Ooga Chaka on the run

Ooga Chaka, a Majestic 530 Royal Cape Catamaran.... I made her acquaintance
on a rainy day in Durban; just pitched up with my Princess daughter love of my
life Maryna on a Sunday a few days before handover and had a quick look
around. The following week the boat builders were doing a last few odds and
ends and it was the first time I boarded one of their vessels with the
flybridge up and the galley below. A flybridge is another deck they build on
top of the boat, with the helming station, instruments and winches all moved
up. Lots of seating, a day bed, and a small bar fridge. This whole area is
covered with strong clear plastic and fine netting. Some of these panels can
be zipped open and rolled up to allow more airflow. Great protection against
the elements. We tested it's strength going through a short but intensive
storm on the Wild Coast with the wind whipping up to 60kts. We knew it would
last only a few hours and was a calculated risk we took. Average wind speed we
normally sail in is 15kts. We removed the covers yesterday, the days are
becoming balmy, and the nights as well.

The galley below ... great idea! The galley is normally in the saloon, and
moving it below opens up a lot of space in the saloon. Port forward we
have the master cabin with en suite shower, basin, toilet and sauna. Yes,
you read it right, and sauna! Midships on the port side we have the galley.
Gas stove and oven, fridge and freezer, wash basin and lots working surfaces,
shelving, cupboards and a walk in pantry. Read that again, walk in pantry, on
a boat :-) Two port lights or small windows we can open in calm conditions,
great for easy disposal of organic matter and lots of daylight keeping the
galley bright. Port aft we have a double cabin also with an en suite head. Up
the stairs into the saloon, with a serving hatch between the galley and
saloon. Starboard forward we have a double cabin, midships another double
cabin and separate heads shared by the two cabins. Starboard aft a double
cabin with en suite heads. Heads in a nutshell is your toilet, shower and wash
basin. The word heads is an old nautical term from the days of big old sailing
ships. The long bowsprits up front had netting on the sides coming back to the
deck and it was a relatively safe place to be. These ships mostly followed the
trade winds on their long voyages, running before the wind. Up on the bowsprit
was thus the ideal place to do a number one or two. A bucket of water could
also easily be hoisted up to rinse. The bowsprit is thus right up ahead of the
boat, and a crew member would say that he/she? is going to the heads. The name
floated ever since.

The interior of Ooga Chaka is grey. The protective laserfilm we cover the
Corian working surfaces with for the crossing, is also grey. The boat
builder asked if we could show a potential owner the boat while we were in
Cape Town, and whether the boat looked ok. I mentioned that the laser film
matches the interior and that we now have 50 shades of grey :-))) Mosaic
tiles, panelling, trimmings, leather seating, all in different shades of
grey. Very calming effect and very practical and beautiful. I wonder what
colour or colours or shades you would choose :-))) Maybe . . . . . . m m m m m
. . . . . soft . . . . . and the saloon I would like to . . . . . . and the
cabins I will . . . . . . . . yes, a whole floating home to decorate and fit
out from scratch . . . . . . . yes mam, you can use proper ceramic cups and
plates and saucers, it is a 36 ton catamaran .....HEY!!!!!!!!!!! come
back.....stop dreaming :-)))))) Beware, dreams do come true! You may have to
sell your house and your car and maybe your hubby as well to buy one :-))))
Yes, you can keep your dog! Oh....you want to buy one with Bitcoins.....now
let me see :-)))

Nathan, the owner of Ooga Chaka, sailed with me a year ago on the same type of
catamaran, and had lots of time to formulate his ideas to meet his specific
requirements. Him and his family will be living aboard Ooga Chaka and explore
all the horizons that comes with it. Our first order of business is to reach
Fort Lauderdale late Jan early Feb and get her ready for the Miami boat show
mid February. This is thus Ooga Chaka's maiden voyage. The usual few snags
here and there pops up as one can always expect from a brand new boat. Mostly
hose clamps that needs to be tightened here and there. In Durban where she
was built she went for a few short sea trials, but crossing an ocean is the
real test, the shake down run as it is also called. But we are fully equipped
with tools and spares to maintain and fix most of the systems on the boat.
Walking out of the saloon you walk into the cockpit. Fridge, ice maker, walk
in closet for cleaning materials and equipment, locker for washing machine
already plumbed which will be fitted in the States. The cockpit table top
folds up on hinges and hydraulic struts to reveal a big camper freezer
underneath, keeping our goods frozen at -27*C. Lots of seating all around and
the stairway to the flybridge. At the back of the cockpit a big gas griller,
washbasin, working surfaces and lockers adds a lot of safety and convenience.
Behind this structure a swimming platform that can be lowered into and out of
the water. Our tender or rubber duck gets fastened onto this platform when you
are on a long passage.

Once everything was ready we departed from Durban and two days later sailed
into Port Elizabeth. The South African coast is considered the most
dangerous coast in the world. Many reasons for this, mostly the strongest and
biggest current in the world runs down the coast from east to west, or
more accurately, north east to south west. The amount of water the Benguela
current move is 90% more than the next strongest current which runs up the
north coast of Brazil. At times on the South African coast the wind blows
hard for two days from the north east, stops, and within an hour blows hard
from the south west, up against the current. Which, if the front is strong
enough, can whip up waves of 40 meters. Totally deadly. Relatively long
distances between ports makes it essential to get your timing right. Sometimes
a window is long enough to run from Durban to Cape Town in one go, normally
about five days. Nowadays we use computer generated weather models like
windy.com. Shows you all the possible elements you have to take into
consideration. Then fastseas.com an invaluable tool to do your passage
planning, also based on windy.com. Takes a lot of guess work and danger out of
a coastal passage. Shows you where you should be throughout the passage and
what weather conditions you can expect en route. In most rescues and fatal
instances in hindsight could have been prevented, and mostly boils down to
human error. The further you can look ahead and anticipate and prepare the
safer you will be. It gets rough at times, and then you have to trust your
boat, your experience, your crew and your destiny. We have a wonderful sea
rescue service, the NSRI. National Sea Rescue Institute. I make a monthly
donation towards their cause. They have to go out in the worst weather
conditions at times on search and rescue missions. Woman and men, volunteers,
all of them, ready to assist when the chips are down and you running out of
luck.

Our passage from Durban to Cape Town last year we did in one go, just under
5 days. This time round we had huge swell pushing up from the south and out of
respect for the elements and our coast decided it safer to run into PE for a
few days. I have a few close to my heart friends in PE, and on the odd
occasion, when Fortune favours us, we get to see each other. My good friend
Gert I met there about 12 years ago; Wim, my best buddy at school whom I lost
touch with for 35 years finally caught up again earlier this year, and
then Danny. Whenever I see a rainbow I think of her. Crazy and authentic to
the max. Bestest kinda crazy. When we left PE we had rainbows and whales all
around us. We had to make a quick run into Mossel Bay to get more fuel as we
got less wind and assistance from the current than expected. Two days later we
sailed around the most southern tip of Africa, Cape Agulhas, where the Indian
Ocean hands you over to the Atlantic Ocean. Once you have sailed into Cape
Town, you will have plenty more reasons to call this the most beautiful place
on the planet. Tavern of the Seas. Mother City. Table Mountain. The Cape of
Storms. Cape of Good Hope. Cape Point. One cannot deny the power and energy of
this place, the raw beauty, a beacon of strength and hope. It has been voted
once again as the nr.1 destination world wide, and an astronaut who has done
more than 100 space missions says that even from outer space the Cape
Escarpment is the most beautiful feature on the Blue Planet.

We arrived at our allocated berth in the V&A marina next to Cape Grace hotel
at about 3am on Saturday morning. Leading world class service we received from
Louis and Josh at the marina office. Josh allocated us a berth, and then
attached a google maps image pointing out exactly where our berth is via email.
Makes it so much easier to find your spot day or night. We requested permission
to enter port from Cape Town port control on Ch.14 as we closed it on the
entrance to the port. We then radioed bridge control on Ch.71 and waited for
them to open the swing bridge and the Bascule bridge before we glided through
into our marina straight to our berth. A most convenient spot we had for
provisioning etc. We had a lot to do an only a few days to do it in. My rental
car was delivered at 9am. Ran plenty of errands to get all our ducks in a row
for the following week. In my next blog I will go into more detail re Cape Town
and our passage from there. Adios.

Paul

Backwards, forwards and onwards

First a quick catch up since I last posted a blog. Second Wind, a Leopard
58 I delivered from Cape Town to Malta.....what an amazing experience that
was. Dedreich, the owner joined us in Madeira, one of my favourite spots
on the planet. Beautiful place, beautiful people. I made a new facebook
friend there, Susana Fernadez. We had a smooth sail on a broad reach from
Madeira to Cadiz in Spain. Came into a somewhat unknown marina in the early
and dark hours of the morning. The marina night manager directed us to a
berth that will fit us, and with great relief we made it in safe and were
soon fast asleep on a stationary yacht :-))) We were met there the next
morning by Jene, a great friend we met in Cape Town, a long time friend of
Dedreich. A few hours later Deon joined us, whom we also met in Cape Town. We
did a little bit of provisioning, and the next day made our way for
Gibraltar. Once again we arrived deep into the night. The wind was blasting
through the straights and we decided to anchor for the night in a fairly
protected area just behind the light house. Early the next morning we motored
through the straights and the wind died down to a breeze. Our next scheduled
stop was Ibiza, but en route ran into San Jose, a small village on the east
coast of Spain. There we took on 400ltrs of fuel, and once again did a bit of
provisioning. We arrived at about noon, and had to wait a few hours as it was
siesta time :-))) We did some footage with our drone, some of the crew were
swimming a bit, and once we were fuelled up we were on our merry way again.
Two days later we arrived in Ibiza, once again at night. Lots of ferries,
yachts, motor boats, tug boats and cargo ships were keeping us on our toes to
navigate this busy little port safely. Utterly delighted to see Ryan,
Dedreich's son, waiting for us and pointing us to our berth. $600 for the
night. Plenty of superyachts around. Ryan joined us the next day, he first
had to get his luggage from the hotel. He also took us to a famous night
club, 4000 people gyrating to the throbbing sounds. On stage at least four
professional dancers making sure everyone stays in the groove. Entry fee
was $70 per person, and drinks for the night $700. Dan, one of my crew
members flew back to SA from Ibiza, he had a prior commitment and we had
lots of bodies to crew. From Ibiza our next stop was Sardinia. We first
anchored outside the marina to explore and snorkel the reefs a bit and
sent some of our crew with our rubber duck to the marina to make
arrangements for our arrival. Once we had established where we could
berth, we made our way in. Once again we had a warm reception, paid our
dues and preparing for our last leg to Malta. It was a Tuesday night if I
recall correctly, and we requested a taxi driver to take us to a
restaurant. It was rather late, but we found a most amazing little place.
The owner of the house/restaurant was also the waiter, the chef, and she
was also the baker. I think it was the first time I tasted real Italian
cuisine. The dishes were very simple with just a few fresh ingredients.
Firstly a selection of home baked bread we feasted on. With a dash of
olive oil and a drop of balsamic vinegar, we were in heaven. I have never
tasted real pure free range organic virgin not blended olive oil :-))) And
what can I say, it was love at first bite. The pasta dishes as mentioned
before were deceptively simple, but perfectly proportioned fresh
ingredients. A bit of red wine here, a bit of white wine there, and
mineral water as usual, all adding to the magic of the moment. We were
seated outside on a verandah by choice as we were nine people. The
restaurant was empty inside due to the lateness of the hour, and a cool
breeze was welcoming after a really hot day. For dessert we had home made
ice cream and a few other sinfully delicious toppings. A most agreeable
evening was had by one and all :-))) I had a glimpse and a taste of how
food and art can be the same thing. The next morning we setted sail for
Malta and gently sailed in on a broad reach. Valetta, Second Wind's home
port appeared on the horizon, and as it often happens, a bag of mixed
emotions welled up inside of me. Happiness, sadness, gratefulness, relieve,
excitement and a string of other emotions there are no words for. I can try
and word them, and take you on a trip over oceans and mountains through
valleys and forests and rivers and sunshine and rain and rainbows and a
moonlight beam of rippling water. And we won't even scratch the surface yet
:-))) I often wonder at the work of sculptors, who finds and brings beauty
from a block of stone, chiselling away all that is between them and their
vision. As always, I take the warning to heart that it is not over until the
fat lady sings. I starved all these distractions and focused completely on
getting Second Wind safely to her home berth. We were welcomed and assisted
by the marina manager on a rubber duck and soon we were properly secured. On
the dock Dedreich's and Ryan's family was waiting for them. I could no longer
properly control the bottled up emotions, and quickly had to put on my
sunglasses to hide the tears. I also signalled thumbs up to everyone and
could not utter a word as I was swallowing hard to hold back more tears. I
went down to my cabin, splashed my face with cold water, and came out in
much better shape :-))) Cowboy up cupcake I kept saying to myself. Thanks
goes to so many people for this amazing experience. Daniel, sales agent for
Leopard Catamarans in Cape Town who afforded me the opportunity to quote on
this delivery, Dedreich who accepted my quote, Richard my First Mate,
Carey, crew member and partner to Richard, Dan their friend who also
crewed and is sailing with me at the moment, Tristan who was the youngest,
toughest, fittest and strongest of us all, Jene( to pieces), whom I met in
Cape Town doing the 2017 Mykonos race, Deon, who also raced with us and
have become a close and good friend, Ryan who joined us in Ibiza, and most
of all Louanne, Dedreichs wife. Without her, none of the above would have
happened. Eternal thanks to the Universe within and without for these
blessings. Second Wind cruised the Med for a season and sailed to the
Caribbean where she is currently. We hope to meet up with them that side for
a catch up.

Next was a Royal Cape Catamaran called Amazing Grace. A beautiful vessel
fully equipped with scuba gear, cylinders, a compressor, an arsenal of
fishing rods and reels and lures and spear guns, snorkelling masks and fins,
desalinator, generator, etc etc etc. She was on charter in the Seychelles
for a year, and the owner decided to move her to St Thomas in the Caribbean.
I met up with her in Durban and commanded the vessel from there to the
Caribbean. We had a wonderful sail, caught lots of fish, and it was great to
sail with Mark and Matthew, two youngsters who were in the same school. They
were very competent in all regards. Mark is the skipper of Amazing Grace in
the Caribbean. We could not deliver to St.Thomas, hurricane Irma and her
sister Maria caused some serious damage and we arrived in the Caribbean
about three weeks after the hurricanes came through. We sailed her to
Barbados where we encountered a problem with one of the motors, the gears
would not engage. We had it inspected and diagnosed, and it was decided that
it will be repaired in St.Lucia. They have all the spares and technicians
required and only 80 nautical miles, or an easy half day sail away. I flew
out from Barbados, Mark and Matt took her to St.Lucia and started to prepare
for charters that was busy filling up. We hope to catch up with Amazing
Grace once we get to the Caribbean as well.

And now on to Ooga Chaka, a brand new Royal Cape Catamaran with a fly bridge
and galley below. Are you not tired of reading yet :-))) I could not post
blogs recently as I left my usb to satphone cable at home and had one flown
in with a little help from my good friend Nicky in Cape Town, thanks Nix, you
rock. I will post a blog again soon and will keep it up, lots of things
behind and before us. For now it is the day before Christmas, and wishing you
and your family a most wonderful festive season. We will be spending it out
on the Big Blue. We do have a real Xmas cake on board, lovingly gifted to us
by our friends at Anne's Place on St. Helena where we departed a few days
ago.

Paul