Planning for a different world

Sure, when we are actually out in that world we intend entering, we will find so many notable differences that it will be impossible to describe them. But in our preparations to get going, there are a couple of things that hit us every day (time and again!) that are notable for having been left behind in Pretoria: space and control. Thinking back on our lives there, space was never a consideration if we wanted to buy something (as in “shall we buy that tin of tuna? Well, no, because… there is NO SPACE for another tin”) and we seemed, in the main, to be in control of our lives (as in: “what shall we do tomorrow?” and we were generally able to make it happen). How these things have changed…

Space?
We decided to prepare a plan for up to 6 months away, assuming little opportunity to replenish many stores (but assuming… and desperately hoping for… many chances to get fresh foods): what a challenge! While there are articles on the web where others have given guidelines, at the end of the day it all comes down to personal choice and needs, and other peoples’ articles give opportunity to scan through and hit the alarms when you see an item you have forgotten about.

This is how we set about doing it… First, we listed everything in our (Pretoria) house and used that as a base to draw up a list of home-type things required to equip our home-on-the-sea. Next, we learned how to sail, in the process learning from how we ate on the boat and finding out what technical stuff is required peculiar to this industry (from extra large sponges for the bilges to electronic chart-plotters to lists of boat spares….) then we did extensive research to find the best type of thingie for the job and what other things sailors recommend as necessary.

A recent monitoring of our consumption gave us an idea of what quantity of muesli / toilet rolls/ cleaning products we use monthly (which produced some scary numbers); this was expanded to a spreadsheet for foods and another for general consumables on a monthly basis which then provided a base for the “what to buy for 6 months” column.

The resulting list of only kitchen-type stuff is 100 plus, from aprons through egg-boxes (when you buy eggs up north you must take your own carriers) to water filters.
The list of yacht-specific things contains another 100 plus items. Then there is bedding, linen, towels etc.
The food / drink list has about 180 items on it (including spices, sauces….. anything and everything else that gets consumed). The meats are only 3 items of this (different cuts grouped together)…. and no, the drinks list is NOT the big contributor (see, we KNOW what our “friends” and family are thinking!!!).
The consumables list has 42 items, from batteries to windolene, and that excludes personal toiletries.
The meds lists look like this: 129 different meds (of which we hope to use zero…. except maybe panado for hangover…!), a 21-strong “general” list (from cervical collar to thermometer, and including suture materials and drips and malaria tests) and 22 types of bandage / plaster. Now to find storage space for these… and a sensible stowage and referencing system so that if (when) all the labels come off we know what they are, how much to use…. and what to do!

So how much space do we have for this?

Looking at the photo, our home (the yacht – no longer the car and trailer!) is pretty big compared with our car, so there should be PLENTY of space….. but although there are lots of lockers (big ones, too) there is lots more to store…

We have allocated wet lockers (for things like the second dinghy, second anchor, dive cylinders, drogue, part of grab-bag, spare lines, fenders, foul-weather gear, dive bags …. 25 things in total), other lockers for fishing stuff, day packs, lifejackets, tools, spares, books, clothes, computers, games, binoculars …. and then we must find space for the meds, food and consumables, kitchen appliances, crockery etc.

So now the foodstuff has been restricted to catering for 3 months only, beer will be purchased locally and only whiskey will be kept at 6 months (some re-classified under ‘medical’) …. and we hope there will be space for the rest!

Control?
Reflecting on a (likely scenario for a) regular morning at anchor somewhere…. First consider the sea state, the wind, the boat’s needs, your health, officialdom, fishing or diving conditions and the on-shore possibilities on offer (assuming there is some way to find out what these are)…. Now plan your day. Not a lot of pre-planning advised, unless you have learned to cope with plans being shot up (oops, bad wording…. Not referring to the pirates here, ok!?) and dealing with alternatives.

My, but this is different from our previous experiences… and something that is really going to be interesting to deal with! On the other hand, 2009 has been preparing us for this, in that 2009 has exposed us to the yachting industry and as a necessary consequence, the fact that absolutely nothing goes according to plan and there is relatively little that you can do about it except adapt!
The industry anthem is along the lines of “this is yachting …. what can possibly go wrong?” Depending on the tone used and the expression on the speaker’s face, this sentiment appears to cover most situations!

Current Status?
Yet again, we report that there is no firm launch date (long stories, many reasons, many excuses, ho hum) so have renewed our lease on this little place… to find that we may not renew it again after this lease expires (16 June) as the owners are coming to stay. So … it appears we are learning some more about ‘control’ and ‘space’, or lack thereof!

However, we sit back and discuss these things and learn to go with the flow. The mountain is wonderfully calming as are the sunsets (this one from the water on a yacht delivery we helped with recently).

The pirates’ ongoing operations as far south as Seychelles is interesting and at present it appears to be a score in the ratio of Pirates 4: Authorities 1 (sailing is banned in the Seychelles at the moment, due to the piracy). Of course these developments coincided with Rolf having to hand in his various firearms in terms of the new gun license laws. This loss of control of another aspect of life caused Irene to have to endure a medium sized rant and tirade against authorities in general, but on the other hand, playing Rambo against a couple of boatloads of AK47 wielding pirates was never going to end well!

We are spending time getting to know passage planning software and chartplotting software; reading all the pilot guides and books about the Indian Ocean islands, Madagascar and Mozambique and planning where to go….. and more specifically, how to do it in terms of the sea / wind states at that time of year (which time of year? Not sure yet). The islands off the north-west of Madagascar (Nosy Be etc) and the Pemba / Querimba Archipelago / St Lazarus Banks of northern Mozambique are the current focus (and a couple of days at the Bassas da India atoll so that Rolf can catch at least one fish!).

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?

Life and living in Cape Town

In order to redeem ourselves in the eyes of those who growl and pass comment at our lack of commitment to our journal (blog entries) and also to get over the guilt due to this same lack of self-discipline, here is an update!


As expected the yacht is very un-ready for occupation or for the water or for anything else but TLC from the right hands (those of the boat builders), so in the middle of March we moved into a small apartment in Bloubergstrand. It is in a large complex (Big Bay Beach Club), but we are on ground level in one of the front blocks, with a grassed front area and a classic view of Table Mountain. (By crouching at a suitable angle and waiting for the appropriate time, you can get a photo that does not show the main road in front of you....!)



With two bedrooms, a tiny open-plan living area/kitchen and miniscule patio, it serves as a home and office adequately.... with the occasional bouts of non-coping, depending on the task at hand at the time. In this picture the patio table has been brought in to provide a surface for all the meds while Irene systematises the medical kit. Rolf occasionally demonstrates his multitasking abilities by drinking Black Label whilst cooking (seen below reading the microwave instructions on the vege pack) and working on two computers simultaneously. He was very happy when the tumble dryer was fixed for us, but the ladies at the laundry miss him now!


With a tiny home, our living space is huge: our garden extends to the most beautiful beach, as seen in the photo, and when the wind blows (as it really does here... whilst we were sail-training this area was referred to as tornado alley!) it brings out incredibly skilled kite-surfers (pin-pricks in the photo) and creates amazing patterns in the beach sand.












So what are we up to? Bloubergstrand is very well placed to access the boat factory at Atlantis and also Paarden Eiland, where many of the marine suppliers are situated. We have spent days researching the best places to get the best stuff at the cheapest prices... soon we will actually have to start buying it! Amongst other things, we have found the perfect dinghy (semi-rigid Gemini with 15hp motor), a great digital barometer (retains a 24h history so you can watch the trend... and scurry into a bolthole if necessary), the most desirable chartplotter and AIS, sources for charts, an Iridium satellite phone, scuba tanks, speargun, a small Croc ‘river raft’ type inflatable for messing around in / diving / fishing from and as backup to the tender, Plastics for Africa in Somerset West (which supplies just that, really cheaply, and may become a second home...) and a great shop in Woodstock for most galley items. In terms of the latter, we will go for the tableware they supply to hotels: it is breakable, but with reinforced rims/edges much more resistant to chipping and cracking.

We are also close to a gym and have bought a couple of months membership – so after taking great delight in ceremoniously cutting up his gym card in Pretoria, Rolf is again grumbling and whining as he is made to work off his preferred diet of beer, chocolate and coffee. (Irene consoles herself mostly with swimming and light exercises as she is still nursing knee injuries – initially from scrambling around and crouching over boat winches and then from riding the Argus cycle race with gammy knees.)


Still following the stock markets and with some old claims on the go, Rolf continues working (the printer is in bedroom #2) and we both need access to the internet: a source of enormous frustration as we have had endless problems in this regard. However, we soldier on, controlling our fury when the 3G card generally provides only 2G facility (before dropping us completely) and spending time at places that provide wi-fi access. Several trips to computer shops and a total clean-out of Rolf’s computers eased some of the problems he had in even accessing the wi-fi, but we simply delete mail that comes with heavy photo attachments and which has been forwarded many times - and fondly recall the ability we previously had to e-mail photos and google whatever we were curious about, whenever curiosity struck us.


Of course, it is always encouraging to find wi-fi places with a view and these become favourite places for sundowners too. Always entranced by sunsets and amazed by those previously provided by the big highveld skies, we also marvel at those here (hence the endless sunset photos!) The cloud formations supplied daily by the mountain and winds provide wonderful three-dimensional canvases for the sun to colour.... these photos are real, and the last two taken through windows.













We have been incredibly lucky to have a wonderful weekend social life: many friends have been in the Cape and we have enjoyed catching up with news from Gauteng whilst doing the “tourist thing” with them. We also have friends and family in the Cape with whom we are thrilled to be able to spend time again. So... we have brushed up on our knowledge of wines, re-visited beautiful areas long not seen (including the top of the mountain and Gordon’s Bay, shown here) and generally enjoyed all Cape Town has to offer. This city is wonderful, and feels like home.











However, it will not be home forever as (one day....) our yacht will be ready! It presently looks pretty unchanged from the outside, but will one day (hoping for one month from now...) be swung into the water and launched like this.....

.... after which we will sit at the helm and sail away!



However, to prepare for that we will have to apply ourselves further and as we get closer to the big day we get a better idea of how much space we will have and hence where we will put what... and what must go. A recent wonderful visit by Mark and Livi provided a breath of fresh air.... as Liv attacked our pile of clothes and provided an objective eye and a ruthless attitude to discarding. This resulted in a number of happy locals receiving unexpected packets of clothes over the weekend....!

So. Life in Cape Town is busy, fun and rewarding and (who knows?) Cape Town is a city where it would be wonderful to make a permanent home one day.

Harbours and finding our way

Harbours are fascinating places. The activities of working harbours can make them ugly (and smelly) yet simultaneously give them a certain beauty, while small-craft marinas can show off the clean lines of beautiful yachts juxtaposed alongside tatty, old, seldom-used yachts that have been adopted by the local bird community for their homes.

We loved living at the marina of Hout Bay harbour, South Africa’s biggest fishing harbour, despite the attendant whiffs from the fish factory. The small craft are moored cheek by jowl with the fishing boats and the colourful cheery fishermen along with sailors from around the world enhanced our experience of this home.

Simonstown’s naval flavour added a new dimension to a working harbour (although our arrive-at-midnight and subsequent pub “navigation” till 3:30 am somewhat dampened my (Irene’s) enthusiasm for it!)

Similar naval influence was felt at Saldanha Bay, which also offered huge working monstrosities. One of the latter, however, became an absolute jewel in the late-afternoon sun.

The Saldanha Bay small craft are generally embarrassing as they exhibit lack of loving care... except from their resident home-owners, the gulls and cormorants; however, wherever you go, you can always find Nemo!

Mykonos’ yuppie marina displays beautiful, relatively new yachts and powerboats, reflecting the bright-white holiday style of the resort. It also houses its windmill: a landmark precious to sailors, who use it to get bearings to guide their way into Mykonos or to-and-from Langebaan.

Landmarks and buoys are vital in helping one to negotiate safely and efficiently in the water, and it has been very interesting to see what they are like in real life compared with the little reference specks we see on the charts.
Saldanha Bay has a one-of-a-kind giant lit “candle” at the end of a long (Iscor) jetty serving huge steel ships, while lateral marker- and cardinal buoys are much bigger than I expected (which probably indicates stupid expectation on my ... Irene’s... part!)


Cardinal marks warn of dangers or obstructions to one side; the one pictured is overlooked by Saldanha Port Control.

East cardinal (warning of the mussel bed)


So this update indicates a bit of nostalgia as we have come to the end of our training. But speaking of nostalgia, back to knots again.... Where our previous update speaks of a week of wonderful stress-free sailing, our last prac week was set up to be repeats and practices of procedures and strategies in order for the instructor to drill us for the coming exam (an assessment which involved the RYA external examiner coming on board and staying for two days while getting students to sail for him and exhibit their skills under pressure situations.) And the knots? In addition to the bowlin / clove hitch / reef / rolling half-hitch etc, we had to deal with knots of a different kind: anxiety / stress / fear! So... in view of the fact that only one Coastal Skipper ticket was required on the yacht, Irene decided that Rolf would be this candidate and she would participate in the week’s learning...but shelter from the storm and not do the exam. So Rolf brilliantly (despite his own anxieties) picked up the ball. We now have two qualified Skippers on board: one Coastal and one Day Skip (who can do the Coastal stuff but needs more time to practice....!)

All we need to do now is wait patiently for our catamaran to be ready to take us to more exciting harbours.... the photo indicates progress in the right direction as her bimini (cockpit roof) is put in place. The delay in build completion is disappointing, but evidently completely inevitable in the boatbuilding industry the world over! We are however very happy with the build quality and the various selections and options we have made – particularly so, after seeing and sailing and living on some other boats in the last few weeks. In any event, spending an extra summer month in Cape Town can’t be all bad.

We have grown to absolutely love Cape Town in the past seven weeks, but have not had sufficient time to actually enjoy its offerings – the long sunny evenings; the commuter drives along the incredible scenery between Sea Point and Hout Bay; and on occasion Pinelands via Kirstenbosch and Constantia to Hout Bay; the cosmo / metro life of our time in Sea Point; the easy access and walks and cycle rides along the esplanade of Sea Point’s Beach Road and the many coffee shops and restaurants; the various harbour waterfronts; the dodgy shipping container / kiosk in Hout Bay harbour that sells the best calamari; dinner at upmarket ‘linen napkin and tablecloth’ restaurant straight off the boat after a couple of days’ sailing and still unkempt and badly dressed (even by Rolf’s modest standards). Now that the distraction of the intense training is over, we can really settle in and enjoy!

A word on wind: wind strength is measured in knots in the sailing industry, where a knot is about 1.86km/h (a nautical mile being 1.86 km). A 20-knot wind is great for sailing. The same cannot be said for cycling. Thus, cyclists’ hearts sink when they hear they will be cycling in a 40kph wind. Tell them to do that for 110km and they will growl. There was a lot of growling in the Argus cycle race today. Irene loved the tour round the Cape on the bike but would have preferred to use that wind for sailing. Rolf faithfully seconded.... a role at which he is really accomplished!

We are trying to find a self-catering type place that we can occupy until end April to avoid the constant packing and unpacking of our entire worldly belongings every few days. We need a base where we can unpack files and set up computers and printer to finish winding up the business, etc. and assemble a pile of equipment and information – everything from satellite phone, hand compass, navigation charts, medical kit and documentation, searchlight, tools, spares, repair kits, more spares, dinghy tender and outboard, EPIRB, handheld VHF, liferaft, harnesses, scuba tanks, spear gun, watermaker, more spares, drogue, various ‘ropes’ shackles and blocks, ships papers and certificates, etc. etc. – and all this before the final round of food, crockery, cutlery, pots, bedding, more food, etc that will occupy the first week after we actually get the boat.
First a week with friends to clear our minds – and then we will need to focus and apply ourselves to enjoying Cape Town for a couple of months!

Getting to the Point

Another two-week sequence of theory and then prac has been completed, all towards the Coastal Skipper qualification. The theory week went very well, offering challenging navigation passages to prepare from our charts and a 5-hour exam at the end of the week in which Rolf and I both did well, happily. The next day (Saturday) was spent on a VHF (radio) course..... our yacht will now be licensed for radio!

We entered the prac week with a fair amount of trepidation, casting our minds back to our recent hectic week on the water. However, this time we had a different instructor, Tavish, and completely different conditions: we received more gentle winds (up to about 25 knots max) and seas more structured and less disturbed than previously. And at last it all fell into place.... So THIS is what it is all about!

We had to get about 300 nautical miles done during the week ... and what a wonderful week of sailing! Picked up the boat in Saldanha – overnighter to Hout Bay, change boats (attended by the inevitable cleaning of heads and bilges) then down the coast and around Cape Point to Simonstown (arrive midnight – and some of us then had to find an open pub! Bed at 3:30am), then leave in the morning and return to Saldanha (overnighter). Got the boat speed up to 13 knots off Cape Point to celebrate.

No tedious repeats and more repeats of procedures, no tension and anxieties over missed buoys or tacks / gybes that were not quite as tight as they should have been.... Of course we all did those procedures, naturally and in the normal course of sailing... and it was a relief to simply adjust sails and the like without someone first admonishing you. Thoroughly exhausted when we finally got home on Friday after two overnighters with the associated watch systems and the Simonstown pub navigation...!, nonetheless spirits were high... we are sailors! So the week was a highlight. We skippered and sailed, we rounded Cape Point, sailing on the seas that are famous the world over; (which fortunately did not give us the treatment for which they are really infamous).

Now what? A final week of Coastal Skipper.... but this brings practice, practice, repeat and repeat: the sailing times appear to be over as we go over to the skills training again. No doubt all of this, with all of the sleepless nights on watch, all the sailing in rough seas as well as calmer, will equip us to be competent as we deal with the point of all this: to sail and enjoy the seas.

More of that deep end

The Day Skipper prac week got underway on Monday with a 14-hour sail from Hout Bay to Saldanha Bay. The week ended with the reverse trip of course.... but this time 6 exhausted, dehydrated and heat-affected people arrived back in Hout Bay after a hectic 26-hour trip from Saldanha.... but more about the week’s end at the end!

Saldanha Bay is used by all the training schools as it provides a good training ground... or rather, sea... that brings tides into the planning and coping strategies. So up to Saldanha we went.... and some of us found that those Atlantic rollers bring another new challenge: nausea! Pills deal with that adequately, but tend to make one tired: an unfortunate situation when you are trying to learn and keep your head about you. On the way up, we did a fair amount of motoring in patches where there was no wind, but were generally happy with our progress (our departure having been delayed due to problems with the electrical board yet again so we set off late... even then, at no stage on the trip did we have lights in the cabins, saloon, etc).

The late departure gave Irene a very unhappy navigation experience. We each had a turn in the week to plan a pilotage: i.e. prepare the navigation for coming in to a harbour and find your way to a mooring. For this your resources are the Almanac (which actually gives complete routes and advice for all SA ports) and your detailed area chart. So Irene prepared her strategy... and landed deep in the proverbial, as the almanac had failed to mention that a night entry is a completely different ball game, as none of the reference leading lights can be seen amidst the mess of lights that is Saldanha Bay! Let’s just say that having a Royal Navy man as an instructor is not an easy thing: lessons are certainly learned by the person under correction and all those in the “class”, but in a different manner from that used by the great majority of those in the education field. General lesson learned by Rolf and Irene to apply in their future journeys: find another resource to supplement the almanac and charts, most useful being the local yacht club people.... by phone, before you get there!The next two days were spent sailing to and around Langebaan and Mykonos, practicing under sail and under power, catching mooring buoys, doing man-overboard procedures (with fenders as the MOB), coming alongside moorings (i.e. parallel parking) etc. Winds were hectic so the latter was “done” 5m away from the jetty.... a decision taken after the first person leaving the jetty inflicted some damage on the transom of the boat. The effect of wind and tide is amazing.... and provided Rolf with some bad moments. His task was a pilotage into Langebaan, an area which is very shallow but has a few narrow dredged channels. The recommended method is to use visual references that are on the chart and take bearings off them with a hand-held compass (as seen .... and note the schnazzy new foul-weather gear!); you then use these to guide you to your destination. All good as our Rolf is particularly skilled at this.... but yet, after the slowest, most tortuous hour going starboard-side round an island with the shallow-depth alarm going off continuously, we found we were on the wrong side of the island! WHAAT!? Scrambled (slowly) our way back and round the other side (through some pretty scenes, actually, of very skilled kite-boarders) and made it safely in. What went wrong? Wind and tide combinations caused the yacht to crab sideways so that we maintained boat bearing but went totally the wrong way! (PS Rolf turned to me that evening and said, wryly, that Pretoria was beginning to look like a good option!)

On Thursday afternoon, after doing “evolutions” (i.e. series of manoeuvres) and prepared meals for the passage back to Hout Bay, Irene was helming under power when ....nothing happened. A significant moment, when the boat does nothing despite your increasing the throttle desperately. Turns out (after sending Shane underwater ... short straw!) we no longer had a prop. We were towed to a mooring buoy where we discussed options and Graham decided we would go anyway, but set course to go way out to sea (don’t want to be carried onto land if the wind should die!)

We set off about 3:30 pm, with watches set for 2 hours on then 3 hours off throughout the passage. The wind howled (25 knots), the sea boiled (very disturbed sea with 5m swells, some breaking), we all dressed in layers and layers under our “foulies”, above which we wore lifejackets of course which we harnessed onto stays or clips on deck.

I wish I had the verbal skills (or a video... but you are too busy surviving to think of that) to describe the experience! On deck it was astounding to be helming or on watch (always two together) as we mounted amazing waves, surrounded by white swooshes on a broiling dark sea, through the night as we saw the sun set, stars glitter on, moon rise, moon set, stars and milky way brighten then finally dim as the sun rose and birds swooped over us... Down below it was hell. Get into a large washing machine (start off nauseous for good measure) with giant bags, ropes, cushions, people; (allow yourself some handholds, but just you try to grab them....ha!), start the cycle BUT it must be on the “random, unpredictable” setting, and have a few giants slam the outside with hammers while you are in there. That’s about it. Now sleep (remember, you must be on duty again in a few hours). Oh, and for good measure actually toss in some water (salty)... the hatch above the heads lost its seal and “the one who needs to sit” got it down the back just before watch duty. Not a lot of fun. Rolf took a bad fall in the saloon but fortunately (after initially suspecting a cracked rib) now just has impressive bruises to boast (the 102nd Dalmatian). But we have learned that we are not frightened by these seas, you can cope with discomfort, one can sail in such conditions.... and we will NEVER CHOOSE to sail in them!

Of course, we also became becalmed. With no motor, that was frustrating. But this is the Cape... and of course the wind came back and took us back to the previous paragraph. One needs power to berth so ultimately we were rescued sea-side of Robben Island; that was a great experience as our rescue vessel was the super power-trimaran that broke the round-the world speed record recently. It towed us in to the Royal Cape Yacht Club where Benguela was lifted, given a new propeller, and we were underway again. We eventually got back to Hout Bay... go to paragraph 1!


















Saturday was spent doing nothing at all in a timeshare apartment (in which we can take at least 10 steps in one direction at any one time!) which we have until the end of the week, when we will finish our Coastal Skipper Theory course ... before setting off on the next prac week to Saldanha. Going “cold turkey on the norm” as it has been expressed has been a real learning curve that has not been fun but we would not have done without.

In at the deep end

So our first training week (19 Jan) started off quietly enough.... eager anticipation was quickly eroded by time-wasting as the 6-week old training yacht had no power at the board: meaning that there were no lights, battery, VHF.... anything! This allowed us plenty of time to get to know our instructor, Graham (48-year old UK Royal Navy guy and sailor) and fellow students Shane and Leon, young guys in their early twenties who did not seem to mind their two old ballie companions! The extra time in the classroom at the offices of 2 Oceans Maritime Academy supposedly afforded us the time to “learn the ropes”... i.e. how to tie the prescribed knots on the ropes we were all given!

A short deviation: as sailors, you become paranoid by the weather and follow predictions closely. We were given South-Easters for the week. Turns out these hit Hout Bay with a vengeance, funnelling through the hills above little Chappies and blasting onto the waters of the bay. Benguela, the 42 foot yacht (monohull) the five of us were sharing in close confines (understatement), had an outside mooring, so we were woken at 12:30 on our first night by the most fierce rocking and rolling, loud whacks and general mayhem (the wind makes the most hideous noises in a marina, with all the masts and rigging). Upshot: spent a good part of the first night re-positioning bow lines, stern springs etc (good way to learn what they were!). At one stage Rolf was on the floating pontoon holding onto it like spider-man and almost came off as it veered up at a perilous angle but then it crashed back down (onto the bow of the yacht behind). We learned on the first night that even sleeping on board is not all plain sailing and we don’t get sea-sick in bad seas (well, not yet).

Tuesday saw a beautiful, gentle start to the day, with great promise for getting out of the harbour safely. Unfortunately the electrician from Johannesburg sent to fix the power only arrived at about 9:30 and pronounced all complete at about 3:30pm. The wind was now howling. So the instructor decided we had to get away from Hout Bay and move to the Royal Cape Yacht Club in Table Bay.... and we did. We simply (?) powered/pounded our way out of the harbour into the oncoming waves with winds gusting at 50 knots (regarded in the RYA training manual as above gale). The strangeness of the Cape weather is that around the headland it was ok to put up sail... and when we were in the lee near lion’s head we were practically becalmed!

We berthed happily at the RCYC for three nights and the area provided us with reasonable winds so we got a lot of learning and sailing done. What a change in life style and what a steep learning curve we have experienced! Irene went from being uncertain of which side was port to being at the helm of the yacht, sailing in Table Bay, tacking, gybing and sometimes putting the crews’ toes on the lee side in the water! Rolf did all of the above (and more) but started from a better base! Learning to sail comes with its tough sides (very physically demanding and causes, in our case, sore muscles, backs and knees.... not to mention cleaning the heads and the bilges...) but has great upsides: we anchored off Clifton for lunch, berthed alongside Quay 4 at the V&A for supper and had the most unbelievable whale, dolphin and seal-sightings.

Southern Right whales at play and a huge pod of travelling dolphin

The first week was physically, emotionally and mentally extremely demanding and exhausting, but thankfully we did not get sea-sick and have not yet been afraid of the seas we have been in. Our experiences went from exhilarating to stressful and nerve-wracking, but the whole thing has been really awesome.... and we got the Competent Crew ticket (whee....haaa!)

The tough physical comp crew week was followed (after a brief weekend respite at a timeshare dominated by laundry, SLEEP and R&R) by the first week of the 2-week Day Skipper course: the theory week. Leon was not going further with sailing and returned to uni, but we were joined by Andre (who runs fishing charters from Villancoulos) and Jason (an American who has been working and sailing in Japan).... both fresh from one of SA’s entries into the Cape to Bahia yacht race. Another bout of insecurity overtook Irene (felt like a REAL appie, yet again, in the face of all this testosterone and knowledge... what were they doing here, with bozos like me who knew NOTHING!?) but pretty soon we settled into a routine: 8:30 to 4:30 learning, lots of homework every night, and turns out we were all in the same place re the theory parts of this RYA training.
Buoys, lights, collision avoidance, rules of the “road”, safety issues, tidal and wind factors, choosing your route and bearings: all this knowledge and theory became our currency and we spent hours plotting courses on charts. The exams on Friday were fine (passed well) .... and tomorrow we leave Hout Bay for Saldanha Bay where we will stay for the week getting experience of sailing with tides and putting all this theory into practice! We will each have a turn being navigator and also skipper for the day (the latter receiving the pilotage from the navigator and giving instruction to the helmsman and crew). Thank heavens the instructor is with us: surely HE doesn’t want to be grounded or in a collision!?

We spent the week sleeping on the boat in Hout Bay harbour. Our garden was the sea (which, granted, did not always allow us to sleep more than fitfully), our walkway the floating pontoon, our neighbours really close to us.... our ablutions some distance away at the yacht club! We have become fond of the harbour, its activity and colour... but there are only so many times you want to walk up and down to the ablutions, which are less than perfect, and we are glad to have a timeshare WEEK for the next theory week, the start of the Coastal Skipper course.

It has been wonderful meeting with local friends and some who have been down from Gauteng: this has been our first really relaxing weekend as friends stayed with us at the timeshare and we did the Cape holiday thing: wine farm, beach, movie, eat out. YAY! It forced us to focus on relaxing and stop running around organising things! So tomorrow (2 Feb): start of the Day Skipper Practical course... more interesting times ahead, but we have a feeling that the deep end may not be as deep as first thought.... watch this space!