Departure date

Ok, so today is the day that was the outside limit for our departure, by sail, from the Cape.
In our ignorance, our planning was dictated by our contractual arrangement to take delivery of our yacht in February, so we allowed a buffer period of 2 months in which to allow for completion of sea trials, our own boat-familiarisation process and provisioning, then off “before the Cape winter sets in”.

Latest projected departure date? Well, anywhere from the end of June to end of July….. well (or badly!) into the Cape winter!!

Today seems to be an opportune time to share the knowledge and insights gained over the last few months…. into the yacht-building process and industry.

Firstly, Ketoro. She is great! The factory allows free access to owners and we are always impressed with this fact, as well as the state of the factory and all the yachts on the floor, in various stages of build. From the photograph below, you could think that there has been little change since the last blog, but the detail inside the yacht does show progress… and it has made us aware of just how much work goes into building yachts.

It appears to be massively more complex than putting together a house and furniture and some transport in that the yacht must provide for all these needs plus water purification; electricity generation (solar and genset); sail systems; engine propulsion; navigation; communication; fuel, electricity and water storage and management; dive compressor; davits; emergency equipment; etc. all in a small (appropriately structurally reinforced) space and for long periods. The detail in planning and construction is minute and critical, always tempered by the fact that keeping the weight down is really important.

Hence the long time to build and other pre-launch work …. but then why tell us she would be ready in February and then be so very far out in your calculations? Well, it seems this is the Cape, this is the yacht-building industry, this is the construction industry in general…. In fact this is business: get the sale by making the purchaser happy with your proposal and then manage the situation when you do not deliver! As it turns out, the owners of all the other boats on the floor (from SA, Italy, USA) are in the same predicament and no doubt the factory owner is performing a juggling act with everyone’s balls in the air simultaneously… which means fast hands and a large amount of creative speak as he smoothes ruffled feathers… AAARGH!

The photograph below shows what the boat-builder sees from his very nice office as he surveys his floor (Ketoro closest to the window). When the yacht leaves this factory the work will not be over: after it is launched the mast and rigging is put up, then all the systems are tested by the builders and suppliers before final hand-over to the owners.

However, credit where it is due: the quality of the construction, openness to some customisation (which contributes to delays, particularly when overseas customers armed with dollars put in many late requests for add-ons) and open access to owners, compared with other yacht-builders, is excellent. Most other factories do not allow access; many simply turn out identical boats, often with glossed-over defects (particularly those who also build for the charter industry). Some get the boat on the water quickly but then spend months in harbour still finishing off and addressing issues and problems.

So… we wait patiently, as winter moves into the Cape. We feel the chill: believing that we would be leaving now, our supply of winter “town clothes” (as opposed to boat clothes) is sadly deficient (Irene having left most warm jackets snug in a Pretoria storage box). On reflection we were naïve to believe that, even if we had been living on the yacht from March, we would have been ready to go now. Man, is there a LOT to do, when one leaves a life behind and embarks on a totally new and different life. It does not help that we tend to be perfectionist so the spreadsheets will be precise when we get onto Ketoro, the computer files will be perfectly sorted, the meds / foods will be labeled, treated and stored just as they should be, the new technology will be mastered, the communication facilities will be the best possible (within the bounds of limited finance), we will have a safe route planned and plotted, French and Spanish will be spoken fluently…. ha, ha! Who are we kidding!? That’s all on our wish list anyway…

We are enjoying finally making contact with other people who are sailors (note that this was NOT expressed as “…. with other sailors”) and marvel at what they have done, what we may have the opportunity to do too and how much we do not know and must still learn! Is it really possible that we will be hopping onto a yacht, calling it home, mastering its use and making decisions on the direction and speed of life based, mostly, on weather?? (.… and dive locations and beer replenishment stops, according to my crew!) Well, we do not know if we are capable of all that… but we are certainly looking forward to finding out! When can we call ourselves sailors? Evidently that title will be earned the first time we first do the ‘finger-tip test’: put your finger in the bilge-water, smell it and taste it to decide if the unwanted fluid is fresh, salty or sewage….. (or diesel or battery acid or spilt food stores) and then fix the leak! So we plan to wait a bit longer for Ketoro and allow them time to do a really good job in ensuring absolutely no leaks.

As our first season is the Indian Ocean islands we are watching carefully the antics of pirates as far south as the isolated and shallow seas between Seychelles and Madagascar. This may crimp the extent of our travelling in 2009 as we try to stay out of the hot spots - and makes the delay in departure more bearable because it looks like we may in any event be confined to a circuit of Mozambique, Bassas, Madagascar, Comores, Mayotte, Pemba (Moz) and back out at the southern end before the cyclone season. We will also while away the next few days researching the alternative passage routes and seasons for Thailand or for South America and the Atlantic circuit to the Med!

Anyone want to join us on this first voyage (and offer their finger) … when we eventually get a departure date?