East London to Port Elizabeth

 

Made the 135 mile run to from East London to Port Elizabeth when we saw an open, but short, weather window.  We left at midnight motoring into light winds and a bit of bouncy seas. Headed almost straight offshore for 12 or 14 miles to get into the Agulhas Current sleigh ride. Near shore the water temperature is 60*F. In the current it is 75*F. We had a good sail all day with the current pushing us 4 or 5 kts and decent downwind sailing. By about early afternoon we had to gybe and turn toward land. Made Port Elizabeth around 9:30pm. 

We left East London with two other boats, our friends on Hylite and the South African catamaran Blikke. The photo above is Blikke approaching Port Elizabeth at sunset. PE is a very industrial and busy port. Continuous freighter movements inside and outside the port. The yacht club locals greeted us in the dark to take our dock lines. We are in a berth sized for a boat half our size. A few hours after we settled into our berth the SW winds started, so it was nice to be secure and tied up.

The yacht club seems to have multiple names, including Nelson Mandela Yacht Club or Gqeberha (includes a glottal click) Yacht Club. The docks are pretty run down and the boats get covered with manganese dust from all the bulk carrier loading. The winds are howling from the west right now, so we'll sit it out and hope they turn easterly soon.

Paul