Day 99, Saturday 6 November 2004
Richards Bay (South Africa)
GPS: 28° 47.0' S 32° 04.0' E
[Natascha >>]
Although the boat is a total mess we don't feel like cleaning up. We rather join John and Verna - who arrived early this morning - for lunch. Greek salad, a juicy steak and French fries, the food we've been craving for for ages. After six bottles of wine the Golden Sovereign crew joins us and we decide it's time for the rugby game South Africa - Wales and some more drinks; tequila.
John finally collapses at 11 pm. He only had one night of sleep the night before and today’s booze did the rest. Stefan half way carries him down the stairs and over the marina pontoons. Every pulpit is his best friend and it takes Stefan quite some effort to convince John to give it a best try for the next one... Finally they have him at the end of the dock, leaning against his boat, but how the hell do we get this 100 kg of dead weight two meters up onto his boat? Hauling is out of the question, which calls for more drastic measures: The boatsman chair. Shaun gets theirs and once we manoeuvre John’s legs into the seat and connect the spinnaker halyard, he is ready to be hoisted. Ok, winch the bastard up! Those South Africans can’t drink, do they -:)?
Day 100, Sunday 7 November 2004
Richards Bay (South Africa)
GPS: 28° 47.0' S 32° 04.0' E
John is back amongst the living, he has no clue how he came back to his boat yesterday. With the four of us we take a taxi to the shopping centre. In an internet cafe we download a whole lot of emails (great!) and email the updated logs and pictures to our webmaster Eugène. We buy an enormous supply of food and grab a hamburger in one of South Africa's popular fast food chains.
In the afternoon Espiritu finally gets her big clean-up. Now that we have plenty freshwater again, we clean the inside of the cupboards and lockers, scrub the deck and remove ruststains until she resembles the boat that left Singapore.
As soon as we have a favourable weather window of at least 12 hours - which means preferably south-east - we'll sail the 90 miles to Durban. Initially it looked like we could leave tomorrow but again a small cold front is coming up.
Day 101, Monday 8 November 2004
Richards Bay (South Africa)
GPS: 28° 47.0' S 32° 04.0' E
More cleaning today. It's tempting not to rent a car for a nice daytrip. The scenery must be stunning with masses of game. Too bad, today our scenery doesn't stretch further than Tuzi Gazi Marina and as all boat owners we work our bones of. (Feel sorry for us already? Guess not!) We want to finish our to-do list before 21st November, the arrival day of our Dutch friends Marjon and Martin. Since Durban is a better place to get boating stuff and mechanics, we are very much looking forward to a weather window. Latest weather forecast shows we could leave tomorrow afternoon.
Another couple that seems quite busy on their boat Sterling are Huigje and Nick, also from The Netherlands. Three days after leaving Cocos Keeling they got hammered in (a not forecasted) 50 knots of wind. Torn mainsail, genoa, broken autopilot...What a disappointment!
We invite them for a sundowner onboard. They lived in Taiwan and South Korea for more than ten years. They started cruising in 2001 and, despite some troubles with their boat, truly enjoy this lifestyle.
Day 102, Tuesday 9 November 2004
Richards Bay (South Africa)
GPS: 28° 47.0' S 32° 04.0' E
We are leaving this afternoon...aren't we? We complete all clearance formalities in Richards Bay centre in the morning. It’s actually quite ridiculous that you have to clear-out when only going to the next port within the same country. It’s tempting to ignore them but we’re told that they will chase you down if you don’t follow their stupid procedures. Back in the marina we see Clive who informs us that this afternoon might not be suitable to leave, an uncomfortable south-westerly starts picking up. So we are not leaving today. Tomorrow afternoon should be fine...but you never know in South Africa...
For now, let's enjoy ourselves, together with Huigje and Nick we go out for supper at a Thai restaurant. We order a very spicy curry dish, shouldn't be a problem since we all lived in Asia for quite some time. But hell, it WAS spicy!!! Am afraid we're not used to it anymore since we left Singapore more than three months ago.
Day 103, Wednesday 10 November 2004
Departure from Richards Bay (South Africa)
GPS: 28° 47.0' S 32° 04.0' E
At 6.30 in the morning we get woken up by Shaun who's knocking on our boat. "We are leaving now".
"Now?"
"Yes now"
"And Just Jinks en Bedouin?"
"As well"
Alright, that's clear enough. What shall we do? Still one eye closed, Stefan walks over to our South African friends. In case we are leaving in half an hours time as well, I start stowing things away and doing the dishes. When I'm done after twenty minutes and ready to leave, Stefan returns saying we are leaving only this afternoon.Shit, woken up this early for nothing! Clive and Chris are leaving now indeed since they want to sail to East London directly. A south-westerly is forecasted for this Friday, so they need to hurry up. Just Jinks and we are only going to Durban which is a fourteen hours sail. We are leaving at 6pm so that we will arrive in the morning.
Day 104, Thursday 11 November 2004
Arrival Durban (South Africa)
GPS: 29° 52.0' S 31° 03.0' E
What a night! Beating against 25 knots is hard enough and due to the nasty cross swell (caused by wind against current) Espiritu behaves like a roller coaster. They call it confused waves. I wonder who's more confused; the waves or I. The bucket and I are best friends again.
In the morning we chat with Just Jinks over the VHF. John asks whether we saw all those whales, he counted at least twenty of them this morning. "Err, not really", Stefan replies. "I was asleep and Natascha was on watch but she didn't see any". Being slightly jealous we start keeping a look-out for them and yes, after a while we see two gigantic tales coming out of the water!
There are the first ones! “Quick, I see two of them in front of the boat!” That is not an exaggeration – they only pass two meters in front of the boat while we are doing more than 8 knots and have no means of stopping at short notice. Stefan disengages the autopilot and swings the wheel around in attempt to go around them. Not necessary though – elegantly they dive under to be seen again 50 meters later. That was damn close.
We arrive at Durban Marina at eight in the morning. It’s enormous with more than 500 places. We’re quite lucky to get a spot right next to the entrance of the walk-on – nice to draw only 1.20 meter. Just as Hennie in Richards Bay, the harbourmaster, Henk, is a Dutchman again.
The yacht club has free internet, a nice bar and is located right in the centre of the CBD, close to everything we need: Chandlers, laundry service, car rental, supermarket and the lot. Around the corner is the beach, supposedly kite surfers paradise. But... first there’s work, and plenty of it!
Day 105, Vrijdag 12 November 2004
Durban (South Africa)
GPS: 29° 52.0' S 31° 03.0' E
Today Stefan did a terrific job finding mechanics and other repairmen. A sail maker to repair the spinnaker, somebody for the broken genoa halyard, a fridge mechanic, a rigger for the inner shroud and somebody to check the HF radio. A very productive day I must say.
In the Royal Natal Yacht Club we meet Michael, Mary and Claire from the catamaran Andromeda. Michael is a (kite)surfer and tomorrows' kitesurfing is arranged before ordering our first beer.
Day 106, Saturday 13 November 2004
Durban (South Africa)
GPS: 29° 52.0' S 31° 03.0' E
 Stefan fixed the switch for the electrical toilet, which seized yesterday. I must admit that I was the one causing the fault. When cleaning the forward head, I like to use plenty of water, which nicely dribbles into the switch, and thus corrodes the contacts. Not a big problem though, just a bit if WD40 and some sandpaper did the trick.
Afternoon drinks were spent watching rugby, this time South Africa – Ireland. I still don’t fully understand the rules and it’s actually quite confusing to work out what’s going on by looking at a scrambling pile of arms and legs, with the ball somewhere deeply buried. By the way, South Africa lost and even I could see it was because of a lack of individual strength. The Irish simply blocked each South African running forward straightaway, whereas they were allowed to run for another 10 meters after the initial block. You would almost think the Springboks are a bunch of sissies...
Day 107, Sunday 14 November 2004
Durban (South Africa)
GPS: 29° 52.0' S 31° 03.0' E
More befriended boats arrive each day creating a nice gathering of yachties in the marina. Sterling (Huigje and Nick) and Charlotte (Thomas and Gill) are there and Dos Tintos (Steve and Judy), arrives a day after us. We hear Bernt from Auryn – who we met in the Seychelles – shouting: "ESPIRITUUUUUUUU!" We also expect the Swedish single hander Hans from Born Free to show up any time soon. He took the southerly route from Cocos Keeling to Rodrigues, Mauritius and Reunion.
 For those of you who think we’re the only ones having troubles: Charlotte has a broken boom, Born Free broke its rudder and some stanchions, Auryn had a storm with 45 knots of wind and Sterling has two torn sails and a wrecked autopilot. The Indian Ocean is a serious piece of water...
After mounting the replacement electrical bilgepump, Stefan is released to the beach. Michael, a very healthy guy in his mid-fifties has a car and is a fanatic kite surfer who offered Stefan a ride to the beach. I join to have a nice beach walk and, if the weather is alright, have a swim as well. When I return two hours later, Michael looks thoroughly exhausted and satisfied while Stefan already changed and packed his stuff. One of the kite tubes has a puncture and he didn’t bring a repair kit – poor lad.
Day 108, Monday 15 November 2004
Durban (South Africa)
GPS: 29° 52.0' S 31° 03.0' E
The spinnaker can be rebuilt. That’s good news since we will need that thing going up the South Atlantic with its light south-easterly winds. Going almost dead downwind, we can use every square inch of cloth we can hoist so having the spinnaker is a big bonus. Imagine doing the 3,500 miles at only 5 rather than 8 knots. You are looking at 29 instead of 18 days!
Another pleasant surprise: the fridge compressor is still alright, only the cooling-water pump seized and the compressor simply tripped because it got overheated. The excitement doesn’t last very long though – a new pump comes to 300 Euro and will have to be ordered from Cape Town, which takes a week. The fridge guy also sees possibilities to fix the 12 Volt system, so that we have at least one system properly running. Gosh, would I fancy a glass of cold milk in the morning and chilled white wine for sun-downers.
Day 109, Tuesday 16 November 2004
Durban (South Africa)
GPS: 29° 52.0' S 31° 03.0' E
 Espiritu sticks her bum quite far out compared to the other yachts. We can come a lot further inshore than the other yachts of equal size thanks to the lifting keel, which reduces our draft to only 1.20 meters. Together with her blue hull and Dutch flag we are quickly well-known. "Oh, you are from Espiritu" is what we hear often in the bar or even at the local chandlers.
[<< Natascha]
[Stefan >>]
It’s time to join Michael for a little kitesurf at the beach. Bugger all with boat jobs – if it blows, I’m very good at putting my conscious to bed. My old teachers can testify to that-:).
I was already of the opinion that my beginner’s board was a bit too long but when this old man (with all respect) started laughing at my board that didn’t even fit in the car properly, I realise it’s really about time to get a new board. Knowing that these are a lot cheaper here than back home it makes perfect sense to buy one here. All I have to do is pass the ‘budget-dragon’.
So, how do you create a budget? Well, by creating a need for the budget-holder, in this case budget-dragon, given that budgets are unlikely to be granted. The key would be to make her needing a board, more specifically a beginner’s board, which would force me to buy my own. Quite reasonable, hey? And you know what – the kiteboard shop happens to give lessons as well, even on a ‘guarantee’ basis. For 120 Euro, they will teach Natascha how to kiteboard for as long as it takes to stand comfortably on the board. Perfect, it reduces the pressure to learn as quickly as possible and we’re now sure she will actually be able to ride by the time we leave. Not a bad deal – you invest 120 Euro and get a budget of 300 in return. You got to be an accountant to come to this idea -:).
And the best of all – she actually agrees...
Day 110, Wednesday 17 November 2004
Durban (South Africa)
GPS: 29° 52.0' S 31° 03.0' E
We head for the kiteshop first thing and meet Jo, a friendly Flemish guy who nearly killed himself being an overworked project manager, and since then moved to South Africa as kitesurfing and paragliding instructor. The agreement for next morning means the point-of-no-return is passed. It would be fantastic if Natascha would master kitesurfing quickly so that we can go together for the rest of the journey. After snowboarding, diving and sailing, this is the next challenge I lead her into. She will undoubtfully curse my bones numerous times over the coming days, but she’ll never have a dull moment!
[<< Stefan]
 [Natascha
>>]
It was actually inevitable that I would give it a try. The thought of riding over the water like on a snowboard is quite appealing. I’m only a bit concerned about the kite itself. Man, does that thing generate power! I already see myself getting airborne by the kite before being smacked back on the beach to find myself being dragged through the sand for half a mile. Let’s hope Jo is as skilful as confident, and he seems patient enough as well. That’s exactly why Stefan would be the worst instructor for me possible: he too impatient, and me too pig-headed to listen properly. Strange eyes work better in such a case, so Jo, give it a go!
 We rent a car to see the Valley of 1000 Hills. We follow the Old Main Route, which used to run from Durban to Pietermaritzburg. The valley attracts many tourists thanks to the Heritage Market that has a lot of local craftwork and the Phe Zulu Safari Park, where you are offered a glimpse at the Zulu-culture.
To be honest, the Phe Zulu Safari Park is nice, but it does make you feel like the ultimate tourist. We skipped the game-drive (as if there is any game around here), did the crocodile adventure (a bloody zoo) and of course signed up for the ‘Zulu-village experience’. A replica of a Zulu village is set-up just behind the reception, including a couple of Zulu’s in traditional costumes carrying spears, shields and drums. The unmarried Zulu-girls were indeed topless, but quickly disappear after the dance act. All in all, nice to have seen, but not spectacular. For that you probably have to go a lot further inland.
 Having completed their circumnavigation, Verna and John are going to put their boat on the market. Given that Durban has the largest boating community, it is best to leave her here and do the last 200 miles home by car. In a way sad, sailing into your own homeport after such a trip would be the topping on the cake for me. We have our last dinner together in a Schwartzwalder restaurant, with a huge Eisbein, John has been dreaming about ever since French Polynesia. We will certainly visit them in St. Francis Bay one our way to Cape Town.
Day 111, Thursday 18 November 2004
Durban (South Africa)
GPS: 29° 52.0' S 31° 03.0' E
My first kitesurfing lesson! The three hours are gone before I know it, with all the theory, rigging up the kite, launching and kiting itself. That is, me holding the bar and Jo behind me holding my harness and sometimes guiding my arms to steer it properly. Not so easy because each time he lets go, the kite crashes on the beach within 10 seconds.
The yacht club organises a braai (South African for barbecue) for all yachties every Thursday night. It’s the first time we go out with our fellow Dutchmen Henk and Marjolein from the Jori. Lots of similar experiences, frustrations, the same appreciation of good food and wine, and talking lots of shit. Perfect night.
Day 112, Vrijdag 19 November 2004
Durban (South Africa)
GPS: 29° 52.0' S 31° 03.0' E
For hours it is launching the kite, crashing it, sorting out entangled lines, running over the hot sand and being dragged by the kite. Numb arms, sore feet and red-faced from the sun and excitement. Pffffff!! And this is only on the beach, let alone the confusion when having a board attached to my feet. Nevermind, all beginning is difficult, it’s simply a matter of hanging in there and don’t give up. And do I sleep tight.
[<< Natascha]
[Stefan >>]
With Marjon and Martin's arrival approaching quickly, it’s about time to really make some ground on the to-do list. To speed things up, one more issue is added: the solar panels don’t charge anymore, which has some priority in the absence of shore-power. The components at play are the panels, wiring, solar regulator (prevents over-charging) and the amps-meter. With previous experienced wiring failures in mind that’s where I start. Too bad, still doesn’t work, so next phase is testing the amps-meter for continuity – works. The solar panels itself work fine so it has to be the regulator. The electricity shop listed in the “Welcome to Durban” book has one, but closes within 15 minutes. Off you go, sweating heavily and 60 Euros further, I’m the proud owner of a new regulator. Of course it doesn’t fit in the old spot so I have to redo the wiring to keep myself properly occupied. And you probably would have guessed, it still didn’t work. Turns out the amps-meter has a faulty contact, causing it to work on and off. Will have to by-pass it for now and arrange a replacement later.
The fridge mechanic looks at the 12 Volts system shaking his head. "You did this yourself?" "Err, no, a guy in Singapore did this for us". "Well it’s a ‘kak’ arrangement (South African for shit): The compressor is in the wrong location, the lines are too thin and the evaporator plate is useless". Looking a bit closer, it seems that the thin lines are the only real problem, so I suggest to only replace these. Shaking his head again he looks at me. “Now, do you want me to make this work or not?” "Alright, rebuild the whole thing as you think it should be done, because yes, I did vow to leave Durban only with a working fridge – no matter the cost". I also agree to order the 220 Volts cooling pump so that we have a perfectly working refrigeration system when we leave Durban.
Talking about pumps, Nick from Sterling states during the afternoon drinks that we probably have 25 pumps on board. Under the assumption that a pump has an average lifetime of 10 years, you’re looking at 2 to 3 failures a year. You might not believe the number of 25, and neither did we. But here they are:
- Primary fuelpump engine
- High-pressure fuelpump engine
- Raw-waterpump engine
- Fresh-waterpump engine
- Primary fuelpump outboard engine
- High-pressure fuelpump outboard engine
- Raw-waterpump outboard engine
- Primary fuelpump generator
- High-pressure fuelpump generator
- Raw-waterpump generator
- Fresh waterpump generator
- Electrical bilgepump
- Reserve electrical bilgepump
- Manual bilgepump
- Fresh waterpump galley
- Manual toilet pump aft
- Inletpump electrical toilet forward
- Discharge pump electrical toilet froward
- Discharge pump shower
- Compressor pump aircon
- Raw-waterpump aircon
- Compressor pump 220 Volts fridge
- Coolwater pump 220 Volts fridge
- Compressor pump 12 Volts fridge
- Compressor pump dive-compressor
There we are, exactly 25! And that’s without the foot pump for the dinghy, the pump for the kites and the bicycle pump-:). Sometimes I wish we had a less complex boat without so much gear that can break-up. But then, if it all works, it’s just so nice and convenient.
[<< Stefan]
[Natascha >>]
Stefan has a new toy: A brand new, flashy, smaller, faster kiteboard that is supposed to jump and ride upwind like a dream. I can’t wait-:).
And I will be struggling with his old more stable board very soon. As if that new board wouldn’t have got there if I hadn’t taken up any lessons...
Day 113, Saturday 20 November 2004
Durban (South Africa)
GPS: 29° 52.0' S 31° 03.0' E
The to-do list gets shorter every day. Stefan replaced some screws which caused leaks in one of the wardrobes, we had some welding jobs done, replaced sheets, repaired the anchor windlass, replaced a rusty block on the deck, etc.While Stefan works his bones off on Espiritu, I'm having a hard time on the beach trying to get the hang off handling a kite. It's quite disappointing and frustrating, I really hoped to learn it much faster. I'm not the only one who is having problems. Two guys didn't notice me while landing their kite and one of the lines skims my ear, undoing the ear-ring which lands in the sand. #%^*#XX#!!! After a hopeless search and thousand apologises from their side we give up. Thank goodness I didn't lose my ear!
Day 114, Sunday 21 November 2004
Durban (South Africa)
GPS: 29° 52.0' S 31° 03.0' E
 When we are scrubbing the deck at 08.30 am, Marjon and Martin show up unexpectedly early. We didn't expect them earlier than 10 am. Great to see them again! They brought lots of nice goodies from Holland:
Liquorice (drop), treacle-wafers (stroopwafels), chocolate strands (hagelslag), gingerbread (taai-taai) and Calvé peanut butter (Calvé pindakaas).!
 Stefan gives our guests a conducted tour and proudly demonstrates all different toys and goodies. He even shows them the engine compartment.
There's hardly any wind which means no kitesurf-torture for today. Instead we catch up on Holland gossip, have lunch and open the wine bottle a bit earlier than normally.
Day 115, Monday 22 November 2004
Sodwana Bay (South Africa)
We drive to Sodwana Bay in a fully loaded Nissan Almera: Four backpacks, four sleeping bags, two kites, a kitesurfboard, three complete dive sets, food and drinks. Only too bad it's raining cats and dogs.
 The chalet is very roomy and has an open kitchen, bar and braai (barbecue) in the garden. Upon arranging the dives for tomorrow we open a box of rosé. One catch is the presence of ants and huge cockroaches. In the evening, when it's getting cold outside, they crawl through the cracks of the house. At night we get woken up by ants crawling all over our backs, but besides this little inconvenience our accommodation is alright. (www.kznwildlife.com)
[<< Natascha]
[Stefan >>]
We are stunned to hear that dive tanks and lead need to be rented separately. Normally they are included in the price. The ladies at the reception try to convince me but I'd rather talk to the manager directly. He's smart enough to avoid any discussion over the telephone and we agree to meet later that night. By then he gives in without any further objections. Justice after all!
[<< Stefan]
Day 116, Tuesday 23 November 2004
Sodwana Bay (South Africa)
[Natascha >>]
The alarm goes at 05.45 am, time for the first dive! We have to rent thicker wetsuits because our 2-3 mm wetsuits will probably be to thin in the 23 degrees seawater. A 10 minutes trip with a tractor brings us to the beach at Jesser Point. The Coral Bay dive school is large, commercial, but overall well-organised and equipped. We are ferried to the dive sites with more than adequate speed-boats, which is actually part of the fun. Racing through the surf is spectacular as it is, but the best part is the landing. Favourite trick to pass the surf is enter the 150 meter flat water bay and floor the two times 85 hp outboards, accelerating the boat so fast that it lands five meters higher on the beach. Quite scary the first time, a lot of fun thereafter.
 The first dive will be at the "2-miles reef". At “1-2-3!” we roll backwards with eight divers and descend to the bottom and see... nothing! After fighting the current for 15 minutes, the dive master finally signals to ascend again. Incredible, these clowns can’t find the reef. Stefan is quite disturbed and shouts that he is not going to pay for this rubbish. Martin and I agree that this was rather clumsy, but we feel that getting back to the boat has the first priority. The captain and the dive master apologise and when they drop us again – with 50 bar less – we fortunately manage to find the reef. We can’t really blame the guys who have to navigate on land marks because they’re not provided with GPS. That’s probably something to take up with the manager. As if these things are utterly expensive.
 The giant murray, blue-spotted stingray, turtle and beautiful fish save the day, even though it's a short dive. I use a lot more air than normally and later we find out that the first stage doesn’t function properly, which is actually imaginable given that we haven’t serviced the equipment for the past three years. We finish the day in true South African fashion with a braai.
[<< Natascha]
Day 117, Wednesday 24 November 2004
Sodwana Bay (South Africa)
[Stefan >>]
The weather is quite bad with limited sight and the absence of GPS devices is disturbing again. There is no way we can find the site in this weather – all the guy can offer us is to drop us at the spot he believes to be right, but no promises. Good for him because we don’t see a thing again.
When signing up for the last dive, we see the manager and I kindly inform him that I’m not going to pay a dime, if his guys can’t find the site again. He defends himself by stating that GPS is not reliable as well and that they rarely miss the reef. Well sport, I trust my life to GPS on a daily basis and your guys’ track record hasn’t been very impressive so far. He explains extensively that there is current and wind at play which makes it all very complicated. The more he talks, the less convincing he becomes and after ten minutes he quickly diverts his attention to another, less difficult client. We let him off reminding him of the payment arrangement.
[<< Stefan]
 [Natascha >>]
While Martin goes for a second dive, I’m finding Jo who also came out to Sodwana Bay for a big kitesurfing event. This time one of his colleagues, Fred is my instructor. Stefan watches me struggling and no matter how hard I try, the bastard doesn’t want to stay in the air for anything longer then thirty seconds. Fred is extremely patient and explains again and again, all to no avail. I’m about to give up until...
[<< Natascha]
[Stefan >>]
This is going nowhere. Unless she flies that kite properly today, I doubt seeing her on a kiteboard ever. Time for a more rigorous approach – kind of all-or-nothing last attempt. Both her instructors teach her to keep the kite out of the power zone, which is all very safe, but makes it hard to fly the kite and keep it up in the air. I can see by her movements that there is no mental connection between pulling the bar and the motion of the kite. When Fred wants to show the other student how to launch the kite, I take the opportunity to instruct Natascha myself.
Instead of: “gently left” and “carefully right” it’s now: “hard left” and “full right”. While I hold her firmly by her harness, the kite races frantically through the power zone, keeping her more airborne than having her feet on the ground. After ten minutes she is exhausted and drops the kite on the beach. Fred approaches us completely stunned. Why hadn’t Jo and he managed to get her so far in three full days? Well, if subtlety doesn’t work, brute force might just do the trick. My favourite statement applies again.
 Now that she experienced the kite’s response to steering impulses, I let her try my own larger kite. After only thirty minutes, she is able to launch, land, steer, power, and de-power the kite. Enthusiastically she yells: “Yeah, now I’m feeling it, this is actually a lot of fun!”
[<< Stefan]
Day 118, Thursday 25 November 2004
Sodwana Bay / Hluhluwe (South Africa)
[Natascha >>]
The last dive is perfect and when Stefan also has the opportunity to test his new kiteboard properly, his day is complete. A quick lunch and off we go to the Hluhluwe game park. Hluhluwe (and the adjoining Umfolozi) is the only game park in the province KwaZulu-Natal that houses the Big Five: Rhino, lion, buffalo, elephant and leopard. We are committed to seeing all five of them.
 We reach the park entrance after an hour. The 15 remaining kilometres to the Hilltop Camp accommodation in itself is a fantastic gamedrive. We see a number of white rhinos, buffaloes, zebras and impalas. Hilltop Camp is situated on top of a mountain, overseeing a vast valley. We sleep in little rondavels, small round huts with thatched roofs. They are cool, cosy and clean. And best of all, no roaches or other creeping stuff!
[Click here for more Hluhluwe photos.]
Day 119, Vrijdag 26 November 2004
Hluhluwe (South Africa)
 We opt for an organised gamedrive considering you probably see more sitting higher up than from our own Almera. Early birdie again since the gamedrive starts at 06:00 am.
 Within five minutes we see the first rhino and five minutes later we see two male impalas fighting. It looks quite serious and after ten minutes one gives in and runs off. And in fact it is quite serious, because the winner takes it all, that is, takes all females to mate with. This will, however, take a while by the looks of the number of young calves. Nice-looking animals, very gracious and versatile. Being one of the lion’s and leopard’s favourite snacks, they better be fast.
The 26,000 impalas form the absolute majority in the park. To give you an idea, Hluhluwe-Umfolozi houses approximately 4,000 buffaloes, 1,700 white rhinos, 800 giraffes, 300 black rhinos, 300 elephants, 150 leopards, 120 lions, 40 cheetahs en 26 wild dogs.
 A white rhino is walking on the road ahead of us. He has clearly no intentions letting us pass, this is after all his territory. He looks back agitated and sprays urine to mark his presence. As if that’s not clear enough, he shits on the road and rubs the droppings with his feet. Finally, he is willing to let us pass and heads for the bush. Great to observe such a rare animal so closely.
 We conclude the day with a couple of T-bones on the braai, completed with an adequate portion of red wine. What a day!
Day 120, Saturday 27 November 2004
Hluhluwe (South Africa)
 I told you yesterday that there are about 1,700 white rhinos in Hluhluwe-Umfolozi. Those numbers were quite different in the past. Around 1900, there were only 100 animals left due to over-hunting and the rhino almost went extinct in Southern Africa. The Hluhluwe park was founded as a reserve to allow the species to recover, which was so successful that by 1955 the surplus of rhinos was transferred to other parks. There are currently around 7,000 white rhinos in Southern Africa.
 Since we got so close to the game yesterday, we took our own car for the second day to save some money. In search of the elephants and lions that occur more frequently in Umfolozi, we leave Hluhluwe early morning to explore the other park. We don’t see the enormous herds as in Etosha (Namibia) or Chobe (Botswana) but for that, we see all game a lot closer than ever before. Quite pictorial, isn’t it?
 Despite the numerous animals we’ve seen so far, we’re still missing out on the elephants, lions, leopards and cheetahs. We decide to leave the other game for what it is and speed up a bit to cover more ground, while carefully looking for huge droppings or wrecked trees; both in indication for passing elephants. And there he is, almost at the far end of the park we see Mr Elephant, a solitary bull who is enjoying some fresh leafs. Beautiful animal, it’s only a pity that he doesn’t take the trees right in front of him so that he would be fully exposed to our hungry cameras.
 By the end of the afternoon, everybody is pretty numb of staring through the bushes and one after the other dozes off. Until... there are two cheetahs posing on top of a hill. We manoeuvre the car as close as possible and I climb on top of the poor rental to get even better pictures. Let’s hope they work out because shooting with a 300mm lens standing on a wobbly car is not easy. Great cats, so versatile and gracious with the black tear dropping down on the inside of their eyes. Nice conclusion of a wonderful day.
Day 121, Sunday 28 November 2004
Hluhluwe (South Africa)
 One last gamedrive before we finally head back to Durban. We drive around for almost three hours and see close to nothing. Would the guys have a day off on Sundays? It seems that only the impalas and giraffes are on weekend shift – all others are excused from their entertainment duties. Oh well, not to complain, we’ve had our share yesterday.
We go back to the boat to check if everything is still ok (no leaks, fires or other disasters) and to chase up the repair guys.
Day
122, Monday 29 November 2004
Drakensberg / Royal Natal National
Park (South Africa)
The electrician completed the anchor windlass – most likely because he is leaving for a delivery to South America this Tuesday, which suits us as well. The sucker had three issues: the battery cables (replaced by Stefan earlier), the inside of the relay box was corroded and the electromotor itself had to be rewinded, which is essentially a complete rebuild. As Hans, the shop owner, puts it: if you can build it, you can also fix it. Those are the guys you want to have working on your boat.
The pump for the refrigerator has troubles reaching Durban which gets a bit of a nuisance so we urge the fridge guy again to chase him up, reminding him of all the work he’s done so far, which will only be paid upon full completion. That is how it works with these guys. The good ones are mostly fully booked and not too keen to help visiting yachts at the cost of local customers. The trick is to hook them up by persuading them to do at least part of the job to keep you satisfied, and then force them to complete it threatening that you won’t pay if it’s not finished. I know, it’s not elegant, but it seems to be the only way to get things done.
  A bit later than planned, we finally jump in the car to the Royal Natal National Park in Drakensberg. We look forward to hiking in the mountains for a few days away from the boat and stretching our legs again. According to the travel guide the scenery should be ‘awesome with stunning mountains, fantastic waterfalls and dramatic views’. Well, expectations are up!
Drakensberg is a huge mountain range in the shape of a half-moon and is situated in the western part of KwaZulu Natal, close to Lesotho and Freestate. The Royal Natal National Park is in the northern section, the area with the highest mountains. Most commonly known are the Mont aux Sources (3300 meters), Sentinel (3165 meters) and the Amphitheatre (2972 meters). Our chalet in Tendele has a brilliant view of the spectacular Amphitheatre, a curved plateau in the shape of an amphitheatre, which is actually a kind of table mountain as known from Cape Town. That one just begs to be climbed!
 We do a short trip to the Tiger Falls to warm up for the following day. Ouch! Dragging these huge mountain boots is something else than running around barefoot or wearing flip-flops at best.
Day 123, Tuesday 30 November 2004
Drakensberg / Royal Natal National
Park (South Africa)
 The Tugela Gorge should be one of the most beautiful hiking trails in the Royal Natal National Park. So off we go early morning. Nevermind the clouds, hopefully it will clear up soon. The trail starts hundred meters from our chalet.
 The scenery is stunning. We walk through an impressive landscape of hills and valleys. Below us we see a brooklet, an offshoot of the Tugela waterfalls. In front of us the enormous Amphitheatre and even higher the Sentinel. Everything is green, plants and trees are in full bloom. We hear baboons screaming in the distance. We keep up a stiff pace. Slowly the landscape narrows and we get surrounded by huge walls going steep up. The path changes in a wide strip of boulders and boulder-hopping we make our way to the gorge. Only us and the mountains, it's completely quiet. It seems this mornings' clouds did put off some hikers. The sun is shining by now.
 We've got three options: A tunnel right in front of us, a short chain ladder at our left and a longer chain ladder at our right. Since Marjon hates chain ladders she and Martin opt for the tunnel. Stefan and I choose the longer, somewhat unstable ladder, that's missing a few rungs here and there. Both the tunnel and the ladder route should meet further on. Just in case we miss each other, we agree to return to the gorge after 30 minutes and meet there.
 At the top of the ladder we get surprised by a nearly vertical and slippery part. We clamber up grasping branches and tree-stumps. When my legs are too short to reach the next boulder, Stefan gently pulls me up. This path goes as far as the foot of the Amphitheatre. We'd love to continue but after twenty minutes we still don't see Marjon and Martin and we decide to return to the gorge. And indeed, there they are. It turned out that the tunnel was filled with water, impossible to get through. The short chain ladder led to a mud-path so they decided to stay in the gorge and wait for us.
 After lunch in the gorge we make our way back to Tendele. Hurting feet, pinching toes and blisters on my heels. Those #!*^#**! mountain boots!
[<< Natascha]
Day 124, Wednesday 1 December 2004
Drakensberg / Royal Natal National
Park (South Africa)
 [Stefan
>>]
Result-oriented as we are, we don’t want to just wander around, we actually need a goal in the form of some kind of peak. You can climb the top of the Amphitheatre directly from our chalet, but that roundtrip would take about 9 hours, which is probably a bit too ambitious. Alternative is to drive out of the valley to the eastern side of the mountain, to a parking from where it is only 2.5 hours one way. That sounds more like it. Yesterday’s rain disappeared completely, so we’re up for a beautiful day with spectacular views.
 After only 45 minutes we find a viewpoint where we can overlook the whole Amphitheatre valley. Very different from the Alps and perhaps even more impressive. We continue our way up and after each corner we’re offered a new landscape. Better stop as we admire the view – the path is pretty narrow and the mountain steep enough to tumble down for a few hundred meters.
 On a few occasions, we have to pass a rock that’s tilted down, with the added feature of a nice view down the wall. Not appealing, especially if you’re somewhat uncomfortable with heights. Rock number one and two are pushing it, but number three manages to completely freeze Natascha. “No way, I’m not going any further, this is insane, forget it.” Encouraging, pleading, reassuring, even commanding to get a grip of herself, nothing can get her pass that ‘life-threatening’ rock. I still want to look around the corner to see if we can already view the chain ladder, which is the last section to the summit. And there I’m lucky. I meet a couple, well in their fifties and not half as fit as Natascha, which will give her a harder time to stay put. How is she going to explain later that she abandoned the trip over a rock where even an elderly couple didn’t have any problems? So she sits down on her butt and cautiously slides over the ‘life-threatening’ rock. Ok, we’re ready for the top now!
 Then follows the, in my view, much bigger challenge. A chain ladder runs 30 meters up to a wall, with no additional security features at all. So if you let go, you’re gone – simple as that. Natascha ascends without any hesitation, she even has the courage to stop and look down for a picture. Before I know it, she is climbing the shorter second ladder that runs all the way to the summit. I’m puzzled here, can somebody please explain me why people are afraid, or not?
 The table plateau is vast with gentle hills as you would normally see in the valley below. It’s a pity that we have to keep a watch on the enclosing clouds and can’t spend much time here. We rush up to the edge of the Amphitheatre, chill out on the view and walk back. Man, this was definitely worth it!
We smoothly descend the chain ladder and in a good mood we stroll back to the car park. When we reach the ‘life threatening’ rock again, Natascha leaves me completely stunned. As if she is walking in the park she places her foot carefully, jumps and proceeds her way. Only when I start applauding, does she realise what she just did. Was this the one? I have to admit that the sight down isn’t there from the other side which makes it look less scary, but the risk of slipping is basically the same. Let’s just note that Natascha’s (and most other people’s) fear is sometimes based on incorrect grounds. Nice statement to keep in mind for any future occasions...
The clouds are really closing in the last 500 meters and we run back to make it to the car dry. Just as we slam the door, the first drops hit the windscreen. Enjoying ourselves over a perfect day, we drive back while it’s raining harder than ever before.
We are four months underway!
[<< Stefan]
Day 125, Thursday 2 December 2004
Drakensberg / Royal Natal National
Park & Dundee (South Africa)
 [Natascha
>>]
Two and a half day of hiking is enough for us, time to let someone else do the work. That someone will be a horse in this case. Riding in such an environment must be amazing and has the advantage that you can see more in the same amount of time. It’s not necessarily easier as we haven’t rode a horse in years so we will probably overstretch our limps again.
 Stefan pointed out when booking the ride that we especially like gallop and the guy’s assurance that we would have nothing to complain comes certainly true. We give our horses the reins within 10 minutes and off we go. These horses do love to run. With their ears up they happily follow the guide ignoring our legs which occasionally hit some bushes. Once up in the steeper part we slow down and admire the constant view on the Amphitheatre. No point being afraid of heights this time, the horses simply follow the guide, all you have to do is stay put and hope they find their way. You may even close your eyes if it makes you feel more comfortable...
We find Marjon and Martin at the agreed car park and make our way to a place called Dundee which is 40 kilometres from the Zulu-Battlefields. The Talana museum provides a good insight in the various wars in the 19th and early 20th century and the parties at play: the Zulus, the Boers, (mainly Dutch, Belgium and French) and the Britons.
 We stay two nights in the place "Helpmekaar" (Dutch for: Help each other) in the guesthouse "Penny Farthing" owned by Foy Vermaak. Not just a guesthouse, but a beautiful building on 7,000 acres of land! Foy’s ancestors were actually involved in the battle at Blood River between the Boers and the Zulus. Tomorrow, we will visit the place and the other two major battlefields Isandlwana and Rorkes'Drift.
[<< Natascha]
Day 126, Vrijdag 3 December 2004
Drakensberg / Royal Natal National
Park & Dundee (South Africa)
 [Stefan
>>]
The most important wars for the creation of South Africa as we know it now were all fought out in an area of only a few square kilometres large. In order of occurrence and conqueror: the Boers-Zulu war, the English-Zulu war and the English-Boers war. Well-prepared through internet, some booklets, travel guides and for most Foy’s entertaining stories we drive to the first battlefield.
As ever, multiple views on the same occurrence exist, which is also the case for the South African battles. Most apparent are the differing opinions on the Blood River battle between the Boers and the Zulus. The Boers left ever more crowded Cape Town in search for land and freedom from the English government, just like the American pioneers who sought their luck further west. And just as Indians, the Zulus were not particularly impressed by these new white occupants of their land.
 Some fights take place before a truce is reached whereby the Boers get a section of the land under the condition that they return the cattle they stole from the Zulus. At the Zulu party to celebrate the truce, whereby the Boers were requested to leave their weapons outside the village, the Zulus kill all present Boers, including their leader Piet Retief. They also go out to the Boers camp to kill the women and children that had stayed behind.
 This results in a revenge expedition to sort out the Zulus for once and for all. About 470 Boers with 76 wagons trek eastwards searching the Zulus. Once they find them, they position the wagons in a circle, tie them together, close off the gaps and position two canons that are loaded with shrapnel. Approximately 6,000 (outnumbered?) Zulus attack, all very committed and courageous, but no match against the Boers’ rifles and canons, resulting in 3,000 Zulu casualties against allegedly only three minor injured Boers.
 This battle was initially commemorated in the Blood River museum that was founded in 1970, at the height of the ‘Apartheid’. The black population felt the need to give the visitors a second view on the battle. Frankly said, I can imagine that the blacks were objected by the pure racist atmosphere of the Blood River museum that almost celebrates the glorious killing of 3,000 unreliable, uncivilised blacks by a small group of strong courageous whites. Having said that, I don’t find it smart to justify the ‘white-flag’ murders as a cultural issue because the whites arrived in the village in the evening, which is considered as bad witchcraft... It’s actually a pity they feel the need since the locals were morally right in defending their land, one could only criticise the murders. Why try to give a twitch to the facts if you are essentially right already? It actually shows that this country has a long way ahead before there is really equal appreciation among the various races.
[<< Stefan]
Day 127, Saturday 4 December 2004
Durban
(South Africa)
GPS: 29° 52.0' S 31° 03.0' E
[Natascha >>]
Back in Durban, waiting for a suitable weather window to sail to East London. Although we only need 36 hours to get there, we need a window of at least 48 hours north-east. It seems we could leave Wednesday morning. But hey, that's today's' forecast...tomorrow could be totally different again. Marjon and Martin would love to join us to East London but only if we can leave within a few days. Let's see what happens.
 Day 128, Sunday 5 December 2004
Durban
(South Africa)
GPS: 29° 52.0' S 31° 03.0' E
Shit! Lost my last pair of flip-flops today. I bought four pairs in Singapore, knowing that this would be the main footwear the next coming year. I also took along my less charming Teva's. The first slipper I lost in the water of the Republic of Singapore Yacht Club, the second broke in the Seychelles, the third is on the bottom of the ocean and the last one broke today. Bad luck. Thank goodness I took along my Jesus-Nikes...
It still seems we can leave this Wednesday. Tomorrow Marjon and Martin decide whether they are going to sail with us or not.
Day 129, Monday 6 December 2004
Durban
(South Africa)
GPS: 29° 52.0' S 31° 03.0' E
Weather-guru Fred forecasts a favourable weather window of 48 hour coming Thursday. Since this might be postponed again, Marjon and Martin decide not to wait any longer but continue their trip along the Wild Coast to Lesotho by car. It’s a pity they don’t get the chance to sail on Espiritu, but it would be a waste of time hanging around in Durban much longer. To that, chances are that they won’t enjoy the journey due to seasickness, which would only leave them with a memory (which is always better than the reality at the time).
[<< Natascha]
[Stefan >>]
The fridge works – even both systems! The great advantage of the 12 Volts system is its independence of the generator and if we leave the boat for a couple of days, we can still keep the fridge running (the 220 Volts system is designed to only run a couple of hours per day).
The spinnaker is also back in good order. North did such a good job that I have to look twice to see where they stitched it. Clide, the owner told me that blowing out a spinnaker is actually not too rare. In a race from Cape Town to Rio, they wrecked five of which two could be put together again. Perhaps it’s an idea to also employ a full-time sailmaker, together with an engineer, fridge mechanic, etc...
Finally, we replaced a huge amount of half-chafed sheets, reefing lines and halyards, bringing the boat to its maximum maintenance level. With also the engine stop cable rebuilt and new shining lifelines we are ready to round the Cape! All at a cost, but hey, that’s only paper...
[<< Stefan]
Day 130, Tuesday 7 December 2004
Durban
(South Africa)
GPS: 29° 52.0' S 31° 03.0' E
[Natascha >>]
It still seems we can leave this Thursday. According to the weather-forecast a south-westerly is expected for this afternoon and as from tomorrow afternoon the wind will change to Northeast. Most likely many other boats will depart then as well, it has been more than 1.5 week since the last weather window. In the afternoon I go grocery shopping with Marjolein. The 40 knots south-westerly comes in as forecasted when we return to the boats.
Day 131, Wednesday 8 December 2004
Durban
(South Africa)
GPS: 29° 52.0' S 31° 03.0' E
 For the past few days it's been quite chilly actually. 23/24 degrees instead of the 30+ we've been used to. Time for a proper Dutch winter dish called "Hutspot". (Mashed carrots, onions and potatoes, bacon and smoked sausage). Delicious!
Day 132, Thursday 9 December 2004
Durban
(South Africa)
GPS: 29° 52.0' S 31° 03.0' E
We listen to Fred at 07.00 am to confirm that we can actually leave to East London today. Since the last proper window was more than a week ago, there is a substantial group of boats who want to leave now so we can pool taxis. And what for, immigration procedures even though we don’t leave the country! South Africa is the only country in the world we know of that requires you to clear in and out in each port of call, even if it is South Africa again. That means you have to get a form from the marine office, have it stamped by immigration and customs (no checks whatsoever) and have it sent to port control who will only allow you to leave port if they have a completed form. Absolutely ridiculous and without checking anything also useless! We heard even that port control recalled a Finish yacht last week because they didn’t have the forms – which turned out to be their fault. Having missed the weather window, they had to wait for another week. Well if it was us, we would probably continue – they’re welcome to shoot us out of the water. "Welcome to the new South Africa".
Day 133, Vrijdag 10 December 2004
Departure Durban
(South Africa)
GPS: 29° 52.0' S 31° 03.0' E
 It is 09.00 am when we sail out of the marina, waved off by marina manager Henk. About time to do some sailing after four weeks on land. There is always that extra bit of excitement after a longer stay ashore – Is the boat alright? Does the engine run? Finding our sea legs and polish-up all sailing procedures. A nice southeaster of 14 knots pushes us gently towards East London. Sun in the sky, 28 degrees – how would Holland be?
Espiritu is in a better state than ever before. Failed equipment is all fixed and some minor upgrades are done to make life that little bit easier aboard. We have 700 miles between now and Cape Town to spot any remaining weaknesses, after that equipment and qualified labour will be harder to come by. Let’s hope things hold out now.
The strong Agulhas current makes the 250 miles to East London a short trip; we should reach there well within 36 hours, probably less. Tomorrow’s sundowner will be with Clive and Anne-Marie from Golden Sovereign, this time in their backyard instead of the cockpit.
[<< Natascha]
Day 134, Saturday 11 December 2004
Arrival East London (South Africa)
GPS: 31° 56.0' S 29° 34.0' E
[Stefan >>]
So far for ‘should’. The current is working alright, but the wind dies completely. There is absolutely no wind from 7 pm to 10 am the following morning so we have to put the iron genoa to work. The noise doesn’t help getting to sleep leaving us a bit short-tempered. To complete things we have one shower after the other to wash out the last bit of joy. Sailing is sometimes not that enjoyable.
Then, after the last shower, the sun comes out and hesitantly at first, the wind picks up little by little. We launch the spinnaker at 8 knots, which is just enough to keep it filled and with aid of the current we start clocking 10 knots over the ground again. Hardly any waves, complete stable boat, this is the way it should be!
[<< Stefan]
 [Natascha
>>]
And there are the dolphins! Stefan spots them first as usually. This time we have a complete school. They dance around each other fighting for a ride on Espiritu’s bow wave. What a fantastic sight to see them jump out of the water and race up and down the boat like torpedoes!
With the harbour at only 2 miles we have to get back to work to drop the sails and sort out the landlines and fenders. Just as I turn Espiritu in the wind to drop the main, I see a big black glimpse to my right. Stefaaaaan! Whales! Two giants hold their tales in the air and jump out of the water to land again with a big splash. Fantastic!
Oh shit, there is the breakwater already. Stop being a bloody tourist Natascha, be a sailor now. The entrance is narrow with a fairly strong current. I will show that bloody skipper what kind of splendid helmsman I am. We tie Espiritu up against another boat just before dark and after a quick shower, we thoroughly enjoy a burger and a glass of red wine. Still exalted we go through the terrific day we had.
Day 135, Sunday 12 December 2004
East London
(South Africa)
GPS: 33° 01.4' S 27° 54.0' E
Early morning Anne-Marie and Clive pick us up for breakfast followed by a drive through East London (or EL). East London is a great spot for (kite)surfers and has beautiful beaches.
After a stroll over the flee market at the beach we are invited to their house. What a fantastic place! Built on a hill, stunning views over the river and sea and a huge swimming pool. I wouldn't mind living here! In the evening we have a braai at their place, together with the Bedouin crew. Only John and Verna are missing but we'll meet them soon in St. Francis Bay.
[<< Natascha]
Day 136, Monday 13 December 2004
East London
(South Africa)
GPS: 33° 01.4' S 27° 54.0' E
[Stefan >>]
Patrick shows his face at the dock at 9 am asking if I would like to join him for a surf. Sure! He sold his IT company a while ago and spends his time now running, biking, surfing and playing with his two young kids. He says he will probably do something in the future, but not this year. I can see why.
We arrive at the beach to find that there is too little wind – what’s new in a surfer’s life. To kill the time we walk up to his house 500 meters further for a cup of coffee. With the wind still fast asleep, we take two sea kayaks, cross the road, dump them in the river and paddle towards the surf. Paddling, well Patrick is paddling, I’m more busy trying to stay on top of the damn thing. Let’s first master the vertical motion, horizontal forward can wait. The kayaks are a bit more tricky than the usual river kayaks I’m used to because you sit a lot higher up, which is of course a lot more wobbly. Things get better when I keep the paddle closer to the water and the more speed I make the easier it gets – the same principle as mastering a bicycle. I’m however not so stupid to enter the surf itself, especially with all the sharks around. And the wind picks up!
When I launch the kite, it starts playing a little game. It races up, lifts me a few meters from the ground, I fly about 10 meters across until the bastard collapses and sends me straight down. When almost down it catches wind again and up we go. All this happens in the kites so-called ‘neutral’ zone. Neutral my ass, not funny. I did note the hill in front of us, but didn’t expect the turbulence and resulting up-and-down movement to be so strong. I quickly send it down before I really hurt myself.
We see two kitesurfers about two miles downwind and decide to make a move. Patrick takes the car and my kite-gear while I sail his windsurfer downwind so that he doesn’t have to rig it off and up. It’s actually quite nice to windsurf again. Still I’m a bit reluctant to go out for some jumps afraid to break something - that is his gear, my bones are a bit more difficult to crush. His equipment is a bit older and I have quite a reputation when it comes to breaking booms or masts. It would be a bit unthankful to reward my host’s kindness with wrecked stuff.
We conclude the day with two splendid hours kitesurfing, heavily enjoying my new board. Man, does it steer and jump smoothly, not to mention its upwind performance. Should have bought something like this years ago.
 Day
137, Tuesday 14 December 2004
East London
(South Africa)
GPS: 33° 01.4' S 27° 54.0' E
Want another story on the generator? Well it decided to quit again. Isn't that hilarious? I'm glad the 12 Volts fridge system is working fine and most likely this new generator problem can be solved, but one day I'll cut the whole thing to pieces and throw them in the ocean. Will try to fix it tomorrow.
[<< Stefan]
Day 138, Wednesday 15 December 2004
East London
(South Africa)
GPS: 33° 01.4' S 27° 54.0' E
[Natascha >>]
According to Fred and the weather faxes the winds will be favourable from this afternoon until Friday morning, followed by a south-westerly Friday afternoon. Best would be to leave for St. Francis Bay (a daysail) today, but the plan is to go out for dinner with Clive & Anne-Marie and Dave from Keren tonight (visiting his mother in EL). We certainly don't want to miss that and we decide to leave tomorrow, first daylight.
Day 139, Thursday 16 December 2004
Departure from East London (South Africa)
GPS: 33° 01.4' S 27° 54.0' E
This certainly is a nice and fast passage, with an average of 30 to 40 knots of wind. The faster we make it to St. Francis Bay the better. We definitely want to arrive before the south-westerly comes, tomorrow around noon.
Day 140, Vrijdag 17 December 2004
Arrival St. Francis Bay (South Africa)
GPS: 34° 09.7' S 24° 51.4' E
The 30 knots south-westerly starts blowing at 7 am, a few hours earlier than expected. Luckily we're nearly in Port St. Francis, we can see the harbour already. And that's why we wanted to have a fast boat.
 After we tied up Espiritu we hear: "Goodmorning, you are Dutch?" It's Antoon, the owner of the local diving school "Two Oceans". He invites us for a shower and coffee at his shop. He lives here with his wife Alexa - who runs the adjoining Chic Teak - and two kids. After lots of travelling together, they decided to live and work in St. Francis Bay, a popular holiday resort for both South Africans and foreign tourists.
Antoon built a 50 foot sailing yacht himself. The boat is still in the Netherlands, ready to be sailed to South Africa. The only problem: Alexa and the kids get terribly seasick. They haven't decided yet whether they want to keep or sell the boat.
John, Verna and Nick (John's son) pick us up for lunch. It's really good to see them again. St. Francis Bay is lovely with black and white thatched-roof houses and a canal in the backyard. John and Verna live in such a house, a very roomy one, close to the sea. During the school holidays the house is crowded with family members. Verna's three sisters, husband, kids and parents are staying with them this month. There's one spare room which they offer us for the next two days.
Day 141, Saturday 18 December 2004
St. Francis Bay (South Africa)
GPS: 34° 09.7' S 24° 51.4' E
We kept things reasonable the first night (alcohol-wise) which is rewarded by an earlier morning rise without any hassles. Back to the boat to clean, pack the groceries away, do little boatjobs etc. Stefan has to look at the secondary winch that doesn’t runs freely in two directions, where it should only do so clockwise and block anti-clockwise. Having sorted out all boat jobs he thinks this one is fairly easy given that no electronics or engine components are at play. And indeed, when you take it apart it looks ingenuous, yet simple, so a bit of WD40, some grease in the correct place and it runs like clockwork again. Under the rule that if one fails, the others are likely to go, he gives the remaining seven winches the same treatment.
 Verna picks us up in the afternoon to join John at the golf club who played 36 holes today and is probably enjoying his beer now. Actually, it’s more likely that he quit after 18 holes and started boozing from noon onwards. Turns out he did complete the full 36, but started drinking at noon indeed – his red nose can testify to that.
 We continue at Legends, a local pub with some special features. They have these tables where all kind of strangely coloured shooters keep popping up out of nowhere. The worst of all is the Mexican Asshole, which is basically pure alcohol with Tabasco and chilli sauce that sets your mouth afire – can only be cured with cold beer... You see the pattern? Can’t recall how many we had – let’s say it was just enough. Already at 11 pm we call it a day and stumble into the car homewards. A proper way to bid our drinking buddies John and Verna farewell.
Day
142, Sunday 19 December 2004
Departure from St. Francis Bay (South Africa)
GPS: 34° 09.7' S 24° 51.4' E
 We make it an active day despite the slight hangover, which proves the value of a decent breakfast with bacon and eggs. Stefan, Nick and I take two canoes and paddle through the canals that surround the houses, out to the dunes and the beach. This place is really incredible. A beautiful park with large, individually designed houses (all white walls and black roofs), all situated at a canal with a pontoon for a boat, right next to a stunning beach which is completely deserted. If there are more than 25 people on the two miles, they call it a busy day! I can see why John en Verna decided to stay here.
All good things come to an end – it’s time to leave. We are really going to miss these people. No more parties at Just Jinks, no more drunk Johns calling on the VHF in the middle of the night for more drinks, no more bosun chairs needed. While the people you meet make cruising so special, the flipside is that you always have to say goodbye.
We have a late lunch with Antoon, Alexa and Alexa's brother Iso, and at 6 pm we’re finally ready to start the engine. We sail out of St. Francis Bay with sunset waved off by Antoon, Alexa and Iso. Up to the Cape, 350 more miles to go before we reach this infamous place.
[<< Natascha]
Day 143, Monday 20 December 2004
GPS: 34° 27.0' S 23° 34.1' E
[Stefan >>]
It is dead calm (saw the movie?) and we run the engine for the whole night again. Natascha doesn’t sleep at all during my first watch (she saw the movie) and hoping to be able to sleep later, we shift our watches slightly and she takes over an hour early. The second time she’s so tired that she would have slept even with 10 engines running.
 As usual, the wind picks up in the morning and the spinnaker’s lifting effect calms the motion of the boat despite the south-westerly cross-swell. When the wind freshens further to 20 knots around noon it’s time to replace the bag with the genoa 1. That’s when you see how enormous the spinnaker is – the 75 m2 genoa looks like a bloody handkerchief compared to the red-blue animal. The spinnaker’s becalming effect is also gone. Espiritu roles the waves like mad, happily ignoring its crew’s stomachs. It takes us a few hours to adapt and feel confident enough to have a light supper.
[<< Stefan]
Day 144, Tuesday 21 December 2004
GPS: 34° 51.0' S 20° 50.0' E
[Natascha >>]
Today is a special day in two ways. Firstly it’s the longest day (for us, not for dark Europe) and we’re rounding the most southern point of Africa, Cape Aghulas, which is at 34° 50.0' South and exactly 20° 00.0' East. Mind you, the infamous Cape of Good Hope is not the most southern point, it's only the location where the Indian Ocean’s warm water current meets the Atlantic cold current, causing some interesting weather patterns. That’s why they also refer to it as the Cape of Storms. After four months, we leave the rough Indian Ocean for the smoother South-Atlantic.
 It is cold and foggy without any sight of Cape Agulhas. Meanwhile, we still have the annoying south-westerly cross-swell. We kill the boredom sleeping and reading.
An empty to do list can only last so long. Time for some excitement. This time it’s the dinghy that falls out of the davits, straight on the windvane that rips a beautiful 3 by 3 inch tear in the tube. Guess our little repair kit is not going to do the job... Should be fixable though, so nothing to worry about too much.
The continuous strong wind becomes stronger and stronger to about 35 knots as we enter False Bay. We need to lose three hours to prevent a night approach of Simon’s Town which is on a lee shore, so we slow the boat down leaving only a tiny piece of genoa out. Still a bit uncomfortable, but landing on a dark reef is probably even less pleasant.
Day 145, Woensdag
22 December 2004
Arrival Simon's Town
GPS:
34° 11.2' S 18° 26.4' E
  We reach the reef in front of Simon’s Town at sunrise, perfect planning. The mountains accelerate the wind to 40 knots making docking the boat a bit more challenging than usual. With nobody to catch our lines at this early hour, there is little room for mistakes. Stefan explains the procedure once more to ensure that I know exactly what to expect and what to do. And it works, she slides upwind into the box smoothly, we both jump over and tie the bow off. Now that she ‘hangs’ on her bow, we can bring out the other lines to secure her entirely. Good job! Time to catch some sleep first.
 False Bay (originally Valsbaai in Dutch – wrong bay) deserved it’s name because the ancient VOC ships sometimes held it for Table Bay which is located 20 miles further north. Simon’s Town got its name from Simon van der Stel, the Dutch governor who discovered the bay and found it providing better shelter against the winterly Northwest storms than Table Bay.
[<< Natascha]
Day 146, Thursday 23 December 2004
Simon's Town
GPS: 34° 11.2' S 18° 26.4' E
 Marjolein and Henk join us to the 3,000 penguins which are living at Boulder Beach, just outside Simon’s Town. They arrived for no apparent reason in the mid eighties and could move out just as easy as well (will probably trigger enormous environment debates – global warming etc). We see the first ones comfortably sitting at a rock, not at all impressed by these strange humans taking pictures.
 We see people swimming with the penguins, that is, they swim in the same sea with the penguins keeping a 50 meter distance. Not too exciting and a bit touristic so we stay dry and just enjoy the sight of these funny creatures (both the penguins and humans). A larger group is sitting a bit further where you can only view them from a boardwalk. Some of them are moulting, which takes three weeks when their fur doesn’t protect them against the could water so that they can’t swim and hunt for fish. They can feed again in January, which is also the mating period.
  They seem to stay in couples, very sweet to observe. Even more sweet is their lifetime commitment to the same partner and best of all: males cover an equal share of the family’s household tasks, being breeding eggs and feed the babies.
[<< Natascha]
[Stefan >>]
Too bad I’m not a penguin...
[<< Stefan]
Day 147, Vrijdag 24 December 2004
Simon's Town
GPS: 34° 11.2' S 18° 26.4' E
 [Natascha
>>]
"Truly awesome scenery, some fantastic walks and deserted beaches, plus the chance to spot wildlife", this is what we can expect of the Cape of Good Hope Nature Reserve according to the brochure. We put our mountain boots on and off we go. Early morning a minibus drops us at the entrance of the park. From here it's a 12 kilometres hike to Cape Point, meeting point of the Indian and South Atlantic ocean. Geographical the two oceans meet at Cape Agulhas, but never mind, loads of tourists get attracted to Cape Point this way.
 We're glad we started early, everything is nice and quiet. We see some bushbucks, tortoises, baboons and one ostrich. The rock scenery is amazing and we clamber some cliffs. Fantastic views!
 It takes us three hours to reach the parking place, starting point of the hike to Cape Point lighthouse. It's very crowded here. People get dropped by busses and are allowed a maximum of 30 minutes to look around before they move on to the next tourist attraction. A steep path brings us to the old lighthouse (1860). This lighthouse was often obscured by mist and fog, so a new lighthouse was built at Dias Point in 1919, reached by a thrilling walkway along the rocks.
 It's a beautiful sunny day and the scenery is stunning and peaceful. The sea is a flat blue carpet. Not difficult to imagine it would be a different story during a storm. You'd better not be out at sea then!
 My feet hurt. I'm glad that the minibus picks us up at the parking so that we don't have to walk all the way back to the entrance of the park. Wonderful day!
[MORE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE PHOTOS ]
Day 148, Saturday 25 December 2004
Simon's Town
GPS: 34° 11.2' S 18° 26.4' E
Happy Christmas!!!
We booked a Christmas lunch in a venue in Kalk Bay, three villages to the West. We take the slow train that runs along the coastline. The first stop is Fish Hoek and from what we hear we understand that many dolphins have been spotted here today. We are lucky too. As soon as the train starts going we see about thirty dolphins playing and jumping out of the water. And wow, there are seals in between them too! Hanging from the windows we enjoy this spectacular sight.
After a great lunch at The Brass Bell we take the train back - no dolphins this time - and have some more drinks at Jori with Marjolein and Henk.
 Day
149, Sunday 26 December 2004
Departure from Simon's Town
GPS: 34° 11.2' S 18° 26.4' E
Today is a very special day: We're going to round the Cape of Good Hope. Our dream of racing around the Cape with nicely filled sails or perhaps even showing off with the spinnaker gets spoiled by the total absence of any wind. I'm afraid we'll have to motorsail the entire day. We put three reefs in the main to create more stability.
 Suddenly I notice some movements alongside Espiritu. Seals! Everywhere! I'm not joking. In groups, alone swimming on their back, jumping out of the water or hanging onto a piece of wood. This is wonderful. It's difficult to take a picture of them, but I manage to get a nice one.
 After ten miles we see Cape Point lighthouse. From this side Cape Point is even more spectacular than from land. We motor around, keeping a respectful distance from the notorious rocks. The meter shows the water temperature dropping from 20 to 15 degrees Celcius. Goodbye warm Indian Ocean current, hello cold Bengal current.
 We just rounded Cape of Good Hope. A truly wonderful experience. So many ships were not that fortunate here and got wrecked. Time to open that bottle of champagne. Taking our first sip we see walvis tails at 50 metres distance. Stefan might complain we didn't actually sail afround the Cape, for me it was one of our best trips so far!
 Day
150, Monday 27 December 2004
Capetown
GPS: 33° 55.1' S 18° 26.6' E
Espiritu arrived in the Royal Cape Yacht Club. From the cockpit we have a magnificent view on Table Mountain. (See picture, need I say more?) In the afternoon we visit the Waterfront and its many shops and restaurants.
Similar to Durban, Cape Town is a meeting place for yachties. We see many familiar boats: Charlotte, Dos Tintos, El Granchio and Qua Vadis, all preparing for the big South Atlantic crossing.
|
