East London, South Africa
Anastasia
Phil May and Andrea Twigg
Sat 24 Nov 2012 14:00
33:01.55S 27:53.8E
Yes, there is a place called East London on the
east coast of South Africa. We stopped there for a couple of days while
the wind blew in the wrong direction. Having checked the web site of
the East London yacht club we arrived thinking that we would be able to moor
alongside "Latimers Landing" just outside the club, but in fact Latimers Landing
has been condemned and we never did find the elusive East London yacht
club.
The good news is that what we did find was the
Buffalo River Yacht Club over on the other side of the river.
The people there were very friendly, opening up the club for us and firing
up the barbecue pit, despite normally being closed on Mondays. And the
next evening, just before we set sail, they laid on dinner for us despite
the chef being on holiday. One of the members helped us to get diesel,
running us over to the filling station with a dozen jerry cans in the back of
his truck. We would have like to stay a bit longer, but there was a good
wind shift, and heading down the east coast of South Africa you have to
grab any opportunity you can to move on.
While in East London we took the opportunity to
visit the museum, where the first known Coelacanth is on display. It
was saved in 1938 by the curator Marjorie Coutenay-Latimer after being
brought in by a local fisherman.
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