Madagascar and Arriving in S Africa

Our sail to Madagascar was slow and frustrating. We had the wind behind us and because of the light winds, the sails kept filling and unloading as the boat rolled with the swells. It was uncomfortable and very hard on the rig. The final afternoon before we reached Cape De Ambre at the northern tip of Madagascar a block broke on our boom which meant we had to stop using the main sail. This would have slowed us down enormously if it wasn't for the current we were suddenly picking up and the increase in wind as we approached the Cape. 

Conditions around the Cape can be very rough but the recommended route is to stay very close to the shore. We rounded the Cape at 1am less than a mile off the shore. We had a good trip around and shot around the corner with the current. The other side of the Cape we found lots of wind coming from where we wanted to go so we had a bash to our first anchorage at Nosey Hao. After a few hours sleep we continued south to Nosey Mitsio where we stayed a few days. With the help of parts from our friends Amenika and Garrett  we managed to mended and re-install the broken block.

As we left the anchorage we pulled the main out to try our repair and the car on top of the boom which holds the main pulled off! The biggest problem with this was that it contains 86 torlon balls and we do not carry spares! So from then on we could not use the main sail. Our next stop was Sakatia island where we met up with new friends Davina and Anthony, and old friends Amenika and Garret, and Helen and Jim. We all had a lovely meal at the resort on the island. When we came out of the restaurant the tide had gone out so much that we were all struggling to carry our dingies miles down the beach to the sand. It felt as if we almost walked to the boat! The cry in the dark as we walked down the beach was 'have you found water yet?'

Finally we reacched Hellville, Nosey Be which is where we cleared into the country. We then started the search to buy a new car for our main. This took a while as Lewmars had to make us one and then ship it out. While we waited we headed to a lovely anchorage called Russian Bay. This is where lots of the 'yachties' hang out (mainly because it has a beach restaurant and bar!). It was a good place to get a few chores done and meet up with friends for drinks.

One day a group of us went for a sail on one of the local Dhows which was interesting to see how they sail these boats held together with bits of string and sails sewn together with multiple bits of cloth. You see these boats everywhere. Most of the supplies between the island are moved under sail and the boats entering the bays under full sail are a lovely sight to see.

Another highlight was seeing Lemurs. We saw them twice, at Nosey Khomba and another small island called Nosey Antsoha. Nosey Khomba was a lovely picturesque anchorage but the second night it was incredibly rolly so we left! Nosey Antsoha was better. This is a reserve and they have 4 or 5 different types of lemurs. Some of them will jump on you and let you feed them bananas. They are incredibly gentle and have the most amazing long fingers, they are also very cute and furry!

Most of our friends left before our part arrived. Getting our part ended up being quite fraught as it was sent by UPS and not DHL as instructed. This meant it ended up in the capital Antananarivo. We then had to get an agent to get it to Nosey Be and clear customs. This all took 8 days! As soon as we had the part in our hands we cleared out of the country and left! This was not because we didn't like Madagascar, we loved the place and the people, it is just the frustration of being ready to leave and not being able to.

From Nosey Be we headed south down the coast to Moramba. This was our jumping off point for our sail to South Africa. We were hoping to rest before leaving but instead spent 2 days unblocking the loo hoses! A great shame as this was an idyllic anchorage we would have liked to explore.

Our sail to S Africa was lovely for the first 7 days. We had light winds and gentle seas but really had to make use of the currents to keep a good speed. We then had to head into Maputo, Mozambique to avoid bad weather. Due to an adverse wind, we had to motor quite a way to make it before the bad weather which was a shame as with more time it would have been a nice if slow sailing day. We spent less than 24 hours in Maputo before leaving to head to Richards Bay. We had a very short window to get to Richards Bay before the next bad weather turned up. The first 12 hours were a slog against the wind and with current against us. Then the wind turned and we picked up the Aghulas current. At this point we were doing over 10 knots over the ground and we made it to Richards Bay in plenty of time.

A few boats arrived at the same time so we all celebrated with breakfast out. It was 2 friends birthday so we had champagne to celebrate. After checking in we moved the boat to Zululand Yacht club which is where it stayed for a few weeks. We hired a car and visited the St Lucia wetlands and Imfolozi and Hulhulwe game park. At St Lucia we went on a boat trip to see  hippos and we also got a glimpse of a Leopard which apparently is very unusual. The following morning we left early to go on an organised game drive. We spent the day in Imfolozi and saw Lions, Elephants, Zebra, Giraffes, White Rhino and lots of Impala (locally called sheep). At the end of the tour we drove ourselves north to Hulhulwe park where we saw lots more animals and were fortunate enough to have a lioness and her 2 cubs cross the road in front of us. The following day we drove ourselves back through the parks with more animal encounters. Then we visited a Cheetah sanctuary where we got to go into the pen with the Cheetahs and stroke them.

After a day back at the boat we flew to Maun Botswana. This trip was the reason we were eager to leave Madagascar. When we booked it we thought we had lots of time to get to Durban for our flight but it ended up being very tight and we had to drive from Richards Bay to Durban as we couldn't get the boat into the marina in Durban in time. We visited the Kwai reserve and Moremi game reserve which are areas within the Okavango Dellta. We flew to Maun and then did a light aircraft flight to our lodge which gave us a splendid view of the delta. We went on a number of game drives and saw an amazing number of animals. Highlights included seeing a Baboon up a tree eating a baby Impala, Hyenas eating another Hyena, lions and the best, was 2 Leopards. There was a mother and her juvenile son, and the son had a baby impala kill. They were so close to the truck you could almost touch them. They were eating the kill, playing together and walking around the truck. We were watching them for ages and it was amazing!!

We flew back to S Africa and started preparations for moving south. We had a good day sail to Durban. Continuing the saga of things breaking on the main we broke another block just as we arrived in Durban. Fortunately we had a spare on the boat so were able to replace it. We had 2 days in Durban and met up with friends Anthony and Davina as well as a number of other cruisers we had not seen since Malaysia. There were 5 of us who left Durban at the same time for the sail to Cape Town.

The trip south is very dependent on weather. The wind is either from the NE or SW. Its not advisable to sail when it is SW as the seas can become very treacherous due to the strength of the Aghulas current. We had to make it to East London in one hop as there is no where to stop in-between. This is a distance of 200 miles so we had no option but to motor when the winds were light. At East London a number of boats stopped but ourselves and another UK boat called Camomile carried on. We managed to get to Moselle Bay on the south coast before having to stop for weather. Moselle bay is on the Garden route and is a pretty town. We had 1 day there before we left for Simons Town in False Bay.  We had to round Cape Aghulas with the wind from the NE which we did at midnight so only got to see the lighthouse flashing!

Once around the Cape we had completed our sail of the Indian Ocean and had entered the Atlantic. We were very glad to see the back of the Indian Ocean, crossing it has been the hardest sailing we have done.  We have also never motored as much as we have had to on our trip from Durban to Simons Town. We are not sure why anyone in S Africa has a yacht because the weather is so horrible for sailing.

We arrived in Simons Town on 6 December which is where we are now. It is a very picturesque town and the people are very friendly. We have been busy since getting here trying to organise all our repairs before everything closes for Christmas. This is also their main summer holidays so most businesses are closed from 16 December until mid January.  We are finding the S Africans very relaxed so we are constantly chasing people to get things sorted. It's also been a struggle to find a hire car as there are none available in the area until mid January. Not sure how we did it but a car came up and we managed to book it so we have collected it this morning. Hopefully we can now explore the area a bit.

Our one outing so far was to see the African Penguins at Boulders beach. This is only 20 minutes walk from the marina. There are lots of penguins and they are currently all out of the water moulting and looking very sorry for themselves in the wind.

Christmas will be spent at the marina with friends on other boats. Then we are planning a trip around the coast to see a bit of the area and of course visit a few vineyards!

Merry Christmas to everyone and a Happy New year.