Location: 29° 51.8 S, 31° 01.3 E
Wednesday 12:00, 10.18.2006

The Schooner Maggie B is safely docked at the International Pier in Durban, at the Victoria Esplanade, 29° 51.8 S 31° 01.3 E. This is the first time we have been north of 30° South since August 9th.

Arriving at Durban last night was quite intimidating.

Durban is the biggest port in South Africa, and the ninth biggest in the world. The entrance is fairly narrow and you must have clearance to enter. After motoring most all the way up from Knysna, we arrived here in a proper squall, with lightning and 40 knot winds. Once we got the sails wrestled down, Durban Harbor Control put us #4 in line for entry, behind three huge ships. I felt like Air Blair Flight #211 in the "daisy chain" for approach to Chicago O'Hare.

The Harbor itself wasn't too complicated, with excellent mapping from the Furuno with C-Map and a clear description in the South Africa Coastal Pilot. But the "International Pier," while very grand sounding, turned out to be a slip about 70 feet long in a incredibly cramped spot right up against the wall. It was not visible until we were a boat length away (at night in 25 knots of wind....), and we would not have found it if there had not been helpful voices from ashore encouraging us to come further in. It did cross my mind at the time that they might have a local tradition of wrecking foreign yachts for profit.

We celebrated our arrival...

At the local fish restaurant we celebrated our arrival with four different kinds of calamari: cajun, wok fried, deep fried and grilled. Plus a bottle of "Southern Right" Sauvignon Blanc which was not as good as the sight of the whales.

Durban is slightly smaller than Cape Town (2.5 million vs. 2.9 million) but right now is seems bigger and somewhat tougher. We look forward to discovering it.

All is well.

Location: 32° 32.2 S, 30° 37 E
Tuesday 12:00, 10.17.2006

The Schooner Maggie B was at 30° 32.2S 30° 37E at noon on October 17th. We are about 46 NM to Durban and should arrive in time for a late dinner, tying up at the International Wharf on the Victoria Embankment. We will check into the Point Yacht Club tomorrow, which is right nearby. We have gone 792 NM since Cape Town. We have all sails up but are getting very little help from the wind as it is 050 at five knots.

I don't mean to complain about having to motor most of the way here. We could have had a much worse time. Right now there is a strong gale back between Table Bay and Cape Angulas. It is much nicer to be here. Coming up the coast we have stayed within the 100 foot depth contour, within 1/2 to a mile offshore. Our currents (we have a display set up on the B&G monitor comparing speed through the water to speed over ground) have varied from plus two knots to negative two knots.

Humpbacks and Giant Rays

Hannah has continued to see the most humpbacks flying through the air. There have been whales around us, sometimes very, very close, all the way since rounding the Cape. Today Willis upped the ante some by spotting a number of giant rays on the surface.

The current coastline, as we approach Durban, is called The Hibiscus Coast. It really looks like South Florida, with endless summer homes, condos and high end destination resorts. The contrast to the empty Transkai Coast with its occasional Zulu hut couldn't be more glaring.

A Teachable Moment

As we came along the coast this morning, we ran one of our two diesel tanks dry. It should have been totally routine, but we didn't really have any sails up (just the two stabilizing storm staysails) and we were a bit less than 1/2 mile from huge breakers on a starkly unforgiving coast, with a light breeze blowing us ashore. We ran around like the Marx Brothers for a bit, but eventually got things sorted out, sailed offshore, drained gunk out of the filters and got the engine started again. A Teachable Moment.

Which reminds me that we don't have a proper name yet for the engine. The autopilot is Jorge, the storm sails are Kathy and Susan, the espresso machine is Maximo, but the engine is nameless. It is Japanese, a Yanmar, 98 horsepower, a "JH Turbo," and generally very reliable. My favorite Japanese actor is Toshiro Mifune, but this is an engine, not a famous samurai warrior. Suggestions are encouraged. JH = Juliette Hotel?

In Knysna we made a bunch of friends at the Yacht Club, as we had at False Bay. Many were former residents of Zimbabwe, who had been driven out and lost property and possessions to the new government because they were white. They are still nervous here in South Africa, not trusting how things will play out. Who could blame them when one reads of Zuma and contemplates the possibility that he could become President? That makes Yacht Clubs and big Blue Water boats more attractive. One couple that we met have a very salty sailboat, that has a motoring range of 4000 NM (!) They keep it stocked and with full tanks. Others prefer to put money into their boat rather than a house and land, because you can (hopefully) take the boat with you.

We are busy reading guides to Durban and making plans. It looks as if some rain is coming, but we have happily watched the temperature of the sea water rise from 61 degrees at the Cape to 75 here. We are planning to take at least one Surf School class. If you don't surf in Durban, you just aren't really there!

All is well.

Between Knysna and Durban

We are now on our way to Durban, there are only 170 nm left. We may arrive there tomorrow before sunset if we can pick up some speed but on this trip so far we've been motoring, there is barely any wind.

We try to stay close to the shore to reduce the adverse current, we are within half a mile from the land on an average. We've seen several shipwrecks on the rocks, mysteriously telling their stories through the fog.

This weather reminds me of Nova Scotia. As I stood on my watch in the rain looking out from under the beak of my cap that framed everything, I imagined this journey as a movie. I watched the genets with fascination. I find them both elegant with their long white bodies and black wing tips and tails and funny with their yellow heads as if they had been fishing in split pea soup. I can't keep myself from smiling when I see them. Then, in my movie under my cap and in the fog, a mother humpback whale swam by our boat with her calf. They were only two boat lengths away and surely as big as our boat. They gently surfaced and dove again. They reminded me of my mother and myself as a little girl.

As sailing feels timeless and days melt into one another, motoring feels like riding the train and counting the miles, looking at the villages through the windows. Non-numerical vs. numerical, floating in timelessness vs. being aware of the constant movement, just being vs. traveling.

I look forward to watching the sun rise in Durban on Wednesday morning. We will be in a new port again; we are like snails, carrying our house with us... or I should correct myself and say that our house carries us. Most things are different in this movie... and even the four of us onboard are filming this journey from a different perspective. This is just mine. I like watching the birds fly above the ocean.

Location: 32° 30 S, 28° 39 E
Monday 12:00, 10.16.2006

The Schooner Maggie B was at 32° 30.0S 28° 39.0E today at noon. We are about 1/2 mile off the beach (Big Surf!) along the Transkai Coast in Kwa-Zulu Natal, about 201 NM from Durban and 633 from Cape Town. We are motoring at 7.3 knots on a course of ENE, with the wind behind us from the West at 10-12 knots.

Normally we could sail fine is 10-12 knots, but here we have to carefully pick our way along close to the coast to keep out of the strong adverse Agulhas Current. Even the big container ships are within three miles of the coast, roaring past us like express trains.

After lunch today, we put up our two storm sails (named Kathy and Susan for the people who made them -- see photos on the web site). Not because we expected any storms, but to put up some simple sails to slow the rolling in the 2-3 meter swells and chop. It also was a good exercise so that we would know what to do in a big blow.

I was just interrupted from writing this by a call from Hannah when a humpback whale breached alongside, perhaps 50 feet away. I came on deck and saw it breach another 20 times as it got behind us and disappeared in a small rain shower. In the last two days I have seen perhaps 200-300 humpback breaches, ten times what I have seen in the rest of my life.

The Transkai Coast is part of the Kwa-Zulu Natal area, another part of the failed apartheid effort. It was "given" to the Zulu nation with the thought it could operate successfully, independently, essentially without any government support or infrastructure. Without any work, the men left for work wherever they could find it, leaving the women and old behind in very hard times. But from here it looks green and lovely, with many classic Zulu round houses and many, many cattle.

The Maggie B runs on computers, and not just those in the GPS, plotter and autopilot systems. Last night it was amusingly clear when I was on one computer watching the TV series "House," Bori was on another burning songs from CD's onto her new iPod and Hannah was on a third, doing her email. Willis? He was on watch using the three other ship's computers to steer and navigate. Must have been rough in the old days.

We expect to arrive Durban tomorrow afternoon.

All is well.

Location: 33° 59.5 S, 25° 57.7 E
Sunday 12:00, 10.15.2006

The Schooner Maggie B was at 33° 59.5S 025° 57.7E. Knysna is 131 miles behind, Durban is 356 ahead. We are motor sailing, mostly motoring, with 5-10 knots of wind from the south. Right now it is lovely, but last night it was cool, foggy and drizzly. The fog didn't burn off until about 1100. We have averaged about 1/2 knot adverse current -- not enough to make the effort to duck into bays for the hope of backwash from the Agulhas Current. As we get further down the coast, though, we will be really hugging the inshore.

We are just past Port Elizabeth, cutting inside via the Bird Island Passage. The shore is very dramatic with huge sand dunes mixed with deep green vegetation. We have seen tens of thousands of Black and White Gannets (Bird Island....), some Humpback whales, and a number of penguins fishing. The sea is long 2-3 meter swells. The barometer has been steady, but we are watching the start of a cloud system drawing in from the south.

Lunch today was a hearty tomato and beef soup with yesterday's rice in it and a cold chicken salad with avocado, tomato, and shaved carrots, topped with a garlic (always!) vinaigrette. We finished yesterday's Sparkling, eating outside in the sun.

Durban in two days?

Location: 34° 14 S, 23° 16.5 E
Saturday 12:00, 10.14.2006

The Schooner Maggie B is underway again! Our noon position on October 14th was 34° 14S, 23° 16.5E. We are making 6 knots with full main and The Bird G2 gennaker, in 12-15 knots of wind from 310 degrees. We are about 8 NM off of Cape Seal, at the entrance of Plettenburg Bay. So far we have only 2/10 knot of adverse current, with little swell.

Knysna was very kind to us. Such a lovely place! Quite hard to leave. We made good friends at the Knysna Yacht Club and three boats accompanied us out the Heads to make sure we were safe. The heads looked quite fearsome but we hit the bar right at high tide and had plenty of depth and no breaking waves. Whew!

To celebrate the Captain's Birthday, we are underway with Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones singing their hearts out over the ship's Bose system. The boat is rocking!

Durban is about 500 NM away. The weather forecast is basically so variable that we will just have to take what comes and do the best with it. We will need to progressively stick closer and closer to the coast, with Old Hands at the Yacht Club recommending not straying more than 1/2 mile as we get around to the Transkaii Coast after East London.

Lunch is just on -- chicken breasts poached in white wine with garlic, onions and peppers, rice on the side. Plus a lovely bottle of South African "Cap Classic" sparkling. The wine is called "buitenverwachting" which means "better than expected" in Afrikaans.

I was just about to type "all is well" when the gennaker block (@#$%^& Lewmar) failed and The Bird had to be recovered from the water. We had just checked all the rigging in False Bay. It appears to have separated and spat out the center core. 15 knots of wind!

In the Swartberg mountains

A lizard sunbathes resting between black and orange rocks with yellow and light purple flowers in the arid landscape. A butterfly dances in the vast blue sky, its movements contrasting the sharp edges of the mountains. A river runs down in the valley, its trickling water bringing life to all things dry. This simplicity is beautiful.

Looking down from the top makes my blood rush through my body faster; I drink in the sky and eat the clouds until my feet grow roots down into the mountain upon which I stand. Far, at the foot of the mountains, the fields are green. I take it all in before setting sail again into the blue tomorrow.

Hanging Out in Knysna

This is a relaxing sunny afternoon in South Africa and I listen to Tchaikovsky as I write to you. We've been in Knysna for a couple of days now and we might stay a couple more, waiting for the right sea conditions to sail out towards Durban. It doesn't make sense to sail out in 35 knots of wind that would be right on our nose, so we just hang out, do work on the boat, visit the region and enjoy its wonderful gastronomy.

Yesterday, we went to a Monkey Park as you can see on the photos Frank has posted. There is one of me, looking scared and scared I was... a spider monkey approached me making strange noises and looking at me with a bad eye. I didn't know if I should move or pretend I didn't hear, or even worse, see him. I tried to make myself as small as possible as you can see from my posture but it didn't work... I am still in one piece though. The other monkeys were nice, I liked the ones with the zebra tails.

For two days, we had another sailboat next to us with 14 people from the Royal Corps of Signals from the UK. They were attached alongside our boat and they have just sailed out towards Perth, Australia in the setting sun. I cried as I waved to them. My heart was tugged even though I don't know them. It was just a little sailboat setting out to cross the Indian ocean with 14 people on it... there is something breathtaking in it... they got smaller and smaller as they headed out towards the big waves. My heart goes out to them.

I like Knysna, and being tied to the town dock is nice. We can get on and off whenever we want to. This has given me a chance to go for long morning runs and take walks around the small waterfront full of restaurants and cafes. My favorite place is Mario's cafe, facing the Knysna Bay, just next to a bridge for a canal that enters the city. Sitting there reminds me in some way of being in Venice. In my free time, I go there to write and to read on the sunny terrace. Like on night watches, there is time to think about life when a sailor waits for good weather in a harbor far from home. I haven't quite been here for two weeks yet, but now, I am feeling much better, I feel adjusted to being at 34' South and 21' East. I have not expected so much wealth though, being in Africa. Granted, we are in nice harbors full of tourists, but the infrastructure seems quite advanced. Though it hurts to see that most of the people working in the restaurants are black and all the people enjoying themselves, are white. The world seems to be an unjust place. I am getting itchy to start working and try to do something against these injustices in the world. It just doesn't feel right.

What I really like in South Africa are the mountains. They are beautiful against the sky. There is something about their forms that takes me away. Wonderful wines grow on them as the sun warms them and the rain feeds them. They invite me to climb them and to follow their ridges with my eyes, feeling them like a sculptor would touch a material "to be transformed." I already feel transformed and transforming constantly. It takes courage to be away.

Location: 34° 2.5 S, 23° 2.7 E
Sunday 12:00, 10.08.2006

The Schooner Maggie B is tucked safely in Knysna at 34° 02.5 S, 23° 02.7 E.

Last night the weather rather closed in with gusts to 42 knots and a major electrical storm. The barometer dropped seven millibars in three hours. We arrived at the headlands at dusk and fortunately had the Sea Rescue boat come out to guide us in. The current out was 7.5 knots, so we just barely had the power to get in. After the entrance it was a long torturous route to a safe spot on the waterfront pier, with lots of very tight turns made somewhat difficult with the high wind. Knysna has the questionable reputation of being listed by the Royal Navy as the toughest harbor entrance in the world. We don't have their experience, but from last night, I'm sure they are right.

Happily the Yacht Club was hopping with the Commodore's birthday party, and we did our best to support the celebration.

We may be stuck here for a bit as the SW'erly swell is coming in and the expectation is that the harbor will be closed with surf across the headlands. We could be stuck in worse places.

Today we were joined at the pier by a English Royal Signal Corps world sailing boat called Adventure. She is on her way to Australia and stopped in here on the way. We make a handsome pair in the tight harbor.

Sailing Under Rainbows

Last time I've written to you was on Thursday afternoon in Simon's Town and now it is Saturday night and we are again in a harbour, in Knysna, earlier than I am expected to be on shore. I am sure Frank will describe the technical details of our tricky entry into this harbour so I will write about other things.

Before we took off for the sea, Thursday night we saw a penguin walking down the sidewalk in Simon's Town, it was very funny. These little creatures live close to town in a place called "the boulders" and they can just walk into town. We laughed thinking whether one would come onto the Main street... there are even "penguin crossing" signs around.

These two days at sea were very pleasant, I didn't even get slightly seasick and I am very glad about it. Besides sailing the boat, I was able to eat and write and read as I normally would. Today it rained and the wind that accompanied the rain was quite unbelievably warm: about 20 degrees warmer than the air before the rain. I've never experienced anything like this. We saw a full rainbow and we sailed right underneath it. The rain was full of sand and it smelled like animals from the savannah... I am sure I smelled the lions and the zebras in the air, quite a striking experience out at sea. The moon was full and beautiful last night, we could have read in its light. Willis and I had upbeat political discussions on our night watch as we consumed lots of chocolate. The Hungarian chocolate is almost totally gone.

We will probably stay here tomorrow and then sail out towards Durban on Monday. It is fun to be able to discover another corner of South Africa and we are by a dock downtown, not on a mooring, which will make it easier for me to go for a nice long Sunday run tomorrow. I can't say I've gotten used to the four hours on, four hours off watch schedule just yet, so I will have no problems sleeping tonight. Still, I am looking forward to longer legs at sea: I like the mystery of not seeing land around us... we could be just anywhere, it is the perfect place to dream.

Bori