Blue water

After more than a year as landlubbers, we are back out on the blue water, on the vastness of the Indian Ocean. Deep blue, light swell, lots of sun, sometimes very stormy, impetuous and unpredictable - that's what blue water sailing feels like. Hour after hour and day after day we sail towards our destination, the Seychelles. There is a changing of the guard every three hours. It seems like an eternity of time has passed since Richards Bay. In total it will be twelve days to get to Hellville on Nosy Be in Madagascar. In between there are long days and nights with different conditions and feelings. There is always the struggle to just let go and enjoy the sometimes rough seas. The doubts about whether a different route would have been better, whether perhaps waiting two days longer for a weather window would have helped, and then just the time of acceptance and what was happening, the total relaxation.

Whales and dolphins accompany us on the way to the northeast, sometimes dozens, very close to the ship, under the ship, sometimes we only see the fountains and the tail fins in the distance. Nature has dimensions that we can only imagine and the humility of all these wonders and powers is once again in the foreground. We rock very small over the waves, always with our goal in mind, with a slowness that you can't escape. It's nothing oppressive, on the contrary pure freedom!

But better, let's start from the beginning and tell you about our start in Knysna, the first miles to East London, our wait for a good weather window in Richards Bay and the long days until our arrival in Madagascar.< /p>

Knysna - East London 30.8. - August 31, 2023

After a nice farewell evening with Liz, Mark and Reini on the Najuma, we are ready to go at 9 a.m. Renier, who accompanies us to the Seychelles and knows the area like the back of his hand, is also on board on time. It's difficult to say goodbye and so it's best to start the machines and head out for a new adventure. All our friends are standing on the quay and Peter, along with Liz, Mark and Charlene, escorts us to the Heads, then we are alone, set the genoa and sail out onto the blue water, heading for East London. Picture-perfect conditions, little swell at night, a blue moon event and the vastness of the Indian Ocean. We only have a short weather window to get through the first 288 nm, but we are running under the coast with the current and the wind behind us at up to 9.5 kts; we fly!As we enter the port of East London, the first southwest winds of up to 30 knots catch us. Across the wind you can feel the force and the waves quickly get higher. Our destination is the Buffalo River Yacht Club in the furthest and most sheltered corner of the industrial harbor. We dock at the jetty at 9:10 p.m. Gottfried is very nervous and not yet very confident in handling the catamaran, but with the help of Sandra and Renier and two helpers on the jetty, everything goes wonderfully; just no rush, always slow. A beer at the bar in the clubhouse and then we go to the bunk.

We stay in the marina for a day and just lounge around. A really interesting yacht club, no frills as the English word so beautifully describes it; no frills, just what it takes, simplest. In the evening there is a meeting in the clubhouse and a braai. Renier turns out to be the master and grills for us, simply delicious!

One day before us another cat arrived, the Lala Manzi, a Lagoon 42. This ship with Bodin, Anita and Jeanne will accompany us to Madagascar.

Farewell at the waterfront in Knysna...bye, bye friends, we'll definitely see each other again!

We are deeply grateful for your friendship and the wonderful time with all of you in a magical place in South Africa!

On the way to East London

East London - Richards Bay 2.9. - September 4, 2023

After just a day of waiting we have a short weather window to sail to Richards Bay. No wind on your nose, little wind from the south, the ideal weather, otherwise it's better to wait and see. The Agulhas Stream flows directly on the coast here. With a strong southwesterly wind this means wind against the current and it becomes very dangerous very quickly. On the other hand, you don't want 18 kts of wind on your nose, so there aren't really many options left at this time of year. We're lucky, almost no wind and a window of about three days, that's enough. We set off in the morning heading to Richards Bay.

Small insert: It is very reassuring that we have Renier on board. He helps us to become familiar with the boat, gives us tips for handling and, above all, explains the weather conditions and currents, which are not entirely without problems on the way to the north. For our part, we would have set off far too early and fought our way up the coast with waves that were too high and wind too strong.

Conditions are quite good, a bit bumpy on the first night; Cross wave. It gets a little wet in the cockpit because the sill comes in from the side via the sugar scoops. Our specially made pods made of canvas material in the passages help so that not all the water gets in, but we still get some. In the longer term we will have plugs made to solve the problem. But that has time until the Seychelles. Otherwise the Najuma is holding up well. Minor repairs are commonplace when sailing, even with new ships. For us this has been limited so far: a gray water pump has broken down, the canvas rail in the cockpit is loose, the steering wheel needs to be tightened and a few adjustments have to be made to the electrical system. The only slightly annoying problem is our new satellite phone. The tracker doesn't work and neither can the weather reports download. We won't be able to solve this problem until we reach the destination of our journey. Some of you have already noticed that the tracker is not working. We have a new IridiumGo, but there's something wrong with it. Luckily our Starlink is running and we have constant connection to the outside world! Plus in perfect quality. People may scoff at Starlink and its creator, but for us sailors it is a blessing.

We sail day and night beneath the coast, two nautical miles from land. Early in the morning we see a waterfall that falls directly into the sea, small villages, individual houses. It's graceful, like traveling on a canal. Following the Kwa Zulu Natal coast we reach Richards Bay after just under three days. Again just in time before the big weather from the southwest. It has already freshened up a lot and landing is becoming a little more difficult, Renier takes over and shows how it's done, just with a little more speed and conviction. We are moored on jetty D at the Zululand Yacht Club. Lala Manzi joins us and the evening ends with the obligatory braai and a few beers.

We can't get away from Richards Bay due to the persistent bad weather conditions. To make matters worse, our visa expires on September 8th. We try to make a nice request to immigration, but we're stuck with nothing. A day late means a year of banishment from South Africa; what now. We learned from an agent that our advisors were wrong in assuming that you can only extend your visa once. Using dubious explanations, someone from immigration in Richards Bay tried to offer us an exit stamp in our passport, of course in exchange for the corresponding payment. We decide not to do that and head to the visa office in Durban on the last possible day to extend our residence permit. The agent has already prepared everything and our appointment is at one o'clock in the afternoon. Lo and behold, our applications are approved and we are now officially welcome back in the country until the visa is approved. So much in advance, we will no longer receive the permit because we will be leaving the country to the north before then. All's well that ends well.

So we spend the days in and around Richards Bay with engine service, minor repairs, rig checks, exercise (finally jogging again) and a trip to St. Lucia to see the hypos and crocodiles. In between, lots of rest and of course watching the Rugby World Cup on TV. Quite an experience in the bar of the yacht club when the Springboks play. It's loud and there are lots of experts documenting the game. Everything else here in Natal is not as compliant as in the Western Cape, after all we have arrived in the wild west, grin.A memory of RB will remain with us for a long time. In the industrial port is the largest coal loading terminal in South Africa, a horror for our clean and brand new Najuma. Everything falls black on the hull, lines, deck... it's a fight against the windmills. Even after the first squalls in the Mozambique Channel, not everything has been washed away, the coal dust is still with us to this day. The ports in South Africa are not really the place to stay, the exceptions might be Knysna and Cape Town. We have no choice but to accept the dust and dirt and not get too annoyed about it.

Another memory is the great atmosphere at the Zululand Yacht Club. We are warmly welcomed, have to introduce ourselves and are given a bottle of champagne, and we also exchange the stands and the flags of the yacht clubs.The repairs are being tackled quickly and for some requests “they make a plan for us”. This becomes a household word, somehow something is always organized so that it works. Not always exactly how you imagine it, but there is always a solution. As the saying goes: tia = this is Africa!

Buffalo River Yacht Club with Braai Queen and King.

Along the Wild Coast to Richards Bay...on the way a greeting to South Broom

Reception at the Zululand Yacht Club, refueling à la South Africa, on the way to immigration through the coal dust....

Trip to the sea in St. Lucia. We marvel at how the big boats drive onto the beach and are loaded.

A sea voyage is fun.....

....just don't let them eat!

Richards Bay - Hellville, Nosy Be, Madagascar 16.9. - September 28, 2023

We finally have a weather window to get across Maputobay. The swell and the wind from the front will keep us very busy for the next few days. We set off at midday, heading to Ponta do Ouro, from there we want to take the Maputobay directly to Ponta Zàvora and from there head to Manampatra on the Western Cape of Madagascar. The journey becomes difficult against wind and current. Up to 4.5 kts. against the Mozambique Current and the wind in your face wears down many a sailor's spirit. The cross lakes are uncomfortable, the water runs into the cockpit from the back on one side and out the other (actually not bad, but somehow not so comfortable, wink). After five days we are where we wanted to be after three days. Plus there are still problems with our tracker and the IridiumGo; Every day emails and good advice from support in New Zealand. You probably know this: you call support and explain everything and you get the feeling that they don't really take you seriously? The end of the story is not yet in sight, but we are now receiving very good support! The mood at Gottfried's isn't the best.

There comes a point when you just have to accept things and not fight against them. What else do we have to do other than just look forward? On the sixth day the relaxation begins, we successfully fish a large sea bream, a yellow tail tuna and a big eye tuna, enough fish for a few meals. Renier shows us how to fish and fillet, and we are now half professionals. We start to enjoy the trip and take it as it is. Mile by mile we move forward. Sometimes we sail with the genoa, sometimes under full gear, sometimes with the mainsail reefed, sometimes with an engine and 1500 rpm towards the destination at a slow 4.5 knots. The Indian Ocean really has it all, nothing is as it seems and sometimes things just turn out differently. We set out our route twice a day and try to find the right wind wherever possible. For this we use our new weather program PredictWind. Most of the time the predictions are good, but sometimes things are different. Everything is interpretation and at the end the sailing takes place on site, smile. Staying on course and setting waypoints doesn't help, sometimes it just goes a little in the other direction and back again, but in the end it's always a little closer to the goal. It's getting warmer and warmer, the nights aren't really cooling down anymore and we're slowly coming back to the tropics. We've dreamed of this for a long time in the cold South African winter and now we're finally here. On September 26th is written in the logbook at 6:00 p.m.: a great day of sailing is coming to an end, a bit bumpy and everyone is looking forward to the landfall the next morning: Nosy Be, here we come! We go into the night at a nice speed and in the morning Nosy Iranja lies athwartships to starboard and at 11.02 local time the anchor drops off Hellville, Nosy Be.

After almost exactly 12 days we covered the 1413 nautical miles and arrived safe and sound in Madagascar. It was a big, great experience. We learned to be patient, use the wind and relax. Blue water sailing is a passion, you can't learn it, but you can grow from it.

On the way to Madagascar; After a lot of waves and currents we enjoy the beautiful aspects of blue water sailing.

Sea bream and tuna, enough for a few meals and fresh sashimi. Sometimes other hungry mouths have already had it.

A Ganet accompanies us for three days and nights. He leaves us again at the West Cape of Madagascar.

We sail into the sunrise and the new morning.