Ups and downs of our first passage

Well, this was finally it… we were on our way! After the long delay, Ronnie (our delivery skipper) and Patrick (our friend who wanted to join in this experience… called “mad” by some of his friends, apparently…!) got on board with us and on Tuesday 15 September we set off... looking like sea gypsies with all the stuff we were transporting to Madagascar for Admiral! The weather was not predicted to be perfect, but in Cape Town if you wait for perfect you will wait forever... and then, perfect as you leave CT may not lead to perfect for other parts of the voyage.

Our first day saw big rough lumpy seas, with Ketoro bumping and rolling up and down heading into the swells, first on motor and then main (reefed as the winds increased) and headsail with winds 25kn SW.

Ronnie set up a 3-hour watch system for the passage: this worked very well (Pat suffered motion sickness and was excluded for the first 24 hours until he got his sea legs… um stomach!) with the exception of a bad night outside Durban some days later. We were all freezing... which helped to keep us alert!Once we had rounded Cape Point (6h into the journey) the strong SW winds, supported by SW 5m swells (at times increasing to about 6m) really supported us and we felt like we were flying through/over the water! We made great speed for the first 3 days, with a speed challenge set up as we surfed down those swells; occasional 50-knot gusts helped us to peak at 15knots boat speed (Ronnie won the competition).

Note: when you are totally new at this sailing thing and the twice-daily VHF weather report warns of gale force winds (defined as 35 knots) you tend to quake; apparently when you are old-hand you also hear this and quake and would not leave your sheltered harbour if you had brains and the choice. However, we were out in it and have learned that it is the wind combined with the sea state which is important: in our case the swells were not opposing us or the wind and hence the ride, while thrilling and exhilarating, was not dangerous while taken with care. We were delighted to receive calls from Mark telling us about lots of people following our progress (on our Google Earth blog, which Irene updated 3 times daily) and complimentary text messages / quick e-mails from those following our progress saying things like “…Smokin’!”

So how did this experience feel? Well … massively and absolutely new!! Overload…! Like so …
Our new fifth crew member, the autopilot (AP) was amazing and held course in most of those huge conditions so the watch was greatly eased by usually not having to hand-steer. This meant you could briefly leave your station to visit the heads / make coffee / take a photo and of course it was less exhausting. Having said that, simply being on watch WAS exhausting for us (well, for Irene) as specks of light on the horizon or radar screen pose a threat to an already-taxed adrenaline-producing system, your senses are so heightened and all the sounds and scenes are radically different from any previously experienced.

During day-time watches others are generally around and give you company (although of necessity one must catch up on sleep during the day to prepare for the next night/catch up on the previous) while your company on night watches is a black-and-white panorama of pinprick stars on a pitch canvas, supported on an ever-rolling, broiling black sea. This latter appears so different from its day-time appearance: during the day one has the benefit of light to develop the 3-D picture while the black sea appears flat at night, the shape and movement appearing from an incessant moving brilliant white froth accompanying it and changing shape and form constantly. The swish and rumble of this froth alongside, sometimes moving ahead of the helmsman and sometimes falling back, is mesmerising: particularly so when the brilliance of the white is heightened by phosphorescence.

New noises. My word, these are indescribable. The noises of the sea in which you are a speck: swishing is lovely, soothing; the other sea noises can be big and unnerving if you let them. Then there are the disembodied voices over the VHF radio: other sailors calling to each other, the regular 12:15 and 18:15 weather update calling “All ships, all ships…” But particularly… yacht noises. Thank heavens we were not exposed to these at first on our own, because the noises on board a yacht making headway in heavy seas are alarming in the extreme. Crashing, banging, knocking, grinding, creaking and groaning first come to mind, of a decibel level such that you cannot think and I feared we were about to break up! But no, these are usual. In fact, apparently Ketoro is relatively quiet when it comes to bridge-slap: in catamarans, water accelerates between the hulls and hits the bottom of the bridge-deck at speed, with a deeply but sharply resounding bang. Due to our high bridge-deck clearance, we have much less of this than some other yachts (thank heavens!!! Enough to cope with anyway…)

There are also the heart-stopping noises of alarms. Alarms are good: they inform you when things are not quite as they should be and thus enable you to take control of the situation. When you are in your cabin at 2 am (exhausted, just off watch) and you hear what you assume to be the auto-pilot alarm you know that Rolf (on watch) will over-ride it, take the helm, get back on track and re-set AP. When the alarm continues to ring you reprimand yourself to stop panicking but rush to check that he is not overboard anyway. On seeing him in the cockpit your heart is soothed, but wait: the alarm is still going…. and in fact, it is the bilge pump alarm (which sounds to inform you there is water in the bilges, which it then pumps out and the alarm stops). You retire to bed with the sounds of the three guys attending to the problem of this non-stop alarm, assuring yourself with the calm rationale of a sleep-deprived inexperienced sailor that the yacht is not going to sink and all will be well. Which it was. But sleep hid away anyway and so it is coffee in the galley with the others and many bleary eyes.

The best noises of all are hearing a whale while you are in your cabin and those of sailing in a calm sea with fair winds. This passage generally kept the latter from us, with the exception of some hours on two later days; we were instead given the heavy-sea-weather boat noises and … engine sounds. Now maybe boys love the throbbing and thrumming of motors, but this is a sailing yacht, for heaven’s sake! Nonetheless, it appears that one uses ones motors often… and in fact, thank heavens for them in big seas (to push us through and support the sails), also times with no wind, docking and facilitating your path round the numerous huge ships near big harbours. It seems, however, that engines need attention.

Certainly, both of ours did. As a result of which, we had boys upside-down in the engine bays often, no matter how rocking the sea, pumping out and replacing gear-box oil and keeping the samples for the technical guys (read: bedding strewn all over the boat, no place looking or feeling like a home in the old context of the word, diesel and oil-finger-smears on everything, diesel-smells at home. More sea-sick pills.) Enough of that.

After the hectic Cape seas and weather we were treated to The Dream off the Transkei.

Perfect weather, sufficient wind to sail by our code zero (colourful asymmetric spinnaker), spectacular coastline (which we saw from close up as one keeps in-shore of the Agulhas current throughout the trip, where possible), crystal sea and dolphins surfing, dolphins playing in our bows, whales breaching and blowing, birds gliding, diving and fishing.
This was heaven… but it was soon (as predicted by the remarkably accurate weather forecasters) replaced by our worst sailing when we received strong winds on the nose (not good for cats!) accompanied by fairly large lumpy seas against us. AP was unreliable in these conditions so we had to hand-helm: a very exhausting experience, so watches were reduced to 2 hours and when on deck it was foul-weather gear, lifejackets, harnesses. In these conditions (extreme noise, banging, howling and wild boat movement) we also had to deal with getting round all the huge ships around Durban harbour in the dark. It is a good thing that we have now experienced a situation in which 5 hours of sailing takes you no further than 2nm further on your journey (in many cases tacking around the ships caused us to lose ground) as we would not have believed it possible! The highlight of this time was a wonderful call from Barry telling us that he and Kay had become engaged!

It was with relief that we felt these awful weather conditions changing just before midnight, bringing us up to our last day and Rolf’s birthday on wonderful sailing seas with more whales and dolphins gracing the shores of northern Natal. The contrast of the experiences the night before with our champagne-charged full English breakfast round the table in celebration (AP on helm) was enormous.

This was followed by birthday “cake” (bowls of ice-cream and nuts with generous splashes of Captain Morgan) and a happy peaceful entry into Richards Bay harbour. We are convinced that this yacht sailing in under her beautiful Code Zero was the picture of peace… as it surely was, but gave no telling of the experiences that had gone before to get us to this point!

So we are ensconced on the wall at Zululand Yacht Club for a week while we get some repairs done, take stock, re-provision, re-arrange lockers … and recover! We are completely exhausted and enjoying the peace, still waters and twittering weavers building their nests alongside our berth. We are enjoying visits from Mark and Livi and the Durban in-laws and cousins. This has been a physical and emotional roller-coaster but has prepared us well for the next step up to Mozambique then Madagascar.

Watch this space, and follow us on Google Earth (access from the link at the top of the column on the right), which we will try to update as often as possible. If the place mark does not move, assume that we are visiting land, or anchored for a breather, or cannot get the sat phone to work, or we are getting no time to do it… but above all assume that we are enjoying realising this dream.

At home on the water

At last we are living in our new home! Here is Ketoro at Cape Town’s Royal Cape Yacht Club (having spent several weeks at Elliott Basin nearby). We have been living in this home for a week and what follows is a quick picture-narrative of it all:

In the yacht basin, we are fairly protected from the big swells but still can experience a lot of wind, which howls with high pitch through the rigging around us. On this morning, however, it was magnificently calm and still, as viewed from the starboard hull amidships’ port light (window!).

The next view, from the cockpit area (back of the yacht), shows that the small-craft harbour is still integrated with other working parts of the harbour, and it is wonderful to watch huge container ships being assisted in and out by tugs, while fishing boats go about their morning and evening business.


The following photos give you an idea of what home looks like inside…. And it is really comfy!!

You will notice (below) that the galley comes complete with mess and kitchen hand! Irene (further down) is shown on the phone at the nav station…. Probably asking someone for help as to the use for all the switches behind her! When you come and stay, please remember to switch on the appropriate ones when you want to, say, use the loo or the shower….

The aft cabins are shown here (ours in earth colours) and there is another forward cabin in the port side (guest hull), with the guest heads shown. In case you wondered, the extra rail in the shower is a grab-rail….

We have put massive effort into getting Ketoro ready to sail, and somehow managed to stow about 7 trailer-loads of stuff into all nooks and crannies we could find (and also the lockers provided.) We have provided foodstuff for between 3 and 6 months, learning as we went what to get and how to store it. So for example, we have limited fridge and freezer space so discovered that waxed cheese rounds will keep for ages until cut. The accompanying photo shows several kilo-sized cheese rounds wrapped in muslin, labeled and stored in foil containers in one of the bilges in the starboard hull (held snugly in place by plumbing and our shower drain pump). Bilges are close to the water hence a bit cooler for storage…. And if water gets in the bilge pumps automatically sort that out.

Some of the food storage lockers in the starboard hull are shown here; each shelf classified by type of foodstuff and the quantities and storage location detailed on a spreadsheet, along with the location of the extra stock (mostly in the bilges in the port hull or in locker s under the saloon seating, where that is not taken up by batteries, inverter or aircon unit). The spreadsheets require that note is made every time a product is used; this will make it easier to keep track of stocks and the need to replenish…. Not to mention obviating the need to scramble round and dig into all the storage locations trying to count what is left over! All tins were labeled in permanent marker on their lids in case the labels came off, and we vacuum-packed a lot of the foodstuff into smaller packages for convenience of storage and to minimize the deterioration factor when the bags are opened.

So we think we are almost ready to go. Of course there is still lots to do, but some can be done on passage…. Even though we are certainly not expecting much of the trip to be as calm and gentle as seen in this photo of a jaunt out with Mark and Livi recently!

Depending on the weather, we may have to motor (either if there is no wind or winds too strong so we drop the sails and use the motors to punch through the sea) but we really do want to sail … and hope to get our code zero up (asymmetric spinnaker-type sail) …. Keep your fingers crossed!!

Launch Day

Oh wow, it has finally happened!!

Ketoro is in the water at last, and WHAT a fun day it was! We set off from the factory with huge smiles on our faces, hazards flashing and towards the back end of a sandwich of 2 traffic police vehicles (with all the dee-dahs, flashes and razzmatazz they could think of), 2 black 4x4s (both Admiral boat-builders: they seem to have a uniform…!) and the trailer with LE BOAT overflowing its edges.


Most sections of the road were single carriageway and the yacht filled the road so oncoming traffic had to pull over and stop, while there were huge back-ups behind us (travelling at 50kph…. many frustrated commuters, we are sure!).

As we drove the low front descended upon Cape Town and the wind picked up, making the hearts flutter somewhat! There was low, threatening cloud but the rain held off obligingly.

We got to the Yacht Club 90 minutes later and the boat was strapped up, hoisted, turned in the air and placed in the water in what was an exciting but very efficient process.





We were delighted to have the support of friends and family in Cape Town who gave of their time to be with us (and the support of SO many who phoned, sms-ed, and we know just thought of us at that time….THANK YOU!).

All this time we were drinking champagne, having decided that it would be ridiculous to wait till we were actually on the boat …. but then we continued the toasts as we showed the guests around our new home… and got them to sign the visitors’ book! Finally, we moved on (for that, read: we were kicked off our boat as they had to continue working on it, and the mast and rigging was put up...) to lunch at the yacht club, which was very festive.

Cape Town did not present us with the best weather conditions for the launch, but she saved the really bad wind and rain for later in the afternoon, when our yacht was already safely on the water and not subject to slippery roads or wildly-swinging cranes.

So Ketoro is now where she should be, on the water, but we are not yet calling her home: however, if you click the link (in the panel on the right… you need Google earth) you will see that our place-mark is now where the boat is, not where we are; soon those will be in the same place!

Hopefully the elements don’t test her too sorely in the next few days…. or maybe they should, so the builders can do a full assessment before they hand her over to us sometime next week!

Almost there…. last stages

It seems we may at last be on the last leg of this waiting process… or is this, again, naïve and wishful thinking? Here is the news of our present status and you can also assess where we are at…!

Firstly, we are now in an apartment owned by the yacht builders (buying our patience…?): an exceptionally spacious place on the third floor in Bloubergstrand on a hill, we have panoramic views through floor-to-ceiling windows of Robben Island, the whole of Table Bay, Table mountain, Blouberg beach and some of the village area. We watch the light sequences of the three lighthouses and lateral marker buoys in our view and observe the constant march of ships going in and out of the harbour … and the ship that almost grounded on the beach in front of our eyes in massive winds! We now have good 3G so are enjoying internet access… and the man of the family has, for the first time in 6 months, a TV remote!!! Rugby, cricket, soccer, tennis…. He is getting cramp in his thumb!

That thumb also holds a pencil a lot as Rolf pores over charts; he has spent considerable time doing passage planning to avoid cyclones and pirates, take advantage of monsoon seasons and generally be in good places. The yacht factory visits are numerous, we practice interpreting weather forecasts and barometer readings from “home”, and continue with the other planning and decision-making, but the forward progress is happening….

We have been given important dates in the life of Ketoro: apparently they will try to get her on the water on 23 July (they book a 5-day slot around that time as this is dictated by weather), and will hand her over to us by 10 August…. Celebration time!! We will then provision and equip her and spend some time in Saldanha Bay and Cape Town learning how she works and sails, before setting off at the end of August up the east coast to Richards Bay (with some stop-overs).

A rough picture of our travels is: sail up the Mozambican coast as far as Bazzaruto, visit Bassas (an atoll in the channel) then make passage to Mayotte before going across to Nosy Be and other islands on the NW side of Madagascar for 1-2 months. The end of December and January will see us in the northern region of Mozambique (Pemba, St Lazarus Banks and the Querimba Archipelago) then we will head for the Seychelles for a month or so in February / March after which Thailand will possibly call us (heading there via Chagos and the Maldives and getting to Phuket around end of May / early June).

We will set out these journeys on Google Earth as we update our positions to another blog set up for that. Check out the link in the column on the right: you will presently just see the location of “home” in Bloubergstrand, but it will eventually have our place marks showing our journey on the SEA! If the link does not take you there, use this web address: http://blog.mailasail.com/ketoro.

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.