We survived the Wild Coast
Casamara
John & Susan Simpson
Thu 4 Dec 2025 15:42
| As we arrived at the Buffalo River Yacht Club, East London, we saw some souvenir T-shirts hanging behind the bar. ‘I survived the Wild Coast’, they proudly boasted, and it did feel a bit like that! We’d left Durban Marina at daybreak on the previous day and had ventured with some trepidation into the Agulhas current to ride it down the eastern coast of South Africa as far as East London, 270 miles further south. That was as far as the weather would allow us to go for the time being, and we would need to wait in East London for 3 or 4 days until the next suitable weather window. We’d heard horror stories about 10 metre standing waves and micro-storms blowing up without warning on this section of coast so it’s fair to say we weren’t particularly looking forward to it. From the boat looking back to the shore the coastline looked similar to the east coast of Australia - miles and miles of long white sand beaches and green-topped dunes, apparently deserted. By night, however, it was as if a string of fairy lights had been strung all along the coast; it appears that South Africa’s coastline is more populated than you might think. There were plenty of ships plying this route too and it was quite comforting to think that, if it did all go horribly wrong, there were other people about. East coast of South Africa East London (originally Port Rex) was founded in 1836 as a British military supply port during the Frontier Wars but later grew substantially with the arrival of German settlers in the 1850’s. It’s unusual in being the only remaining river port in South Africa, and was surprisingly small. The port entrance looked a little uninviting as the Indian Ocean swell crashed over the breakwater to the left of the entrance channel but, once inside, the port area opened up and it was a short distance to the moorings of the Buffalo River Yacht Club, which felt like a little oasis of calm. Harbour entrance, East London Moored at the Buffalo River Yacht Club That was until the wind did it’s usual 180 degree flip and a southerly wind howled down the river for 2 days! We used the waiting time to catch up on a bit of sleep and to do a short hike along the coast at Nahoon Reef. Nahoon Beach is well-known for its surf and is used to host international competitions. There was a competition taking place on the day we were there but it seemed to be just a local group. Whilst walking, I was lucky enough to see an unusual animal wandering across the footpath ahead of me. It was a Cape Rock Hyrax, otherwise known as a Dassie or Rock Rabbit. It looked more like a giant guinea pig than a rabbit and, although only about half a metre long, its closest relative in the animal kingdom is apparently the elephant! Cape Rock Hyrax We left East London as the southerly wind switched off, timing our departure so that the swell that had accompanied the wind was beginning to die down. The Agulhas current still churns its way south towards the bottom of South Africa from here so off we went in search of it. You know when you reach it because the boat speed suddenly changes from normal to mega-boosted! We had set our sights on making it all the way round the bottom of the African continent, around the Cape of Good Hope and into Cape Town on this passage. At 570 miles, this would take us 3 or 4 days depending on the wind and making most of the current. Our passage-routing software gave us several routes to choose from, each with their own pros and cons. We settled on a southerly route, riding the current down until it branches off towards Antarctica, at which point we would head west for the southern tip of Africa and pick up winds blowing towards the Cape. The first two days were completely without wind and we chugged under engine for just over 45 hours in total. Normally, a lack of wind makes for a calm sea but in the Agulhas current we experienced a phenomenon quite unlike anything we’d ever come across before. As we reached the bottom of South Africa, just below Port Elizabeth, the sea suddenly built to a swell of around 5 metres high and with competing waves coming from different directions. With no wind in our sails to counter-balance the motion of the sea, it became very uncomfortable indeed. We toughed it out for many hours as the current was adding 4 knots to our boat speed, but were concerned that the motion was potentially damaging to the boat, never mind us! So we changed course to take us out of the current and within about half a mile of leaving the current the sea state became noticeably better. After another half a mile we were motoring on a glassy sea over a gentle rolling swell. It was a most bizarre experience. The Agulhas current is the light blue ribbon curling around the bottom of Africa After two days under engine the wind filled in again - right on the nose! We bashed into it for a few hours before it did the decent thing and came from behind us as had been forecast. It was a little weaker than we’d hoped to begin with so we made slow progress towards the Cape, but the wind had obviously been saving itself for a final hurrah. As we approached the Cape of Good Hope it increased from about 10 knots to 17 knots, then 20 knots, then 25 knots, then 32 knots all in the space of half an hour! It did mean we had a rollicking good sail around the Cape with beautiful sunshine, crystal blue waters and stunning displays from the local wildlife. A seal popped up to say hello, a huge pod of dolphins and whirling seabirds entered into a feeding frenzy around the boat and a pod of whales blew by as we approached Cape Town. (Sorry Ian, you looked for sea creatures all the way across the Indian Ocean without much luck and they all called by on the last day!) Rounding the Cape of Good Hope. Despite the sunshine it was very cold! Once around the Cape, the weather had just one more little ‘treat' in store for us. The coastline is mountainous and wind blowing over the Cape slides down the steep sided mountains, increasing in speed as it does so. We were enjoying a gentle sail in light winds when - Bam! - the wind suddenly increased to gale force on the beam and howled for a few miles, before reducing again to a light breeze. After the third time, we decided this was not fun! Finally, we rounded the breakwater into Cape Town harbour and could see the V&A Waterfront ahead of us. This was where Casamara would be based for the next month. There was just the small matter of two lifting bridges to negotiate and we were safely docked alongside. So, amazingly, that’s the Indian Ocean behind us. Next, we get ready for the South Atlantic, but not until after we’ve spent Christmas in the UK and come back to Cape Town to experience New Year’s Eve here. Casamara enters the V&A Waterfront marina with Table Mountain in the background (photo courtesy of Antonio on Bluemoona) |