Life on the Buffalo River

East London, Eastern Cape

With our sail down the coast from Durban to East London, we've moved from Kwa-Zulu Natal province to Eastern Cape. The city of East London was founded in 1836 as the result of a survey of the Buffalo River by Royal Navy Lieutenant John Bailie. An old picture illustrates life on Buffalo River in about 1875.

The town logically grew up around the river's mouth. In fact, the whole metro area including surrounding towns and East London as its hub, is now referred to as the “Buffalo City”.

East London is South Africa's only river port and it's a busy one since it's a new car terminal for Mercedes. Huge car carriers move in and out of the port day and night, and the turnaround is quick … sometimes less than a day. In the few days, we've been here, we've seen no less than four car carriers. They load new Mercedes-Benz C-Class cars destined for the USA and the ship is off  the dock within hours, their holds loaded with Mercedes consignments to Baltimore, Brunswick and Long Beach.

We've watched the loading process. It's fascinating. Two pick-up trucks run continuously up and down the gangplank. Eight guys drive eight new cars aboard where a pick-up truck is waiting. The truck picks them up and brings them back down to the new car lot and the process starts  again. In the meantime, another team of eight guys is in the process of driving eight more cars aboard. We figured this would be a fun job for about a day and then we'd lose interest.

We've got an excellent view of the whole process, but not quite as close as it appears from this picture taken from shore.

Nine of Cups is limited in its exploration of the river since there's a railroad trestle/traffic bridge just ahead of us that would definitely not clear her mast. This unusual double-decker bridge over the river was completed in 1935 and  is the only bridge of its type in South Africa.

The Buffalo River Yacht Club, with its local boats trot-moored in front, is located to port just before the bridge. The yacht club will probably be more active towards the end of the week and we're hoping to have a chance to duck in and say hello.

Latimer's Landing, a small complex with a few shops, is to starboard before the bridge. We could hear the strains of a singer and guitarist from the Footprints Restaurant at the Landing when we arrived over the weekend, but during the week, it appears to be closed. The national police also have an office at the Landing. We'll need to file a flight plan (we'd call it a float plan since we float rather than fly, but they call it flight plan) with them before heading out of the port.

The harbor is, of course, on the Indian Ocean just inside the entrance to the river, protected by a large breakwater that keeps the waves and swells at bay. The breakwater, by the way, is lined with huge dolosse, interesting, odd-shaped concrete block creations that remind me of children's jackstones that we played with as kids. We've seen them in other harbors, but didn't realize they were first designed in 1963 right here in East London, by Eric Merrifield, Harbour Engineer. The word “dolo” (singular) seems to be from the Afrikaans origin meaning “knuckle bone”, referring to the shape of the structures.

We haven't anchored in a river in quite awhile. I think our last river anchorage was up the Gordon River in Tasmania and that was actually moored to a decrepit old wharf, not really an anchorage.  Hmm … I guess Panama was our last real river anchorage. No matter, here we are now, our first anchorage in months, and it's quite pleasant.  The Buffalo is about 78 miles (126km) long and we had thought to explore a bit upriver with the dinghy, but it's been raining cats and dogs. If the sun appears before our next weather window, we might just take a self-guided river cruise up the Buffalo.

Down South Africa's Wild Coast pt. 2

A Wild Ride Down the Wild Coast

The day started out peacefully enough as we raised the mainsail in the bay and began our passage to East London. There were light winds from the south/southwest as predicted and we motor-sailed, looking for the Agulhas Current that would provide the push we needed to get down the coast quickly. The Durban coastline receded into a haze and disappeared behind us as we made our way south.

The prevailing southeast swell was 2m and a long period, but the southwest waves were short and close, making for a bumpy, unsettling ride. We were glad we'd taken our Stugeron. We had expected rain, but sailed under unexpectedly, pleasant, sunny skies. The light southerlies persisted long into the afternoon before turning southeasterly. We ventured out past the 200m contour to about 25nm offshore finding a max of only 2-1/2 knots of current. We wandered back to the 200m contour about 12 miles offshore and settled for 8 knots of speed (5.5 knots motor-sailing against light SW winds + the current) which would put our arrival at East London precariously close to the end of our favorable weather window … IF the weather window stayed true to forecast.

All the usual malfunctions cropped up immediately after three months of not sailing. The handheld auto-pilot remote wasn't working. The chartplotter was fickle … sometimes working, sometimes not. David sorted through the problems and one by one and got them handled as best he could. The chartplotter, for instance, was working fine, but would not display AIS results, so we had to rely on the VHF for AIS data. In general though, the day was uneventful and replete with naps, until nightfall. Then, as dusk rolled around and darkness enveloped us, things started happening.

First, the current increased to 3-4 knots, then the wind direction finally changed to ENE. This was a good thing. We shut down the engine and did an easy 9 knots with the single-reefed mainsail alone. The wind continued to back and increase until we were nearly downwind. The current increased to 5 knots. The crescent moon hid behind thick clouds and we sped ahead at 10 knots, then 11, then 12. The rain began, visibility decreased, and the AIS began chirping. We hadn't seen another boat or ship all afternoon, now they converged on us as if heading to a freighters' convention. The wind changed more northerly. We jibed and altered course a bit.

The wind freshened to 25-30 knots. Downwind that's not usually an issue, but in retrospect we should have reduced the main and poled out with a reefed headsail at that point to better balance the boat. We didn't. When the winds increased to a sustained 40 knots, combined with following seas, we decided it was time to take another reef. Before we managed to accomplish this however, an unexpected 50 knot blast from the north and huge following waves caused a series of unfortunate events.

We jibed first one direction, then back the other, causing the main to flog violently. A sail slide snapped and then another. Ping, ping, ping, ping like dominoes … until the mainsail clung precariously to the mast with only a few sail slides left to hold it. In the rain and wind, we managed to corral the mainsail in the lazy jacks and get it down and lashed. In the process, a batten snapped when it slammed against the spreader. We continued on with the staysail, still maintaining 11-12 knots. When dawn appeared, we were tired but still on track for an early arrival in East London.

The shore was mostly huge sand dunes which seemed to merge with the sea until we spotted the East London skyline around 1200.

We headed for the breakwater at the entrance to the Buffalo River. With permission from Port Control, we entered the harbor and passed huge car carriers loading and unloading at the busy dock. By 1430, we were anchored peacefully in the river behind moored boats at the Buffalo River Yacht Club across from Latimer's Landing. We broke an all-time record for the most miles sailed in Nine of Cups in 24 hours … an impressive 214 nm. Keep in mind, that's with motor-sailing and up to a 5-knot current to help us along. We were glad to be in East London and very, very tired.

There were repairs to do, but for now … sleep … we just needed some sleep.

Down South Africa's Wild Coast Pt. 1

Goodbye, Durban

There are more than 2,000 shipwrecks, dating back at least 500 years, off the South African coast. The Wild Coast is a section of coastline between KwaZulu-Natal (Durban) stretching south to the port of East London in East Cape and it's claimed more than its share of ships. Several ships simply vanished without a trace. The sail from port to port is about 265nm and there are no safe havens in between. Hence, the reason we sought local knowledge and we were keen on waiting for a reasonable weather window of at least 2-3 days.

east london 265 nm

The south-setting Agulhas Current narrows between Durban and East London and can run at speeds of up to 6 knots where it flows over the 200-meter (650') contour line at the edge of the continental shelf. It can obviously be an awesome push for southbound boats like us, but there are some serious caveats as well. When the wind kicks up from the southwest, which it does with regularity, it blows directly into the current, creating giant breaking waves described in Tony Herrick's cruising guide as abnormal. The local pilot describes them as appalling. Both seem to be masters of understatement. Monstrous freak waves "of up to 20 metres (65 feet!) in height, preceded by deep troughs, may be encountered in the area". The long and short of it? Don't get caught in the Agulhas Current when a southbuster hits. Unfortunately, southwesterly gales blow here frequently.

great waves

Locals advise patience. Forget about deadlines getting from one port to another. Wait for the right weather forecast. If, however, you happen to be passage-making and the wind switches suddenly from northeast to southwest, which it can do in a matter of minutes, head for shore. Once out of the opposing current/wind situation, the waters tend to be calmer and the waves dissipate. Heave-to, if necessary, and ride it out. Needless to say, we're approaching this passage with some trepidation.

durban to east london

We'd been watching the weather all week. Thursday looked good … then it didn't. Saturday night looked promising, although it appeared we might be motoring against light southerlies for the first few hours. At this point, burning a few gallons of diesel seemed reasonable. For the third time, we made the rounds of the bank and all of the pertinent authorities. They knew us on sight. The procedure seems to change every time we check out, but we were cleared and good to go at the end of two hours.

We had a farewell dinner with Wind Wanderer at the Royal Natal Yacht Club. They weren't quite ready to leave yet and cruisers never know if they'll see each other again, so we celebrate when we can. We made an early night of it, took our Stugeron and headed to bed for a restless night's sleep. We were up at 0400 to check the weather and emails one last time. The weather window was short, but still reasonable. We cast off and slid out of our berth just before 0600 into the millpond-smooth marina waters. The sky was just pinking up as we kept company with fishing boats, motoring across the calm harbor past huge, docked freighters, out the entrance canal and into the bay. We were in the Indian Ocean once again, heading southwest for East London and points beyond.

Here’s Part 2 of our passage down the Wild Coast to East London. Brace yourself for 50kt winds and wild seas.

goodbye durban