Arriving at St.Helena is always an outstanding event for us. It is a slow
pleasure that dawns on you, and wells up inside of you. Preparing for
departure in Cape Town has a similar feeling. Slowly get everything in
place, and once the weather says go there is that last minute hollow
feeling in your stomach. A mixed bag of emotions that you have to deal
with as best as you can. There is always this gnawing sadness leaving the
people and places you love behind. It never goes away and you learn to
live with and manage it. Add to that a dash of worry that you have
everything you may need for the trip, that all the systems are working and
keep on working, and that you are prepared for any eventuality. A little
bit of fear just to keep it real and keep you alive. Simmering excitement
for the adventure you are about to embark on. Some fresh free range
organic madness :))), and then the day arrives after a sleepless night and
it is time to go. What is it that we are really looking for, and what is
it that we find out here?
The first few days, often a bit rough out of Cape Town. You really get to
know the boat and the crew, and learn to trust each other. The boat, well,
she gets to know that you are gentle on her. If not, she will let you know
very soon if she is not happy. Second Wind is a lot of boat, and we love
every bit of her. The day flows into the night and Nature in all her glory
fills all grows on you. The rainbows, the sunsets, the moon magic, the
clouds.........endless tales unfolding. And then the ocean ..... vast
expanses of seemingly nothingness. At times smooth as a mirror, when the
horizon disappears and heaven and earth becomes one and you a silent
witness. An incredible moment of silence and inexpressible awe. When all
the stars above reflect below and you are floating out here in space....you
feel big, you feel small, and then you feel nothing at all. Just the pulse
of One throbbing through you.
On the other side the ocean can become wild and downright scary. Long thin
tails of clouds fill the skies, a big swell starts rolling in, the horizon
behind you becomes black, the wind starts getting excited, thunder and
lightning and a strong smell of rain. You prepare your drogue lines, long
lines you drag behind you to steady the direction and speed of your boat
running down the swells, you reef your sails and latch everything down,
making sure everything inside is stored secure. When he storm hits with big
raindrops that stings your face and then add hail for good measure :))) I
love the storms........long afterwards :))) There are times when you are
fighting for your very life against the elements. When you become dead
calm, confident in your boat, your preparations, your experience, and most
of all your unwavering respect for the elements. Most of the time though
sailing the oceans is nothing but a breeze. In the ten years that I have
averaged thirty thousand nautical miles per year crossing oceans and seas
all over the world, I can count the scary storms on one hand. Technology
nowadays also enable us to optimize weather conditions and stay safe.
We are less than a hundred miles from St.Helena. One of the most remote
places on earth. A volcanic island roughly in the middle of the South
Atlantic ocean. A powerful monument to the forces of nature. It certainly is
a place like no other in many ways. Rising up from the ocean floor in a
pinnacle five thousand metres high to the surface and nearly another thousand
metres marks the highest point on St.Helena, Diana's Peak. I have been there
a few times, a lonely really wind blown conifer tree clinging on. I have
visited perhaps thirty times or more and have made great friends there. The
slow anticipation of seeing my rock star friends again always brings a big
smile to my face. We are also stopping to take on fuel, to stretch our legs a
bit on a piece of solid land. Three of my crew haven't been there before, and
they will also experience the easy going hospitality that the Saints are
known for. While on the island as mentioned before we will try and post some
pics of our experiences thus far. Monday we will be on our way again, making
way for Cape Verde. Just keep on sailing :)))
Hope you have a wonderful weekend. And that the beauty we find out here, that
same source of wonder and amazement you can also find, where ever you are, if
you just look and listen :-)))
Friday, April 21, 2017
Monday, April 17, 2017
Up up and away......
Easter Sunday surprised me with a bowl containing a Lindt Easter bunny
with a bell, and various sizes and colours of Easter eggs next to my bed
when I woke up :))) It set the tone for the day. We have lots of sliced
bread and egg and should be used before we loose it. Tristan offered me a
sarmy and I suggested he makes a pile of french toast with bacon. He said
he has never made french toast before but he will give it a go. I gave him
a few basic pointers and soon he was producing perfectly fried slices of
french toast. The smell of the french toast drifted into the cabins and a
few enquiry rounds were made past the galley. Once the toast was done it
was placed in the oven to stay warm and then the smell of bacon started
filling the saloon down into the cabins and up to the helming station on
the flybridge. Not long after we all sat down to a delectable breakfast.
The wind has been dying a bit on us with little spells of air here and
there. One of our missions on this voyage is to take some footage with a
drone and it was time to do our maiden flight. We were motor sailing with
the full genoa and Richard was the first on the drone controls. He made a
three minute flight away from Second Wind and back in again. Nervous
moments for all of us but high 5's all around after Danny caught the drone
mid air. Difficult enough to fly a drone with hardly any practise on land,
let alone out at sea. Moving platform that you take off from and have to
come in and land on as well. One little mistake and the drone goes to Davy
Jones's locker. On Richard's first attempt to land and he bounced slightly
off the deck before he got it under control again. It really is not so
easy with the wind blowing you off course.
An hour or so later the conditions were good to raise the gennikar which
would make excellent footage with the drone. This time Danny was at the
controls and circled Second Wind a few times from afar, getting some great
footage. The landing was a bit hectic, but Richard saved the day by
grabbing the drone after Danny half crash landed. We all uttered a great
sigh of relieve and a few out at sea expressions too. The footage on both
flights was eagerly awaited as Carey loaded it on her Mac. She will be
editing all the drone and GoPro and cell phone footage we capture. Just
the other morning I called Danny to come and look at a spectacular rainbow
right behind us. Captured it on my cell phone, both ends of the rainbow in
sight. Amazing what perspective a drone can give you. Looks like we are
out in space, which I guess we really are. Seeing the curve of the horizon
in the background also lends to the outer space feeling. And Second Wind
looks stunning with her blue gennikar up front leaving two long white
lines in our wake. What a feeling, what a sight!
Today we also sailed our first 1000 nautical miles. And New Moon as well
today. And we rigged two rods with reels and lures and trolling for wish.
A few flying fish have also made an appearance and soon we should have
some ultra fresh sushi and sushimi :) We have loads of pickled ginger,
wasabi and soya sauce for these occasions or blessings I should more
correctly say. The previous few days we were going a bit to fast to fish,
at one point surfing at 14.5kts. 6kts is ideal and on rod and reel one
preferably also want to the able to slow the boat down when we get hooked
up.
For supper I used our steamer magodi for the first time to steam some
spuds. Looks like a metal flower that opens to fit most size pots
perfectly. Fried some sausage all the way from Ladysmith in KZN and with
some whole kernel corn and various condiments we had a most agreeable meal
:) For desert we had some tea with banana bread that Carey baked the day
before. She baked two loaves, the first one was devoured in minutes.
Torture to sit and wait for it to cool down. Only once the baker gives the
thumbs up we got stuck into it.
The water temperature is rising steadily as is the weather. The nights are
warmer and the cold misty rainy stormy nights are over for a while. Not
long before we cross into the western hemisphere. We expect to arrive at
St.Helena within the next five days and will try to post some footage and
pics. Hopefully the internet is fast enough. Trust that you had a blessed
Easter as well and will keep you posted on our adventures.
Monday morning today, and as we always joke, for six days we rest and on
the 7th day we work :) We have covered just over 1100nm in our first week,
averaging about 6,5kts. We are hoping to maintain a 6kt average and thus
have a few miles in credit. We did however had great wind which helped a
lot. For the next few days we expect very light winds which will bring our
average down a bit, but 6kts should be within our reach. Today we are
servicing both motors. Just an oil and filter change really, and we are
well equipped to make this an easy task. We will also decant 250ltrs of
diesel into both port and starboard tanks. We prefer to keep the tanks as
full as possible to reduce the change of condensation forming inside the
tanks which in turn will create water. We have got special ceramic magnetic
fuel filters that will remove any diesel bugs before the fuel goes into the
engine. We also do the daily maintenance checks all around the boat. Great
to have so many able and willing hands on deck. Makes light work of any
task.
Wishing you a wonderful day. We hope to make St.Helena in the next four to
five days, Friday or Saturday.
with a bell, and various sizes and colours of Easter eggs next to my bed
when I woke up :))) It set the tone for the day. We have lots of sliced
bread and egg and should be used before we loose it. Tristan offered me a
sarmy and I suggested he makes a pile of french toast with bacon. He said
he has never made french toast before but he will give it a go. I gave him
a few basic pointers and soon he was producing perfectly fried slices of
french toast. The smell of the french toast drifted into the cabins and a
few enquiry rounds were made past the galley. Once the toast was done it
was placed in the oven to stay warm and then the smell of bacon started
filling the saloon down into the cabins and up to the helming station on
the flybridge. Not long after we all sat down to a delectable breakfast.
The wind has been dying a bit on us with little spells of air here and
there. One of our missions on this voyage is to take some footage with a
drone and it was time to do our maiden flight. We were motor sailing with
the full genoa and Richard was the first on the drone controls. He made a
three minute flight away from Second Wind and back in again. Nervous
moments for all of us but high 5's all around after Danny caught the drone
mid air. Difficult enough to fly a drone with hardly any practise on land,
let alone out at sea. Moving platform that you take off from and have to
come in and land on as well. One little mistake and the drone goes to Davy
Jones's locker. On Richard's first attempt to land and he bounced slightly
off the deck before he got it under control again. It really is not so
easy with the wind blowing you off course.
An hour or so later the conditions were good to raise the gennikar which
would make excellent footage with the drone. This time Danny was at the
controls and circled Second Wind a few times from afar, getting some great
footage. The landing was a bit hectic, but Richard saved the day by
grabbing the drone after Danny half crash landed. We all uttered a great
sigh of relieve and a few out at sea expressions too. The footage on both
flights was eagerly awaited as Carey loaded it on her Mac. She will be
editing all the drone and GoPro and cell phone footage we capture. Just
the other morning I called Danny to come and look at a spectacular rainbow
right behind us. Captured it on my cell phone, both ends of the rainbow in
sight. Amazing what perspective a drone can give you. Looks like we are
out in space, which I guess we really are. Seeing the curve of the horizon
in the background also lends to the outer space feeling. And Second Wind
looks stunning with her blue gennikar up front leaving two long white
lines in our wake. What a feeling, what a sight!
Today we also sailed our first 1000 nautical miles. And New Moon as well
today. And we rigged two rods with reels and lures and trolling for wish.
A few flying fish have also made an appearance and soon we should have
some ultra fresh sushi and sushimi :) We have loads of pickled ginger,
wasabi and soya sauce for these occasions or blessings I should more
correctly say. The previous few days we were going a bit to fast to fish,
at one point surfing at 14.5kts. 6kts is ideal and on rod and reel one
preferably also want to the able to slow the boat down when we get hooked
up.
For supper I used our steamer magodi for the first time to steam some
spuds. Looks like a metal flower that opens to fit most size pots
perfectly. Fried some sausage all the way from Ladysmith in KZN and with
some whole kernel corn and various condiments we had a most agreeable meal
:) For desert we had some tea with banana bread that Carey baked the day
before. She baked two loaves, the first one was devoured in minutes.
Torture to sit and wait for it to cool down. Only once the baker gives the
thumbs up we got stuck into it.
The water temperature is rising steadily as is the weather. The nights are
warmer and the cold misty rainy stormy nights are over for a while. Not
long before we cross into the western hemisphere. We expect to arrive at
St.Helena within the next five days and will try to post some footage and
pics. Hopefully the internet is fast enough. Trust that you had a blessed
Easter as well and will keep you posted on our adventures.
Monday morning today, and as we always joke, for six days we rest and on
the 7th day we work :) We have covered just over 1100nm in our first week,
averaging about 6,5kts. We are hoping to maintain a 6kt average and thus
have a few miles in credit. We did however had great wind which helped a
lot. For the next few days we expect very light winds which will bring our
average down a bit, but 6kts should be within our reach. Today we are
servicing both motors. Just an oil and filter change really, and we are
well equipped to make this an easy task. We will also decant 250ltrs of
diesel into both port and starboard tanks. We prefer to keep the tanks as
full as possible to reduce the change of condensation forming inside the
tanks which in turn will create water. We have got special ceramic magnetic
fuel filters that will remove any diesel bugs before the fuel goes into the
engine. We also do the daily maintenance checks all around the boat. Great
to have so many able and willing hands on deck. Makes light work of any
task.
Wishing you a wonderful day. We hope to make St.Helena in the next four to
five days, Friday or Saturday.
Saturday, April 15, 2017
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
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
Monday, April 10, 2017
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Saturday, April 1, 2017
Monday, March 21, 2016
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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)