Friday 10th Feb 2012

I sat up for quite a long time last night, watching how we were doing in the strong winds, heavy rain and increasing swell behind the strong cold front that had arrived so very suddenly. We were speeding along at around 7knots, on a comfortable broad reach, heading ENE instead of ESE - but so what? - at least it was East-ish! The swell was spaced apart well enough not to cause any problem - so I finally went below and actually had a good sleep until dawn at 0410 GMT (6.10am LT) when I was alerted by a 'low battery' alarm - bad news when the genset is playing up!

I hurriedly started the engine to charge the batteries which were far too low and, after charging for quite a time, realized that the wind generator wasn't turning as it should have been in the 27-30 knots of wind - it should have been spinning like mad, but was only turning very slowly. I went down to check the fuse. As I removed it, the generator started up and kept on spinning nicely when I replaced the fuse firmly... It was now putting lots of power into the batteries and with the clearing sunny skies giving solar power as well, we were putting in almost 20 A with everything in sight working - instruments, autopilot, radio, fridge and inverter - excellent! Cheered me up a lot, since I was beginning to get worried about our fuel situation if the engine had to be run very frequently just to keep up with our power consumption. (I haven't yet got any further in seeing why the genset is playing up)

Seas had become a good size by morning - easily 4-6 m - but were not breaking and, being on our quarter, were still posing no threat, just making life on board a bit of a balancing act at times...

The wind slowly veered from SW to W over the day, becoming highly variable under a cloudy sky - often very light in between clouds under which it gusted up considerably, giving us good speed for short time. Pressure dropped slowly all day - from the 1004 hPa of last night to 999 hPa tonight - and, at sunset, the wind backed the sails in shifting from SSW to NE and I had to gybe onto port tack. The sky was clear overhead but there was a dark grey mass of cloud astern. I think the wind shift was due to us being right by the centre of a second Low which is passing over now - pressure now is 997hPa and the wind is NNE 19kt & expected to increase, so I'll proably be furling in the genoa very soon or overnight. We're presently having a lovely sail, gently bouncing along SE - on port tack, so I've had to change to my starboard bunk!

It was good to see several Yellow-nosed albatross, as well as a Black-browed (which was seen yesterday), keeping company with us and several white-chinned petrels all day long, often landing in the water nearby when we weren't moving much in light winds.

Thurs 09 Feb 2012

Early morning brief heavy rain and overcast skies cleared away to give bright sunny morning, but for the rest of the day we've been among clouds and showers - but the air is warm and feels good to be out here! Bad news is that the wind slowly died, often to 6 kts, and became very variable with the clouds overhead, keeping me busy trimming the sails, and our speed often dropped right down. So that, together with the still-present Agulhas Current, means we've not gone very far today... Until tonight, that is, (10pm) when the wind has now picked up to around 20-22 knots, ahead of the Low coming this way.

I'm making contact each day with the S.African Maritime Mobile Net (S.A.M.M. Net), presently on 7120kHz at 0635Z &/or 1130Z (later, as I get further away, on 14316 kHz), giving my position and current weather conditions. I also download weather grib files daily - very useful info, which is usually pretty accurate - and getting weatherfaxes from Cape Naval - good that it's up and running again!

With nasty conditions forecast (v.big swell and strong winds due to the deep Low that will be passing by), I decided that today, being relatively calm, was the time to cook the ratatouille I'd not had time to prepare before leaving. It'll be nice to have that when things get rough, as they're expected to, by tomorrow. (Later: I added in some tinned ham - mmm ... tasty!!)

When I'd finished cooking, I checked the battery volltage (as I do constantly!) and saw that, with the overcast conditions and light wind, the solar and wind power input wasn't coping and the batteries were down too low - so I started the little diesel generator. It started up fine - but seemed to fail to develop any power and certainly was putting nothing into the batteries .... ***##@@$#&*. I had to charge using the main engine in neutral while I tried to see if there was anything simple I could do to rectify the situation - out with the manual and the multimeter ... With darkness falling, and the need to concentrate on sailing and preparing for the expected bad weather, I postponed taking off the genset cover to look for a blown fuse or loose wire, having not found anything obviously wrong elsewhere ... There should be a simple 10A blade fuse somewhere in the genset-to-battery and -to-inverter circuits, but I couldn't see one.... maybe soon, in calm conditions. Oh well, we might have to top up with the main engine all the way to Tasmania... No big deal, although I don't like running the engine too often when not under load.

Wind's getting up some more - I'd better go furl in some genoa - always fun in the dark...! At least it's not raining.. and the moon is shining from behind the clouds occasionally...

Midnight: TG I went up on deck when I did... and also decided that tying in the third reef might be a wise precaution as well as reducing the (full!) genoa by a lot...! The wind veered and was almost dead astern so I gybed the mains'l onto port tack and unfurled some stays'l, sheeting it to port... Was just dealing with the running backstay when the main tried to gybe (it was on a preventer, as usual) in a sudden increase of backed wind, accompanied soon after by heavy rain.

I hurriedly furled the genoa away completely and reduced the stays'l further, as we heeled several times in strong gusts ... excitement I could do without! We were headed almost downwind and making 6-8 knots in apparent winds of over 30kt - so clearly the wind was nearly 40knots at times - but the boat was coping well, as I sat for quite a time in the shelter of the (new) plastic screen under the awning. It's good to have clear sea-room at times like this - no problem with running off downwind when there are no ships and no obstructions around... Not sure if I can get any sleep though... Feel bound to keep an eye on the wind and sea-state, in case things deteriorate further....

Wednesday 08 Feb 2012

Not a lot to report today - Skies have been mainly sunny, with wind from SW and quite a big, short-spaced swell, also from SW, as we skirted around the Agulhas Bank ... An oppposing wind over the SW-flowing Agulhas Current can cause very nasty seas on the shallow Bank - which is why I'm not taking the more direct SE route but staying in the deep water off the continental shelf it lies on. But the Agulhas Current itself cannot be avoided totally and has been reducing our speed by well over a knot, often up to 2 knots, all day.

I've been catching up on sleep a lot, having frequent naps to make up for missed sleep due to the foggy conditions when I started overnight yesterday but I'm slowly getting myself and the boat back into 'sailing mode' - it's been many months since I made landfall from the Falklands in Cape Town last May.

The moon has got out from behind broken cloud and is lighting up the sea brightly - showing the swell that has been frequently knocking us about, often quite badly. We're heading East just now - simply to avoid the worst of the swell forecast to get much worse tomorrow and Friday when a deep Low passes by. When I get a weather update, I'll be able to judge how soon I can safely turn more S... There's high pressure not too far ahead, further S than usual at about 40S, so I need to be much further S than I am at present if I'm not to run out of wind or even be headed..

I'm posting my position daily, or to be more precise, Lor W3QA of the Winlink Development Team, is kindly posting it for me to the Winlink site (the link to the map showing my daily positions is on my website 'Travels' page) since I'm presently unable to make a Winlink radio connection, with both S.African stations being 'off-air' just now. My position as I write this is approx. 37S, 021E .

10.30pm local time - time for another nap! In two hours time, Cape Naval is possibly transmitting a weatherfax so I'll be up again, ready to receive that - IF it happens. It has been off-air for the last two years but someone recently told me it was back up again - we'll see... I've seen no sign of any shipping for most of the day, having now sailed well S of the E-W shipping lanes around South Africa but my AIS, in alarm mode, is keeping a 'listening watch' for ships within 25 miles or so..

Bye for now....

A heavy, wet, overnight fog in Table Bay made for a damp, eye-straining departure in the dark, early hours of Tuesday morning. I`d been so convinced that the equipment replacement I needed to ensure an uneventful crossing to Tasmania and onward was not set to happen that I was caught unpepared for the Monday departure I`d originally wanted - so as to get away S, despite possible nasty swells on Friday, to avoid having to wait maybe nearly a fortnight for the next `weather window.

After a few midday runs around the inner harbour to calibrate the new equipment, followed by a couple of big farewell hugs from Robert, who has been so very helpful with sorting out the electronics on board since my arrival in S.Africa in May, liaising with a supportive Raymarine in England, I left to get the departure formalities dealt with. Brian kindly took me around in the Royal Cape Y.C. `buggie`(small truck!) to speed things along - first over to the Harbour Authority`s Port Control Tower, then on to Immigration and finally over to S.A.R.S. in town for Customs clearance and to get the essential Clearance Certificate, ready for my arrival in Australia near the end of March....

But then a hiccup in my plans occurred, when the Customs Officer told me that they needed to inspect the new ropes I`d bought, for which I was claiming a tax refund... I`d brought along some jerrycans for filling with diesel so we agreed that I`d go with Brian to do that on the way back to the Club where they`d meet me - to go on board `Nereida` before returning with me to the Customs office .... All that took a time and I ended up walking quite a distance back to the Club again, with Brian having finished work and no longer able to help. It would have been an enjoyable walk in bright sunshine had I not been urgent to get on with so many outstanding jobs on board if I was to be able to leave that night.... Weather predictions I`d been regularly checking on were consistently indicating that my weekend weather window would not last much longer so it was nice of Eileen to come around at short notice to help me with my final preparations and to say ``Goodbye`` - friends had been planning on seeing me on Tuesday evening, maybe even Wednesday.... but the weather waits for no-one!!

The weekend before had been a very enjoyable one at the Club, with a `Summer Fling Regatta` over three very hot, sunny days of racing. I would have joined the crew on board `Lobelia` but, regretfully, instead worked hard into the late evenings, getting `Nereida` seaworthy - the boat still needed a lot of work to tidy up, stow things securely and sort things out on deck, although I did join in some of the evening socialising - especially on the last day when `Lobelia` were delighted to find they`d won their class against some top-notch competition! An excellent end to my stay at the Royal Cape, seeing their happy faces - `bubbly` all round!

So here we are in the Southern Oean once more, aiming to round the shallow Agulhas Bank as soon as possible - about two days of heading SSE before being able to turn and head East. The fog persisted well into the day, but eventually cleared, away from land, to give bright, mostly clear skies - and I was delighted to find us in regular company with the familiar ocean birds again - several albatross and white-chinned petrels ... even a white-rumped storm petrel passed by. To cap it all, there was a lovely sunset, with a full moon rising simultanously in clear skies in the East.

I'm writing this from Cape Town, having motored around from Simon's Town on Sunday.  I'd hoped to leave S.Africa for Tasmania (Hobart) late on Monday (30th Jan) with a weather window seeming to have appeared for then.  So I was up before dawn and got away in bright sunshine soon after, heading into stronger-than-expected headwinds to get to Cape Pt and away from False Bay (which is nigh on impossible to do when the prevailing strong summer SE wind blows).  The swell was quite large, as expected, and made for lumpy seas and an uncomfortable ride a lot of the way and the wind died soon after rounding the Cape and so I wasn't able to use my headsails as I'd hoped.

Soon after tying up in Cape Town, Judy came by to take me to Gordon & Anne Kling's place (they run a winery there) at Kloof Nek -  in a beautiful setting high above Hout Bay, not far from Constantia.  They and the rest of the 'Lobelia' crew had wanted to have a get-together to say 'goodbye' to me before I left S. Africa - it was a lovely evening and a lovely thought - Thank you all!

Things got a bit hectic before leaving Simon's Town, with a variety of stainless steel and fibreglass work being done right up to the evening of the day before and some re-wiring the day before that - work I'd been trying to get finished for the past few months...! A steel tab on the windscreen frame of the opening window broke off and was also mended by Baden at the last moment - with more work needed now, of course, to install it.  The net outcome was that I wasn't able to sort the boat out properly for passage-making as was needed, although we were more or less OK for the short passage to Cape Town.   So when Monday's weather window disappeared, it was really a blessing in disguise - I've been very busy for the past few days here at the Royal Cape Y.C.and I'm now looking at the next weather window (Sat/Sun?), wondering if I'll make that...  My AIS screen display kept disappearing regularly on my way here - but has failed to do so since .... despite being left on solidly, along with my instruments and autopilot, since my arrival.  I've a back-up system so the plan is to get that working, just in case.

Pick and Pay supermarket have kindly agreed to donate me some nice fruit juices - I run a 'dry boat' on passage (except when I cross the Equator!) and so it's nice to enjoy a drink of juice each day.  Eileen took me a good baker and to a specialist supplier of good 'biltong' (the S.African dried meat) and then on to a 'Pick and Pay' near Simon's Town last week, so I've already stocked up with UHT milk, onions, potatoes, cereal, eggs and apples, also gem and butternut squash which last for ages, and I've been checking through, and re-organizing, my dried & tinned foods - plenty of those from before.

I received quite a big order of spare lines and halyards from Southern Ropes on my return and Warren, of Associated Rigging, generously offered to splice eyes for me where they were needed.   I'm also pleased to have organised a pole for my staysail - that could be very useful in strong following conditions.

I've seen lots of cruisers since December and especially since my return.  Most have come down the coast from Richard's Bay or Durban, after crossing the Indian Ocean from Thailand, Indonesia or Australia.  It's been enjoyable chatting to them.  On my arrival here at the Royal Cape Y.C. on Sunday, I was greeted by Kurt of 'Salsa' calling out to me as I looked for somewhere to tie up to:  "Jeanne, remember me - I line-handled for you through the Panama Canal...!!"   It's always good fun to meet up with a cruiser unexpectedly like that (it was early in June 2008) - one of the things I enjoy about my sailing!

I promised some photos in my last posting - but never managed it... and I just found that it's not possible at the Club here.  The photos are all ready but will have to wait until I find a way around that problem... A pity, since I've some nice ones!

The SE wind ('The Cape Doctor') is howling now... and has been since Tuesday (racing was cancelled yesterday with winds of 30-40 kn)...  but over the weekend, a Low is supposed to pass by - which might give the less strong wind from a better direction for me to be able to 'escape' S from here for two days or so, to get around the Agulhas Bank, before 'turning left' to head East for Tasmania..,.  We'll see how that works out....  I'd better get back to the boat and do some more stowing and organizing...

The weather in the SE of England has been very mild (with none of the fierce gales suffered in the W of England and Scotland) since soon after my arrival in early December - a definite bonus when travelling around so much as I have been, enjoying meeting up with family and friends over the holiday period and trying to sort out boat equipment.

I visited a friend in Ludlow (Shropshire) - a very old town with castle and other buildings dating back at least to the 14th century.....   (photos to come...)

On Thursday, I thoroughly enjoyed giving a presentation on my sailing to my grand kids' school assembly - they enjoyed my photos of different flying fish and Falkland penguins - especially the ones of the brown, fluffy, baby King penguins in their nursery area with their parents close by, keeping an eye on them.

Of course, despite my best efforts, I was not able to do everything I'd hoped, despite my visit being longer than usual .... but I achieved a fair amount and my luggage reflected that on the flight back to "Nereida" in Simon's Town, S. Africa. I'd spent two solid, productive days at the London Boat Show - which looked to me to have a very much reduced attendance since my last visit to LIBS three years ago and a very poor attendance by comparison with the Southampton Boat Show in September, which is invariably far more enjoyable than the big 'barn' which is how the Excel Exhibition Centre feels, near to Canary Wharf in London's Docklands.

Looking ahead to my forthcoming solo nonstop RTW attempt (which I hope to start (again) from Victoria, British Columbia, under the auspices of the WSSRC, at the beginning of October), I've been very busy trying to get help with the costs of repairing and preparing "Nereida" (instruments, rigging, communications, other equipment, etc) both in S.Africa and after my arrival this summer in USA/Canada..... (No major sponsor found so far.... any offers?)   I'll be sailing again in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care's free home nursing for the terminally ill.

The Cruising Association invited me last Saturday to their Flag Officers' Annual Lunch - at which Robin Knox-Johnston presented me with the C.A.'s Duchess of Kent Award - a real honour! (It's rarely awarded and was last presented to the Naval Officer who organised the Dunkirk Landings in WWII...!!)

At the Boat Show, I was presented with a personal locator beacon (PLB) by ACR (it's a small floating version of their previous PLB) which transmits to satellites (like a personalized EPIRB) if I end up in the water separated from the boat ... God forbid!... Also, ISP (International Safety Products) presented me with a 'self-righting', inflatable lifejacket with face mask and strobe light - several people asked me to promise to wear it (and the PLB) on a regular basis.... like all the other safety equipment on board any boat, we always hope never to need it in an emergency!! Other equipment I've brought back with me includes lovely new headsails made by Jeckell's of Wroxham (who celebrated their 150th Anniversary at the Show!), spare anodes for my Brunton's prop, a replacement AIS unit, lockable latches for my aft lazarettes, a variety of tools and screws, a long length of LED lighting for my cockpit and hanging lockers and for the engine compartment (donated by IMP - thanks, Mike!), a small radio receiver for 'real-time' weather sat-pics (a new project - need now to construct the quadfilar antenna!), a replacement Hammar hydrostatic release (thanks to Ocean Safety Ltd) for my liferaft (they expire every two years), an improved, stronger self-levelling radar support from Scanstrut (thank you, Tom), updated and extended coverage of the Navionics charts for my plotter (thanks to Lance of Navionics UK and Katia of Navionics Italy), a small but strong fuel pump to move diesel from my jerry cans to my cockpit fuel intake (saves the problem of moving my full jerry cans around - possibly in big seas...) and last, but definitely not least, a commitment from Raymarine to increase the level of support they've already been giving me so helpfully over the last few years by upgrading my equipment well prior to my departure in October from Victoria, B.C.

I hope to be ready to set sail East from here a.s.a.p., aiming to be away by the end of January, stopping in Aus/NZ/probably not Polynesia, although I shall try hard!/certainly Hawaii/maybe San Francisco, on my way to the 'Pacific NW' of USA and B.C., Canada, (Strait of Juan de Fuca) by July sometime... Quite a way to go...!

Well - it's blowing the usual summer Cape SE 'hooley' here in Simon's Town, as I write this... very noisy.. boat rocking about a lot... but I'll go and post this using the False Bay Y.C. clubhouse wi-fi while I listen to the end of the afternoon's music put on by the Y.C. 'yachtie' band .. usually good fun and good to listen to (if the wind doesn't drown them out!)

..... bye for now!

An awesome evening in Buckingham Palace .....!  What a privilege!  Amid the splendour of the State rooms with their magnificent paintings and with several relevant displays of original letters, photos and other objects from explorations and adventures over the last two centuries, we were all presented to the Queen and Prince Philip who were hosting a Reception to mark the centenary of Capt Scott's final expedition to the S. Pole.  The Reception was intended to recognise the accomplishments of those involved in exploration and adventure in all its forms.

I passed on greetings from people in both Cape Town and Simon's Town (where 'Nereida' is presently based while work is completed, ready for sailing on towards Tasmania, NZ and US/Canada, starting in January).   Both the Queen and Prince Philip (and 'Britannia') have visited Simon's Town several times in the past - it has been the main Naval base in S.Africa since set up by the British well over two centuries ago.

Among the sailors, I chatted to Ellen Macarthur and Sam Davies and was delighted to catch up with Sydney-based Alex Whitworth of Berrimilla, whom I last saw in Cape Town two years ago after Berrimilla had followed Nereida down the S.Atlantic from the Canaries.  I met rowers (Roz Savage, who has recently finished rowing across all 3 largest Oceans in a 26ft rowboat) & kayakers, rock-climbers & mountain-climbers, pot-holers, hangliders and many different Antarctic and Arctic explorers, oceanographers and researchers.   All had different and often fascinating stories to tell.  I also chatted to a very enthusiastic Princess Beatrice and then to the Duke of Kent who were both clearly thoroughly enjoying the evening and the variety of people there.  ( Princess B. took my card, saying she'd like to follow my nonstop attempt next year...)

 All in all, the evening was a very relaxed and enjoyable affair in fabulous surroundings!

My Palace outfit!
 
I passed by a famous store on my way into London...  (It got dark at 3.30pm...)
  
Waiting to drive into the Palace inner courtyard - after the bomb squad had searched the car:

The Royal Standard flies over the Palace - the Queen is in residence.,!

The main gates to the Palace:

The grandiose, gilded Victoria Monument is in front of the Palace:

After the Reception, which lasted from 6 - 8.30 pm ..... :

More hard-working, productive days – among other things, working on stowage behind saloon settees – took quite a time, but had to think it all through carefully so as to get it right.  Finally completed just before left for airport, having finally managed to arrange for the last 3 pieces of perspex to be bent – with that done, it was a fairly simple matter (with electtric drill!) to screw them into place beneath the hinged  opening sections to finish it all, after a bit of adjustment...  It looks good and works well...! 

False Bay Y.C. member Bryne has been really helpful, chasing around trying to help me get everything done.   Forepeak is looking far more tidy and shipshape now after several days working on it and I’m far happier with the changed stowage of several  important items.   Bryne collected 'bent' perspex from Paarden Eiland for me but still no joy on getting US propane bottles filled, despite lots of chasing around... Sean (v.helpful!), manager at Sun Valley Midas store, rang to say he'd located a replacement decklight which Eileen picked up for me the next day.

 In the heat of last Sunday afternoon, I shared some mango juice on board "Nereida" with Laura D. as we had a brief chat during her short visit to False Bay:

Eileen drove us both  into Royal Cape Y.C. for their Commodore’s Wife’s Dinner in November – basically an excuse for ‘Team Lobelia’ to get together for a fun “girls’ evening”– which it definitely was... lots of laughter and dancing!!  Click here to see photos.   

Before the Dinner, I found myself having a lengthy chat with Nick Leggatt:
 
who is taking part in the Double-Handed Race (GOR) with girl friend Phillippa Hutton-Squire on ‘Phesheya-Racing’:
They had arrived in Cape Town early in November  and left on their next leg to Wellington, N.Z., on 27^th Nov – two days later than planned, with nasty weather (and one of the boats needing time to repair some equipment) having delayed the start.   I  went to see him and his Class 40 boat at the Waterfront on the Sunday afternoon just before he left  & spent quite a time looking over the boat and discussing  the sailing gear and equipment in detail – impressive!

Also at the Cape Town Waterfront were the first two Volvo Ocean Racing boats (Open 70s) – ‘Camper’ having just arrived in 2^nd place after 'Telefonica':
  
with ‘Groupama 4’ still two days out and the dismasted ‘Puma’ still hoping to be brought in by ship from Tristan da Cunha  in time for the next race with a new mast....  (BTW – my mistake... this ‘Puma’ is clearly NOT the boat I mentioned in the RCYC Ladies’ Race.)   I felt quite envious to see how, as soon as they’d arrived, a big team of support guys came by ‘Camper’ to take away sails, a shroud, clothing, bedding etc for repair and washing....   All the crew and skipper of 'Camper' had to do was enjoy landfall, it seemed..!  It looked as though a stay was among the damaged items and one of the shore crew was quickly hoisted up the mast to bring down the damaged  stiff wire which held out the head and top of the mainsail roach.
 
(Signal Hill in the background)

My early a.m. flight to LHR was cancelled - flew overnight Tues/Wed instead...grr! But was able to sleep in on Tues morning ....and was able to get more work done on board during the day, before being given a lift by Tanya to Cape Town airport.

Safe arrival at LHR this morning.. Went shopping for outfit (new dress etc!) - didn't take as long as feared it might... so I'm all set for Thursday evening. Might go early to view Queen's Gallery Exhibition, 'The Heart of the Great Alone' , marking 100th Anniversary of Scott's journey to S. Pole, with photos of both Scott's and Shackleton's expeditions and of the Antarctic they saw...

Thanks for all the good wishes and the many messages for the Queen!!

(Don't forget to go to the SeaBC  Facebook  Resources page to download the Report sheets for when  you count the birds you see when you go out boating one fair-weather day in December...)

Good productive, hard-working day today - stowage project behind saloon settees coming on well.  Just need to get some perspex bent, re-staple Velcro to hold settee backs and screw on piano hinges ... and it will  be complete!  Should also have new cables in mast and new tricolour/anchor light fixed tomorrow - 'tail' on new light-fitting was so much shorter than old one that mast cables were just not long enough - amazing how a simple job turns into a convoluted one....  Still have a small wiring job to complete - to connect new Eberspacher control unit to system - finally found connectors I'd lost sight of for over a month!  AIS has stopped working so having to disconnect display and GPS to take back to UK for repair/replacement.  I'm making quite a list of items to bring back from UK (either unobtainable or stupidly expensive here)  - some small, others not so.  Various other jobs have been completed over the last few weeks (most items have now been crossed off' the list), albeit at the usual Cape Town snail's pace, and I'm hoping to sort the boat out once my settee project is finished.

Had a possibility of a two-day ride to Jo'burg last Monday - but had to abandon idea.  Pity, since I've not been able to get away from here as I'd hoped and that was probably my last chance.

This is a very belated newletter...  I've been to two recent Saturday events at the Royal Cape Y.C. The first was their Opening Cruise (as reported last time) which was good fun and highly sociable - I took some photos which weren't posted before - so here's one of a well-dressed sailing yacht saluting the RCYC Commodore on his plush motor-yacht:

I'm still feeling quite excited about the invitation I heard about that morning - to meet the Queen and Prince Philip (and possibly others of the Household) at an evening Reception (for 'Adventurers and Explorers!!) on 8th December in Buckingham Palace - should definitely be a fun event with plenty of interesting people to chat to!
On Sunday, I returned via Kalk Bay and stopped off for some 'fish & chips' (it's a small fishing harbour, so very good, fresh fish there)  and enjoyed live jazz over my coffee at Polana's afterwards:

The following weekend I went with a group of Club members here to a concert given near Scarborough which is just over the mountain from Simon's Town.  Dan Patlansky, from Jo'burg, was playing guitar with his group:

 - he turned out to be every bit as good a player as I'd enthusiastically been told, and the afternoon was dry & sunny - just as well since many people lounged around on the grass outside the main marquee:

To my astonishment, at one point in the concert, I spotted a locust making its way towards my table..

There have been a few evening 'brais' (barbecues!) here at False Bay Y.C. for birthday celebrations and after one, I was given some fresh Saldanha oysters - which were enormous and absolutely delicious.   I hadn't realised that Saldanha Bay was well-known for its oysters until meeting a couple who run an oyster 'farm' there.

The second enjoyable sailing event at RCYC was the Ladies Day Racing on 12th November when I joined 'Team Lobelia' with Judy Provoyeur as skipper - the practice in the morning went beautifully - several spinnaker gybes went very well - but unfortunately in the Race itself, we got into a real mess with the hoist so instead of coming first, as we clearly were all set to do, we made third place - but we were happy to have beaten 'Puma' to the podium. (Puma's usual crew went on to start the Volvo Ocean Race - but lost their carbon mast a few days back and are now on their way to Tristan da Cunha where they'll meet a ship from Cape Town bringing them a replacement...money clearly no object there!)

'Team Lobelia' pose befiore the race:

and again on board 'Lobelia":

We celebrated with lots of ;bubbly..

Richie, the fibreglass worker here, kindly took me in to CT to get the perspex which had been cut as I wanted - I gather perspex is really difficult to cut without it suddenly breaking, just as it has to be treated gently when screwing into it - or it will suddenly start cracking.  I'm about to drill into the pieces to attach them and I also have to cut 'finger holes' in it - so I hope I don't have any such problems tomorrow!  On the way back, we took the scenic route along the beautiful coast road - which passed  Kommetjie Beach - a well-known surf beach:

On our first trip into town to order the perspex and collect a few other items, we also went into the Waterfont complex where Richie had some work to sort out on the big Lifeboat in the Table Bay NSRI (National Sea Rescue Institute) station - so I got a chance to see the two lifeboats (one a small, fast Inshore RIB) - they've a close connection with the UK's Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) of which I'm a member, as are most UK seafarers.

The smaller inshore lifeboat (RIB):

And, finally, a few more flowers not posted previously.  Unfortunately, having fallen in the water here recently, with my camera in my backpack, until I replace the camera, I can only take photos using my mobile (cellphone) - surprising how well they're coming out for emailing...!

Don't forget the SeaBC - seabird count - coming up in December...  Do take part if you can - seabird conservation will be helped by reliable data.

For additional information and tally sheets, go to www.Facebook.com/Birding.Aboard

The central clearing house for the data will be Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s eBird website.

You may be a landlubber, but if you know birds, team up with a boating friend and get out in December to add to the count!

October is fast disappearing - and still I've a list of work waiting to be completed on board....  (I'd hoped to be in Saldanha by now, relaxing and maybe writing...)

My latest on the slow pace of  work.....

Q: "Why is Cape Town called the 'Mother City'?

A: "Because it takes nine months to get anything done!"

The staysail chainplate was (with great difficulty) removed and re-bedded - clearly much-needed ...  that should stop the seawater leaking down into the forepeak as it has done badly so often when at sea.  The stern arch leakage was also dealt with - not so much the footplates needing re-bedding as the upright poles having a good-sized unsealed gap around their base, letting in seawater over the upstand inside, as the water washed the side and aft decks in big seas.  That took a long time to deal with - but now it's done, it has meant that the  wiring coming down inside the pole could be re-done and all the connections better made.  Some new wires have been laid from there to the chart table - that always gets interesting! - but it gave me the chance to clean a lot of bilge and floor areas! 

The radar has a new housing - the old one was letting in some water where a rubber was missing so I was lucky it still functioned OK.   The AP needs re- calibrating after some instruments and AP parts have been serviced or replaced - I'll need to go out sailing to do that & to make sure all is well once  all wiring and instrument issues are finished with.   The fridge is now working with a new digital thermostat, although it's waiting for some new pipe insulation and the light to be connected up. A new cold-plate was installed after being welded up once the copper pipework inside had been tested for no leaks.

My big news as of yesterday - I've been invited to meet the Queen at Buckingham Palace on 8th December...!   I got the message as I was on my way into Cape Town to enjoy the celebrations of the 'Opening of the Cruising Season' at the Royal Cape Y.C.  - a fun day and evening, with a short time on the choppy water watching the dressed boats parade past the Commodore, followed by plenty of socialising and dancing (on land!).

Earlier this month, I re-visited the Waterfront where the 'Clipper' crews were busy with final preparations for the Race start on Wednesday 5th... Many novices were among them, given jobs according to their available skills...  Lots of checking over of deck gear, repairing & servicing of winches and blocks, splicing where ends of lines had chafed, some washing of fruit & veg,.....  Weather bright and sunny...  SE wind forecast - not very strong and so the first day or more expected to be rather slow.

I helped take 'Lobelia' around to Royal Cape Y.C. from Simon's Town under a hot cloudless sky - motoring all the way from 0645-1400 in very little wind!   SE on the nose in False Bay and not enough wind to sail once we'd rounded Cape Pt - my 4th time around the Cape of Good Hope!   We kept fairly close in when rounding the point, as last time - but kept well away from Anvil and Bellows rocks!   Interestingly different to helm a light-weight race boat with its enormous wheel.  Lots of seals were seen lying on their backs, flippers in air....   also a whale and several dolphins came by.  My face got quite sunburnt while helming! 

The stern lazarettes' drainage was improved by altering pipework and I also want to improve the locking down of their lids.  A lot of time has been spent on the Internet and Skype, chasing items not available here and also looking for sponsorship....  still one or two possibilities...but generally, the answer has been - "No money available .... but maybe we can offer help in kind."  
 
I found space in the engine compartment to stow spare Hydrovane vanes, which gets those out of my way, and I also screwed in another steel restraint to stop plates falling about in rough seas.  I'm now looking around at improving stowage of food items on my long passages - I've been given three sturdy crates but the problem is where and how to fix them so they're safe but still accessible in bad weather.

  

I managed just one walk on Table Mt which started out along the walk up to Devil's Peak, but turned off along a contour path - a pleasant, easy walk - with lots of flowers, now spring is well- advanced.

I also drove up the W coast to visit Saldanha Y.C. (in the main port area of Saldanha Bay, with its many fishing boats), not far from the Bay entrance.
        

By the gate at the entrance to the Y.C. was a bright carpet of flowers:
       

 I stayed overnight at a lovely B&B on the beachfront in Saldanha, with a view over to the Bay entrance, fishing harbour and Y.C. moorings  
     
These gaily-coloured birds were unafraid as they splashed in the fountain.   Ostrich farms were plentiful - the big, black and white birds were unmistakeable!
 

     

From there, I drove on north to Paternoster - now full of beach houses and surfers, but clearly once a quiet little fishing village:

      A brief stop at the white-sand beach with small fishing boats and rocky outcrops in places - before heading on to the marina at Port Owen a short distance further up the coast.   My idea was to investigate places I was thinking of sailing to - I was given a very friendly welcome in both places and both told me I must take "Nereida" there!  My other reason for making the trip was to try to see the carpets of flowers I was told were so impressive in spring - but I was either too late in the season or, as someone later told me, I didn't go far north enough....  Up near Springbok was the place to be...  But I did wander mistakenly into  a private area with a string of beautiful racehorses being exercised amid some lovely open countryside - where I spotted a beautifully-marked, small tortoise. 

     
as I got out to photograph yet more, different flowers... 

     

The area around False Bay and the mountain drive over to Cape Town never fail to impress me with the  lovely  scenery.  I stopped off at Kalk Bay for a fish meal last Sunday - to find live jazz being played while the swell smashed against  and over the harbour wall close by.
  

 Last Tuesday, I enjoyed a concert at the old Klein Constantia wine cellar given by the Cape Philharmonic - mainly pieces I knew well but had mostly not heard live.
                                                            
I've also spent a little time helping Diana Doyle who has been working hard, trying to organize a worldwide cruisers' seabird count in December....
Are you a birder? Are you a boater?  Do you have a friend with a seaworthy boat? Go out for a sail or motor for the inaugural "SeaBC" Sea Bird Count! It’s like a Christmas Bird Count (as takes place in many different countries around the globe), but where you count birds at sea, rather than on land. Choose your weather day in December and count all the birds you see for a few hours or an entire day.

The SeaBC was created to raise awareness among long-distance boaters from around the world & to record their seabird observations. You may be a landlubber, but if you know birds, team up with a boating friend to add to the count!

 This will be the first ever worldwide seabird count, to our knowledge – be a part of it!

 "The SeaBC benefits seabird conservation by mobilizing the worldwide boating community to document ocean bird sightings, providing critical and otherwise seldom-recorded data on seabird numbers and distribution and on ocean migration routes." 
For additional information, including tally sheets, go to www.Facebook.com/Birding.Aboard    and select "SeaBC/Resources". 

A few more flowering plants on the contour Path walk:

    

Back to boatwork after a short visit to UK and the Southampton Boat Show
                         
My brief UK visit was just as hectic as expected, but I managed to see a few friends, in between several visits to the September Boat Show ....    Had good friendly responses from lots of people at the Show - but full sponsorship for my planned re-attempt at a nonstop solo RTW next year is not at all easy to get - hardly surprising with the present economic situation, but I'm still working on it.

The Show organizers were very helpful & gave me free entry whenever I attended.   Several firms have given me bits of equipment - Eberspacher UK gave me a better control unit for their diesel heater, incorporating fault-finding diagnostics - I'm in the middle of installing that.  Scanstrut have given me a new radar support and damper mechanism for their gimballed unit and IMP will be giving me some LED lighting strips for the engine compartment and some lockers.   Derek of 'Yachting Sports' also kindly gave me a 36mm deep socket - needed to enable me to tighten my keel bolts!   Raymarine are continuing to give me lots of help and support, which is much appreciated.

I've still no refrigeration - a new cold-plate is being fabricated after the old one corroded badly and I'm installing a digital thermostat control unit.   Several items are needing re-wiring from the SS stern pole, some back to the chart table - ugh!!   That work also includes installing a good wi-fi antenna with quality data cabling to pick up wi-fi signals from a distance.  I still need to re-bed the staysail chainplate and stern steelwork in an effort to eliminate leaks, the Hydrovane mechanism needs some minor attention and fibreglass work on the gas locker is starting tomorrow (Monday) hopefully - to improve water drainage in order to avoid rusting of steel gas tanks stored there.  I'm still waiting for the day when the main work is all finished and I can tidy up the boat to see what else needs doing!

I visited the Clipper fleet on Sunday at  the busy V&A Waterfront - interesting to see the heavy deck-gear needed to deal with their big sails.   Very little crew comfort down below...! I was hoping to see a member of the 'Gold Coast' (Aus/QLD) crew that I met in Thame recently - Taz is doing the next leg to W.Australia. They leave on Wednesday, after a crew-change and a week's pause for rest/, repairs and provisioning - they expect a 28 day passage.   (I wish them good luck! - weather is likely to be nasty this time of year....!   There was a strong SEer today!)  After looking over the boat, I had a photo taken with the British Consul for Cape Town who was also visiting the boat - all the gear is big, with an emormous boom and sails!  (My cousin lives in Cairns and the local radio&TV people greeted me on landfall there from Vanuatu in July '07, having taken 4 mths to cross the Pacific solo from Mexico, so I feel an affinity with the region - and 'Gold Coast' is also doing very well, so far, in the race!)

Sunday evening I went to Kalk Bay for a meal - and was fascinated by the swell breaking heavily over the rocks just outside the restaurant and a pair of Southern Right whales seen for quite a time just before sunset beyond the small fishing harbour entrance.   The whales are here in numbers in False Bay and all around this coast now.

Weather has been variable since my arrival back here - hot in the daytime, during the clear days when the wind has not been so strong (as it often has), but cold at night - my Ushuaia fan heater is continuing to be well-used!

A few photos - firstly of an English 16th century thatched house, with a high covered entrance for farm carts, in the old village of Long Crendon, not far from Oxford,

and then two photos of the 'Gold Coast' Clipper boat here in Cape Town at the V & A Waterfront complex (one with Christopher Trott, UK Consul General and the othershowing two of the crew members at the main winch)

'Nereida' spent quite a time on the hard while the rudder was being repaired.   Fortunately, the core was not one that held water so not much time was needed to dry it out before work could begin on reconstructing the trailing edge back to its original shape, using several layers of glass matting for strength.   While out, anodes were replaced, the keel was sanded and antifouled, a few marks & scratches were dealt with and the topsides nicely polished.   I spent quite a time taking the propellor back to shiny metal in order to re-coat with Propspeed - an effective non-toxic coating of smooth siliconised plastic which underwater life finds it difficult to stick to - so it stays clean for a long time...

I gave a talk to the Club soon after arriving - it was the first Wednesday of the racing season but the wind was not cooperating, so we waited quite a time for the last of the (becalmed!) racers to arrive before starting my presentation -which included lots of photos...  

The following Friday was party night at False Bay Y.C. - they were happily celebrating winning the Lipton Cup (by a close margin!) after a three-year campaign.  It's an annual event, held this year in Mossel Bay (close to Knysna Y.C. who were last year's winners), in which every yacht club in SA is able to be represented by just one L26 boat with a total-weight-limited crew - so it's a 'level playing field' in which tactics and skill (and a bit of luck if winds are flukey!) decide the outcome.

I like Simon's Town because it's a friendly, safe place with plenty of atmosphere and a cosy 'small town' feel.  It has lots of old buildings, due to it having been the main Naval Base for South Africa for two centuries.  The yacht club marina is adjacent to the docks of the naval base.

I was invited to look over a Fisheries Protection vessel docked across from a S.A. navy frigate and a short distance from a museum piece of an old submarine open to tourists.  The 'Lilian Ngoti' was preparing to go on a tour of duty - well-equipped with two big engines (I was very impressed with its 32 cylinders!!), floodlights, speedy RIB .... ready to challenge any suspect fishing boat:

A lovely Sunday morning walk with Judy, Jackie and her dog Benjy was on the 'Kloof Corner' path, leading up to the contour path winding its way all along the side of Table Mt for many miles:

     

There was a nice view over to Lion's Head mountain once we reached the narrow 'contour path' on Table Mt:
  ....
...... with good views along the coast S from Camps Bay:

and across to Signal Hill and Table Bay, lying calm in the warm sunshine:

The path wound its way beneath a high rocky cliff to beneath the cablecar leading up to the top of Table Mt:
   
Judy and Jackie were well ahead when we reached a stream tumbling down into a welcolme pool of cool water (I kept stopping to take photos of the many different flowers!) :

 -  a lovely place for a lunch-stop:
  
It was a lovely break from boat work ... and in the sunshine, many Spring flowers were coming out unusually early to join the late winter ones....  The weather was like a good English summer's day - they tell me it's been an unusually mild winter and they need more rain to fill the reservoirs - but I'm happy to have had so many good sunny days!

The following week, with 'Nereida' back in the water, safely tied to a marina dock, we had some really strong winds and rain .... I needed the protection of the new screen to stop the heavy driving rain from reaching into my companionway - it arrived the following week, after needing several adjustments - in time for the next front bringing a lot of rain...  That screen is going to prove very useful!

So now ... on to photos of the many pretty flowers (and eye-catching grasses!) that kept my camera busy as I walked...

              

  

                               

Finishing with yet another lovely protea...! 
 

The Cape of Good Hope with old LH high up:

Cape Point - new LH low down - where it can be seen in bad weather:

 Saturday was a beautiful, sunny, calm day - perfect for sailing the often-rough 40ml from Hout Bay to Simon's Town around the Cape of Good Hope.   The wind was so light that, despite the mainsail being fully hoisted, it was more a matter of motoring most of the way in a light, apparent headwind, rather than sailing - the genoa being unfurled for just a short time as we rounded the Cape.  We passed very close to Dias Rock, off Cape Point at the entrance to False Bay, before going on past Boulders Bay, with its many penguins, to Simon's Town, to tie up at the False Bay Y.C., adjacent to the Naval Base (the main one in South Africa).

N side of Cape Point, close to the new LH, old LH high up:

It was very nice for me to have company on board - Alastair and daughter Tanzi, together with Melvin - all of whom seemed to enjoy their sail, especially Alastair, who helmed a lot of the way, taking us well inshore in the shallower waters, to avoid the 'washing machine' conditions that are normal a short distance further offshore  ....  something even he admitted, with his 'local knowledge', was only possible because of the relatively calm conditions.  Although a big swell was running, making for spectacular surf crashing onto the beaches (the Kommetjie surfers were out in force, enjoying the day!), the waves were spaced quite well apart and we made sure to keep well out from the breakers!

As we came around the lighthouse, we made HF radio contact with it - today was 'Lighthouse Day' when all the lighthouses in S. Africa (and in many other parts of Africa and all over the world, I heard it claimed) were being manned by radio enthusiasts hoping to make contact with each other and with other 'hams' elsewhere.  Melvin made contact with several lighthouses, once he'd woken up sufficiently!

View of Slagkop LH, across the spray and breakers of Kommetjie surf beach, Chapman's Peak on RHS, across Hout Bay to Table Mt in the distance:

 
Melvin recovers from a very early start (he was up at  5am to be sure of getting to Hout Bay on time!):
 

.......while Alastair and Tanzi look after things in the cockpit (Tanzi is taking time off from keeping a lookout for kelp in the chilly early morning air):

I kept a record of our track (in red) from Hout Bay, passing close to the Cape of Good Hope and very close to Cape Point (only safe in extremely calm weather!):
 

Later, we all joined Alistair's family and parents for a visit to the Tibetan teahouse close by for lovely tea and rice-cake before ending up back in Hout Bay for a meal....  My drive back to Simon's Town in the dark over the Chapman's Peak toll-road went fine - I took it very carefully!!

Sunday was grey and rainy, although not as bad as forecast, and I met a few people at the Y.C. here.

Monday "Nereida" was hauled out for rudder fibre-glass repairs (resulting from it being knocked by the wind-steering rudder which came loose in bad seas while lying to the series drogue on passage from the Falklands) - very necessary and rather more extensive than I'd expected, but being dealt with by good workers here.   While on the hard, anodes are being replaced and the keel antifouled.

The swirling surge on the narrow approach to the haul-out cradle made for a few worrying moments but, with lots of helping hands, all ended well - with just one slightly bent stanchion to repair later....

Trailing edge of rudder in need of repair:

Views in and around Hout Bay harbour....

The fishing fleet, looking over towards Hout Bay entrance:

Fishing boat manoeuvring before tying up:

Jellyfish visited Hout Bay marina......

Hout Bay beach:

Kingklip, snoek, yellowfin and other fish ... at 'Fish4Africa' in Hout Bay harbour:

Hout Bay has been enjoyable - so different from Cape Town.   It's a busy, active fishing community and there are lots of friendly people regularly on board their boats here in the Y.C. marina ... a sociable place!  I decided to postpone my sail around to Simon's Town (now scheduled for this coming weekend) until after my return from Namibia .... but then found myself having to abandon that trip - a great shame, but it turned out I could well have had a major problem crossing the S.A. border either way - so, unhappily, I felt obliged not to take the risk....  I'll try to do something later in the year perhaps.

The sun has continued to shine with quite a lot of heat during the daytime, although the temperature still plummets at sunset with the cold air and lovely clear skies.   We've had very few rainy days - a problem for the region since the reservoirs are not full and by now (in winter) they should be ... but I'm enjoying the blue skies and sunny weather.

After last Friday night (live music at the RCYC), I spent an enjoyable, relaxing weekend with Judy at her house in Table View, with a lovely beach walk one morning, exercising her two dogs, lots of Internet time spent finding out a bit about how my website works and a couple of nice meals in company.

Clive came by to replace a faulty engine tachometer which was itself a replacement for the original one, whose hours display kept failing, but the original turned out to be far better than the faulty replacement in that at least it showed the engine revs consistently!!

The new clear screen attachment to the sprayhood was finished, but details on the attachment points to the sprayhood have had to be adjusted several times - I think we might be on the final lap now!

Today's my birthday - it's been a beautiful day and I'm looking forward to a meal out with friends tonight.  I've just received a long-awaited TeraG hard drive and LED screen for the computer (replacing a screen damaged by my January knockdown W of Cape Horn) - so I'm beginning to 'play' with those!  I was supposed to be changing a faulty immersion heater on the hot water tank - but that job is being postponed to another day since I prefer to 'play' and relax today, rather than do anything less pleasant!!

I've just been able to hire a cheap car for a fortnight or so, meaning I'm far more mobile & independent now.  (Many people have kindly been giving me lifts.) So tomorrow, I'll visit Klein Constantia winery - it's only a 15 minute, very pleasant drive away from Hout Bay, just over Constantia Nek.   I'm looking forward to that.

Thursday 18th Aug

I'm writing this update in Gabriella's coffeeshop/restaurant not far from the harbour, after a delicious curried prawn & avocado lunch .....  Gabriella has just opened here - she deserves to do well .... a good atmosphere and great food!

 

Had a lovely meal at 'Maestro on the Beach' last night with several friends... back late... and up late this morning ...to drive to Klein Constantia for a guided tour of the winery by Adam, the winemaker there.   Lovely protected valley with flowers, views of the mountains nearby (Vlakkenberg!) .... with a wine-tasting at the end .... & a birthday gift of a bottle of champagne...  In addition to its good white and red wines, the winery is famous for its dessert wine - a lovely, light, not-too-sweet amber liquid.... 'Vin de Constance'  - Adam recommended it with some blue cheese.... sounded good!  (Napoleon had it shipped regularly from here to St Helena and many other famous people in the eighteenth century enjoyed it also!)

Photos of Klein Constantia winery, vineyard flowers and surroundings:

Tues 9thAug .... Women's Day - Public Holiday in S. Africa - beautiful sunny day - I moved to a more protected berth with plenty of help from the many friendly people on the marina.

A beautiful small shrub seen frequently on my walks:

Recent boat work has included replacing a pair of shrouds after one was found to be  damaged (two strands broken) - which involved motoring over to the crane by the haulout area in the RCYC yard for unstepping the mast so it could be taken ashore (Table Mt in the background):
 
That meant it could be doubly checked and more easily worked on.  All toggles etc were checked & serviced and, while it was easy to do, I took the opportunity to tie twine between the shrouds and mast steps to avoid the main halyard fouling on the steps as it was otherwise inclined to do at times (I still need to go up the mast soon to tighten a few of the lines).  The spinnaker halyard and second reef line both needed replacing due to chafe.   A day later, the mast was stepped again and the mast-light cables were reconnected.... All wires and connections were checked over and some corrosion  (due to seawater having got to them in the knockdown) dealt with.

A clear screen attaching to the sprayhood is being made to protect the companionway and sliding hatch area from rainwater in an effort to stop the water from getting down below in bad weather from astern.   The theory is that I'll also be able to sit on deck in its lee and stay reasonably dry at times!

A week or so ago, a replacement for a faulty replacement shore-power control unit arrived from the Netherlands and last week RCYC member Paul kindly brought a replacement electric immersion heater element with him for me from the UK - after a lot of organizing on my part and help from Yachting Sports at Hamble Pt - many thanks to Paul and to Derek.  I'm looking forward to dealing with the heater element and maybe enjoying hot water on board soon.... but the ongoing fridge repair is proving more difficult, with a corroded cold-plate looking as though it's in need of replacement - yet another item not immediately available here in S. Africa....   The corroded cockpit locker light switch has been mended, the new solenoid switch on the galley gas supply and the gas sensor system are both now working, the isolating transformer is in position and working and the prop anode has been changed (nothing was left of the old one..) ... so some positive things have been achieved....   (I also did some necessary clearing up before moving around to Hout Bay!)

With regret, I decided I had to move from the Royal Cape Y.C. in Cape Town due to the cost of berthing.  It's very expensive for visitors compared with members (for both berthing and yard services), has just increased a further 7% with their new financial year and with my having been there for three months was set to increase even further with the addition of a so-called 'membership fee' (with no benefits!)....   With all the repairs I've needed to see to, it was getting too much - especially since I cannot sensibly leave S. Africa to head East towards Australia and N.Z. etc until the summer weather arrives in a few months' time.

I've enjoyed some more Friday night live music and many more lovely sunny days (although the air is cold and temp drops like a stone at night) but the very day (last Thursday) I wanted to sail the 20 ml around to Hout Bay, to give a talk that evening to the Yacht Club, it was blowing a hooley with nasty short seas that really knocked us about & the autopilot regularly dropped into 'standby'.    As I approached Hout Bay, visibility dropped to near zero in heavy rain but with the help of my radar I got in safely and my talk that evening seemed to go down OK...  

I shall stay here in Hout Bay, with its very friendly Y.C. (and highly reasonable charges) and active fishing fleet, for a short while (I'm going to see something of Namibia next week, ....camping!) before heading the 40 ml around the Cape of Good Hope/Cape Point to Simons Town.   There I shall haul out for a rudder repair & to clean the keel & antifoul and then I shall stay on at the False Bay Y.C. to finish with outstanding boat work.   In October-November, I might explore the coast to the N of Cape Town,  possibly stopping at Saldanha Y.C. for a while, in Saldanha Bay (there aren't many places along the coast to choose from to stop at, in fact).

My Sunday walk a week ago with Lee-Anne and Amanda was in company with quite a large group of walkers to Vlakkenberg - literally a 'flat mountain', but nothing like as large as Table Mt. which it is near to.   It was approached from the Constantia wine region with its large houses and many vineyards and the views over Constantia, False Bay and towards Hout Bay from high up were, as always, stunning.  Some of the many varied 'fynbos' flowers have been coming out earlier than usual, I'm told, due to the lovely sunny weather we've been having, even though the air temperature is well down - it's definitely chilly out of the sun and especially at night.

Start of path up the Vlakkenberg:

View S over Constantia vineyards across False Bay to Hang Klip:

View N to Table Mt:

Typical worn stone outcrops at the top of the mountain:

Lunch stop by top beacon - view W to Sandy Beach on far side of Hout Bay:

 

Last Sunday, I climbed the Lion's Head for the second time - this time with Judy and daughter Dominique (Olympic sailor!) and Amanda.   It was fun to climb up the 'chains' - put in place on a short vertical section of the rock-face to make it a lot easier and safer....   but with the warm sunshine bringing out hikers galore, there was a major 'traffic jam' of people waiting to use them - strictly 'one way traffic' with no 'passing'!   I didn't take my camera on the walk, thinking there'd be no need for it - but was surprised to find more several plants in bloom (bulbs, bushes and succulents) that were new to me.  One large N-facing slope (facing the sun in the S-hemisphere...!!) was a lovely mass of flowers!

At the RCYC, some Russians visited regularly from a couple of diamond rig boats, there in the harbour for maintenance and repair .... and we got chatting.  They looked over 'Nereida', took my 'repaired' wind-vane away -  it came back two days later - far more professionally and sturdily repaired...!!

Dimitri, Valery & Alex decide they can improve on my wind-vane repair:

 

Time to go hiking and see more of the lovely mountains and other scenery (and flowers) in the Western Cape province around Cape Town.   Some boat work is being done - but at the usual slow pace, so I decided it was time to accept invitations to get away ... hiking up beautiful Chapman's Peak, .... a day excursion along the coast to Hermanus, seeing Right whales and a large pod of dolphins with young along the way, with a return over the mountains,... and a trip out to the pretty wine-growing valleyof Franschhoek, returning along the SE coast of False Bay, with a walk in some woods the next day and a quick visit to the nearby Klein Constantia winery.  Many thanks to Amanda, and also to Penny & Nicholas, for the highly enjoyable days out.

Boat work has included dealing with mast lights, instrument problems, refrigerator and the gas supply to the galley, but the bad news was a rig check showing up a damaged shroud, which means the mast needs to be un-stepped to fix a new shroud, and a diver checking the main rudder - and finding it to be damaged and in need of a haulout to mend the fibre-glass... more delay before finishing the work on board...  but all necessary for the boat to be safe to continue on eventually.  So it's been good to get away at times - and the scenery is often stunning:

Proteas flowering on Chapman's Peak

Chapman's Peak Hike above Hout Bay, 17th July 2011

  

At the top of Chapman's Peak with Lee-Anne and Giovanna...!

And the view down to the sea with the distant road showing how far up we'd climbed...

Day outing to Hermanus last week with Amanda ..... A pair of southern Right whales were cruising along the coast south of Gordon's Bay, on the E coast of False Bay:

... and slightly further on, near Hangklip, at the SE entrance to False Bay, a large group of dolphins with several very young ones were circling in an enclosed, shallow, sandy bay - with what look suspiciously like sharks keeping them company!!:

The deceptively peaceful, sandy beach below Hangklip - I wouldn't dream of entering the water here for a swim.....!!

On Thursday, out  from Diep River with Penny and Nicholas for a mid-morning coffee with cheese-tasting at the Fairview estate with its goats ....

Later, a lovely meal with a spectacular view over the Franschhoek valley with the old village set among its vineyards, followed by a visit to a berry farm with lovely views over the mountains around Franschhoek:

 

Sunday 10th July

Another beautiful sunny day feeling just like summer - we've had nigh on a week of this weather, which has been really nice, although the temperature drops a lot at night, especially with the clear sky.

Climbed up Platteklip Gorge this morning with friends Lee-Anne, Judy and David - felt like quite an achievement on reaching the top of Table Mountain after nearly three hours of a tough, steep climb, often scrambling over enormous stone 'steps'.   The start of the path up shows how it was all the way up to the top - steep and full of stone steps, many far larger than those shown here!

Fabulous views and lots of other people also attempting the climb on such a lovely Sunday.  Quite a few dassies were seen lying out in the hot sunshine at the top...

 
and there were great views along the coast and over to False Bay from the top of the mountain ... before catching the cable car down and driving back to the yacht club for a late dinner.

Photos show Lion's Head mountain and general view over Cape Town and Table Bay from the Table Mt cable car:

 

Saturday was also thoroughly enjoyable, with a lovely, sunny sail in the afternoon on board 'Lobelia' out in the bay, taking part (for my second time this year) in some club racing - excellent wind conditions and we had a great, fun race - first over the line, well ahead of the rest of the fleet!

Later, I was delighted to get some useful help from club member Gerhard in dealing with a problem I've been having in updating my 'Articles and Interviews' website page.  I'd spent easily three days last week, struggling to learn how to upload files and text myself and had made good progress, except for a few items which had me beaten - but all is virtually now in place, except for one recent magazine article and two TV items from 2009, still causing a slight problem which should be resolved very soon.  (If you want to check out that section, click on this link: http://www.svnereida.com/article/my_rss_podcast.php )

Earlier in the week, even though expected, it was upsetting to hear of the death from cancer of Ed (K7UEN) in Pt Townsend - a good friend to so many people in the 'Pacific NW' and B.C. and a keen Ham.... He will be missed.

Work on board has been typically erratic and not very productive since my return from the UK, with a continuation of the frustrating problems of getting people to keep to expected time-keeping.  A replacement compressor for the fridge didn't solve the problem there - there seems to be a possible blockage in the refrigerant circuit; the wrong version of a replacement tricolour and anchor light fitting was sent from Denmark a..nd I'm still waiting to hear if a replacement for a faulty shore power control panel has arrived from the Netherlands.   In the meantime, electrical work is on hold, so the boat is still topsy-turvy down below, but at least progress was made on some stainless steel work with a good fairlead now in place for retrieving the Jordan series drogue next time around and a fitting for a stern anchor also in place, along with some useful improvements to fittings in the galley area.  The steel arch is to be lifted next week , to re-bed the base plate and bolts through the deck with sealant in an effort to prevent seawater ingress down below.... similarly the staysail deck fitting, which has been leaking badly into the forepeak.   Once that has been done, the rig will be checked over by a good rigger here.  

There still seems to be quite a long list of outstanding work to be done... so I'm having to extend my visa here so as to avoid possible complications.   Time was needed on Friday to start organizing that (including a medical and x-ray!) and tomorrow I'll visit the Home Affairs Dept again, to submit my application. I'm hoping to assist in a scheme to get youngsters sailing as a way to help them develop in a positive way and overcome a variety of problems due to their impoverished background .

With such slow progress on work, I had plenty of time to watch some Wimbledon, which I've not seen for several years -  that was very enjoyable.  (Usually, the Club TV screens are full of rugby and cricket...)

I was also taken by car to Hout Bay Y.C. by Alistair and family soon after my return -  a pleasant ride along the coast and it seemed a very friendly club, although the boats on the dock at Hout Bay are often very exposed to strong wind and swell and there's not much racing.  Afterwards, we went to the Eastern Market for a meal - it's a great place for good but cheap food of all types - Indian, Chinese etc.  Here at the RCYC, there's been good live music on Fridays and it's continued to be a very sociable place to be in while I try to get work finished on board.     I'm looking into exploring a bit of S.Africa when the boat work is finished, since I seem to be 'trapped' here for the present.....  

Cape Town Report 3

'Chunky', Dockmaster at the Royal Cape Y.C., very kindly placed me conveniently right in front of the Clubhouse - I can get wi-fi to the boat without a problem and have no distance to walk to the restaurant and Bar .... and on a sunny, warm day, the view of Table Mountain can't be bettered!

Work has gone frustratingly slowly - but I've also been relaxing and socialising a lot - often in front of the lovely log fire lit in the Club of an evening now that the winter cold weather has arrived - I'm glad to have a small fan heater in the boat to take the chill off  the air quite often... and it's nice to be able to play my iPod music through the radio speakers at last. 

Present jobs in hand include sails, series drogue bag, transformer, instruments and autopilot problems, watermaker, gelcoat repair, windsteering adjustments and vane replacement, tricolour replacement, stainless steel work ... and I've probably missed some items....!

It was lovely to be invited to join Leeann and Giovanna for some Sunday walks in a group - good exercise, beautiful views and some delightful flowers and plants to be seen to add into the enjoyable company!

Sunday 29th May 2011:  Climbed up the Lion's Head mountain on a rather damp day - luckily, it hardly rained at all.   It was so nice to get away from the Yacht Club to get some fresh air and exercise!.

View along coast beyond Camps Bay, with the 'Twelve Apostles' shrouded in cloud:

Pretty but tiny flowers were frequently seen beside the path up:

The top of the mountain looms high above us - not too far to go now....

A steep climb in places, over the rocks - but lunch beckons...

The obligatory 'over-the-edge' photo (with Leeann), Robben Island in the distance, under the overcast sky with the sun trying, but mostly failing, to shine through..

The cloud closed in a bit as we made our way down....

Lovely giant proteas, typical of the Cape area, were flowering near the end of our descent:

Some proteas were just about to open:

On Friday 3rd June, I gave a short after-dinner talk and slideshow about my sailing to the Officers of the Royal Cape Rifles (Duke's) in their Mess in the old Castle of Cape Town - an area not normally visited by tourists and full of old memorabilia.   A very enjoyable evening and an interesting insight into a different aspect of S. Africa.

On Sunday 5th June: I got away from the boat again - this time to climb Table Mountain itself.

Start of climb from Kirstenbosch Gardens - we're headed up to the top, right up there!!

Giovanna and daughter Beth rest on way up steep waterfall - section of the steep scramble up Skeleton Gorge - definitely not a relaxing amble through the woods...!

Lovely, often vivid, flowers, often very small... But with eyes constantly looking down to see where feet had to be placed for secure footholds, there was little trouble spotting them!

Lunch was eaten under this craggy, worn overhang near the top of Table mountain, before the descent:

Interesting wind-eroded rocks at the top:

We girls do the 'over-the-edge' photo-shoot at the top!!

Looking over to False Bay on descent down Nursery Ravine on Table Mountain - It was this steep all the way down!   The climb up Skeleton Gorge was easy by comparison...

These tiny little flowers needed a touch more sunshine for them to open up fully:

More of the beautiful flowering plants in the Kirstenbosch Gardens:

A visit to the Cape area wouldn't be complete without seeing some of its dramatic Proteas - these magnificent blooms were on display in the Gardens' entrance, but we'd passed lots of the plants near the bottom of Nursery Ravine and on the slopes above the Gardens:

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13-27 June:  
Flew to London while work was stopped on dealing with electrical and instrument repairs/problems with Robert taking a 3-wk holiday (I'd hoped his work would have been finished beforehand, but some problems were rather time-consuming to sort out ... and a lot of TIA-type delays also didn't help....) 
Brought some items with me to UK for testing/repair/replacement - took them down to Portsmouth and  Southampton for a speedy turnaround - Raymarine and Navico both being very helpful, as usual, and made a useful stop at a couple of chandleries.   Pauline, at Force 4, was her usual very helpful self. 
Have been catching up a bit with family and friends, plus getting dental and medical side of things sorted out.   And have spent a lot of time on paperwork - being away for long periods means lots of post to catch up on ... and tax returns can't be avoided...  
ITN wanted me to visit their TV Studios in central London for a 'live' News item on my successful RTW completion and resultant record-setting....  Eventually managed it on Monday 20th June - was very relaxing to be chauffer-driven there and back through the busy London traffic - and no parking problems either...!  Was very interesting to see the studio production side of TV - lots of people crammed into a relatively small space!  
Summer weather in England is very similar to winter weather in Cape Town, with Cape Town a little colder and often needing heat in the evenings and overnight, but the days in England, being around Midsummer's Day, are noticeably longer, of course.   It's still light well after 10pm in London, but dark by 6pm in Cape Town.
I'm hoping to complete all work on "Nereida" within a fortnight of my return, so I can sail over to St Helena and Brazil for some warmth and relaxation, until the seasons change later in the year....  But my plans, as always, are 'made in wet sand at low water'...!

Tuesday 24th May

"This is Africa" .... or TIA...!!    Translates rather like "Manana" or "This is the Caribbean"... or "This is S. America" !!  In other words, don't expect too much to happen too quickly.... or too soon.... despite any promises or 'appointments' ....   grrr!!!

No sails removed for estimates for repairs - neither yesterday nor today (nothing heard either) ..... ditto no sign of steelwork I would like done being thought about, let alone started (I know it'll happen eventually, but that's little consolation right now!)....  Nothing achieved yesterday or today on outstanding electrical work, although lots of emails and discussion.... and nothing further today on aligning of alternator (although at least engine and genset were checked over and oil changes etc done last week, in addition to gearshift mechanism being replaced - It was totally corroded and actually broken so no wonder I had problems when I was trying to dock on arrival here!) .... So I'm feeling just a bit frustrated with lack of progress..... especially having felt on Friday that finally the ball was rolling...
 
Definitely having to relax positively, so as not to get stressed out waiting around for people not to show ....   And getting other work and/or estimates organized is also proving difficult......  Knowing the TIA syndrome here, I knew better than to fix a time when I could think about leaving....  "How long is a piece of string??" is my usual response to the question!   So I'm trying to get on with what I can do in the meantime .... and, apart from getting on with boat cleaning and tidying, that includes the pleasant but lengthy task of replying to lots of emails full of good wishes  - and trying to raise funds for charity, now that I've finally completed a solo RTW.  That's taken a lot of effort and time.

What else...?   Plenty of relaxing and chatting to friendly people here in the evenings...  good music last Friday....  All very nice but I'm tied to the boat and not getting out much although I was taken out by friends on Saturday - nice to drive out of Cape Town and see the rugged peaks of the Stellenbosch mountains in the distance.

  View down to Cape Town from near top of Table Mountain (taken February last year, on steep climb up Platteklip Gorge) 

Wed 25th May

Feeling much better!   Genoa returned repaired and stays'l taken for repair from flogging caused by knockdown and mains'l to be removed for repair tomorrow first thing...    Radio replaced and iPod connection now good.    Fridge looked at and 'expert' coming by on Friday to deal with it (compressor or pump seem to be the problem areas)....   Autopilot drive unit removed for testing/checking/servicing... temp sensor in depth transducer seems to be definitely faulty.....  Need to improve rigidity of rudder reference unit support... too flexible at present.   Trying to organize replacement under warranty of tricolour and anchor lights at mast top - neither are working.

Alastair (who I met on Saturday with his family, while with friends Melvin & Shama) spent a lot of time this afternoon and early evening, looking over PC problems and software and advising on changing items to give less power consumption and more reliable system.   Confirmed old PC and  separate screen were totally 'toasted' by saltwater but sorted out independent GPS 'dongle' to PC which I'm using now - so that's working to give back-up position, course and speed input...finally!  Ordered new 12V PC charger, digital thermostat for fridge, trying to sort out new stand-alone LED replacement screen & also TV software for PC to replace TV function of damaged screen.   Just as he was leaving, he asked if I'd like to help him bringing his boat around here from Hout Bay tomorrow - sounded like a good idea so that's possibly happening tomorrow, if weather is OK.

Alternator alignment .... Philip and Welcome of Southern Marine came by - seems only solution to alternator alignment problem is to replace present pulley with new aluminium one to resolve problem of misalignment .... replacement motor clearly very slightly different from old one replaced last year, hence the problem.

Being now evening, I relaxed and had a meal with the usual friendly Wed evening crowd in the clubhouse - no racing tonight, but people still come by to chat and get together.   Hoping to join a small group on a possible walk up the Lion's Head mountain  this coming Sunday morning - if weather OK.

The only other cruiser here beside myself, Ron on 'Reckless' (a Nic 32), is finally trying to get ready to leave after many months here....He'll be making for St Helena and then on to Brazil, which is possibly the route I'll be taking from here once all my work is finished, but he's finding it difficult to leave after being here for so long...!
 

Saturday 14th May 2011

It's been made to feel like a real 'homecoming' by the friendly Royal Cape Y.C. members - so many of whom I know well from my stay here last year....

I've been totally relaxing - almost unwilling even to think about all the work that needs doing on board...! I've had so many emails with good wishes from people - all very much appreciated and nice to receive - thank you all! It'll take me a time to respond to them all but I hope to quite soon....

Friday I finally got to Immigration & Customs to Clear in .... and got some S.African rands (local currency). The RCYC driver Brian kindly took me there and back to enable that, including a quick visit to the Waterfront complex for a SA simcard for my mobile phone - so as well as being solvent now, I'm also contactable - which was made use of during the afternoon by the local radio station here in Cape Town for a 'live' chat on CapeTalk Radio. Early in the evening, I also had a 'live' telephone interview with Geoff Holt on BBC Radio Solent's 'H2O Show' which will have gone out in the 7pm programme that evening.

After refuelling, "Nereida" was pushed around the marina and in to a new berth in front of the clubhouse on Friday afternoon by Edmund and his team of helpers..... without incident!

Live music and more socialising over Friday evening ... nice to get in a bit of celebratory singing and dancing... I missed my music on board after the iPod connection to the radio (and its speakers) went down during my knockdown...

Today there should have been a major regatta so it's been very busy in the clubhouse (more catching up with people!) but the water has been like a millpond - so it was finally postponed to tomorrow, in the hope of some breeze then....