#1: [27-Feb-04] (incomplete)

17-Oct-2004 -- The crew of Sea Rescue Station 19 at Richards Bay had to plan a training exercise in the area - it was decided to navigate to the confluence point, since the particular point had not yet been recorded at www.confluence.org.

Set out with two rescue craft - All-weather 13-meter lifeboat "Spirit of Richards Bay" and 7.2-meter rigid inflatable "Spirit of Round Table". Was a pretty good day, with mild northeasterly wind keeping the sea quite flat. The confluence point is about 13 nautical miles (24 km) from the Port of Richards Bay, and 7 nautical miles (13 km) off shore. Took us around 45 minutes to get to the point - also saw a pod of humpback dolphins en route.

With GPS on both craft we had no trouble finding the point - the difficulty was in getting exactly on it, and keeping it there! There was quite a breeze, and the wind and swell made it tricky. The best reading we got on the bigger boat was 29°0.001'S 32°0.001'E. Best on the RIB was 29°0.000'S 32°0.004'E. With external antennas, the GPS readings are both within an accuracy of around 2-3 meters. The photos in the four cardinal directions are pretty boring: Ocean, and more ocean! The photo facing north shows the east coast of Africa on the horizon...

En route back to Richards Bay we also saw three humpback whales leisurely making their way north - all in all a good day's outing.

Many thanks to the crew who went along and helped to put Station 19 on the map (again!) - and to Shanan for creating her own bit of scenery at 29S 32E!

In the ocean, but with a view of land.