Starblazer - 24/11/2015 – Weather Window? More like Revolving Doors!

During the past week in Richards Bay the most common topic of conversation
was the weather. As I mentioned in my last blog, Monday’s window slammed
shut on Tuesday, time enough for one boat to sail overnight and reach Durban
safely. The next ‘window’ opened Wednesday or Thursday evening but had
slammed shut again by the next evening however three more boats made it to
Durban. The only real advantage of a stopover in Durban is that the next
leg to East London is shorter but you still need a 48 hour window.

On Friday evening the remaining skippers met at the club for a ‘Happy Hour’
to discuss the GRIBs and a promising looking window on Monday which should
allow us to reach East London and, possibly, Port Elizabeth. The sky
darkened and rain looked very likely which led to a number of skippers
racing back to their boats to close all hatches! Most crews stayed on for
dinner during which the rain was very heavy and the wind was howling. By
9pm the rain had abated a bit but the lightning seemed scarily close as I
walked back to Starblazer. We later heard that one of the boats in Durban
had been struck by lightning, wiping out almost all of their electronics.
Their SSB is still working but they are having to hand steer as the
autopilot is dead. That is tiring work for a double-handed crew. The wind
piped again overnight but by morning the wind was right down, the sky was
clear and it was a lovely start to Saturday.

John and four other skippers set off early to complete the paperwork
formalities for sailing to Cape Town, visiting the Yacht Club, Immigration,
Customs and Port Police. They were back in just under 3 hours, better than
average! There were reports to expect stronger winds Saturday evening so
John added three extra springs to keep the boat back, away from the pontoon.
There were few cleats of indeterminate strength so he added some very large
shackles bolted on the metal frame of the finger and tied some of our very
thick, spare mooring lines to them. With the boat snugged down we went
shopping. The heavens opened when we were in the Mall. We got the shopping
back on board without getting too wet. During the evening the wind built,
hitting a peak of 52 knots, nearly 100 kmh! It was quite unusual in that
the sound of the wind changed completely when it peaked. Starblazer stayed
nicely tied up and the wind finally died down before dawn.

Sunday was a day of indecision, the GRIBs suggested 10-15 knots against us
for the first 24 hours plus the window had shortened so we would have to
make better than 7 knots on average to reach East London, Port Elizabeth
appeared unobtainable. We were almost decided not to leave. On Monday
morning John spoke to a delivery skipper taking a 35 ft yacht to Cape Town.
He said he wind wouldn’t be a problem and the Agulhas Current would easily
carry us there. At 12.30 we slipped our lines and headed out, followed by
two other boats, the other two had left an hour or two earlier.

During the evening roll call two of the three boats, which had left Richards
Bay together, called in to say they were all on their way from Durban, about
50 miles ahead of us; this morning the fourth called in, having left at
about 1800 yesterday evening. It is possible the leading group will be able
to make Port Elizabeth but it all depends on the weather. The current is
not as strong as we would have hoped for however it has given us a two knot
lift for most of the past 24 hours. The breeze has picked up a little, too,
and we are now motor sailing. Yes, Starblazer is a yacht; yes, we have
white flappy things to drive us and save diesel; but no, we do not have the
luxury of time to allow the wind to drive us on its own. If we get to East
London much after midday tomorrow, Wednesday, we could be faced with
motoring into a stiff headwind and possibly choppy seas, both of which slow
the boat down. If, on the other hand, the forecasts change we might make
Port Elizabeth by Thursday midday. We shall see.

Joyce