Cruising

Kumbaya - Back to the Atlantic!

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Article published on 22/03/2024

By Gilles Ruffet

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published inn°195may / june

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They’ve done it, and they can be proud of themselves: Juliette, Hubert and their four children have arrived in Cape Town after navigating and overcoming the challenges of South Africa and its complicated weather.

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Who: Juliette, Hubert and their 4 children: Louise, Agathe, Paul, Bertille
Where: Cape of Good Hope
Multihull: Nautitech 46 Open
Facebook: @juethubdolley

2023 will have been the year of three oceans for us: the Pacific as far as the Torres Strait, the Indian Ocean and finally the Atlantic Ocean with the rounding of the Cape of Agulhas and the Cape of Good Hope. That’s over 12,500 miles of adventures, discoveries, visits, reunions and encounters. Lots of encounters! After covering almost 1,800 miles from Reunion Island and stopping briefly in Madagascar to let a big front pass through and take some great photos, we set off again to discover the power and unpredictability of the winds and currents in the Mozambique Channel, where we had to deal with major wind shifts that were as sudden as they were violent, and during which our mainsail traveler couldn’t withstand a blow when reefed. Sailing proved to be a bit stressful, as we didn’t really know what to expect. In the end, it worked out, as it always does with our faithful Kumbaya. Thank you Nautitech! But we still had the rounding of South Africa ahead of us, a passage considered to be the most complex in a circumnavigation of the globe through the tropics. And indeed it was, with its meteorological fluctuations and the power of the elements, in both good and bad ways. We enjoyed sailing in a flotilla, as good weather windows are rare, and all the boats set off at the same time. We also took advantage of the yacht clubs, institutions that take great care of us round-the-worlders. Thank you to the Royal Natal Yacht Club and the Buffalo River Yacht Club for your warm welcome.
One stopover followed another. We spent two days in Durban to allow a headwind gusting to over 50 knots to pass, before making the 270-mile jump to East London, a real delight in the Agulhas Current. But we still had to find it! The next stage will take us to Cape Town and the Cape of Good Hope, after a few days of sailing punctuated by some rather capricious winds. In a few months’ time, the voyage will come to an end. We’ll be parting with Kumbaya, which is now up for sale.

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