View Article Current Articles | Categories | Search | Syndication Monday, May 05, 2008 Mozambique – soul sailing 2007 BY Malcolm By jules @ 12:39 PM :: 267 Views :: 0 Comments :: Windsurfing articles We leave Pretoria following Andre at a spritely 90 km/h. Andre’s land cruiser with it’s 20 liter engine and free flow exhaust sounds like a Stuka dive bomber as it converts fuel into mileage at a rate of 3 km per liter !! Gabi’s just got a new Toureq and develops an irritating habit of fiddling with the wealth of knobs on the dash whilst meandering across the road dangerously close to the oncoming traffic. Colin seems uncomfortable on the front passenger seat until he realizes that the seat heater is on max. On the way we see a bloke towing a trailer with “dogs for rent” on the back. Gabi puts on his best German accent and phones to query what type of “fifi hund” they rent. We get to the border at about 11PM. 4,000 ronts worth of fuel later (for the boat) and we hit customs. SA side was a breeze. We hire a local operator who charged R150 per car to smooth the way on the Moz side (not really necessary but at that time of the night we didn’t want to mess around too much). AK wielding morons then closed the gate as it was past the border closing time of 12PM. Another R100 and we’re on our way. We sleep over at Casa do Campo (punted as a “lodge with farm atmosphere” i.e. an archaic ex-colonial farmhouse which has seen better days situated in a muddy patch) just 8 km inside Moz. However, the beers were good (2M) and the beds comfy. We departed early the next day and did the remaining 100 km to Maputo in good time. Maputo is a confused mix of emerging wealth, poverty, crappy 70s style Marxist architecture and lots of road works. The place is a bustling hive of activity and everyone seems happy, relatively productive and friendly. It takes a while to get all the paper work in place to launch the boat. Finally, the boat is packed to the hilt with windsurfing gear, food to last a month and womanly baggage (i.e. to last 3 months). The water is like glass but the boat is so loaded it can’t get onto the plane. We spend the next 2 hours cruising the 50 km across the Bay of Maputo to Inhaca Island in the company of several schools of dolphins. It is evident that the bay is shallow and abounds with sandbanks. The island is dotted with pristine white beaches and dunes. The locals are out on their fishing gullets. We have to shlog all the gear up the beach to the tented camp. Survivor se moer – this was hardcore stuff with none of those faggy kop doeke and gym primed torsos. I bet they didn’t have to carry fridges, cooler boxes and beer crates. Punto Torres is run by Minute, a very friendly and efficient dude. Minute would take a second to organize drinks for the next hour ! That night, we relaxed in our tent reveling in the quietness that is the African bush – it was so until the alcohol induced snoring care of Boesman the blood red fisherman started to rattle the poles of the neighboring tent. Saturday we awake to miserable wet conditions. Luckily at about noon, as the tide is coming in, a northerly wind kicks in at 15 to 18 knots. We have a lekker session of flat water blasting for about 3 hours until the wind dies away. The runs are as long as you want. The further one goes out, the more the wind picks up. Gabi on a 147 S-Type and 7.5, Colin on a Xantos 130 and 6.7 and me on a 115 liter S-Type and 7.2 – all planing and having a ball. What’s this ? Gabi on his knees – is he praying for more wind ? No, while jumping off his board he hits the reef and gets some nice roasties on his knees and shins. No sharks appear for the blood fest. Along the beach, we meet some oke who claims to be a kiter but has left his kit at home – how’s that – no kite in kiting heaven! Andre and the fishing folks arrive back after a day’s open sea fishing and produce several large fish which make for excellent Sashimi that evening. Boesman and Sakkie go big fisherman style and flatten a couple of bottles of red heart rum and brandewyn & coke. Evening ends off with an uitkak by the women – behaviour for the rest of the weekend is rather subdued. Now I know what dronk verdriet means. We SMS Julian and tell him no wind just to mess with him. Sunday sees nice sunny skies. Colin is up and about at the crack of dawn and makes a noise similar to a troop of baboons passing through the tent. The tent looks like a combination between a Chinese laundry and Thai windsurf rental place. We take a walk to Hell’s Gate and the wind is pushing through at about 20 knots but the tide is not yet in. A quick shlog up the dunes presents us with an amazing vista of sandbanks, turquoise water and Maputo on the horizon. The local dogs look rather odd with their thin bodies and long Nyala type ears – looks like they’ve been shagging the local wildlife. By about 1PM, the water is deep enough for a sail but the wind seems to have gone. Colin, out of sheer frustration and convinced the wind is gone for the day, promises in a rash of madness to undertake certain carnal acts on Gabi should he get on the plane. Gabi decides to go out anyway much to the derision of Colin and myself. As the two of us are pottering around, we here the clattering sound of a board on the water. What’s this, Gabi screaming like a queen at a gay pride festival ? All our energy is focused into a frenzy of rigging. We hit the water running. The wind is NE today and accelerating through the channel providing 15 to 18 knots for relaxed blasting conditions. Water is warm, so its board shorts, rash vests and hats. Long runs of about 2 km are the order. The only thing stopping us from going all the way to Inhaca Island are the presence of the stakes (and possibly fishing nets). Kit is the same as the previous day’s session. The conditions are excellent and are obviously what Tiesden You had in mind when designing the 115 liter S-Type. The water is chest high which makes it easy for us to take turns taking photos. The session lasts about 3 hours on an ebbing tide and is brought to an abrupt halt when I hit a sandbank. Luckily nothing broken ! Time for beers. We experience one of those euphoric post sailing moments. The three of us sit on the beach savoring the last light of the day whilst revisiting the day’s sailing. Our bodies are tired but relaxed, our minds content in the knowledge that it doesn’t get much better than this. Ice cold Belgian Leffe Blonde beers soothe our red palms. In the distance 50 km away in the fading light is the skyline of Maputo. Julian SMS’s us to say that “Bronkies delivered”. 10 sq.m sails and Formula boards – hmmmm…I don’t think so. We SMS back and answer to the tune of having had no wind, well in the knowledge that he must be checking WindGuru and is by now utterly confused. Dinner is again a fishy affair in the form of classic fresh caught fish fried in batter with chips. A hefty SE is predicted for the next day. We awake to sunny conditions but it soon turns overcast – something is brewing. By 1 PM the wind has kicked in at 25 to 30 knots. By this stage Gabi has had in the order of 4 dumps which we all agreed could not be considered normal. Colin and I decide to sail, him on a 5.7 and me on a 5.2. Conditions are a bit gusty as we’re too close to the shore. Conditions are once again flat. Colin clocks a top speed of 27.5 knots. He also gets one big catapult and gets dumped three times while attempting water starts in the gusty conditions, all to the sound of cheering from the local laaities on the beach. Andre has again excelled and brought home fish for dinner. Once again, some of the folks go big. Several camp chairs are broken and memories the next morning of the previous evening’s events are clouded by a pounding alcohol induced haze. Prior to the trip, Colin claimed to be a “light consumer” of alcoholic beverages. Who then was this imposter instrumental in nailing several bottles of Jack Daniels and Jim Beam Black over the course of the weekend. Laaities pitch up with hand crafted wooden boats – they score bigger than Andre by being claiming 500 moela per boat. Tuesday morning dawns and we pack for home content in the knowledge that we’ve had three days of wind and have settled our quota of Leffe. The trip back on the boat is quicker as it is lighter due, in most part, to us having 500 kg less alcohol (490 kg of which had been expended by Sakkie and Boesman ion the first two nights). The wind was again blowing SE at about 15 knots, perfect for a cruise on a 7.5 across the Bay of Maputo. I swear, one could get across quite easily on a board. We have lunch at the marina which consists of a plate loaded with succulent prawns and chips all washed down with the local brew, Laurentina. The trip back to Pretoria was rather eventful – the Toureq’s bitchy-voiced nav system got on one’s nerves after a bit, Gabi wouldn’t stop fiddling and Andre had two blow outs. So then, the low down : Punto Torres consists of permanent tents erected atop wooden structures, complete with real beds and bathroom, warm showers and drinkable water. The tents are located in the tree line on the beach. Cooking facilities are excellent. Staff are friendly and the locals not bothersome. Although they seem to be incredibly poor, there was never a problem with pilfering. This is a malaria area although I didn’t see one mozzie – maybe too early in the season or could it be that the one can of Tabard a day sprayed by Gabi had something to do with this. It’s around 600km to Maputo from Pretoria, 110 km of which are in Mozambique. Roads in Moz are good and petrol is freely available. We weren’t stopped by the cops although they’re everywhere. Best time to get through the border post is late in the evening as there are not large crowds. Border closes at midnight and a visa is not required for Zuid Afrikaanse folks. One can drive from Maputo to Punto Torres but it’s 4 hours on dirt tracks from Maputo necessitating a 4x4. It’s 100km from kosi Bay. Alternative is to take the Maputo-Inhaca ferry. Sailing conditions – high tide only. At low tide the entire bay drains itself of water with the exception of a few channels. Wind peaks in the afternoon so it’s important to plan any trip there with an afternoon high tide. We had 4 hours of sailable time every day. Kiters will be able to sail for longer periods. Water is warm, but we used shorties on the two overcast days. Conditions are generally very flat for blasting. There is chop but nothing too hectic. The prevailing wind directions seem to be NE and SE. In both cases it’s necessary to get at least 200m away from shore to get the clean wind. Winds were consistent. It’s most probably better to head to the southern side of Inhaca to get a clean SE wind, although you’ll need a boat to get you there. Sailing conditions are safe as at high tide the water depth is mostly waist to shoulder high depth (with the exception of the channels). Watch out for fishing nets and the stakes marking the channels. Also stay away from the channel between the bay and the sea (it’s not called Hell’s Gate for nothing) when the tide is on its way out – quite a current. We left our sails rigged behind the tent every night. Sailing on the coastal (eastern) side of the Santa Maria peninsula and Inhaca is not an option due to rock shelves and gnarly onshore conditions. Take snorkeling gear with – apparently it’s very good on the reefs along the Inhaca coastline. We took ours but never got to use them as we were sailing. The locals will get you crabs, bait fish etc. Munto brigado ! We’ll be back. Comments Currently, there are no comments. Be the first to post one! Click here to post a comment