Early morning found us off the Angolan coast, the horizon glowing with the lights of Luanda and anchored ships, scores of them. It reminded me of the last time I was in Angola, in the 70’s.
My ship, had anchored off Lobito, 300 miles, (500 kms) to the south; there too were scores of anchored ships, awaiting berths. We expected to stay there for 3-4 weeks before docking, however we kept losing our place in the ‘pecking order’. We actually anchored for almost 2 months and this period included Christmas. As enterprising sailors, we decided to do some carol singing around the other ships anchored with us. Plans were made to fit a lifeboat with temporary outriggers for stability and a piano was lowered into it; over a period of several days we visited many of the ships, stopping near each one, our vocal chords at the ready. Inevitably, the crew would invite us on board for a ‘Christmas toast’. The courses steered becoming proportionally more erratic as the day progressed 😀
I digress, but what happy days! The approach to the port of Luanda involves rounding a long ‘spit’ of land and entering a natural bay.
The approach and the transponder of vessels, (green triangles)
Ahead of us, 2 ships were ordered to slow down and drift, we had priority and they would follow us in. The Bridge team had been supplemented early, while the Navigating officers kept the conn, I too was there, keeping oversight. One of our officers had been here before, years ago and he remembered that the preponderance of anchored vessels had affected the arrival, so, during our Bridge Resource Management meeting we had allowed for this, planning a slow speed in the area, giving us time to assimilate ‘who was doing what and where’. The radar had a bad case of measles, ship targets filling the screen, trying to find a safe way through them; ‘mark 1’ eyeball assisting, (looking out of the window).
The green triangles, transponders of other ships
Into the bay and towards the dock, (or at least where we thought we would dock, right down on the south end of the bay). Slowly steaming we looked for the pilot boat, no sign of it; I asked the port control which berth we were assigned, the reply, berth 2 & 3. OK, no pilot, we do it ourselves……….
Our route (red dotted) down the bay, through even more vessels,
and our dock position
We arrive off the berth, still no pilot. We have to swing through 180° and back down, so swinging started and lo! A pilot boat, he boards as we have almost finished our turn and gets to the Bridge as we are backing in. We squeeze past the bow of a cargo ship, the bow of which extends over our berth, (nice ‘can-opener’) and make fast.
Our berth ahead, the cargo ship, with her bow extending over it.
I had arrived an hour earlier than scheduled; Immigration procedures here take an age. I might as well not have bothered, the officials turned up when it suited them, not us, the customer. It took 90 minutes to clear the ship for guests and crew. Many were going on tours and the mini-buses were lined up on the pier, ready for them to board.
I was surprised that police motorbikes, complete with sirens, escorted the convoys of buses; we had heard that Luanda might be ‘dodgy’, however this perturbed me. I need not have worried though; the day was relatively incident free. Other guests wandered ashore or took a shuttle bus to a market in town, which had been specially prepared for our visit. I wandered ashore for an hour for some photographs there, however did not venture further, we had been advised that some areas of Luanda were ‘off limits’, not safe and I valued my health as well as my camera.
I write from the South Atlantic, we are riding the South Equatorial current as we make our way towards Banjul, Gambia. Our route takes us back over the equator, late on the 12th, for the 4th and last time during this Grand World Voyage.
Our track was taking us temptingly close to an unusual opportunity; crossing the Equator, 0° Latitude and the Prime Meridian 0° Longitude. I have obviously done both, however never at the same time. So I have altered our track slightly to achieve this one-off chance.
When we cross, the bow will be in the northern and western hemisphere, in Spring; the stern in the southern and eastern hemisphere in Autumn. We have prepared certificates for Guests as a memento. Unfortunately, due to the speed I have to make to Banjul, I am unable to stop, however it will still be worthwhile.
As to your questions regarding the ‘souvenirs’ we take home; most are reasonably small and decorate the covered outdoor patio, giving a splash of colour and memories of bygone voyages come to mind each time one glances at one. We still have some space left! 🙂
