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