends here in Durban. One of the most memorable times was when a few friends from the Point Yacht Club came by and asked if I wanted to go for a sail. We went out in about 15 knots just sailing around the bay. After we were out for awhile we saw a massive squall on the horizon and it hit about 5 minutes later. At first the wind rose a bit and we had a little rain but then marble-sized hail started hitting the deck. It wasn't so bad at first. We just took down the genny and went close to the wind but the hail started pouring down about the size of a quarter around! The other guys went down below and William and I stayed up in the cockpit trying to see through the hail and see which side of the buoys we were on. The hail had been coming down for about 10 minutes and then the sun came out with hail still falling. Yes, there was a rainbow! We tried to tack back into the harbor but after about 15 minutes the hail finally stopped. We managed to sail back into the slip and tie up to the dock. By the time we got in we all looked like we had been paint balling (not sailing) with quarter-sized welts all over us. The next day I was talking to some guys at the club and they said that that happens only every 20 years or so. Later, on the news I heard that 12 people died during the storm.

I've been busy provisioning and getting checked out of customs. I have made some good friends in Durban which makes it hard to leave.



@ Parker: Hey Buddy! I actually have not seen any whales on this trip but saw a lot of them in Mexico when I was about your age. We were in Banderas Bay which is the big bay where Puerta Vallerta is. Once when my family and I were headed back to our boat aboard our dinghy in Punta de Mita we saw a baby Humpback whale breaching (jumping out of the water) with his mother swimming along beside. We drove our dinghy as close as we dared and just watched them swim by with this baby whale breaching over and over again. It was pretty cool. As far as food goes, I am getting used to eating diffeent things and don't really miss much anymore.



@Laura: Yes, I did receive the 'No Fear' sweatshirt. Thank you, it is very cool. It will be good for these next legs.


@Anon: Bill Mann was going to organize the auctions. Bill?


@Melanie: Hey, finding good internet access is nearly impossible here. I have not seen the pirate you posted. :) I'll hopefully have more success in Cape Town in about a week to ten days.

OK, I've got to get to sleep here and rest up for my journey tomorrow. Thank all for writing and hanging out while I am in port. I'll let you know how things go out there!

Cheers,
Zac