Location: Underway to Durban
Lately, we have been hanging out at the Port in Richards Bay. After the two unforgettable safari days, it was nice to be on the boat with each other, talk about the Rhinos, Elephants, and Kudus, and just let the cool experiences sink in. On this part of Africa the Agulhas current runs down the South East coast. Under the right conditions, this area can get winds up to 60 knots going against the current, creating massive waves. Cargo ships have sunken here.
For this reason, we had a tight weather window to get to East London. In South Africa, they require a customs clearance process to move from Port to Port, and we waited until our clearance was processed and our possible weather window shrank. All of our schedule depends on the weather forecast and on being able to clear out of the Port. For this reason, all crew members had to stay on the boat until further notice. Nevertheless, thanks to Captain Tom, we were still able to get underway. However, due to intense weather conditions on the forecast, we will be sailing to Durban, which is less than 1/3 of the distance from East London. Once we got the news that we were cleared out, we had an hour break where all the students got off the boat and went to get some ice cream. We are currently riding down the South East Coast of Africa, with help from the Agulhas current. Our SOG (Speed Over Ground) is 8 knots (Editor’s Note: it picked up to about 10-12 knots!), we are steering 160 degrees True, and our AWS (Average Wind Speed) is 20 knots. It has been an unforgettable adventure so far. Thanks to all the parents for making this possible. We will be seeing you soon. Te Quiero Pa! Love you, Ma! Te quiero, Anya!