Tuzi Gazi Storm Damage

Hi everyone,
We've been here at Tuzi Gazi marina in Richards Bay for nearly two days now.  We haven't had much rest since the southerly buster arrived in the early hours of yesterday morning.  It brought sustained winds of 40 knots with frequent much stronger gusts.  Apparently the port control tower registered a gust of 71 knots.  The 40 knot winds lasted for 18 hours or so.

Zen Again riding out the buster

The marina is constructed "African style" without posts driven into the sea bed.  Instead it is anchored/moored.  The walkway segments are bolted together with some slack to allow movement during storms/surges.

Unfortunately the marina wasn't up to the combination of this (apparently very bad) buster and a full complement of yachts.  Both jetties have sustained damage, apparently due to failure of several mooring chains.  The wind was onshore and one jetty dragged several metres shorewards.  The walkways concertina'd at the shore-end.  The finger jetties attached to those segments rotated.

View of the jetty overall

Slightly closer up - note the distant finger jetties

The above photos were taken late morning yesterday.  By the afternoon the concertina'd walkway sections were vertical and the finger jetties capsized and forced under or out of the water.  Damage to the boats in the concertina'd area has occurred.  Severity of the damage is unclear.

To get on and off the jetty one now has to clamber over two boats, both of which are sustaining damage from the marina disintegrating around them.  Their crews seem to be maintaining their good spirits.

In my opinion the response of the marina management to the storm leaves a lot to be desired.  We saw no marina staff when we arrived so simply picked an empty berth.  When I visited the marina office I noticed a whiteboard plan of the marina but no yacht names were annotated.  If they had actively managed where the bigger boats were berthed damage might have been reduced, and at least they'd know who is where for safety purposes.

Apparently similar but less dramatic damage happened last year.  When I visited the marina office the owner/manager showed me survey reports and reports of work they had done to improve the anchor system earlier this year.  Prior to the buster several local boat owners warned of the danger of the jetty anchors dragging.  A number of boats - both locals and visitors - set their own anchors prior to the buster.

Zen Again - very lucky to be in an outer pen

Despite all the above Tuzi Gazi and Richards Bay seem very nice places generally.  There are good, cheap restaurants and bars adjacent to the marina.  A huge mall is a cheap taxi ride away and there is a large light industrial area in town with a wide array of small businesses.  We managed to find bearings and circlips to service our autopilot rams which we'd been seeking since Rodrigues.

Happily the wind is gradually abating this morning.  Here's hoping the damage suffered by yachts has not been major.

Reunion to Richards Bay Passage Summary

Hi everyone,

Here is a summary of our passage.  This passage is widely considered challenging due to the passage south of Madagascar and the difficulty (impossibility with today's technology) of predicting destination weather prior to departure.  The weather on the South African coast is notorious for its hazards, particularly due to the Agulhas Current.

Zen Again in Tuzi Gazi Marina

First the usual track and speed plots.  The images are small due to the satellite link we're using to post at present.

Zen Track

Now the vital statistics…

• Distances/Speeds
• Route Distance = 1400nm
• Logged Distance = 1534nm
• GPS Distance = 1524nm
• Duration = 11 days 2 hours
• Average speed = 5.8kt
• Average day's run = 138nm
• Best day's run = 153nm (6.4kt)
• Minimum boat speed = 3 kt
• Maximum boat speed = 10.5kt (surf's up!)
• Weather
• Minimum wind speed = 0 kt
• Maximum wind speed = ~35kt
• Apparent wind angle range = 50 to 150 (we don't "do" running, choosing to broad reach instead)
• Seas up to 4m
• Swell up to 3m
• Wide variety of weather, including an 8 hour electrical storm
• Engine
• Total = 72 hours
• Driving = 68 hours
• Charging = 4 hours
• Consumption
• Water = 120 litres
• Fuel = 144 litres
• Books = 10 (5 + 5)
• Failures (all to be confirmed and all from near-miss lightning strike)
• Primary autopilot controller
• SeaTalk/NMEA interface box
• Stars
• The boat!
• Backup autopilot
• Craftsman CM3.27 engine
• Satphone.Me email system (over Iridium GO!)
• PredictWind Offshore app (over Iridium GO!) for obtaining GRIBs
• qtVlm GRIB viewer and weather-routing software
• SeaIQ iPad navigation software
• Icom HF/SSB radio

The passage down the E coast of Madagascar was quite pleasant with light to moderate winds.  We encountered a strong negative current on the second night out.  The next morning we gybed and headed W to find positive current.  This worked well and we then managed to stay in positive current around the S of Madagascar.

The rounding of Madagascar is one of the critical phases of the passage.  One of the boats ahead of us rounded 150nm S of the island and experienced atrocious conditions.  Their SOG got down to zero with 5 knots of boat speed.  They were pooped and their cabin was flooded to floor-board level by the wave.  Based on that experience boats following them rounded the island about 80nm off, where there was a W flowing current.  We rounded 70nm off and experienced areas of 4m breaking waves which the boat handled well.  I would NOT have wanted to be beam reaching in those areas!

Running W past Madagascar

The passage onward to South Africa centred on trying to stay in positive current.  Our gybes were all timed to do exactly that.  Throushout the passage we used RTOFS current GRIBs from SailDocs and OSCAR current GRIBs from sv Sarana.  Although the data wasn't perfect it was extremely helpful.  We also tried to avoid areas of rain shown on GRIBs.  The one area we went through gave us an 8 hour electrical storm in which we suffered a near-miss lightning strike.  We only skirted the periphery of this system so I would not have liked to see its heart.

The last three days were spent in light winds, with a strong southerly buster forecast for the South Africa east coast after the light period.  We motor-sailed for 2.5 days to get to Richards Bay ahead of the buster.  When we arrived a strong NE wind was building up.  NE winds generally precede S busters.  The buster arrived in the early hours of this morning.  More on that in another post.

Sunrise 50nm E of Richards Bay

Overall the passage was a great experience.  Arriving in another continent is special.  We're looking forward to doing the safari thing. There are boats here from many countries including UK, Ireland, US, Sweden, Finland, France and no-doubt others.

We still have 900nm to go to Cape Town to complete our "mission" this year.  So far this year we've logged just over 6000nm.

Richards Bay Arrival

Hi everyone,

We arrived in Tuzi Gazi Marina at Richards Bay, South Africa at 1050 local time today.  The crews of Minnie B, Mahi Mahi, Happy Bird and others we on hand to take our lines.

We motor-sailed for the last 24 hours with very light winds overnight.  This morning a NE wind came in - the wind which normally preceeds a southerly buster.  Here's the GRIB for early tomorrow morning - it's not often you see 50 knot symbols on unnamed storms….

Buster (prediction for tomorrow morning)

While barometric pressures are falling, localised social presssures are rising!  So we'll leave a passage summary blog until tomorrow.

We're in AFRICA.  How cool is that?  ;)