Second Wind

Interesting name......Second Wind, a Leopard 58 catamaran destined for
Malta. Prior to getting ready for departure, Second Wind was entered in
the Mykonos race. When the owner expressed his wish that we should enter I
thought it crazy, a week before the race. But in good time we completed
all the paperwork, paid all our dues, and had our vessel rated. The day of
the race we were up bright and early and were bobbing around the starting
line with a fleet of other boats. There was precious little wind, and the
little there was, was also from the wrong direction :-) But we tried.
Tacking this way and that way and slowly making progress forward. Our boat
was by quite a margin the biggest boat in the fleet, and we do need a bit
of wind to get us going. After an hour of getting nowhere slowly we decided
to start a motor and motorsail the rest of the way, in racing terms it
means we retired from the race. The Mykonos race is an annual event
starting in Cape Town and ending at Mykonos in the Langebaan lagoon. At
once stage much to our amusement we were leading the multihull class,
competing against fast racing trimarans. If I recall correctly there were
over 100 yachts competing. Due to our rating we were doing exceptionally
well. Our aim was to take part in the event for the fun of it, and also to
test our brand new boat properly before we take her on the long voyage to
Malta.

We arrived just before midnight and tried to anchor where the race
organisers allocated a spot for us. It was inside the Mykonos marina, and
very cramped for space on a big vessel such as ours. All the moorings were
full, and we did not feel safe at our anchorage. We thus decided to rather
anchor just outside the marina and wait for the morning to make a better
plan. At 8am we made contact with the race organisers again and were
allocated a mooring buoy at Yachtport on the other side of the lagoon. 10
out of ten for the race organisers. They exceeded our wildest expectations.
They also had a shuttle arranged for us and we thoroughly enjoyed a lovely
day at Mykonos. Later the afternoon the prize giving proceeded in very
windy conditions and we all filled the pubs and restaurants after the
event. It was me and my crew's first Mykonos race. Taken all the funds and
time and effort that goes into the race, I was surprised that a year's hard
work for most participants was rewarded so low key. No media was present,
no speeches made by the winners or the second places. The trophies were
minute. IT IS A GREAT EVENT !!! Massive amounts of fun, and hardcore
sailing too. Share the fun !!!

Probably around ten pm we were shuttled back to Yachtport. To get to our
yacht on the mooring buoy was an interesting challenge. There was a small
dinghy that we could use to row over. Two needed to row and only space for
one passenger. With the wind pumping we had to row quite hard at an acute
angle to not get blown into the lagoon but made it safely to our yacht.
The other three saw that we struggled somewhat and woke up another yachtie
with a bigger dinghy and he kindly rowed them over and stayed for some
refreshments. Sunday morning we were allocated a berth in the Mykonos
marina and made our way over. We dwarfed all the other vessels there but
managed to squeeze in and tie the mooring lines down. Lovely place to sit
and socialize a bit, lots of friends and passers-by who stopped to have a
chat and a few were invited to have a tour of the boat. A most agreeable
day was had by all. Monday morning early we were on our way motoring back
to Cape Town, again against the wind :))) Light winds fortunately and just
before sunset we were back at our berth at the V&A marina.

The next event we prepared for was the christening of Second Wind. The
date was set for 12 March, the day of the Argus race. The cyclists that
trained all year for the event and made their way to Cape Town was shocked
that the race was cancelled, the first time in 40 years if I recall
correctly. The wind was blowing so hard that the cyclist could make no
progress. I saw some footage of bicycles being held on like kites being so
light. A few contestants were some of our guests and it was inspiring to
hear how they felt about the race on the day. After the race was officially
cancelled a few cyclist still tried to unofficially complete the race, but
it was really impossible. Back to the christening event. My crew were given
the opportunity to host the event and worked closely with the owner to
create a wow event. Wearing Second Wind specific uniforms we not only
looked the part, I am sure everyone will agree that the crew makes a dream
team. Sushi platters, cocktails and champagne was enjoyed by all and at 7pm
Second Wind was officially christened.

During the course of the above events we also enjoyed a couple of day sails.
The last day sail we had before we started to prepare for the long voyage to
Malta was truly magic. We decided on a leisurely sail around Robben Island.
Halfway there we saw a thick bank of fog crawling in between Lion's Head and
Table Mountain. An hour after we were totally surrounded by fog, and all we
coud hear was the fog horn on Mouille Point sounding every so often. A whale
or two also made an appearance and a seal also lazily waved into the air.
Fortunately we have radar and AIS on board and could see exactly where we
were in relation to land and other vessels. A surreal experience, cocooned
like that. I have sailed in heavy fog without radar once before, probably one
of the most tense experiences I've had on the ocean. As we motored back to
Cape Town the fog lifted just before we entered the harbour.

It was now time to get ready for our voyage and final provisioning was done.
We are five on board and later will be joined in Madeira and then in Cadiz we
have three more crew joining us. We thus provisioned accordingly, loads and
loads of groceries. We did a few final preventative maintenance and sorted a
final few snags. I have been keeping an eye on the weather for a few days and
on Monday 10 April a window opened up for us. A few other yachts departed at
the same time. The first few hours we motored into light winds, and as was
predicted, the wind direction turned from NW to SW to S and settled at SSE.
Tuesday morning it was still light SW and we rigged our screecher and
mainsail on 1st reef, getting an angle just aft of the beam. Soon we were
leaving a long white track behind us sailing along at a steady 10kts. The
wind speed gradually increased and backed to S. Time to furl the screecher
and tried with the main and genoa to run on a broad reach. We did well for a
while but us the wind was coming more and more from behind us we decided to
drop the main and just sail with the genoa opened out wide. Wednesday morning
we hoisted the gennikar and made excellent miles. As the wind velocity
increased we dropped the gennikar and could sail with the genoa alone. We
could anticipate the changes in weather and work our sails accordingly. Great
to have all these options available. Thursday we expected the wind to get
fairly strong and stay strong until Saturday, which is exactly what it did.
Strongest wind we had was 35kts and the swell about 4mtrs. Following winds
and seas as the saying goes. Well done to the crew for trusting the boat and
not getting to scared when it got just slightly wild :) Through Friday night
the wind very slowly started easing off, and Saturday morning we could fly
the gennikar again. Smooth and fast.

Our watches are somewhat shorter than usual, nice to have 5 crew on board.
3hr watches gives us all lots of time to rest and read and do all the other
things we do when sailing. The days are started to flow one into the other
and we are getting into the motion of the ocean. We are relaxed yet always
stay alert. Do the daily routine maintenance to make sure all is well and
stay well. I have done a crossing with Richard, my 1st Mate before, and we
have definitely got a dream team on board. More about them later.

We are also doing a little documentary on our voyage. The owner has made a
drone available, and we have two gopros on board as well. On top of that a
professional to edit and sort all the footage with background music. The boyz
have not really started fishing yet, we have been goin a bit too fast the
last few days, but I hear tomorrow they will make a serious effort.

We are exactly 900nm from St.Helena and already looking forward to touching
base with some long time friends there again. Hope you are having a great
weekend and blessed Easter to one and all.

Paul

Photo from sailwithpaul

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Faith

Greetings from the north eastern tip of Brazil. On watch from 3am to 6am
this morning, the lights of Port Natal was looming in the distance, a soft
white hue on the horizon. About 25nm away one could not distinguish any
particular light or lights. Sister Moon was sinking into the ocean right
ahead of us, her silver veil following her, and only once she disappeared,
the loom became visible. At first I thought it was a cloud that was
reflecting the moonlight. I had a look at our chartplotter and then it
dawned on me; the first sign of land after about two weeks since departing
from St.Helena.

St.Helena, as always, was an incredible visit for us. We arrived there on
a Saturday morning at about 4am. At 3am I did the usual sing song with
St.Helena Radio on VHF channel 16. "St.Helena Radio, St.Helena Radio,
St.Helena Radio, this is Yacht Leopard, Yacht Leopard, Yacht Leopard,
over." Soon a voice on the other side was singing back to me. "Yacht
Leopard, Yacht Leopard, Yacht Leopard. This is St.Helena Radio, St.Helena
Radio, St.Helena Radio. Over." I then sang St.Helena Radio 3 times back,
then This is Yacht Leopard 3 times, and then proceeded to inform them that
we are expecting to arrive at the Jamestown anchorage in about an hour's
time. The radio operator informed me of the usual procedures. An hour
later we tied up to a mooring buoy, and waited for Port Control to contact
us on the VHF radio. At 08h30 Port Control called us and we changed to
channel 14. They asked a few questions and then asked us to stand by on
channel 16. Sometimes Port Control, Customs and Immigration would all get
on the small ferry boat and come to the yacht to clear us in. Sometimes
they would give us permission to come ashore and do all the official
procedures there. This time it was the latter, and by 9am we were waiting
for the ferry to collect us. We had our passports and official boat papers
ready. First visit for James, my 1st Mate, and Hubert, the French owner
who contracted us to sail his vessel to the Caribbean.

The ferry arrived, collecting us after first collecting crew from two
other yachts on the mooring buoys, and proceeded to the landing at
Jamestown. We all disembarked, and setting foot on this volcanic island I
last visited a year ago, was as it always is, a great pleasure. The sail from
Cape Town was a good one, and St.Helena marks reaching a milestone on
our journey. After two weeks on a yacht, solid land does not feel so solid
at all. It feels a bit wobbly and the feeling always makes me smile. Our
first stop was at Port Control and Customs where we were warmly welcomed
by the Port Master, Steve, and a staff member that handed me the paperwork
I had to complete. Always a jovial little affair. We then proceeded to
Immigration and it was good to see familiar faces once again, and welcomed
to the island with open arms. Real, warm people.

From Immigration we walked across to Anne's Place, a place famous to
yachties all over the world. I have visited the island about 20 times
before and have forged close friendships with the people here, so much so
that I very much feel part of the family. And whenever I visit, we find a
reason to celebrate. Like a long lost son coming home. This time round I
sensed a bit of trouble. It was Saturday morning, and the "Closed" sign was
up. That has never stopped me from going in before, which I did as usual.
First person I bumped into was my good friend Sally, and after the
usual warm heartfelt hug and kiss, she informed me that Jessica is in
hospital and fighting for her and her unborn baby's life. She had trouble
breathing, her lips had gone blue. Sally had just come from the hospital to
fetch Jane, Jessica's mom. Jane saw me and I could see the concerned look
in her eyes. Gave her a hug and a kiss, and told her that everything will
be ok. I have known Jessica since she was a little girl, and she is like a
daughter to me. Richard, my very good friend, Jessica's dad, came out and I
could see he was not well either. Stressing beyond what his body could
endure, he lately developed high blood pressure he told me. He was also
complaining of his left arm that has been going numb the last few days. I
told him he should take a disprin immediately, it is not a good sign when
your left arm goes numb like that. My crew wanted to go and explore the
island a bit. I told them to go and enjoy, I will be staying with Richard
until we know what is happening to Jessica. Both Jane and Sally left, and
it was just Richard and myself. I could understand his fear and his stress,
sat down with him and just kept him company. Urging him to stay positive,
sharing his pain with him, but also trying to pull him out of this misery
that was engulfing him. Jessica was supposed to have an emergency caesarean
at 12h00. It was already 13h00 and still no news. Richard is a strong, big
and rugged man, with a heart as soft as you can get. Jessica is his only
daughter, she was in trouble, he was busy falling apart. I love my daughter
more than life itself, and I am sure Richard feels the same about his
daughter. At about 14h30 we got the news.... Jessica is ok, the baby .....
well, it is a girl !!!!!, 5 and a half pounds. There was a silence between
Richard and me; a thankfulness, a gratefulness, a togetherness. A quiet
sense of relief. Not a mad jumping up and down celebration. When Jane
returned I congratulated her, mothers can be so very very strong. On
Monday, the doctors asked Jessica whether she wanted to stay in hospital,
or go home. Although still very weak and in pain, Jessica opted to come
home. Just before we left St.Helena on Monday afternoon, I made a final
turn at Anne's Place to go and say goodbye. Jane came out with the little
newborn baby and placed the precious little child in my arms. Jessica came
out soon afterwards, walking slowly but steadily and gave me a tender
little hug and kiss. She sat down and I knelled down next to her with the
two day old baby smiling in my arms. I asked Jessica what the little girl's
name is. She named her daughter Faith.....a more apt name I could not think
of.

We were planning to just make a quick stop at St.Helena. From Cape Town to
St.Helena took us 13 days, a bit longer than expected. Currents were
holding us back a bit. It is also the place where Napoleon was kept
captive, and Hubert, being French, was keen to visit his house, his grave,
and do a tour of the island. As the house is only open by arrangement
during week days, we would have to wait till Monday. Providence. Saturday
afternoon we lowered our tender into the water, started the brand new
Yamaha 15H.P. outboard and made plans to go ashore under our own steam. The
ferry service only runs till 6pm, which limits your time on the island
somewhat. The landing is a quite rough concrete wall, and to tie the tender
up against it would cause quite a bit of damage. It was also a bit too big
and heavy to lift out of the water. There are lines that is anchored and
runs into the bay. Most of the fishing boats and the ferry is tied to these
lines. We thus tied a long line to our tender, and formed a loop around the
anchored line. After getting off the the tender, we pulled her back to the
line away from the wall, safe and sound. We had a lovely oriental meal at
The Orange Tree on Saturday night. After dinner we wanted to go and play a
game of pool at a place called Donny's on the wharf. The table was however out
of order, they were waiting for spare parts to come by ship, the RMS
St.Helena. Donny's is a bar and disco and the loud music and no pool table
did not really appeal to us after such a hectic day, and we made our way
back to our yacht for a relatively early night.

Sunday morning we woke refreshed and well rested. We brought a few bags of
charcoal and a few other goodies for my friends/family at Anne's Place and
arranged with them to fetch it from the yacht on Sunday morning. At about
9am Richard and his two sons Brian and Michael arrived and we loaded the
goodies on the ferry. Tied up close to us was another sailing boat with 11
crew, the Howard Davies. She is a well known vessel that normally is tied
up at the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town doing day charters. This time round
she was a floating sailing school for Two Oceans. The skipper, Wavey, 1st
Mate Nqoba, and 9 Yachtmaster Ocean sailing students. Their route runs from
Cape Town to St.Helena to Rio de Janeiro and back to Cape Town. A classical
50 year old sailing boat, with lots of wood and creaks and things like
that. The 11 of them, Richard and his sons and the cargo from us and the
little ferry boat was just above the water line :) We asked the ferry to
fetch us on the 10am round. We had breakfast at The Consulate Hotel. My
good friend Hazel is part owner and also runs the place. Her business
partner, Peter, an ex physics professor, was on the wharf preparing and
applying a fresh coat of paint on his yacht Galaxy that he recently sold.
St. Helena's coffee is considered the second best in the world, second only
to Blue Mountain coffee from Jamaica. I have had the pleasure to enjoy Blue
Mountain coffee in Jamaica when I ran for shelter from a hurricane there
once. I enjoy both coffees equally, and I am no connoisseur when it comes to
coffee, or anything else for that matter :))) It was splendid to see Hazel
and Peter again. Note that I am trying to refrain from using the word
awesome :))), even though it would apply to many of these situations. The
breakfast at The Consulate was great, and the coffee served in generous
portions in plungers.

Sunday afternoon was quiet, all the shops closed, and we slowly started to
prepare for a bbq at Anne's Place, warming to the occasion with a few
Windhoek Draughts :) We caught the last ferry at 6pm back to our yacht and
fetched our tender. Just quickly, tender, rubber duck, dinghy, same thing,
more or less without getting too technical. I will use tender. We invited a
few bodies from the Howard Davis yacht and proceeded back to Anne's Place.
As always we had a most agreeable time, and at 10pm I called it a day and we
dropped our Howard Davis friends at their yacht and had another good rest on
ours. During Sunday we also made arrangements with Robert, our chosen tour
guide, to collect us at 09h30 for an island tour and to arrange for a tour
of Napoleons house. Robert is part of the history of St.Helena. At 80 years
old he is getting competition from the younger tour guides, but I always
choose him when he is available.

Our first stop was at the most remote distillery in the world, owned and
operated by my long time and good friend Paul. He is Sally's hubby and
stokes some of the most amazing moonshine in the world in huge copper
kettles that was custom made in Germany. His coffee liqueur, Midnight Mist,
is second to none. I enjoy coffee liqueur, Tia Maria from Jamaica, Kahlua
from I don't know where. Midnight Mist takes the number 1 spot for me. His
White Lion Spiced Rum has also improved in heaps and bounds, his gin is made
from real juniper berries that grows wild on the island, becoming a very
rare item indeed. Tungi, his exclusive brand, is made from prickly pears
that is harvested in season on the island. He also made a special limited
edition brandy for Napoleon's 150th anniversary. All sold to someone in
Switzerland who will supply exclusive clients in France. To have a little
sample of all these products early in the morning before breakfast is a very
merry occasion indeed :))) Liquid breakfast. I have heard of beer as a
liquid lunch, but this is on another level. Everything in moderation though.
Hubert acquired a few bottles of what he enjoyed most.

We then visited Napoleon's house where he passed on, his grave where his
body was laid until the French took his body back to Paris, and the Governor's
House where Jonathan roams. Jonathan is arguably the oldest living animal in
the world, between 180 and 250 years old. And still actively procreating
:))) Maybe his secret is taking it slow, being an Aldabra Tortoise and all.
All too soon our time at St.Helena was up and it was time to go. We then
visited the newly build airport, a massive project that apparently will cost
about 300 million British pounds. The official opening is on 21 May if I am not
mistaken, and a member or two of the royal family is expected to attend. It is
an end of an era, the end of the RMS St.Helena, a passenger/cargo ship that ran
a route between SA, England and St.Helena, and supplied all the goods that the
island required. A weekly flight from Johannesburg contracted to Comair is
planned. A flight from England is also on the table. The RS St.Helena will be
no more. The end of an era. I trust that the airport will have a positive
effect on St.Helena.

We've had a lovely sail from St.Helena up to Brazil, despite the currents
which just wouldn't let us go. But we kept up our good cheer, kept doing our
best, weathered a few tricky moments. One of them was at about 1am on
Hubert's watch. I heard him shouting for me from my cabin and on the way up I
shouted at James to get up to come and help. Running past the db board I
also flicked on the deck light. We were both next to Hubert in a flash. In an
instant I assessed what happened and had to react swiftly and safely. The
wind was fairly strong, and our Code 0 sail has become undone where it is
attached to the bowsprit. The huge sail was flogging wildly loose in the
wind, and as if that was not enough trouble, a dark cloud came over us and
rained poured down in buckets. No time to don foul weather gear, dressed in
shorts, that's it. I took over the helm and started shouting instructions to
James, and shouting to Hubert to get out of the way of the flogging sail,
shouted at him to gtf down. I do swear and curse at times. It is at times
like this when injuries and man over board are most likely to happen. No time
for being nice, no second changes. The noise of the rain and flogging sail
was deafening, and James understood exactly what I was going to do. Or rather
was already busy doing. He has done a few trips with me before and he knows
when the chips are down there are no time to discuss anything, just follow
instructions. I was busy dropping the sail while James was dragging the sail
towards the back of the boat and gathering the sail that was coming down. The
front part of the sail was the dangerous part, the part that could take you
out in a flash. Once we had regained control of the sail Hubert could now
safely assist. We don't want any sail or ropes in the water that could get
around the props and just make matters worse. A pin came loose and the
fastening part was bent open. Hubert was in a bit of despair as he thought that
was the end of us flying this great sail. We however sorted it out the next
day, made some alterations preventing the pin from coming loose again. Hoisted
the sail and with great sighs of relief sat back and enjoyed.

We are stopping in Fortaleza a bit later today for some fresh produce, some lpg
gas, but mostly to spend a bit of time on land. Good for morale as extended
time on the ocean does take it's toll. Just a 24 hour stop though, an looking
forward to catching up with my good friend Armando again after many years. He
is the marina manager and we are always delighted to see each other.

I hope you enjoyed sharing some of our experiences on the ocean wide. Looking
forward to share with you again soon.

Take care

Paul

La Marie Bulles making Water from Air !!!

When I first quoted on delivering a Leopard 40 from Cape Town to Buenos
Aires, already the prospect of sailing the Atlantic Ocean started bubbling
up in me. The destination changed to St. Maarten as the date the owner
received the boat and the season moved on a bit. I mostly sailed the
Indian Ocean for the last two years, except for a delivery to France early
last year. Sailing to France you normally have a smooth run up to the
equator and from there on beat your way to the Med. This time round, we
are staying with the trade winds, past St. Helena where we will stop for a
day or two, past Brazil and French Guyana into the Caribbean via Barbados
and St.Lucia. Lots of smooth, fast sailing with following winds and seas.
No passage is ever without it's challenges though, the milk run as we call
this route can get a bit hectic at times, but mostly it's a song and a
breeze.

It is always interesting to sail with an owner on board. Different
dynamics for sure, 95% of my deliveries are with a 1st Mate and a
crew member. I have been most fortunate that the owners I have sailed with
before have become lifelong friends, bonded by days and nights out on the
ocean, for weeks on end. The amount of fun we get up to and the laughter
we share, the intense moments when things get a bit rough, the little
stops in between, and then finally, the arrival at our destination. All
moments forever cast in gold and scattered with diamonds.

On a good Monday, I was introduced to Hubert Heyndrickx. A jovial French
gentleman turning 64 this year. He has had some boating and sailing
experience before, but respected the fact that experience in crossing an
ocean is worth paying for, and hired me as skipper. Lots of advantages
attached to that as he found out. A fellow Frenchman, Noburt, has been in
Cape Town a few months and will could still be there for another month
before he can depart. Lots of red tape, safety inspections, registrations
etc you have to do before you can depart on a newly build yacht from South
Africa. To source all the goodies you want for your boat is much easier if
you have a skipper that knows exactly where to find what you need. Even
more so if you are a foreigner. And to have Tui Marine oversee procedures
you have the best team in the world to back you up. Tracker, satellite
phone, epirbs, liferaft etc all supplied and monitored by them. Within a
week of receiving the boat, we were officially ready to leave. We could now
focus on the weather and preparing and provisioning for crossing the
Atlantic Ocean.

La Marie Bulles is the name that the owner and his family chose for their
home on the sea. The name can mean a few things, and is a bit Spanish and a
bit French. It holds a special meaning for the family. In short, it can
also mean bubbles of the sea. And bubbles itself also has different symbolic
meanings. After a week of getting things sorted, the weather looked fine and on
the first Sunday after receiving the boat we took her for a maiden sail. Or
seatrial if you want. Had all the sails up and chased down some other
catamarans that were sailing in Table Bay. Beautiful sunny day it was and a
more spectacular background than Table Mountain and surrounds I have yet to
find, and I have travelled far and wide, on and off the beaten tracks.

Imagine buying a new car, and letting it sit there for a week before you drive
it. Now times that by a thousand and you will begin to understand a bit of
the anticipation Hubert must have experienced. He worked 42 years to realise
one of his childhood dreams. He had owned a few smaller boats before, but
this was the real one, the one you could sail across oceans in great comfort
and style. He also had a crate full of personal goodies imported from France
to find their place on their new home. Goodies that has sentimental value to
him and his wife Marie. All this was stored on board, gas bottles purchased,
filled and fitted, and soon one could start living on the boat. The Sunday
we took La Marie Bulles out for her first sail was very special. Hubert
requested to take the boat out of the mooring into the marina, through the
Bascule bridge and the Chevonne Battery swing Bridge, into port and out to
sea. I gave him a few pointers, and soon the sails were flying and bubbles
were bubbling behind the sugar scoops of the catamaran. I took a picture of
Hubert on the way out behind the helm. I haven't shown him the picture yet,
but the picture says it all. All smiles. We were out for a few hours, sailed
her back in, and after docking the boat, Hubert was a bag of mixed emotions.
A bit tense and a dry throat from docking the boat and ecstatic for having
at last sailed his boat were just two of these emotions. Promptly a bottle
of champagne was opened and with great ceremony a bit of bubbly poured on
the bows and the bowsprit of La Marie Bulles. In good time we had checked
and tested all the systems, all our provisioning was done except for the
final day before departure fresh produce. Now it was just waiting for the
weather to turn in our favour, which it did on the following Sunday.

I have been following and researching a very interesting product. A machine
that makes water from air. I have thought about the possibilities this could
offer for yachts all over the world and mentioned this to Hubert. He was
very interested and asked if we could order one. We only had a few days left
before departure. I contacted the supplier, placed an order, and for once
received service that far exceeded expectations. We expected delivery on
Saturday, a day before our departure, cutting it a bit fine. Friday before
lunch time I received a call, it was the couriers that had the machine ready
for delivery. The machine has not been tested on yachts before, and we are
the first boat to cross an ocean with the water from air machine aboard. On
this yacht we have a few sources of water. Firstly city water that we fill
our tanks with before we depart, 700ltrs.We also have a desalinator on
board. Desalinated water has been stripped from all minerals. Then we also
have 40ltrs of mineral water in 5ltr containers that we stocked up on. To
have water freshly made from the air sounded like a dream, and we could not
wait to test it. But we had to first get settled a bit. The particular model
we have is more for houses, offices, receptions etc. Nonetheless, we wanted
to test one, and it works brilliantly. There are different ways to power
them, and ours is the normal 220v which we run through our inverter. They
can also run on 12v, on gas, on solar etc. As we expected it to draw quite
a bit of power from our batteries, I opted to wait for a spell of light
winds when we could run one of the motors and keep the batteries charged and
keep our speed up. Without the motor on the machine did draw quite a bit of
power from our batteries as, but we ran it for two days. The producers are
looking at developing a product specifically for yachts. After studying the
owner and operator manual carefully, I switched the machine on and watched as
it started performing it's magic. And huge was my amazement after 24hrs of
filling a 5ltr container, then another one, and another one. Just to test the
functions of the machine, I also cooled the water down to 10*C, you can cool it
down to 4*C if you choose. Within a very short period of time, the water was
cooled to 10*C.

WATER IS LIFE

The next big test came in tasting the water. And once again, results far
exceeded expectations. Freshly made water, what a concept !!! And that is
exactly what it tasted like. Fresh, organic, free range water :))) A bit like
rainwater, I thought that it taste what clouds I imagine would taste like. In
most countries a glass of water you drink from the tap has been consumed by
at least 7 people before you and has been treated several times. With
contraceptive hormones and a lot of other things you probably don't want to
know about. Mineral water bottled at source is sometimes less pure than the
water from your tap. And there it is stored and distributed in plastic bottles
far and wide. Have you ever wondered what happens to all the millions of
plastic bottles that are discarded daily ? Sure some of them are recycled, but
I am even more sure that the majority of them are just dumped. Plastic water,
artificial. Desalinated water taste like nothing, and all health has been
filtered from it. Basically also dead water. Water is our most precious
resource. It is what gives our planet her spectacular blue hue when observed
from afar. And to have access to pure, freshly made water, I am still coming to
grips with the incredible health benefits, the possibilities it creates. To
have your own independent source of ultra healthy, ultra tasty water, well, now
you can. I have no doubt that it will change the quality of life for many
people, and I am most keen to share this technology and ideas of where and how
it can be implemented. There has long been talk of alternative sources of
energy i.e. solar or wind generated. Now we can also generate water and all
that brings into play. Email me at sailwithpaul@gmail.com to discuss this
subject more.

We departed from Cape Town at 10am on 21 Feb. North westerlies was blowing
for a few days prior, and to the dismay of the yearly Mykonos Race
fraternity, it was blowing deep into Saturday. The southerly winds came
through on Saturday afternoon as predicted, and Sunday we were ready as ever
to go. Time to wave Table Mountain goodbye and begin the long journey ahead
of us. The southerlies normally curve around Table Mountain and we had more
westerlies for the first few hours out. Main and genoa 2nd reef opened wide
on a broad reach and with 16kts of wind we were of to a great start. Smooth
and fast, and not to huge a stretch to get your sea legs. That night the wind
maxed at 22kts, but as we were deeply reefed, we had no need to adjust any
sails.

The first morning out at sea and the wind turned SSE and we could rig our
twin head sail configuration. And as the swell direction and wind direction
came in line, we started experiencing sailing at it's best, so early in the
journey. As a habit, we don't prepare supper for the first two days. There
are light snacks, biltong, cold meat, bread etc and everyone helps themselves.
The wind dropped even more and at about noon we decided to try the Code 0
sail. Lovely and versatile sail to have in light winds. A Code 0 sail is a
fairly big, light gauge sail that you can easily furl in or out. Relatively
easily I should add. It always takes new crew one or two tries to perfect
deploying and furling a Code 0. Sailing with a full genoa on the one side,
and the Code 0 on the other side, gives a lot of sail to catch the wind.
Balancing the two sails is an art in itself. And when the current or swell
shape and direction change, you have to fine tune your sails again. The goal
is to go as fast and as comfortable as possible with the least amount of
stress on the boat and crew.

On our track you will notice that we sometimes sail nearly north at times,
and at times nearly west. Our heading towards St.Helena is as you can
probably guess, north west. But we are making most of the prevailing
conditions, keeping a fine balance between speed and comfort. The second night
the weather was gentle and we kept flying our twin head sails making good
miles in great comfort. The wind eased off quite a bit more, and we started
motor sailing. The very little wind was predicted to last for two days, and
whilst we were motoring, also used the opportunity to run our water from air
machine, with spectacular results as mentioned before. The third day we were
getting into the rhythm of day and night watches, and I also cooked our first
proper meal for the trip. A hearty country stew it was, and as we haven't had a
proper meal for two days, it went down very well. A hungry tummy is always the
best cook :)

On Thursday the wind came through stronger again from the south and we were
sailing in a northerly direction for most of the day. Just before sunset we
changed sails and opted for second reef main and genoa on a broad reach. That
way we will be prepared for stronger winds than predicted, just in case. We
were now sailing towards St.Helena again. Friday during the day we had twin
head sails up again and Friday night the stronger weather made us rig the main
sail and genoa again. The wind did come through quite a bit stronger than
predicted, but as we anticipated it, we were ready. Sailing with just the main
sail opened wide at about 150* to the wind, we were quite safe and
comfortable. Nice to have the best technology on board to download weather
forecasts anywhere in the world. It takes a lot of guessing out of the
equation, and we can make informed decisions. I don't just make a call what
sail configuration we will use, I show my fellow crew the latest weather,
discuss our options and explain why I make a certain decision. They also then
know what to expect and understand better my decisions as skipper. Yesterday
the wind was a bit stronger again, and we used my loose genoa and the fixed
genoa in unison to optimize the wind from behind. I decided to carry on with
these sails for the night and they served us well. This morning the wind
dropped a bit, and the weather forecast predicted calmer conditions. Looking
at the cloud formations, I decided to drop the loose genoa, and rig the Code
0. And we have been sailing with these two huge sails with the wind and swell
from behind and will probably carry on like this throughout the night.

It is great to be out sailing the open ocean again. Vast expanses of blue. And
at night, the stars are shining brighter and brighter as the moon is waning and
appearing later and later at night. I showed Hubert one of my favourite
clusters in the sky last night. A cluster called Pleiades. One can just not
make out the individual stars that form this cluster with the naked eye, but
through a normal set of binoculars, one gets a glimpse of the magic that is to
be found out there.

I hope you have a wonderful week ahead of you.

Until next time

P.S. Email me if you want to learn more about making water from air !

On a wing and a prayer

It has been a while since I shared some of our sailing experiences. Sit
back, relax, and enjoy :)

On our current journey, we have the great pleasure of delivering a Leopard
44 from Cape Town to Seychelles. 1st Mate Malcolm Rennie originally from
Port Shepstone, residing in Knysna for the last 15 years, born in '47 and
who has done six deliveries with me. As crew young gun Joshua Palmer from
Margate who was born in '97, is doing his first long distance ocean
crossing. He sailed for a year or so in the Caribbean on Blue Diamond, his
parent's yacht. Myself as skipper.

We received our boat on Wednesday, 4 February, and took her around to our
allocated berth in the V&A Marina. We started immediately with preventative
maintenance for our journey, and also did a shopping spree to get all our dry
provisions. Thursday we moved all our safety equipment on board, and on Friday
we had our safety inspection. We would have to wait until Wednesday the
following week for our safety certificate, and I decided to fly back to Durban
again to attend to a little crisis there. My daughter's red breasted, yellow
sided conure flew away and my princess was heartbroken. I arrived back home on
Friday night, and Saturday morning launched a search for the little bird, who
has recently joined our family and crept into all our hearts. Cheeky Tweety is
his name, and an apt name to say the least. A small parrot with a huge
personality as conures are. My daughter and myself walked a few kilometres
calling for the bird, hoping he would hear us and either come flying to us, or
make some noise that we would recognise. Before that my wife, friends, my mom,
all placed ads on all the different media platforms. It was four five days since
Tweety flew away. His one wing was clipped, but still he managed to get
airborne. Prospects were looking bleak, but I refused to give up hope. My
daughter decided to side with me on the issue, and also believed against all
odds that we will find him. And then a small miracle happened. We received a
call one afternoon, and a lady informed me that they have our little birdie. I
could hardly speak, I was so overcome with emotion. We immediately got into the
car and found the address where Tweety was. I paid the wonderful people a small
reward, and still could hardly speak. Cheeky Tweety is now back, both wings
clipped, and receiving tons of love and attention from his human family. My
daughter learned a precious lesson to never ever give up. There is always hope.
Just believe and keep on trying. It worked for us. I flew back to Cape Town on
Wednesday to do final prep for our journey.

After the usual preparations, provisioning, inspections and paperwork, we
waited for a good weather window to take on the most dangerous coast in the
world, and also one of the most beautiful I may add. The weather started
turning in our favour, we cleared port control, customs and immigration the
day before departure, and slipped our mooring lines at 10am on Tuesday 17/2.We
were expecting light southerly winds on the nose, which was predicted to turn
west later that evening. Our aim was to round Cape Point before the
westerlies came through, and the weather prediction turned out quite
accurate. We try and do every delivery better than the one before, and
decided to run a light boat. This meant we did not take extra fuel or water,
just filled our tanks, which would give us more speed. Problem with the
South African coast is that there are only a few ports you can run in for
shelter, and they are quite far apart. Running down the coast is the
almighty Agulhas current, and when a westerly front comes through, wind
against current makes for extremely dangerous conditions. Hugging the coast
we always find a bit of counter current, at night running on the 30mtr
contour line, and during the day come in to as close as 10mtrs at times. Our
navigational equipment is as good as you can get, but we still prefer a bit
of space at night. Safety is always our first priority.

We rounded Cape Point in good time and like clockwork the westerly started
building behind us. A little lower the centre of the front was moving
through, and we were well positioned to make the most of it without getting
blown away. Even so, the first night out was quite hectic with wind up to
45kts from behind. It does take a while for the swell to build up a bit, and
we were doing well with just a bit of headsail pulling us along at good
speed. When the swell did pick up, we tied a few mooring lines together,
tied the one end to the boat, and dragged this drogue behind us in the
water. It gives you great stability and prevents the yacht from running
wildly down the swells, just holding her in a bit. At a certain point, the
autopilot started struggling a bit, and I decided to take over the task of
steering the boat, or helming to be more nautically correct. The first few
hours of a front can get hectic, but soon conditions settled a bit, and we
were off to a great start. My fellow crewmembers had to first get their sea
legs a bit, but once they got used to the motion of the ocean, all was well.
Sometimes we only make it to Mosselbay before we encounter strong headwinds
again, but we were doing great speed, the westerlies stayed with us for a
while, and just as the easterlies started coming through, we turned into
Port Elizabeth on Friday 20/2 @ 17h30. Having a lighter and faster boat afforded
us this opportunity. We had a few refreshments that night and also had lunch the
following day at the Algoa bay yacht Club. At first it looked as though we may
have to spend a few days in PE, but noticed a very small gap in the weather, and
left for East London the next night at 6 just as the easterlies started fading.
Once again we had a great fast run to EL, and once again we turned into port
just as the easterlies started blowing. We had to sit there for a few days,
serviced the motors, kept the boat clean from the daily dust that the strong
easterlies blew onto us. We spend a bit of time with some folks at the Buffalo
River Yacht Club, and they also invited us for a braai. All in all we made the
most of our time there. Sitting on a boat for day in and day out not going
anywhere is not as easy as it me seem. Anyways.

The next leg was taking on the Wild Coast, and once the weather turned in
our favour, we were on our way again on 26/2. Here the continental shelf is at
it's narrowest and we were sailing nearly against the raw beauty off the steep
cliffs, waterfalls, grasslands, beaches and rocky outcrops here and there. We
had to cover 240nm to Durban to fuel up and fill our watertanks. We were
hoping this would be our last stop. We arrived there on Saturday @ 13h00
, did what we had to do and Sunday morning our fuel was delivered before
we were on our way again. Josh's mom and dad came to say hi, and my family
also popped in to come and say a final hi and bye. Just before we left,
Malcolm downloaded the newest weather and was a bit concerned. A fairly
strong westerly was predicted, but we decided to go anyway. We have a
schedule to try and stick to. Richards Bay is only 90 odd miles from Durban,
and we thought a slow cruise would have us there at first light. The wind
however had different ideas and slowly building up to 45kts from behind, we
tried our best to slow down. Once again we had long lines with knots behind
us, eventually had no sail out sailing just on bare poles as the saying
goes, but were still going too fast. Richards Bay is notorious for dangerous
conditions, many a boat has floundered here, and many sailors who have
circumnavigated the globe found the most trying conditions here. Quite a few
of them decide after a battle here that they had enough of sailing, leave
there boats here for sale, and fly back to whichever country they were from.
Once again the Agulhas current is the big factor here, and meets the
continental shelf here with full force. If the westerly is not too strong,
you can get through with some serious effort, but if the west is strong, it
turns into a washing machine of note. Current pushing you from one side,
wind pushing you from the other side, waves standing up on you, it really
can get out of hand here. The Wild Coast may produce a rogue wave at times,
but I think Richards Bay is the most dangerous spot for a yacht under
certain conditions. The Wild Coast is not easy either. A bit offshore, and
under the right, or perhaps I should say the wrong conditions, waves of up
to 40mtrs can form that will break a big ship in two. Feel free to google
it, I was also shocked and surprised when I learned of this. We waited in
Richards Bay for a few days as well, and enjoyed our time there at the
Zululand Yacht Club. Had a most fun evening there shooting pool and
generally just getting out of hand a bit. The sailing commodore presented us
with a bottle of champagne, and we were their guests of honour. They have a
good idea of what we are about, what we do, and respect us for that. They at
times admire and envy us, but at the same time also prefer to stay on land
most of the time. There are some serious racers there as well, and we made
some real great friends.

I haven't mentioned this, but some of my colleagues on a yacht just like
ours went missing a while ago. We were hoping that they are ok as their
epirb haven't been activated. Epirb stands for emergency position indicating
radio beacon. It is a device which we all carry that will send your position
via satellite every 12 seconds, and will last for about 48 hrs if you keep
transmitting non-stop. It can be manually activated and de-activated, r it
will activate as soon as it lands in the water. Your boat name etc are
registered with contact numbers, and should your epirb go off, those numbers
will be called from an operations station in France. We also carry satellite
phones aboard, and we call in our position twice a week to our office in
Cape Town. Sometimes the satphones becomes dysfunctional, and there are no
ways to make contact with the vessel. If the epirb has not been activated,
one would presume that everything is ok as the epirb has not been activated.
There is obviously also an estimated time of arrival at your destination,
and should you not arrive there in time, give or take a few days, there is
cause for concern. This boat has not arrived yet, there epirb has not been
activated, and there is now great cause for concern. They did encounter some
seriously heavy weather, but all of us who sail the oceans have encountered
some serious weather. The company that track and manages our deliveries, has
a perfect safety record thus far, but it has now been officially announced
that my friends are missing at sea. They have not arrived anywhere yet, and
are way overdue. Most of you reading this blog will know about this
situation, and there are huge efforts being made by thousands of people in
an effort to locate them. They may have capsized and are afloat somewhere,
who knows. I know of guys who were afloat for 140 days on a capsized
catamaran and the current eventually beached them here on the east coast of
Africa. More and more tales of similar and even longer afloat situations are
surfacing, and I will keep on hoping that somehow, somewhere, they will be
found. Never ever give up. The reality of their predicament really got to me.

It was hard for me to build up the courage to take to the ocean again from
Richards Bay, and reasoning with myself I spend a few restless nights there. A
small weather window presented itself again. There were strong easterlies
predicted, but if we could get up high enough fast enough, we would miss them.
It was time to go, and we waved Richards Bay goodbye. There were some cyclonic
activities further up the Mozambique Channel, but our weather support we have
from home would keep us informed of any trouble. The current was against us,
and we could not maintain the required speed to miss the strong easterlies. 30
miles out of Richards Bay, I phoned our operations manager in Cape Town and
discussed my plan to turn back to Richards Bay and wait for a better window.
It made no sense to be out there against current and wind with both motors
running and getting nowhere, and so we turned around. What a lovely trip we
had back, sailing with wind from behind and the current assisting us. 3am we
requested permission from Port Control to enter the port again due to bad
weather expected. When the friends we made on the dock awoke, they were
surprised to find us back, and one of them aptly said we should be named
Boomerang. I could only reply with a wry smile.

We once again waited patiently for the weather to turn in our favour, and on 5/3
on the full moon we were on our way again. It would be the first time on this
journey that we loose sight of land, and the first night out the conditions were
not great, but we managed fine. Since then we've had excellent wind pushing us
up the channel and going quite a bit faster than anticipated. We had fairly
strong winds from the south east and gave us a sailable angle of about 120
degrees from behind a broadreach as we call it in sailing terms. Mainsail on 2nd
reef, and genoa furled in and out as the weather dictated, we managed excellent
miles through some squalls, day and night. That is when dark clouds heavy with
rain moves over you and increases the wind speed substantially. The wind
direction shifts a bit, rain comes down, blows over and wait for the next one.
This is at times truly a 24/7 occupation. Yesterday for the first time the wind,
as predicted is very much straight from behind, and we are running with twin
headsails, making excellent progress. Following winds and seas, just going with
the flow. And then I once again remember why we who sail the oceans do this. The
closest closeness to the elements, nature in all her glory. The truest truth I
know, the realest reality I know. The beautiful full moon I saw rising a few
nights ago, and on my morning watch watched the sun rise again. And I wondered
if my buddies missing at sea saw the full moon rise and watched the sun rise
that morning. And still I wonder....

We are halfway up Madagascar, in the middle of the Mozambique Channel, weather
forecast for he next few days becalmed. About 1100nm to Seychelles, and we
should be there in a week or so. I have learned over the many years on the
oceans of the world that it is never over until it's over, and will not be
lulled into complacency. Our lures are dragging behind the boat, not a single
fish so far on this trip. A few ships here and there. Yesterday a small
passenger liner passed within about 4nm. Flying fish scattering here and there.
The days and nights are warm, the stars are shining brighter and brighter as
Sister Moon is waning. Rainbows now and then, but mostly blue all around. Thank
you for joining us for a little while, and hopefully you will join us again
before the trip is over. Take good care.