Year 3 -4 July 2026 -Durban -South Africa
It was a beautiful blue sky day when we woke although a little chilly before the sun came up. There was no wind and so we warmed ourselves in the sun whilst having a leisurely breakfast.
John was coming about 9.00am to bring his bags back to the boat and the idea was to go off shopping to provision before heading over to his house in Hillcrest for a barbecue. They call it a braai here (derived from the Dutch word braden, meaning to roast) which is a deeply rooted South African social custom centred around cooking over an open wood fire. It goes beyond a typical barbecue by focusing on heritage, community, and meticulously tending aromatic hardwoods like Kameeldoring or Rooikrans.
Whilst waiting I did a few jobs-mending the paper roll holder, putting more sealant on the navigation window and checking the engine room and the generator housing and filling coolant in the header tank for the generator.
John arrived on time and armed with the shopping list and shopping bags we headed for his car. He drove us out to a shopping centre near his house and this meant getting on to the highway from Durban. When we were going through Durban I noticed how many Police there were about and the fact that all of the shops had metal gates and shutters which I assume protects them when closed from thieves.
The trip on the highway took about 30—40 minutes and I was struck by the size and variety of trees on the route and from the type clearly indicated we were in a tropical climate. We came to the shopping centre and I went for a haircut so I cease to look like the wild man of Borneo. This took barely 10 minutes and I then joined the others in Checkers, the supermarket and we then finished the shop. We then took the gas cylinder to the gas store but they did not have the adapter to fill it ,which was annoying.
We then drove to John’s house which was a lovely large house in a secured enclosure of some 13 houses. It was very green with lovely shrubs, trees and gardens. We were met by Terry, John’s wife, who we had met briefly at the yacht club when she came to collect John a few days ago. They welcomed us to their home which was built with outside living in mind. They had a small plunge pool and a lovely outside area with chairs and tables under a covered area with pillars and open to the garden. They had a lemon tree so we took some lemons for the boat.
We then had a drink and chatted in the sun and relaxed. John got the braai going and before long he had cooked Ostridge, sausages, lamb chops and steak (and other South African meat, the name of which I have forgotton). We eat this as the outside table and Terry had produced a lovely salad and pasta to have with it. This was finished off with ice cream and fruit etc. It was a delicious meal and it was very kind of John and Terry to invite us to their lovely home.
We stayed until 3.00pm and then we got a minibus back with all our shopping etc. We packed everything away when we got to the boat and then headed off to the Natal Yacht Club to watch the England South Africa rugby match. This was fun but England have a way to go to be at the South African level I am afraid and we were convincingly beaten.
I had looked at the weather and thought it would be right for us to move on tomorrow as planned. I emailed Des to this effect. He replied - Dear Nick
The latest gribs 1200UTC show Durban with maybe E5 kts and by sundown more SE but still <5. Overnight W<5 and by sunrise tomorrow just starting to turn NE. By midday tomorrow NNE10 and sundown NE17. Deadline into East London still Wed midday. Port Elizabeth shows Wed morning light variable so odds are good you could run all the way. Would get out of "Dodge" and go for it. Have a safe run and keep me posted. Best wishes
After receiving this communication we were good to go and so had an early night after the match.
East London is some 250nm South and if you can get out into the Agulhas Current then you may be able to add 3.5-4.5 kts to your speed which on top boat speed could mean we could make East London by the morning of the 6th. Port Elizabeth is some 130nm further South than East London and assuming we make good progress to East London it may make sense for us to continue to get into Port Elizabeth by Tuesday – well in advance of the next front coming up. This would mean we would have done half of the distance to Cape Town from Durban.
The picture of the day is the motley crew at John’s house.
Need/Opportunity Year Three
I am now on the way to Durban and will then head for Cape Town and then on to St Helena, Azores and back to the UK.
I am now in need of 1 additional crew from Cape Town to the Azores. The new crew member would need to be onboard by 10 August and it is likely we would get to the Azores by late September or early October. If at all interested in joining me please contact me on my email below or WhatsApp +44 7931360372.
The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com