Namibia - Facts
- Namibia lies on the southwest coast of the continent and as a German colony, used to be known as South West Africa.
- The easternmost area is part of the Kalahari desert, while the Namib Desert stretches along the west coast. Most of the coast is inhospitable desert, but inland is many national parks and unusual dramatic scenery.
- Yachts sailing this part of the Atlantic usually stop at Luderitz, an old German colonial town surrounded by the encroaching Namib desert. It is a convenient stop on the way north from Cape Town.
- The winds are usually favourable and so is the Benguela current, which sweeps up the western coast. The detour shortens the distance to St Helena and, if time permits, also give a chance to visit some of the interiors of this fascinating country, which was for so long in the grip of a guerilla war.
- There are some repair facilities at Luderitz (the port is used by fishing boats working in this area of the South Atlantic).
- Walvis Bay is a safe and more pleasant stop and has a greater range of services and better provisioning due to its size. Much of the coast between Luderitz and Walvis Bay is restricted and landing is not permitted.
- Watch out for fog and lots of shipping traffic off this coast.
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The Seven Seas Ldz Project is based in Luderitz – you can find out more about us at this Noonsite report – https://www.noonsite.com/report/namibia-the-seven-seas-project/.
Please feel free to visit the project in Luderitz, we are always happy to assist bluewater sailors. We helped establish a common communication platform to streamline the clearing in and out process for visiting yachts for the Port of Luderitz and have a ton of useful information on our facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/SevenseasNamibia/
Should anybody wants to know more about Luderitz, feel free to get in touch with the Seven Seas Ldz Project in Luderitz via email at sevenseasldz@gmail.com
There is now also a Metro branch in Luderitz and for those who still love good meat, well both Spar and OK Grocers stock some of the best Namibian meat from free range farming, no nasty growth hormones or anything. For specialities like smoked meats, ask the custodian of the Seven Seas Project to assist, although it needs to be pre-ordered from the Capital City and takes normally 7 to 10 days for door to door delivery – even bulk orders are possble – nothing beats a glass of cold wine or beer with a traditional Landjäger.
For weather conditions and weather updates also feel free to contact us. Luderitz has quite a unique weather pattern due to its unique geological position.
For sightseeing within a 450 km radius of Luderitz there is: Ghost Town Kolmanskuppe (10 km out of Town), famous Wild horses of the Namib (90 km out of town), Fishriver Canyon (2nd largest canyon in the world) is about 390 km, many interesting desert guest farms offering Horse trails into the pristine desert environments.
Link to Fossil site – https://www.mesosaurus.com/
Link to Wild horses site – https://africageographic.com/stories/namibias-wild-desert-horses/
Horse safaries – https://www.namibia-farm-lodge.com/horse-trails
Car rentals in Luderitz besides Avis – https://www.bbcarhire.com/
This is just to mention a few services. And obvious then the cherry on the cake is Luderitzbücht in all its glory itaself. Friendly people who call themselves Büchters.
January 4th, 2022: s/v TRANCE arrived in Luderitz from Cape Town
See the track and passage notes here: https://forecast.predictwind.com/tracking/display/Trance
As well as here: http://www.sailingtrance.com (sometime before next week)
Approach and Entry: From the south keep outside the 30 meter line to clear Halifax Reef. Navionics warns of lost mining gear, anchors and floating ropes… but we didn’t notice any of this debris. Once Dias Point bears SSE, then head to pass north of the N Cardinal buoy (26 36.9’S 15 07.5’E), off Angra Point. Then steer 120 deg to pass between the two cardinal buoys off Shark Island and Penguin Island into Robert Harbour (there are range markers on the eastern shore). Then turn south and head into the buoyed channel to Menai Creek, or straight ahead to the self-anchorage area. Entering at night and going to the self-anchorage area should be easy and safe.
Call Port Control on VHF 12 or 16 (24/7 hours) before entering Robert Harbour to be advised of shipping movements, this is important in poor visibility… fog and poor visibility are common on this coast.
Self-Anchorage or Mooring Buoy?: It is recommended that you get on a mooring buoy if available. Ask Port Control to contact Andy who will guide and help you. If available, Mooring Buoys at the south end of Menai Creek (26 38.434S 15 09.427E) where the Dinghy Dock, Luderitz Yacht Club, and all the places you’ll want to go are located. To arrange for a Mooring Buoy contact Andy +264 08 57244257, or have Port Control contact Andy and Andy will communicate on VHS 9. Andy is good… he will ask for R or N100/day for services, which includes mooring help, advice on where to go and what to visit, Andy will keep an eye on your boat if you go away. If you go on a trip, Andy will put your dinghy back on your boat while you’re gone, and he retrieve it when you return. All for just R or N100/day! Andy can also perform additional services… just ask Andy.
The Self-Anchorage area is free and located at 26 37.779S 15 09.628E, which is a much longer, possibly wetter, dinghy ride to/from the Dinghy Dock. You should not anchor in or near the mooring field. Besides swing room issues, the mud in the mooring field is about 2 feet thick, yet it’s like slate underneath the mud, anchors slide along the bottom in stiff breezes, which are common.
Health Check: Once on a mooring or at anchor, radio Port Control, and they will contact Health Ministry people and have them meet you at the Dinghy Dock or at the Luderitz Yacht Club, which is near the Dinghy Dock. The day before we left Cape Town, we had SARS-nCoV-19 RT-PCR testing performed by a Trusted Traveler System laboratory. The health person looked at our test result certificates, that said “none detected”, which was acceptable to him. We emailed the certificates to the Health Ministry person. Then, the Health Ministry person escorted us to Immigration to tell Immigration we passed the health checks. We arrived 75 hours after our testing time.
We understand you may have COVID testing performed here at your cost, yet it will delay your check-in process.
Immigration was quick & easy, and so was the visit Customs and Port Control. No fees were collected. Avoid lunch hours, afterhours, and weekends. All are a short walk from the Dinghy Dock. Andy also escorted us to all the check-in stops, and he showed us the location of a few highlights in town, as well as suggestions on shopping, restaurants and touring areas surrounding Luderitz.
Please message me should you have any questions about my home country, Namibia.
I am passionate about Yachts and Sailing. I have been sailing since I was eleven years old. My wife and I have done our SAS Competent Crew, Day Skippers ticket, Maritime Radio Telephone Operators License, ICC and have sailed the Greek Islands to gain experience and build up sea miles.
At 55, I have taken early retirement and we are currently in the process of looking for a 40ft Bavaria, still in fair condition; to sail as long as we can. We still have so much to learn, but are looking forward to the journey. We are in the process of moving to our 2nd home in Swakopmund, which is a few minutes drive to the port of Walvis Bay.
Nic Preller