16 to 23 October Passage to Richards Bay

Because of the distance (1100nm) to Richards Bay and the frequency of southerly wind systems which migrate up the Mozambique channel it was our plan to head first to Bazaruto island off the coast of Mozambique, about four or five days, and then see if there was an opportunity to continue to Richards Bay. A group of boats had left Madagascar a week before we did and were still in Bazaruto waiting for the return of northerly winds.

For the first 36 hours of our trip the winds were light and we motored 260T to reach the NE winds and find the south setting current. Once we found the wind we sailed in 15 knots of NE winds to 100nm off the coast gradually turning more south as the wind allowed until we found the south setting current. This was when we saw there was an opportunity to head straight to Richards Bay. This was confirmed by Des Cason, formerly of Peri Peri Net who helps cruisers with weather forecasts as they come and go from South Africa. He said, and I quote, 'You must have done something good in a previous life' because it is rare to be able to do this passage without having to duck in to sit out a southerly.

As we neared Bazaruto the six boats which had been pinned down there for 12 days were able to take advantage of the same good weather forecast and we joined the fleet for the last four days of our trip. The closer we got to Imhambane Point the more the current picked up and we flew on down to reach the entrance to Richards Bay at 3am. Our top speed was 10.3 knots! We might have exceeded this when surfing down a wave but focusing on boat handling rather than camera handling I missed the photo op.

Within an hour of arriving at the port entrance we were safely moored in the small boat harbour. Port Control directs all foreign boats to this harbour to complete arrival formalities.

It had been 7 days and 21 hours since we had lifted anchor in Boeni Bay in much better conditions than I had dared to hope for. Jackster arrived in good order, our only loss on passage David's favourite fishing rod, reel and rod holder lost to something BIG when we were sailing at 9 knots, unable to slow down fast enough to save the gear. So if you see a sail fish dragging a rod could you ask him if we could have our kit back please?