The Cosmos Adventure - News

Report From Joe Dorr Received December 3, 2002

Cosmos

Durban South Africa

November 25, 2002

We have been waiting for two weeks for a favorable two-day forecast.  Of course, we've found things to do: repair and improve the boat, check the weather, send updates to the webmaster, see sights in and around Durban. But we have been completely ready to leave for two weeks.

On Friday I cleared out of customs, immigration and the port authority.  I got a real scare at immigration.  The officer asked me where Hilary, Steve and Anders were.  I told him they had gone home a long time ago.  He said they are still the responsibility of the owner and captain of the yacht and the yacht could not leave until they came to his office and cleared themselves off the yacht.  I asked him what my alternatives were.  He said will have to go the airport and get proof that they left the country (I suppose he meant the immigration office at the airport).  I didn't tell him, but that would have proved impossible because I don't know what date they left.  As a matter of fact, I don't even know what airport they departed from.  After claiming complete ignorance and apologizing, I asked if Could certify with a letter that they had left South Africa. He agreed that would be ok if I promised never to do this again.  Tony, the Captain of African Queen of Zanzibar, told me later that one of his crew left on a Sunday when the office was closed and after being made to spend the day at the airport he still couldn't prove that his crewman had left the country. The authorities finally took mercy on him and let him leave.

Today, Monday, was to be the day of our departure, but we are beginning to have our doubts.  We completed our official departure paperwork, indicating our departure would be on Sunday.  That gave us until noon today to be on our way.  Now it is 12:30 in the afternoon and the wind is still blowing from the south.  We need the wind to shift to southeast.  We keep an eye on the wind gauge, flags, wind vanes, trees, all with hope of seeing the wind move around to the east.  If it shifts now, we will ask for the ok to leave without clearing in and then out again, which is the officially correct procedure. If we have to wait until tomorrow, we will then have to clear back in with customs, immigration and harbor control, and then back out again at all four offices, which are miles apart.

We are anticipating a two-day window, which might not start until tomorrow, and in the meantime, there are another low and another high further down the coast that might shorten the window before we depart.  We have 250 miles to go to East London, our first possible port of refuge.  We can usually make 250 miles in 36 hours, but we must allow for equipment failures, inaccurate weather forecasts, etc. All of the locals, including Fred on radio Peri Peri, have said we will be able to leave today, but who knows.  We have been ready, ready, and more ready.  We want to get on with the trip, but safety is more important. We will see what happens.

Best regards,

Joe Dorr, Captain of the Cosmos

East London Port, South Africa

November 27, 2002

Nine boats left Durban on Monday, for the 250-mile run to East London.  Four made it.  Thankfully, Cosmos was one of the four.   Five turned back.  I don’t blame any of them.  It was a gut-wrenching ride for the first 24hoursof the 36-hour run.  The wind was still blowing from the south at 15 to 20knots.  Being on the ocean was like sailing in the inside of a washing machine.  All four boats that made it arrived after a very sickening ride for all aboard.  Six out of seven people on one boat could not stand watches due to nausea and vomiting.  Even John-Ives Hasselin, a French fellow we just met who soloed his sixty-foot maxi-racer around the world in the 1993 Global Vendee, had a nauseous time of it.

John and Mary on Maude I. Jones lost use of their engine (they believe to water in the fuel) and had to sail into the harbor across breakers.  They had made arrangements for a "Sea Rescue" boat to come and meet them and tow them in, but the rescue boat never showed.  They couldn't wait without power in the rough seas just off of the stone seawall, so they sailed all the way into the harbor and to the quay.  Quite a feat.  One I hope never to be challenged to undertake.

We left about 2:30 PM on Monday and sailed and motored and tacked into the wind until mid afternoon on Tuesday.   The wind then shifted to the northeast and we were on a run.  We watched the coast go by quickly as the Agulhas Current added 2 knots to our boat speed.

Along the way, one of Cosmos's engines overheated, blowing out its coolant.  George spent a couple of hours in the engine room diagnosing and fixing the problem.  Some hoses for hot water were brittle and cracking.  In his usual style, he fixed the problem, but what a toll it takes.  Confined spaces, noxious fumes and concentrated close work all promote nausea. George tolerated the pain and the engine was put back on line for the entry into East London.

Mario maintained the best health during the trip.  He fixed the only meal we ate during the forty hours at sea.  And he ate the sausage and toast while George and I sipped cream of chicken soup.

We were the second boat to arrive in East London.  Maude I. Jones from California arrived about one hour before us.  A catamaran with seven people aboard arrived third, and John in his refitted Global Vendee racer came in fourth.  Not knowing when the others left, I don't really know who had the fastest passage.

We had hoped to make this first run further than East London, but the fair-weather window was going to end tonight so we had no choice but to pull into this commercial harbor.  East London is a car export harbor.  Cars are manufactured just outside of town and brought to the port for shipment overseas.

We got off of the Cosmos at about 8:00 AM and finished our tour of the town at 8:15.  We ordered breakfast at the local bistro, but they don't officially open until 9:00 AM so we begged for coffee and were accommodated while we waited for our breakfasts.  The local bistro is the only place to eat in East London.

It is evening of the day we arrived and my system is still settling down from the rough ride.

Now we have to wait for the next weather window to push on to a port further south.  Supposedly the worst, most risky ride is behind us.   Let's hope so.

Best regards,

Joe Dorr, Captain of the Cosmos