The passage from Reunion to South Africa covers 1,450 miles
and is known for being a very tough leg.
As you leave the tropics and round the south end of Madagascar, the
area’s weather is affected by an unending succession of Antarctic lows moving eastward. Even in the summer when they are less
intense, fast-moving lows still pass through every 2-4 days making it almost
impossible to avoid some bad weather on the passage. These lows are especially dangerous as you
near the South African coast and enter the fast flowing Agulhas Current. This wind against tide situation regularly
causes a dangerous sea state.
After preparing Saviah for the passage, we waited a week for
a good weather window. It was a long
week with quite a bit of anxiety, and more than one instance where we thought
we were leaving the following day before the next forecast would cause us to
postpone. Fortunately, there were three
other cruising boats waiting to make the same trip, and we could commiserate
together. We met on most afternoons to
discuss weather, and two of the boats shared information they received from the
weather routers they hired to provide forecasts for the passage.
On November 2nd, a low pressure system that had
been hovering south of Madagascar finally seemed to be moving along. Everyone agreed that it looked good to depart
the following day. Our plan was to leave
in the early morning hours, but after a walk along the break wall, we changed
our minds. The surfers were out in force
catching the 8-10 foot waves breaking over the St-Pierre harbor entrance. We were stuck for the time being. The forecast called for conditions to settle
later that day, and we made many trips back and forth to monitor the
swell. It did settle down eventually
that afternoon, and all four boats set off within a few hours.
The first five days we had mostly light winds that switched
direction and speed often. Before
leaving Reunion, we changed out the genoa for the small working jib for a
couple of reasons. We thought it would
be a good sail for the strong southwesterlies that we would ultimately encounter,
and because our big genoa still needed to be repaired after a large section of
stitching came undone during our crossing to Mauritius.
We were determined to maintain a decent pace during this
trip, as the longer we were out, the more bad weather we would see. This meant motoring at times, but of course
we only had so much fuel, and the forecast showed more light winds for the
following few days. In order to conserve
fuel and keep up our pace, a headsail change was necessary, as the small heavy
jib wasn’t cutting it. We were nervous
about flying the spinnaker because of the quickly changing weather, and decided
our best option was to repair the genoa.
Andrew spread out the big sail in the cockpit and began hand-stitching
about ten feet of sail. It took almost
four hours to repair it, but we were glad we did. We switched the headsails and made relatively
good time, averaging 5.5 knots. We only
used the sail for a couple of days and then switched back to the small jib when
the forecast showed an approaching low.
Throughout the passage, we stayed relatively close to s/v
Ocean Lady, a British boat that left Reunion right before us. We attempted to speak to Alan and Margaret
each morning and evening at a scheduled time on the VHF. Communication was only possible when within
about 15 miles of each other. We were
out of range most of the time, lose contact for a day or two, and then somehow
drift back together again. In fact, five
days out of Reunion, we were both sailing downwind, wing on wing. They were on a port tack and we were on a
starboard tack when we had to adjust course to avoid a collision. We ended up crossing within about 50 yards of
each other. When we were in VHF range,
they often provided us with some very useful weather updates.
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| s/v Ocean Lady |
Although it is very tempting to round the corner close to
Madagascar, the more conservative route goes approximately 150 miles south of
the island before turning west towards South Africa. Hugging the coast would probably save at
least a day, as there is a strong favorable current and the distance is shorter. However, the continental shelf and several sea
mounts in the area can cause enormous waves when the conditions
deteriorate. Freak waves have even been
reported in this area when the winds are light to moderate, so it is best to
give the island a wide berth.
The general strategy is to encounter a low south of
Madagascar and then try to make the remaining 700 miles to South Africa before
the next one arrives. As we neared this
area, we received updated weather information, which showed our timing was good
as a low was approaching. The winds
closer to Madagascar were forecast to be stronger, so we continued 30 miles
further south before pointing west.
About 12 hours after turning west, the front of the low
passed through with lots of thunder and lightning, and we had SSW winds at 30
knots with gusts to 40. Saviah handled
it well, and we sailed along on a close reach with a double-reefed main and
staysail. After the front passed, we had
nice sailing again as the E to SE winds filled in for a few days.
During this last stretch, we tuned in to the Peri Peri net
in the morning and evening. This net is
out of South Africa run by knowledgeable sailors located in various cities
around the country. They provide
detailed weather forecasts for the area, ranging from Madagascar and Mozambique
all the way around South Africa and up to Namibia. They also give each boat that checks in information
specific to their location. Most of the cruisers check in with their positions
and get advice on strategies for the approach to the Agulhas current. Since we don’t have an SSB radio, we can’t
broadcast, but we can listen in on our receiver and still use the information
given to other boats.
There was a bit of anxiety as we approached South Africa. The Agulhas current flows fast south down the
coast. The width varies, but to get to
Durban, we would have to sail about 50 miles across it. If you are caught in the current when a low
passes through, it is bad news. The SW
winds blow against the current and regularly create enormous breaking
waves. Our charts of the area have
“cautions” that describe the risk of freak waves of up to 65 feet during these
times.
Unfortunately, timing the low pressure systems is not as
easy as it sounds, mainly because these lows are not easily forecast. If we weren’t so stressed about it, it would
have been almost comical to hear the guys on the Peri Peri net give advice to incoming
boats. One morning, they would tell them
to hurry before the next low arrives, and by that evening they would advise
slowing down as they wouldn’t have time to make it. The low would stall out, and the next day
they would recommend hurrying up again. Having
access to these quickly changing forecasts via the net was helpful, and we
never missed a broadcast.
As we approached, we were in hurry mode and motored when
necessary to keep our speed up. Two days
before reaching the current, the weather forecast changed and showed a front arriving
sooner than expected. It would likely
reach us before we crossed the current. We turned off the engine and sailed along
slowly waiting for the front to pass.
Fortunately, the front was quite mild and passed quickly,
and we motor-sailed again in light winds to get through as fast as possible. We entered the current as the sun set on our
11th day out. We had calm
conditions through the night and noticed only a couple knots of current. As the sky began to lighten, the NE winds
filled in and before long, we had 8-10 foot seas and a NE breeze of 25
knots. We were flying along at 8 knots,
happy to know that we would make it through the current without any weather
related issues.
The next concern was making it into Durban without getting
hit by a ship. We later learned that
Durban is the busiest shipping harbor on the African continent. There must have been 40 ships near the
harbor, some coming and going, others just hanging out waiting for their turn. The last 25 miles turned out to be the most
stressful part of the passage as we navigated through the commercial traffic. We made it through without incident, and by 9
am we radioed Port Control and were given permission to enter the harbor.
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| helicopter removing Durban harbor pilots from outgoing freighter |
It was an amazing feeling to be motoring through the harbor
in calm waters with that passage behind us.
We headed over to the marina and dropped the anchor in the shallow
waters near the entrance. They didn’t
have a spot for us immediately, but after closer inspection and measuring the
depth in a shallow berth, we were able to move into the marina. We cleared in with customs and immigration
and breathed a huge sigh of relief… Saviah had arrived in South Africa!
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| Durban marina |