Yes that's Tagish behind that wave.

Showing our bottom off in winds of about 25 knots

 For full effect, click photo and enlarge

These great pictures of Tagish were taken by Kathy on S/V Erica, first day out on our passage between SW Madagascar and South Africa

Catch of the day

Coming home from fishing

Brian and his kids. They were such happy and friendly children.

All the kids loved having their pictures taken and would laugh and laugh when shown the playback on the digital screen

Proud Papa

The only road out of town.  oxen seemed to know the way on their own.

The children had a great time following us on our walk about

An animal pen we think

A new house, probably not more then eight feet by eight feet

Very happy with the diving mask given by Erica

Nice to see  one of our gifts( the baseball cap) being used. The people here are very poor and were very grateful for anything we had to give. Clothing, diving masks, food items, bars of soap, rope, notebooks and pens were all well received.

Posing with some of the women

Eric trying to communicate by drawing pictures in the sand. Manmade shade is the only shade available.

Kathy trying to line up the kids to pass out lollies

The crew of Erica and Tagish with the villagers. They all wanted to shake our hands and gave us a very warm welcome.

Another canoe of happy paddlers

On day two we visited the village on shore and were escorted in by the canoes that had been hanging around the boats.

We did accept the lobster

We were canoed again at the sandspit anchorage but here they brought stuff to trade. We were offered live chicken, octopus, fish, lobster, shells and this tortoise. They were willing to trade for just about anything. Of course we had to say no to the tortoise.

Another whale picture, lots of flipper flapping happening

There was lots of whales on the south end of Madagascar and they didn't seem to hardly notice us sailing along. We had our stethoscope out trying to listen for whale music through the hull.

Our buddy boat for the passage, New Zealand yacht Erica sailing along the south coast of Madagascar

Guy seemed pleased with his gifted shirt. His big smile made it all worthwhile.

Tagish being canoed at Galeon Bay Madagascar

T Reunion to Richards Bay S Africa- We made it!!

Ahead us lay the most dreaded passage for most circumnavigators.  There are many story's of yachts caught in storms, being rolled or just disappearing and of giant breaking waves in the strong Agulhas current of the coast of Africa. The traditional route which is 1400 miles,goes from Reunion Island to a point abut 100 miles South of Madagascar to avoid a freak wave area, and then across to Richards Bay South Africa.  How you fare on this route is partly luck as you can not really get a weather forecast beyond 3 days that has any accuracy and once you are out there you are committed. 

      In Mauritius we heard of another possible route which does a 500 mile leg to Galeon bay on SE tip of Madagascar and then on a good forecast does another leg 170 miles long from Galeon bay to an anchorage on the SW coast of Madagascar and then wait  for another weather window and do the last 680 miles to Richards bay.  We decided to try this route as it sounded like you could manage your weather better and we could get a brief glimpse of Madagascar. There was a South African at Reunion who has gone this way 8 times.

    We left Reunion island Oct 2 and motored for 2 hours before the wind filled in. The New Zealand yacht, Erica with Cathy and Eric on board, is the same size as Tagish, left with us as well.  We planned to stay in radio contact with each other.   All day we sailed along in a nice SE 15 to 18 knot breeze.  Around dusk the wind picked up and we soon had two reefs in the main. The next two days were again perfect sailing with the wind varying between 18 and 24 knots. Amazingly after 3 days at sea, Erica is still within VHF range or within 10 miles of us which is very rare as yachts usually totally separate after just half a day at sea.  We did our best day ever with 145 miles on the 3rd day.  That night wind picked up a bit more with a rough sea so keep the main door closed all night. We notice the swell and waves are getting larger as we get further South.

   October 5 we could see the mountains of Madagascar on the horizon.  As we closed the land the wind really picked up and by dark we had 30 plus knots with 40 knot gusts.  We tried to slow the boat down as did not want to arrive in Galeon bay during the night.  As we sailed close to coast we could see the lights of Port Dauphin.  I now had the head sail completely rolled in and put in our unused 4the reef to slow us down and also towed our 25 pound kellet behind us which took another knot of our speed.  We were still doing 3 knots in the strong wind.  I could see giant shadows cruising by us in the moonlight and hear the loud roar of the waves collapsing around us and occasionally one would crash into us with spray flying everywhere.  As we rounded a point of land the wind and waves eased and in another hour daylight came and we motored into the entrance of Galeon bay.  Erica was already there bobbing at anchor.  Being further ahead of us, they had decided to do a night entry and they had no problems doing so. 

     As soon as the anchor was down we got canoed so it was nice having the company of another yacht.  The fishermen came over to both yachts looking for gifts.  We never saw a outboard motor at any of our anchorages in Madagascar, they are very poor, paddling simple dugout canoes. Many also have a very basic sailing rig.  They are so poor they did not even have anything to trade except a few fish and a live chicken.  There are no fruit and veggies here which are the usual trade items. While they will happily take anything, t-shirts and shorts were the biggest hits, then ball caps and fishing equipment, bits of rope and dive masks. Actually rope is a favorite with sizes 2mm to 6 mm the most useful as everything is tied including their tiny shacks which are tied together. We gave out some items and then closed the back door as they stood in their canoes trying to peer in. We tried to ignore them and catch up on some sleep. They seemed happy and very friendly, but no english at all. 

  We had some trouble getting weather as Erica could not get the gribs here but managed to get some good weather from the Samnet from Africa and some weather from friends in Reunion whom we had a radio schedule with. Our next anchorage was 170 miles away on the SE coast and we called it the Sandspit anchorage. Weather looking good we left the following morning and followed the coast around the tip of Madagascar.  It was very light wind sailing all day and a bit after leaving Galeon bay we had a 1 to 2 knot countercurrent against us.   We had to motor all night when the wind died and late in night it swung around so we had 10 knot wind on the nose as well as the current.  During next morning we rounded Cape St Marie and the current disappeared, the wind came around and we were soon sailing close hauled into a 15 knot breeze. Both days we saw humpback whales breaching and flipping their tails. Erica hit a whale during the night and was brought to a standstill, but no damage fortunately. With the slow going it was starting to look like a second night at sea.  Looking at the chart it looked easy to get in at night to our anchorage. We arrived at our anchorage about midnight and dropped anchor.  It was quite rolly but tolerable. (see cruiser info below) The next morning we moved over closer to the reef which was more comfortable. 
    We went ashore this morning riding in Erica's dinghy.  The local canoes escorted us in racing along side to keep up. The whole village turned out to greet us and took us over to a shade shelter to talk and receive our gifts.  Their huts were just six by six foot cubes built from the local scrub brush and tied together with string from old fish nets.  Have never seen such a desolate place to live, just sand dunes and a bit of bush and small trees. No fruit and vegetable trees or gardens.  They just seem to live off what they get from the sea and maybe some things from maybe a monthly trip to a town up the coast.  We later took a walk up the beach with about 30 children following along with us, all lots of fun.
   The next night about midnight my anchor drag alarm went of.  We were not dragging but the boat had swung to the opposite end of the anchor line, setting of the alarm.  We had just had a major wind shift and it was now blowing WNW which was bad news as the reef was no longer protecting us.  If the wind got too strong we would have to leave immediately.  So did not sleep too much for the rest of the night and luckily the wind did not get up too strong though it was a very bouncy night.  We left at first light for another anchorage 18 miles up the coast called Androka. (See info section at bottom) 
    We spent two nights at this anchorage waiting for a weather window to cross to the African mainland.  Did not go ashore as it was a long way off and windy.  Also no canoes bothered us here though they were around.  The following morning we left the anchorage for Richards Bay.  It was blowing 20 to 28 knots from SE  the seas got very large and rough as we were still close to Madagascar (see photos).  These are about the biggest roughest seas we have seen on our trip.  It was not dangerous but it was  uncomfortable and spray and water flying everywhere.
     By the next day conditions had eased a bit, wind was still just as strong but the seas were more comfortable as we left the coast behind. The Samm net where we are getting most of our weather said we should try to get into Richards Bay by Fri morning to avoid the next big SW blow.  Erica got a rip in their headsail  so could not unroll all of it, but in these strong winds it did not matter. The next morning the wind was dieing and we soon had full sail up and by the afternoon were motoring as we did not want to delay and get caught in the Agulhas current in a SW blow which causes huge dangerous seas with wind against current situation.  We motored for a day and a half. The weather we were getting was changing somewhat so were still not sure of our timing to cross the Agulhas current.  The SW blow was cancelled and then later it was back but for Thursday!   Thur morning we were in a 24 to 30 knot NE wind.  We hove to in rough seas for the day  to wait for the SW blow to pass, and then eased off to sail to the edge of the Agulhas current which we figured was about 80 miles from coast.  The forecast was now for a short SW blow and then it would ease of around 3am Fri morning. We eased into the outer edge of current and then hove to for a few more hours and then continued on and got the outer edge of the S blow for a few hours and then it died and we motored as fast as we could for the coast.  The forecast for the next day was a bit fickle not the solid NE wind you would like to see, so we were in a hurry.  Erica a few hours ahead of us got a strong South wind and hove to for a bit not wanting to get further into the current. The wind stayed down and we made good time motoring during night. In the morning we motor sailed into a light SE wind.  The rest of day went well our speed picked up as we approached coast, 8 miles from coast we were doing 6 to 9 knots with help from the current and wind.  A thunder and lightning storm then went over us 7 miles out from Richard Bay, just to make the voyage difficult to the end.  Then 3 miles out a 40 plus knot wind squall hit us for 15 minutes making us take all sail down. 
   It was now fully dark and we got Erica on the radio who said they would help us in as they got to a dock before dark.  We called port control for permission to enter Richards Bay and then motored in.  The chart plotter was very handy here and guided us to our dock, and Eric and Cathy shining lights, got us into a dock slip.  We went over to Erica after settling in and had a glass of champagne to celebrate.  Whew, it was over and we could relax and a new country to explore lay ahead of us.  

INFO

-Galeon bay anchorage.  Has a easy wide entrance, but favor the right side going in as shallower spots to left of middle.  We anchored in 32ft at 25 09.26S   46 45.18E  which is really the wrong spot for best protection but we had no problems  there and it was comfortable in 25 knot NE winds.  I did not go into the NE corner of bay because there was a bunch of canoes with nets out fishing there early in morning and Erica anchored 100 hundred meters in from us, just anchored there because it was dark.  I noticed later in day almost all the nets were gone, they seem to just put them out when actively fishing.  There is suppose to be rocky patches in a few spots in anchorage and Erica was unlucky enough to catch one and could not get her chain up and eventually had to abandon it.  The water, while clean, is not clear enough to see bottom.  We seemed to be in good holding on sand.  We saw no sigh of officials, just some small huts above beach and poor fishermen. We did not go ashore as Port Eahola is close by and we could see the AIS signal from their boat.

-The Sandspit anchorage (Minorodo Bay) on SW corner of Madagascar.  We went into here in the dark with chart plotter which appeared accurate.  Note: at night we did not go in to these waypoints until following morning, anchored further out in 21ft.  While going to the final anchorage a 7 ft shallow spot was briefly seen on sounder, bottom can be seen a bit in good light. Anchored in 14ft  25 15.59S   44 20.36E.  You are just behind a long narrow reef and the swells do come over it a bit at high tide.  Is somewhat rolly and got a bit uncomfortable in a 30 Knot SE, holding excellent.  We are not sure we had the best spot, I think others anchored closer to the sandspit shore and had better protection but got blasted by sand in a blow.  The next night wind came around to WNW so that the reef was no longer offering shelter and it got very bouncy to the point we almost left in middle of night and would have it got any worse, we left at first light. A big plus was that there was lots of room to maneuver, no reefs or boats nearby to hit.  This is the only place we went ashore, no sign of officials, your in what seems like the most remote place in the world.

-Androka Bay anchorage 20 miles North of Sandspit anchorage.  We anchored in 18ft at 25 02.08S   44 03.41E.  We were okay here on a strong SW wind.  Depending on wind direction you could easly move closer to the reef in the lee of wind For a South wind there is a sandspit can go up to.  There was a 3/4 knot or so of river current where we anchored which may help smooth waves out.  There was a fair fetch where we anchored but it did not get too bouncy.  Canoes around, but they never came to us.  I think this is abandoned town, nothing here.

-Countercurrent around bottom of Madagascar. I tried going in a bit closer than one mile to shore but current stayed the same and we generally stay about 2 or 3 miles offshore. Rate of flow varied between 1 and 2 knots against us.  Another yacht  a week earlier tried 5 to 10 miles out and had same current, but they had a 25 knot SE wind behind them and they said it made for steep  difficult seas with wind against current.  So should go around in a good weather window.  Another yacht  who went straight through went 15 plus miles off shore and saw no current.  The CounterCurrent  for us started around Galeon bay and disappeared just after fully rounding Cape St Marie while following the coast.

-Recieiving Weather.  A number of yachts had trouble at times getting weather grib files. We don't have a pactor modem so dont get gribs.  Our best source of weather was the Samm net or the South African Maritime Mobile net on 14316 at 0630UTC and 1130UTC. After leaving Reunion we could only get him intermittently, but reception improved as we rounded Madagascar and then got even better as we approached the Agulhas current which is when you really need him. Graham would give me a detailed 4 day forecast in 8 hour increments for my location and then move it ahead along my route for four days. Only problem for some is that this is a ham net and you need a valid call sign for them to talk to you. You can listen in though and still get good weather that he gives to other yachts.  We found the accuracy of wind changes quite good, though the wind was usually 5 knots stronger than they forecast.  If they said 15 to 20 knots means its going to be 25.  The forecasts for the SW blows which are the most dangerous in the Aguhlas current were often changed.  So if you hear it is good to go 4 days from now that could completely change 2 days later.  The forecast might say SW started tomorrow at 6am then later they might back it off 12 hours. So it is important to get a rescent forecast just before arriving near the coast.
The Peri Peri is okay to, though you dont get the detailed weather. More general weather for 2 days though if you ask you can get more and they can give some practical information on sailing to your destination as well as they are sailors and can email them as well for info. They on 8101khz at 0500 and 1500UTC Many yachts check in with them and they are a marine freq and don't need a call sign.

-Crossing the Agulhas current. Having done this only once we are far from experts, but will present my observations. I understand that the current moves around and things change. We had read that the current was 60 to 80 miles wide. When we supposedly entered current 80 miles out it was dark and no moon so could not see sea state but noticed no current on chartplotter for side track error or speed changes. At first light when about 50 miles out from coast the swells did seem bigger and heaped up a bit in a 10 to 12 knot SE breeze, it was a SW swell perhaps going into a 1/2 knot current. At this point I don't think there was any current of more that a half knot.
When we were finally about 6 to 9 miles from coast and 12 miles North of Richards Bay, chart showed water depth around 100 to 150 fathoms, this is when we noticed more current. This was about 1.5 to 2.5 knots of current and if you close into shore you left the current behind. not sure how close but within a couple of miles there is no current. There also seems little likely hood of overshooting Richards bay if you ride the inside edge of the current down coast. Going on information we read we aimed for a waypoint 12 miles North of Richards bay when we left Madagascar. I think 5 miles would have been enough. I beleive the current gets stronger South of Richards bay.  A few days later a 40+ foot yacht who aimed straight for Richards bay got into a strong current and got carried past and a SW blow was coming so could not make Durban and could not get back to Richards bay in the current so called for and recieived a tow back to Richards bay by a tug boat ( they also had some engine problems).  So probably good to aim the 12 miles North of Richards Bay. This also shows how much the current changes and moves around.
   A week after we got in a group of yachts was coming around the bottom of Madagascar planning a nonstop trip to Richards bay but some big blows were forecast so they diverted north and stayed in the Anchorages I mention above on SE corner of Madagascar.  The sandspit anchorage they got 40 to 45 knot S winds and had a unpleasant time but were okay, would have been better off at Androka I think. Then as a even bigger SW blow was forecast in a few days, they sailed North and West well above Richards bay up to Inhambane above Maputo on coast, to escape the blow in a protected anchorage and be posied to head to Richards Bay.

-Knowing that there is no easy way to South Africa, would I do this route again with the benefit of hindsight?  Yes, but some minor changes perhaps. The route around the southern coast of Madagascar for us went fine. I would probably skip the sandspit anchorage and go straight to Androka Bay next time as it is more comfortable. A disadvantage we found leaving from Androka bay to Richards Bay is that you are slightly harder on the S or SE wind, it is a minor thing but for one day we had more spray flying because of this. I might also consider going Straight from Galeon bay on a good forecast to get around Madagascar and then go straight out to about 20 miles off to hopefully get out of counter current and then to Richards Bay. Can always bail out and head North if have to. The further North usually the lighter the wind gets.
    This year around the end of October was unusually bad weather, a couple of yachts that went in September had better conditions.

-Another Alternative From Reunion to Richards Bay of course is to go over the North end of Madagascar and a lot of yachts did go this way.   It is much longer and has it's own problems with some head winds and currents.  But most of the yachts had no big problems going this way. For some the worst part was the last few miles and being caught in South winds and having a very hard bash the last bit.

-Richards Bay:   We stayed in Tuzi Gazi marina at  28 47.65S   32 04.78E  the other marina is Zululand or  yacht club.  Rates are similiar after looking at everything if you stay at Zululand for more than a few weeks.  The customs wall is in same small boat basin as Tuzi Gazi at 28 47.686S   32 04.709E.  You only see 2 officials, custom and immigration. The Tuzi Gazi marina office will call them for you.  They all closed on weekends.  We arrived late Friday night and did not get checked in until Monday morning but people said it's okay to go ashore and do your thing, all seems pretty layed back. No charges.  I see a number of yachts anchored just before the Zululand yacht club, no idea about depths. There is a guy you can call who will deliver diesel in a truck if you need it, the pump on wall not working.  I took jerry cans in our rental car and filled them at a gas station nearby.
   There is a couple of small chandlrys by the marinas, and a good grocery store a 30 minute walk away. A short taxi ride or a 30 minute bike ride is a large mall to arrange your internet and moblile phone stuff and more grocerys and lots of shopping. A few restaurants around the Tuzi Gazi and not much around the Zululand.  There about a 20 minute walk apart.
-This is a good place to make marina Reservations for Cape Town, as it fills right up over Christmas.  Reunion might even be better to make reservations.  We waited until just before we left Richards bay and everything was full.  Though after two trys we got a spot in the RCYC.   Simonstown, False Bay had some openings after Dec 22 do to a yacht race leaving.  The other option are Hoit bay which is the cheapest I believe.  Also some possibilities in the V and A waterfront at Cape Town.