Durban Marina
29 51.76S 31 01.28E
12 December 2008

Well we're in the thick of things here! We are tied up right next to Victoria embankment a main thoroughfare through Durban. Valiam is tied up at the International jetty between the 2 yacht clubs - Point Yacht Club and Royal Natal Yacht Club. No privacy! (except inside) We have been warmly welcomed by employees/members of each yacht club delivering show bags of brochures and magazines. The Royal Natal Yacht Club included a bottle of champagne! We have 2 weeks of free membership at both clubs which is great as it gives us somewhere to relax whilst here. Both have showers, bar, restaurant etc. The Royal Natal has a pool. The location is excellent as far as yachting supplies go as there are chandleries across the road and Tony Herricks Cruising Connections.

Our trip here from Richards Bay was a bit unpleasant and stressful to begin with. Although Bill cleaned the prop as best he could the motor struggled a bit coming out of Richards Bay against the wind and wave chop. It was a bit windy and nasty outside and despite taking medication Linda was seasick. The worry of thunderstorms and lightning coming towards us didn't help. The autopilot decided not to steer in the right direction so Bill put the wind vane on. At one stage we headed back north again towards Richards Bay to avoid the storms. By midnight the storms had gone, the full moon was visible and we were sailing along nicely with just the jib. Linda's seasickness abated with the help of stematyl and we both managed a couple of hours rest before got to Durban. There were a number of ships to watch out for and quite a few were anchored outside Durban Harbour. Port Control gave us the go ahead and we proceeded into the harbour to the marina.

After aquainting ourselves with both clubs we walked into town to do a bit of shopping. After being warned about muggings and pickpockets we only took the bare minimum cash and one credit card with us in a daggy purse. It certainly helps to be 'streetwise' and aware around here. Durban is a city of 3.5 million people many of whom are poor. As we walked along Smith street and into Shoprite we were virtually the only white people. We bought food for a brai at the yacht club but collapsed in a heap by 6pm and slept until this morning. Nevermind the sausages were delicious for breakfast!

A young American sailor on his yacht Intrepid is on his way here. He is trying to break the record as the youngest sailor to sail around the world. Apparently he has had some breakages since Mauritius and has run out of fuel. He is about 25 miles out and is due in soon. The yachtclubs have placed his logs on their noticeboards and look forward to welcoming him when he arrives.

The predicted southwesterly arrived yesterday at 11am. We arrived just in time.

Our booking with Marina yacht lift for hauling out is next Thursday 18th. Think of us working hard in the hot sun in the boat yard! Hopefully we will be back at sea by Christmas!