Mossel Bay

I just pulled into the anchorage off of Mossel Bay after 40 some hours of sailing from Port Elizabeth. I pulled out with 2 other boats also hopping around the coast at around 8pm. When I got out of the breakwater the wind was blowing around 15 knots. I pulled up the sails and headed around to the point. About and hour after I left, I cruise ship left the harbor and proceeded to bear down on me at 20 knots. I turned on the spreader lights and hailed them on the VHF radio. I made contact with them and they said that they would pass a few hundred yards from me. Ten minutes later I was looking up at a massive cruise ship that was higher than my mast. Quite a start!

After that I set my course out to sea and sailed through light winds and a lot of ships - my first sleepless night. The next day the wind filled in and I was running down wind with about 20-25 knots going about 6-7 knots. The sailing was good but the shipping was a pain because they were so close they would stay on the radar so I couldn't set the alarm. They were going slow for some reason as well. I had to stay up and watch them constantly trying to figure out which way the lights were moving. For some reason they never have their nav lights on. They have a light on the bow and sometimes a light on deck.

I sailed through the next night through heavy winds and pumping sea and at around 3am I tacked and started heading in to port. I was off the entrance to the harbor around 9am and after making contact with Port Control and the the Mossel Bay Yacht Club found out that there were no moorings available. I went to an anchorage on the other side of the harbor and have been rolling around here ever since. The weather window should be opening up in the next 24 hours or so and I plan on heading out then. For now it is good to catch up on some sleep in preparation for the last leg of my trip around the Cape of Good Hope.

Cheers,

Zac