RoRCs Stuart and Anne Letton report from South Africa
by Stuart Letton 18 Mar 2022 10:21 UTC
Time Bandit travels from the Seychelles to South Africa via Iceland, of course. And they need suggestions for where to go next!
"Most we ever saw was fifteen knots. One of the easiest passages of our circumnavigation." So read the text of one blog outlining their experience crossing the Indian Ocean to Cape Town, South Africa.
"Possibly the second most dangerous stretch of water in the world" said another.
That's the problem these days; everyone has the ability to throw in their tuppence worth, and have their personal opinions and "war stories" broadcast globally at the click of a mouse and sow the seeds of anticipated pleasures to come or cause gut-wrenching fear and sleepless nights. (We find it best just to search through all the different weather forecasts until we find one we like.)
Anyway, last time we reported, May '21, we were in the semi lockdown of the Maldives - Thanks for the $1,500. You can cruise as much as you like. Just don't go ashore!
It was therefore something of a relief to get to the comparative, in fact, almost total freedom of the Seychelles via deserted Chagos where we had the islands to ourselves for two weeks. In Seychelles, it was just wear a mask and off you go. However, best you don't go to the other two islands where you're allowed to cruise, clutching your permit, 'cause they're rife with Covid. Undaunted, we went through the process of getting the required permit to visit the outlying islands, as tedious as it was pointless because Covid again took an upswing and I didn't fancy taking my wheezing chest anywhere like that.
Time Bandit parked up in Seychelles from May until September and the best cruising was.......by motorcycle in Iceland - but that's another story. We finally up'd and off'd for Cape Town at the end of September, either heading for a fifteen knot, leisurely cruise or, a thrashing in "the second most dangerous piece of water in the world". (We never found out where the most dangerous place was, but I clearly remember some wild days hanging on by my toe nails at Queen Mary Reservoir just outside London.)
Landfall in Mayotte came next. An interesting place and really, despite the Seychelles claim to a "first taste of Africa", when in fact, it's really "Africa Lite", Mayotte was definitely Africa. Ladies in colourful, traditional dress, bustling open markets and men in Manchester United T-shirts. The yacht club and its members offered a truly great and supportive welcome, cold beer, showers, laundry and crucially, guidance through the immigration process and, painfully, a venue for me to embarrass myself on acoustic guitar.
Leaving Mayotte we were on what should have been a multi-stop trip down the Mozambique Channel - multi-stop so we could sit and wait for the world's most dangerous weather etc... etc... all while at risk of being boarded by unpleasant and threatening officials keen to augment their meagre wages - who, like the weather, never showed up. We didn't stop there but those that did had no issues to report. Globally or otherwise.
We didn't need to stop, the weather windows kept opening and seven days later we arrived in Richard's Bay, into the arms of Port Officer Natasha. Now, we've had some great experiences with Port Officers, from Orkney to Norfolk, Las Palmas to Opua and Natasha is one of the best. Without her support and guidance, we'd still be working our way through South Africa health, customs, immigration, port control - and in that order and only that order. Richard's Bay, Durban, East London then, finally, Cape Town. Once again, all the weather windows opened, we broke our record and hit a top speed of 21.5 knots and also some strands on our lower shroud. Glad we didn't know that at the time, and, now, here we are, parked up in Cape Town's V&A Marina along with Ocean Cruising Club boats, Steel Sapphire, Georgia, Ice Bear and Trance; PO Robert looking after us all.
What's next? Suggestions on a postcard, please!
This article has been provided by the courtesy of Ocean Cruising Club.