33:58.00S 25:38.00E

 

Back on board Ghost again after our wonderful safari and back amongst our fellow travellers, the overriding topic of conversation was the weather. When would it be good enough for us to depart to avoid any horrors along the Wild Coast? All eyes were glued to the barometer and weather forecasts were down-loaded 6 hourly. Our carefully timed departure was at noon on Friday 21st November in company with four other yachts. It’s always good to know you’re not the only one out there being thrown around! We sailed in winds ranging from 8 to 21 kts with absolutely no moon, full cloud and often rain with incredibly black nights. The only glimmer was the weak loom of lights above the distant shoreline. Our passage was helped greatly by the Agulhas current enabling us to make good 10.5 nm in an hour whilst Alan was on watch. Being so far south we were rewarded with daylight at 04.30 am which was a real treat as well as some amazing wildlife; albatross, seals and whales breaching. Our timing was looking good with arrival planned for early evening on the 23rd November despite the warnings of fog and poor visibility from the vessels ahead of us.  Luck was with us and the fog lifted and we motored in to Port Elizabeth to a berth kindly arranged with the local yacht club by a fellow traveller who had arrived a couple of days earlier. We were safely docked with celebratory drinks in our hands by 20.00 hrs that evening. Alan calculated the stats for the voyage; 480 nm of which 120 nm was current and an average speed of 8.6 kts. Not bad!

 

The following morning we headed off to the local chandlery for extra lines, snubbers and two space-hopper size fenders to truss Ghost up in readiness for the impending blow and resulting swell. The waves were crashing over the break water but fortunately we were well protected in our corner with Ghost riding it all very comfortably so beauty sleep was uninterrupted. We were all extremely thankful to be safely tied up to the dock rather than out at sea. Port Elizabeth is an industrial port filling vast ships with manganese oxide, a fine black dust. Loading doesn’t halt just because there is 40 kts blowing so we were all covered from waterline to mast head with a fine black dust. All our running and standing rigging was coated in a thick layer which you just couldn’t get away from. Despite our best efforts to hose it off, it wasn’t budging. A job for Cape Town.

 

We made the most of our enforced stay in Port Elizabeth by hiring a car and exploring the historic town, penguin sanctuary, excellent museum and some fine restaurants. The local brandy was a huge hit as an after lunch tipple.  Quite by co-incidence we met up with Judi, a friend from Grenada days, who we’d last seen as she handed over banana cake and clotted cream as she cast our lines off in Falmouth when we sailed away from the UK in July 2013. Small world!

 

On our fifth day in Port Elizabeth, we sat around kicking our heels waiting for the weather to comply with the forecast. We needed enough time to get us to Cape Town before the next weather system kicked in. The Agulhas current drops off by this point so we couldn’t rely on that to help us on our way. Finally by 18.00 hrs the barometer had ‘topped out’ and the wind was abating so we slipped our lines and headed out along with three other.