Life in the 'hood - Durban Marina

Each time we move from one marina to another, we find ourselves in a totally new neighborhood. We don't usually know our neighbors or the lay of the land or what's where, and it takes a few days to get things figured out. Depending on the friendliness of marina staff and/or an associated yacht club, the learning process can be easy or painful. It's been pretty easy here in Durban at the Durban Marina, mostly because of the people.

The marina itself is nothing to write home about (which, of course, still doesn't keep me from writing about it, does it?).  The International Jetty where we first docked only accommodates one boat at a time and has minimal turning room. There are tie-ups for several boats all crowded along the shoreline there and all behind a locked gate. There are two other piers which jut out from the shore and we're located on the C dock. We use our thumbprints for entry to the piers which we thought was rather novel although sometimes it takes a few tries to get in or out. Good thing is we always have our thumbs with us and don't have to rely on having a key.

The piers are long and rickety and the heavy rust would indicate they're in definite need of some maintenance. We wonder what holds them together.

The newer pier has both water and metered electric power on the dock. Our pier has water, but unfortunately does not have power. We're still depending upon our wind generator and solar panels to keep the batteries charged and generate power. Without the nav instruments running, however, this hasn't been a major problem unless I want to sew or David wants to run power tools or we happen to want hot water, for instance. We can always run our trusty little gas generator, but it's noisy (for us and our neighbors) and we'd usually rather do without.

As I mentioned before, unlike most marinas, Durban Marina only takes care of the boat berthing and offers no other amenities. The Point Yacht Club, which offered us free 2-week membership for just showing up, is next door and offers all the amenities we need. It's quite a friendly club. We're nearly at the end of the pier and the long walk to the club … probably ¼ mile … is always an issue first thing in the morning when nature calls. We've found a solution, however. South Africa does not have Daylight Savings Time and thus, the sun comes up around 0430 currently. This has worked well for us as we usually awaken with the sunrise. We've been lugging our laptops to shore around 0530 along with our cuppas in the morning. We can do wifi to our heart's content in a comfy lounge with rarely anyone else around and still be close to the bathrooms when necessary. We're all for efficiency.

I must tell you that the prices here in South Africa are definitely budget-friendly. When we visited South Africa in 2007, the Rand vs. US $ was 7:1. The South African rand (ZAR) is currently about 10:1 US$. We've been dining out frequently lately since tasty meals at the on-site Tradewinds Restaurant  run about $12 total for the both of us including a beer or glass of wine each. It's hard to compete with that at the end of a long day of boat work. Just for grins … a Castle beer costs about $1.40 US and a glass of house red or white wine is $1 US.

We can deal with the long walk, the rickety piers and the lack of shore power, but the harbor water and smell in the marina, especially at low tide is abhorrent. Raw sewage comes to mind. It literally takes your breath away some days. It's amazing that the fish life thrives here, but it does. There are good size mullet and lots of smaller fish hanging out … eating critters from the reef-life on the bottoms of  unused boat.

Interestingly, there are none of the usual sea birds around, perhaps because we're right downtown Durban. Instead of waking to the calls of seagulls and terns in the morning, there's the cooing of doves and pigeons and the squawking of ibis and herons.

We'll be here for about six weeks … resting and repairing … and we'll know the marina and our surroundings well enough  … and then, of course, it'll be time to move to a new neighborhood.

Getting Things Done Durban-Style

The list of repairs and replacements for Nine of Cups is long, as you well know, but I have to say we are very impressed with the efficiency and responses from the Durban trade community. Our experience in most ports is that after chatting with other yachties and talking to local people around the marina, we finally get the name and number of someone who “might” be able to help us. We call. We wait and sometimes, just sometimes, the person shows up, perhaps offers a quote with no guarantee of delivery or quality and then might never be heard from again. Or perhaps the quote is five times what we'd expected or, as in Mauritius, there is no quote, but we're assured of a “cheap, don't worry price” … which we know will be the blue-eyed yachtie special and we're just not game for that. To our delighted surprise, the Durban Marina has answered many of our questions. Mobile phone service? Supermarkets? Laundry? They also have a display of tradesmen' cards offering all sorts of yacht services. We picked up another card with the possibility of getting our bimini and dodger replaced. We called and, son of a gun, if someone didn't show up within a couple of hours, take measurements and give us a quote and a delivery time on the spot. What? We placed the order for delivery in early January.

David needs a new whisker pole toggle fabricated and chatted with Rob, the go-to guy here at the marina. No problem, he can have it done in a few days and took the piece with him. What about drilling and tapping the new larger holes in the steering quadrant rudder arm? “Well, David, we have a machine shop here on site. Bring your own bit and you can do it yourself. No charge.” Oh, my!

Is there a chandlery nearby? Well, yes, of course, there's Seaport Supply, but it's a lengthy walk. Just give them a call and they'll come collect you and bring you back. Don't have what we need in stock? No worries. They'll research it for us and get back with pricing and delivery. No charge … no obligation. Really? And there's another branch of Seaport Supply in Cape Town, too. No time to get a part in here? They'll ship it to Cape Town for pick-up.

What about a sail repair? They'll be down this afternoon to give us a quote. And they actually showed up!

Our lives have gotten considerably easier and more efficient. All that AND Durban prices are reasonable and within the budget. We might even have a shot at getting all our work done and seeing  more of South Africa than the marina dock. We're liking Durban more and more each day.

A Play Day in Durban, South Africa

Compromise is a necessary part of life … especially living aboard a boat. There are always chores to be done and, after this last difficult passage from Mauritius, more than our usual share of repairs to effect. That said … all work and no play … you know the old saying. I employed my best negotiating skills ( aka bribery) on my workaholic Captain and quickly came to terms freeing up a couple of afternoons for exploration and play. It didn't take me long to fill up the time with scheduled nearby walks and at 12:01 pm on our first appointed day, I was ready to head down the dock. I still had my trusty, dog-eared Lonely Planet Southern Africa from our last visit in 2007. Things have changed since then, of course, but it was easy to verify what was and wasn't available. Our Maps With Me iPad app gave us a great layout of Durban, especially when used in tandem with the city map the marina had supplied.

We were heading to City Hall, which in addition to administrative offices, houses the Durban Natural Science Museum. City Hall is a massive, modern Renaissance style building that takes up the whole city block. I'm glad I'd confirmed that the museum was inside, because nowhere did we see a sign for it. We asked for directions several times and finally found the entrance door.

We weren't expecting much, but something about the mosaic-rhinestone-and-sequin studded rhino in the entry foyer gave us hope.

We climbed the red-carpeted marble stairs to the second floor and entered a world of African animals. We're not usually high on taxidermied critters, but the displays were so well done, we got caught up in the spirit of the place and quite enjoyed it. We encountered animals we'd never seen or heard of before like pangolins and civets.

Many of the displays were behind glass, but others were above us, hanging from the ceiling and it was easy to imagine them in their natural habitat. Informational placards described the animals, their habitat, and environmental status (endangered, vulnerable, etc). In the case of rhinos, for instance, a display was dedicated to the increase of rhino deaths due to poachers removing rhino horns specifically for export to Viet Nam where rhino horn powder sells for $4,000/lb … twice the cost of gold.

One room was dedicated to African mammals, while another concentrated on South Africa's birdlife.  Approximately 900 bird species are found in South Africa, which represents 10% of the worlds total bird species. A large T-Rex loomed above the displays reminding us that the South Africa's Karoo region is home to some of the world's best dinosaur fossils.

Another gallery offered a look at the diverse world of insects in South Africa. The butterfly display was beautiful. Dung beetles (which are protected, by the way), giant beetles and cockroaches did not impress me all that much. Yet another room was dedicated to herpetology, reptiles that is, where spitting cobras, puff adders  and green mambas were staring back at us. I could feel the hair on my arms standing at attention.

I'd read that an art gallery was also housed at City Hall. Once again, we had to ask where it was and if we could visit. The woman pointed up another flight of stairs. There was four rooms of exhibits by local artists, well-presented with good natural light from the huge rotunda windows overhead.

One gallery focused on a local Zulu wood carver, Joel Mbuyisa, who concentrated on local tribal themes created in local woods.

Jean Powell's work spanned six decades and was particularly diverse in media from silk printing, to enamel on metal, to gorgeous botanical illustrations.

We particularly enjoyed a group exhibition by three local art prizewinners.

As I stared over the bannister, looking down the several flights of stairs we'd climbed to the lobby, I couldn't help thinking of an M.C.Escher print. All those black and white floor tiles in intricate patterns were dizzying.

All in all, a most enjoyable afternoon away from the boat and away from the chores … indulging in just a bit of play.