Training Journal - Part 3 - To mould us into a team...

and show us how to be co-dependant, we were sent on an overnight trip, straight up the coast, to Richards Bay. Before this trip, I was last in the town twenty years previously, for a friend's 21st birthday. We had a great time. He on the other hand, didn't see anything past 9pm. As is usual at these sort of things, we mixed him a "Mickey Finn" and everything went into it, with orange juice for a little colouring. It was amazing to see the blood drain from his face as he downed the tankard-ful and topple over, head first, into a box of presents...out cold. Alarm and panic were written all over his dad's face and he enquired what we'd out into the drink. When we told him, he ranted at us for a while for putting in "white" spirits (vodka, gin, cane, and so on) as our mate had an allergy to them, which caused him to pass out instantly. Hell, we didn't know... Half an hour later, finished spewing his guts in the garden, we put our mate to bed and partied on his behalf. Thinking about it now, that might have been the night my daughter was conceived, but I doubt it as I passed out too...guess where? Yup, on the job... Anyway, back to Richards Bay. The town has grown enormously in twenty years, from a small town dependant on the sugar and paper industries in the area, to one of the largest coal export terminals in the world. South Africa's coal is, apparently, some of the best grade to be used in the generation of power from fossil fuels. The town is now clearly established as a small city, with multiple large industries and a wonderful small craft harbour, where we moored the Chinook. (The first picture in Part 1 was taken in Richards Bay) Sailing up the coast at night is a daunting task. At times, we were no more than a couple of miles offshore and you are constantly aware that if you err in your navigation, or nod off on beat, you might just end up beaching the boat, injuring crew or worse. At times, we could even hear the pounding of the waves on the rocks, and it made us re-check our compass heading...every time. I heard about 2 years ago that one of the training yachts from the Academy, newly bought when I'd signed up, had sunk directly off Richards Bay after hitting an object, presumably a submerged container. Luckily, no-one was hurt and the entire crew was airlifted by the National Sea Rescue Institute. Dawn over the Indian Ocean is an amazing sight to see, with the sun creeping up over low-lying morning clouds, remnants of the mixing of warm day, and cool night, air masses. As we neared the harbour entrance, we furled and stowed the sails and switched to the diesel engine, also known as the "donkey". An hour after getting permission from the harbour master to enter port, we were standing in hot showers, still swaying to the motion of the sea in our unbalanced ears and after breakfast, it was time for a drink. As all the Academy boats are "dry" until they are moored, it was time to get a bit wasted even though it was only around 10am, barely opening time.