The passage.
We completed all our formalities and said all our goodbyes. The time had come to drop the mooring lines for the final time in Richards bay. We could no longer procrastinate our departure. Ryan from Sea Shoes was to accompany us on this, our first passage on Yrumoar. Our first problem came whilst we where still tied to the dock lines. The port motor refused to start and Lola kept pumping quick start into the air filter whilst I kept cranking the engine. Eventually she decided to give up the fight that may have forced us to stay and jumped into life.
Ryun’s family was on the docks and dropped our lines pushing us off the docks as we slowly motored backwards away from our familiar slip. I turned Yrumoar toward the channel and we motored towards the main harbour channel. Lola took the wheel whilst Rauen, Ryan, and I went onto the foredeck to raise the main sail. We decided that we would sail under reefed main sail and use the furler as the main driver since it was easy to increase or decrease its size if and when required. We soon discovered our second problem for the trip. The main sail reefing points were in the wrong place and I had to jury rig the sail in order to use it. This didn’t take to long and I just used a piece of rope to tie the reefing point over the stack pack and around the boom. This seemed to solve our problem. Then we changed direction and motored back towards the inside of the harbour. I did this purely to try and overcome the feeling of trepidation that was eating away at my stomach lining. Feeling nervous about the trip but at the same time not able to accept failure by turning back we turned once again and headed towards the harbour mouth.
The sea looked calm but a big swell was making its way into the harbour mouth and Yrumoar bounced her way across the swell and out into the ocean. Once we passed through the “washing machine” the swells became more consistent. The weather prediction called for three metre swells about ten seconds apart. This sounds like a simple smooth ride. The sea however doesn’t read the weather forecasts and thus isn’t aware that it should give us a nice smooth ride. This coupled with the fact that we had to beat into the waves and wind until we passed Durnford point made the first part of the trip rather uncomfortable. None of us had our sea legs and found that we had to tense our stomach muscles when sitting down so even relaxing became an effort. We motor sailed past the anchored ships and kept heading out into deeper water. It felt like an eternity had passed before we could no longer see these ships in the background. Finely we reached a point out at sea parallel to Durnford point and turned Yrumoar south towards Durban. It was dark by the time we passed Durnford point and out next problem reared its ugly head. Otto the autopilot decided to go on strike. Both Lola and Ryun suffered from sea sickness and Ryun had been feeding the fish for most of the time till now. Kyle was not ready to assist in steering. The task of hand steering throughout the night would become mine and Rauen’s responsibility.
By the time morning came I was bushed having been up all night taking turns with Rauen and occasionally Ryan steering Yrumoar. I sent Rauen to bed periodically to rest and Ryan sat outside, too afraid to go inside should this flare up his sea sickness, dozing in and out of sleep. The night sky was dark but cloudless and the view of the stars phenomenal. The small towns or cities slipping by on the distant coast, to starboard, lit the night sky with their twinkling lights and could be seen long before and after they had gone. On the port side nothing but complete blackness moved eerily next to Yrumoar. The waves came rushing up to us from within this blackness and perhaps it was better not being able to see them. We only felt Yrumoar lifting up on the one side of each wave and sliding down the other. Small flecks of phosphoresce followed behind in our wakes as we sliced through the ever churning sea.
The sun was up by the time we approached Durban harbour. This was when our starboard motor decided it had had enough of the journey and screamed out its alarm. We drove around outside the harbour for a while trying to find the leading lights but eventually gave up and just headed in. Lola announced our arrival to port control and they granted permission for our entry. This was when we were welcomed by the dolphins and about a half dozen of them played with our starboard bow. By the time we had the camera ready they were gone.
It took two hours to reach the Bluff yacht club where we tied onto their walk on. I felt this giant urge to get onto land and jumped down onto the dock the moment Yrumoar was safely tied. Her spirit contained and restrained by the lines once more.
After we met all the relevant people we went back to Yrumoar and I fell into a deep sleep. In the afternoon we woke and Denzel helped whilst we moved Yrumoar to her mooring buoy that will be her new home for the next while whilst we prepare her for her and our next passage. .
This is my story for our first passage. The reality is of course a little different. I felt a feeling of trepidation most of the way, saying little silent prayers to God asking him to make sure we all arrive well and alive. I would randomly find myself looking for Kyle and praying that he doesn’t fall overboard. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t shake the ominous feeling that he was somehow going to fall overboard. Yes there where moments when I found myself enjoying the trip but also moments of boredom when I hated it. Lola was seasick for the entire journey and subsequently had absolutely no fun whatsoever. Lola and I discussed whether or not we wish to subject ourselves to anymore of this punishment. The only one of us that I would say really enjoyed himself all the time, was Rauen. He loved being given the responsibility to share the helming with me and completely enjoyed surfing the waves. He also slept like a baby when he wasn’t required at the helm. We are going to spend the next week or so deciding if we are going to continue or not before we spend more money on the boat. Now that is the reality.
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