Sunday, 29 November 2015

Richards Bay Departure

Hi everyone,
We departed Richards Bay at 0930 this morning. We are currently in position 29 33S 31 58E doing 4.5 knots on a course of 240M. Winds are light so we are motoring. Happily we have 3-4 knots of current with us. Our speed over the ground (SOG) is around 8 knots!

Another southerly buster came through on Thursday night and the main walkway was submerged yet again. On Thursday afternoon as the winds were building one of the finger jetties broke one of its connections to the main jetty. That led to a quick move of a local yacht and rearrangement of the lines of two visiting yachts. The maintenance of the marina is very poor and it is gradually falling apart.

Despite the marina problems we really enjoyed our stay in Richards Bay. It is a great base for exploring Kwazula Natal province. However it was time to leave and the weather window we're taking advantage of may even get us to Port Elizabeth. A NE wind is forecast to build over the next day or so and last until Tuesday at least.

We headed south from Richards Bay initially. We had expected to find current at the 200m contour but didn't find it until depth reached about 400m. It was easy to recognise the current - the sea state deteriorated substantially. We're both feeling quezy but it's worth it for the great progress we're making.

At the moment there is a light E wind which isn't enough to drive us along under sail alone. Hopefully it will build during the evening. That would steady down the motion which would be very nice!

Trust all's well where you are.

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