By the end of November 2017, we had mostly finished the refit following the damage from the October storm. The one-year-long project on our new cockpit was also completed. Although there were still many unfinished jobs listed on the whiteboard, Pierre decided to set sail on time as we originally planned.
The last outstanding job was grocery shopping and packing. We bought a vacuum sealer for food packaging, air-tight plastic containers, and many different sizes of Ziplock bags. The only way to protect things from wet and damp on a boat is double packing. This has been proven time and time again in our experience. Furthermore, empty two-litre plastic Coke bottles are very good storage containers; rice, peanuts, beans, sugar, can all be packed into the bottles, and they are completely moisture-proof; besides, these plastic bottles don't mind a bumpy ride in rough seas.
The food prices in South Africa are relatively cheaper, the weak Rands made shopping overseas more expensive. We had to provision goods as much as we could in South Africa before leaving. Many goods were bought a few months earlier, especially Chinese food from China Town, a few bottles of light soy sauce and dark soy sauce, a few 10-kg bags of Chinese rice, as well as other Chinese food we love in our family cooking, such as Laoganma chilli sauce, Wood Ear fungus, dried mushrooms, soybeans, instant noodles, etc. It might sound crazy! Who knows where to buy Chinese food again after leaving South Africa!
On the day before setting sail, we were busy like bees, testing sails, filling up diesel tanks, tying the dinghy and storing the outboard engine, a two-stroke, into the lazarette. Everything had to be tied down or secured. It took us a whole day to arrange and pack the scattered items around the boat. We were so exhausted.
By the time we could go to the beach, it was already dark. The children were playing with their best friends. Carefully, we packed a handful of soft beach sand into a small glass bottle, along with our memories of the last few years in Durban, our port city. It was calm and peaceful; the full moon gradually rose from the sea horizon. It could be the last time for us to play on the beautiful Durban beach for a long time. Watching the bright lights of the harbour mouth in the background, my heart finally realized that the farewell was near; none of this would be repeated in the next few years, might be even longer, only in our memories.
The Durban marina was still recovering from the storm. Some of the pontoons were submerged again the next morning; part of the walkways to our boat was sunk under the water. We didn't know this until our little friend, Damien, the best friend of our kids, walked through the waist-deep water path and said goodbye to us. he was worried that we might leave early that morning.
After the formalities at the customs and the port control, we said a farewell to the friends onshore with some memorable photos. It was almost noon, and it was the time to cut the rope!
Slowly, we steered Ithaca out of the marina. Looking behind, we waved again to the friends at the end of the jetty.
A few dolphins jumped out of the water and swam around in the harbour. What a delightful surprise! It is rare to see them inside the bay. These lovely dolphins brightened our maiden voyage, we felt that they also came to say goodbye and gave a blessing to our journey. They were our lucky angels, and they accompanied and guided Ithaca many times in our future voyages.
Goodbye, Durban!