Sunday in Durban
10.22.2006

The Maggie B is still taking up the International Pier. We have the usual pattern of repairs and resupply going on. We all are conscious that while we probably will not be a long time at sea on the next leg, that there isn’t the prospect of First World resupply until Australia.

Our current plans are to leave with the next Westerly, which should come through on Wednesday. The winds are shifting now and the Northeasterly is coming in, which would make it very hard to get up to the Seychelles. It also will bring Typhoons to this area of the world, so we really need to get moving. The Seychelles are north of the typhoon tracks for the last 40 years, so we should be safe there. This is the end of the typhoon season for the Northern Indian Ocean and the start for the Southern Indian Ocean.

We plan to stay close to the African continent as we go north until we get about even with Southwestern Madagascar, then cross over when we get a favorable breeze. The cycles seem to be every four or five days. If we get a big NE’erly against us, we’ll just anchor along the coast. The West Coast of Madagascar has the positives of being out of the current and being very beautiful. It has the disadvantage of being poorly charted, unbuoyed and full of reefs. We plan to stop at Nose Be (Big Island) on the NW tip of the island for a bit, and then head for the Seychelles.

One stop we also hope to make is Bassas d’India. It is out in the middle of the Mozambique Channel — a deserted atoll with perfect diving and fishing. It is associated with Europa Island, also “owned” by France, which has a two man weather station.

We are rigging the Maggie B with a forward-looking sonar to help us find our way around places like Bassas d’India and the West Coast of Madagascar. It is by a company called Interphase and is undoubtedly a civilian knock-off of military technology. It will supposedly show you the contour of the ocean bottom up to 1000 feet ahead of you. It will be cool if it works. We are getting a mounting built so that we can drop it in when we get into sketchy water.

It has been fascinating comparing Cape Town with Durban.

They are both about the same size and have lovely, active harbors. But they are very much at different stages of development. Durban’s city center has essentially been abandoned by most whites and most of the money. The city center is deserted and dangerous at night. The yacht clubs and a tiny strip of land is OK. Redevelopment is taking place slowly out towards the beaches, but “fun place to stroll at night like the Cape Town Waterfront?” Forget it.

Yesterday was lovely.

We took an all-crew surf school with a marvelous instructor. John was maybe 50-60 but hadn’t aged a day since he was 19. The surf was terrible (trashy 2-3 meter shore breaks due to an Easterly wind) but he got almost all of us up on long boards with no more damage than nasal salt water douches. That evening we hit the Gateway Mall (biggest in Africa) and saw the iMax film called “Roar” about a pride of lions in Botswana. The girls cried when the old king was driven out. Then dinner at our new favorite restaurant, Bean Bag Bingo, which is right next to a boutique hotel called, quaintly (?), La Bordello. Then to bed/bunk early so as to be fresh for today when the wind was to shift to the west and the low tide was at 9:30 AM, the time for the best surf. We are considering adding a surf kayak to the Maggie B’s equipment. I’m sure that the Reepicheep’s feelings will not be hurt.

All is well.

Life in Durban

It is a Sunday morning and I am taking it easy: writing, reading and preparing for our new departure in a couple of days. Now, the plan is that we will be sailing out towards Noisey Be in northwestern Madagascar around Wednesday, October 25th, if the winds agree with our desire. Sometimes Frank says that if we don’t get the right winds, we will just go straight to Australia but I think we will still try to go to Madagascar and to the Seychelles…but nothing is for sure in this adventure. So, for all those who want to write real letters, Frank will probably post an address for the Seychelles, but we might only be there before Christmas. Snail mail is really slow coming to and from this part of the world: at least two weeks in both directions, but please don’t give up if you feel like writing. The other day, I was a little disheartened to find out how long mail took and a nice lady at the Point Yacht Club reception told me: “sweatheart, this is Africa”… For the least, I do hope that many of you have been or will soon be getting my cards and letters!
Durban is quite an interesting city with the highest Indian population outside of India, mostly blacks (Zulu), Afrikaners, and some white people, definitely the minority. Signs are written in English, Afrikaans and Zulu. In Cape Town and Knysna, the black people mostly spoke Xhosa. I am glad to be able to differentiate Xhosa, Zulu and Afrikaans, but I haven’t learned much of either language yet, it would be nice. It is not easy though to go up to people since there is a certain factor of danger… the poor people always check out my shoes when I run, so I try to run faster, but some neighborhoods are not at all safe here. We don’t go there.

Besides meeting some really welcoming and interesting people at both the Royal Natal and the Point Yacht Club, we’ve done some fascinating things in the city. The Indian market full of spices and colours was an eye-opener to the varieties of spices and roots and foods we didn’t even know existed. The Zulu art is beautiful, I especially like all the joyful bead necklaces and bracelets. We saw a beautiful Imax movie on life in the Kalahari desert in Botswana about lions, elephants, zebras and springboks, went to Ushaka Marine World with a nice aquarium and a fun dolphin show, and the best of all, for me at least, was surfing school. I’ve never surfed before and did manage to get up twice on the board: what an amazing feeling it is to be sliding on top of a wave! Now, I really want to learn.

As always, we’ve checked out some wonderful restaurants and bars and tasted local specialities and we also had a cocktail party onboard that was quite fun. Monday and Tuesday, we will be busy getting the boat ready, buying provisions and saying goodbye to our new friends. If we do go to Noisey Be, it should be a trip of about 10 days, but I will try to be writing underway and I am sure, Frank will, too. I think starting from now until Australia, we will be in small places, which I prefer, but internet access will surely be scarce. I will just write into my blog and send you postcards and letters.
Thinking of all of you, feel free to write back through the website, ask questions if you want to. Tell me about life where you are! Help me stay connected!