It is 5 am and I can hear the waves breaking gently on the shore as I lay in my bed in a fishermans hut 200 meters from the beach. The skippers and dive masters are still snoring but it is time for me to go to work. After a quick shower, I grab a lunch pack and head up to the airfield which is a half hour away and situated in the Magwa tea plantation. A thorough pre-flight is done by spotlight as it is still dark. Every nut, bolt cable etc is checked meticulously as I am not particularly keen on a swim in the oceanas there have been a few reports of Great White sharks spotted in the area. name is Larry Eschner and I am privileged to be employed as a spotter pilot during the annual sardine run along the beautiful Wild Coast . Preflight completed, I start up my trusty Rotax 912 and sit listening to the smooth purr of the engine as she slowly warms up to operating temperature. Take off is at 6:40 am, first light and because the met forecast is for pre-frontal South Westerly winds, I turn south towards Port St Johns. Met is correct with there forecast as my ground speed is not much above 50 km/h. It is however very smooth as I am flying approximately 5 km offshore and am not in the rotors caused by the land breeze. 45 minutes into the flight and my radio crackles into life. “Larry , Larry come in for SEAL 1” The radio signal is crisp and clear and the skippers are eager to hear if there is any action happening.
“Morning SEAL 1 , it is a bit chillies out here so no showing off with your speedo today , okay ? ” “ Put a sock in it mate , you wish you could show off like me” is Pauls reply. He is the head skipper of the six dive boats that I “spot” for and there is always light banter on the radio which make the long days bearable. “ I am just coming abeam Port St Johns , 1000 ft ASL and 5 km seawards . There is a super pod of dolphins moving north along the same line and they should be off Mboyti within the next hour.” “Thanks mate , we should be launching within the next thirty minutes , keep me updated” “Will do, chat later” i reply as i scan the water ahead of me.I am almost at Umgazi river bungalows which is my turn around point. I can see what looks like rain further out to my left and and turning seawards I step on the gas initiating a climb through to 1500ft asl . Another 10 minutes flying and I am now 13 km offshore. It is a very vulnerable feeling and I am glad that I have filled the trikes wings with pool noodles in case things go pear shaped. I would at least be able to recover my beloved aircraft.
There is a whole lot of bait balls that have formed and I mark the position with my Garmin . Although our boats don’t normally venture south of Port St Johns, I fly up to Umgazi River Bungalows marking activity that I come across. I and then am able to plot the progress of the sardine shoals as they move north, which will save huge amounts of flying time in the days to come. From the beginning of June through to the middle of July is the prime sardine fever season for this stretch of coastline. The company that employs me is headed up by Nic de Gersigny, cousin of the late Aiden de Gersigny of Solo Wings fame. Nic runs an extreme adventure business and operates the largest sardine run dive charter along the South Afican coastline. A tough, disciplined task master, he employs only the most experienced skippers, divemasters etc, and has built up a formidable and competent team that work exceptionally well together. Turning south I decide to land at Post St Johns for a leg stretch and a cup of coffee. The south wester is 16 knots and makes landing on top of the mountain decidedly unpleasant. Warmed up again, I get airborne and the first 10 minutes of the flight keeps my heart racing as I battle through the rotors and head back out to sea. I can see what looks like an oil slick on the ocean about six km seawards and head slowly in that direction at the same time noticing the gannets on the same heading. “Seal 3 , come in for Larry” “Yeah mate , Seal 3 here , go ahead “ is the reply from skipper BJ. “Morning BJ , it is switching on about six kays offshore and looks really promising “ Switching on” , means that there is a bait ball forming with lots of activity in the immediate area. “Hey Larry , Seal 5 here what you got for me?”
All the skippers and dive masters want in on the action and the radio does not stop as every one wants a definite heading for the bait ball.” OK , four bait balls out here with loads of gannets , dolphins a few cape fur seals and a Brides whale.” “ Fantastic mate, put me on the money !”is BJ of Seal 3’s response. I can see a couple of boats abeam of Waterfall bluff but don’t know which one is Seal 3. “ BJ , do a donught.” is my reply. I see the wake of his boat as he spins in a circle . “ Seal 3 keep turning and I will tell you when to straighten out.” As soon as his bow is pointed in the right direction I tell him to maintain that heading for approximately seven kilometers. The other boats pick up a heading off BJ’s boat and start racing towards the bait ball. As soon as they are onto the action I continue with my northerly heading. Ten minutes later and the radio crackles to life again. It is Digger , skipper of Seal 2 ,and he says thanks, they are onto some heavy action on those bait balls.
That is four boats sorted and two to go. “ Larry , come in for Seal 1” “Hey speedo ... go ahead”, I reply .Paul has a professional camera man on board and he wants exclusivity on a bait ball without other divers in the water who might interfere with his filming. “Seal 1 , I am coming up to Port Grosvenor and there is some good action going on” “ Roger that mate , I am on my way” is Pauls reply. “Larry , come in for Seal 4” It is Debbie who is the dive master aboard Seal 4 with skipper and soulmate Andrew. “Morning Debbie , what you looking for today ?” “Larry our clients would like some whale action , have you seen any thing ?” “ Yebo Debbie , tell Andrew that there is a Humpback with a calf about a kilometre behind him , heading north.”
“Larry this is Seal 1 , how close are we to that Grovener action?” “Hold that heading Paul, you will be on the action in 10 minutes” Paul drops the camera man on the action and reports that there are lots of sharks and the baitball is moving at a cracking pace out to sea. Debbie and Andrew are onto the whales and are tracking them northwards. I decide to land at Grovener for a quick break and to stretch my legs again. I open my lunch pack and find the same boring sandwiches and liquid fruit as every other day . Going to have a chat with the lodge chef tonight , maybe he can be a bit more creative. The lunch hits the spot and I am airborne again , still heading north towards Mkambati nature reserve.The locals have set fire to the dry fields to encourage new growth for there Nguni cattle and the smoke gives a good indication of wind speed and direction. I turn around at the Reserve and head slowly back south into the wind. I tell the Seal boats they I am going back to the airfield to top up with fuel and also check that everyone is still on good action and happy.
While I am refueling my cell phone rings. It is Nic and he tells me that there are divers missing out to sea off Post St johns. They are from a different diver charter to ours but everyone stands together in a emergency like this. Airborne again Nic calls me on the radio and reminds me of the Great White shark attack that took half of a bodyguards torso away earlier this year off the river mouth of Port St Johns. He also gives me the area that the divers were lost in and I head in that direction with the control bar in my tummy. This is a real emergency and I am flying into a strong south westerly with an ETE of 40 min to the location that has been given to me. I am half way there when Nic calls me on the radio again . “ Ok bru , don’t worry , they have been found , you can carry on with our boats” There has been silence on the radio from our boats while Nic has been relaying info that he has gotten via cell phone from down south . The skippers and dive masters come onto the radio with shouts of joy that the missing divers have been found. Although the were from a opposition dive charter, the dangers of diving on these bait balls in sometimes strong currents, creates a unspoken camaraderie and bond amongst all the dive operators.
It is 1pm and the boats are starting to head back to Mboyti river lodge , our base of operation. Seal 5 wants there boat load of passengers to go for a flight this afternoon and i tell Ondyne the dive master that they must try be at the airfield by 3pm latest. Each pax must be taken for a 15 minute flight and I finish as the sun is going down. After the passengers leave on there drive back to the lodge a I do a post flight inspection on my aircraft before tying it down and heading into Lusikisiki for fuel.
It is long after dark when I get back to the lodge for dinner and a cold refreshment. There is a tremendous amount of excitement in the pub as skippers , dive masters and clients all share there days experiences. Nic leans back against the bar with a satisfied look on his face , pleased that his 60 clients are happy. The dive masters and skippers are also pleased after a long and successful day on the ocean. A happy client means that they will get good tips when the clients are finished with there sardine run diving tour and go home. Most of the clients are from Europe and this is a mind blowing experience. Unfortunately the majority of the action on the sardine run takes place off shore so it is not visible to the person standing on the beach or hilltop looking out to sea. It is amazing to see the super pods of dolphin ,up to 5000 strong following and feeding off the billions of sardines as they move north with the cold Aghullus current.
I crawl off to bed , exhausted after nearly seven hours in the air today. It is quiet realistic for a spotter pilot to fly in excess of 100 hours during the sardine run. Tiring but immensely gratifying to be part of the “ GREATEST MIGRATION ON EARTH.”
To all those that fly or are flown, safe flying to you all,
