Day 26 Richards Bay - South Africa
Misterx
Fri 6 Dec 2024 07:07
06/12/24
8:30 am
Day 26
Indian Ocean
Richard's Bay SA
As mentioned yesterday the last few miles are the longest at sea... the land is within reach and all you want to do is tie up and feel safe especially when you know something bad is right on your heels behind you, coming for you... the sky had been darkening and we were watching the waves becoming a bit bigger when we finally reached the harbour entrance. We counted over 19 huge ships anchored in the vicinity, waiting to get in or to get away. Not sure how much of these ships take notice of a big blow, but maybe they were waiting for it to pass. Port Authority was duly called, we could see there was quite a bit of traffic in and out and didn't want to proceed without due permission. The young lady at Port control was simply delightful, lovely voice, clear cut English, and so helpful... but she did make us wait for nearly an hour before granting authorisation... bad timing, one ship was coming out and another was going in .... and the pilot was nowhere to be found for a little while! And we did get in trouble for being in the channel, well we thought we were just out of it but not according to the young lady! Still while we were bobbing around waiting, a pod of dolphins came and provided entertainment for a spell, so it wasn't so bad. Finally we got the green light to proceed.
The coast here is very green, all the beaches are festooned with what I think are casuarina trees. Beaches look pristine where were are looking from... at the end of the harbour the industrial bit can be seen through a fog of pollution... but we turned into the basin where the custom dock is well before reaching it.
The Customs dock is right by the dock where the pilots are tied up. And again, the place where we have to be is not really design for us little sailing boats. Huge walls require a lot of fenders, getting in and out is always an issue, with loads of acrobatics involved. Our marooned friends from Madagascar are still there, 24 hours after arriving, the officialdom can be a bit slow... and until it is all signed of no one can leave the boat, no stretching your legs on the shore until all the paperwork is signed and in order!
A man is calling us from the quay, waving his arms furiously, not quite sure who he is,we are too far to distinguish who this may be... maybe someone from the customs office dispatched to assist with the tiying up... we'll need an hand with this, the tide is low and jumping on the quay will be difficult... As we approached the quay, it become apparent that we do indeed know the person taking our lines for us... Keith, last see in Mauritius about 2 months ago.... we were not expecting to see him here, but he is a god send! Nothing like being welcomed somewhere new by a friendly smiley face! Apparently he has been looking at our progress in marine traffic and saw that we were near so came and help.
He is a mine of information about the place and before you know it he has arranged immigration to come and stamp our passports and rustled up someone to take Ian to the customs office about 20 mn from here. And most importantly he proposed to go and get some refreshments to celebrate our arrival... what a treat... We had a lovely couple of hours catching up. We'll stay on the quay tonight, we are well protected from the blow here and we'll move to the Yacht club marina with the rest of the cruisers tomorrow.
The shore at the end of the jetty is home to a raft of restaurants, from very simple to very posh, we fell in the nearest one, the call for steaks too loud to be ignored... And lovely it was too... made even more enjoyable by the fact that we could see the skies lighting up for hours as the storm passed over outside of this very protected harbour... thunder and lightning, strong gusts of winds, what a spectacle when you are watching it from the safety of a restaurant, with a drink in your hand. I can't even describe the relief that we did not have to be in that one!!!
As could be expected we had an early night, and an early morning arousal... still on passage time, so 4am i am wide awake. I lie there listening to the new land noises, birds calls, traffic, workers on the ships chatting, cleaners coming into work... patty patter of tiny feet on the deck above me.... what do you mean sounds of feet on the deck above me??? I jump up and poked my head through the hatch above my bed and found myself nose to nose with a monkey!!! not sure which one of us got the biggest scare!!! Well that was it, no lying in for anyone today! We all got on deck to find that the monkey troupe was having a party ... fortunately they do not seem aggressive and they got scared off really easily... Welcome to Africa where monkeys roam free!!!
Since we are now static, this will be our last at sea blog, until we'll get back to sea...
In the interim, i'll get back to posting on FB, with pictures!!!
M