The Cosmos Adventure - News

George Hotz Report From Durban

Cosmos

8/11/02:

At 0117 Cosmos motored through the jetties of the entrance to the harbor of Durban, South Africa. All hands were awake, on deck, and relishing the courteous "welcome to Durban" we received from the Port Authority on the VHF radio. We found a place to anchor near the International Dock and had a preliminary celebration to help us wind down from the excitement and tension of the completed, and successful, passage. Later in the morning, we were assigned a slip at a floating dock, with water, friends, and hundreds of other boats from all over the world. Showers, restaurants, and the center of town are a short walk away.

The next three or four days were consumed with cleaning everything, stowing everything, packing everything, and repairing whatever needed fixing. The refrigeration cooling system failed again. This time it was due to the printed circuit board component. I guess we just wore it out by cooling all of the food and beverages, for all of these people, for all of these months. We essentially duplicated the preparation of securing the boat for inactivity during our absence as we did in Whangarei. However, the cleaning that was done this time was more thorough, and Cosmos looks great, in spite of having just completed two thirds of a circumnavigation.

8/18/02:

The night before last we had a formal crew dinner, hosted by Captain Joe, and everyone brought a gift for a "yankee swap" session. Crewmembers Hilary Peabody, Anders Torin, and Steve Hall, were presented certificates pronouncing them as "Masters of the Indian Ocean" by Captain Joe. We also swapped sea stories and photographs; it was a very special evening. Now, we are enduring the bittersweet parting of crewmembers as they leave to go on tours, safaris, home, or their next passage. I hope that they will cherish the experience of life on Cosmos and always regard these memories with fondness.

Captain Joe and I will leave Durban on the 21st to wait out the Atlantic hurricane season at home. We will return in a couple of months with new crew, refreshed, and ready to sail Cosmos to the end of this circumnavigation.

George