44th Post

On the 4^th Feb 2015 we arrived at Simon’s Town’s False Bay Yacht Club, Marina and boat yard. A fine and well sheltered marina in the lee of the Navy dockyard. The facilities were very good and we found everything we might need without too much trouble. We were even able to have our anchor chain re-galvanised.

With the harbour master’s permission, we moved to the slipway wall at high tide. It was necessary to dry out at low tide, so I could overhaul and re-grease the heads sea cocks. It was a bit of a shock to get up at 0430 in the dark, to move Sula to the wall. All went smoothly though, and the work was soon completed.

I remembered the harbour master comment that this manoeuvre would get the locals talking, and indeed it did. Several people stopped and commentated that they hadn’t seen a yacht dried out on the slipway for many years. Still more people asked how it was done. I wonder if I will start a trend.

 Sula drying out

We made friends with local sailors Nadia and Ray Hartman. They entertained us wonderfully. We were treated to lunch at their lovely house overlooking the bay. On another occasion we were taken to the pictures in Cape Town to see the film of Stephen Hawking’s ‘The theory of everything.’

   

The remainder of our time in Simon’s Town was spent relaxing, doing a pleasant walk that Pippa researched on Swartskop Hill and swimming from a beach near the penguin colony.

A pleasant walk on Swartskop Hill.

2^nd March.

The continuous strong winds we had been experiencing at last died down, and we prepared to sail to Cape Town early the following day.

There was hardly a breath of wind, so we motored the whole way, arriving in Cape Town at five o’clock in the evening. The berth we were allotted turned out to be occupied, so we tied up at the fuelling berth for the night.

At this juncture I must apologise to the Royal Cape Yacht club. In the last blog I was rather disparaging about it. So I must correct myself immediately. Our stay at the RCYC was most enjoyable. The facilities were excellent, the pontoons safe and secure, and the staff were without exception courteous and helpful. The centre of Cape Town is easily reached by taxi and on foot if it is not too hot.  

Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and Nursery Buttress

Friday 6^th March.

Pippa, having done much research on the internet, found us a fine scramble we could do on Table Mountain. A 6am start was required. We took a taxi to Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens and sweet talked the security guard to let us in, even though the gardens were not yet open. 

The route was Nursery Buttress. A simple scramble with one short crux section, consisting of a near vertical wall above a horrible landing, a looong way below our feet. Fortunately the wall was blessed with huge jug handle holds, on superb clean, dry granite. Interesting scrambling continued all the way to the top. 

There is a summit on Table Mountain, but it was a long walk from the top of our scramble, so we didn’t bother. The route was satisfaction enough. The decent, by a simple scramble down Cecilia Ridge, was pleasant until we came to the lower section that had many knee jarring steps. But all in all it was a fine day out.

Our next expedition broke new ground for me. For the first time ever I put myself (and Pippa of course) in the hands of a professional guide. Reasons were:  we didn’t know the mountain; route finding was complicated; the maps weren’t that good; we hadn’t got much time before we sailed. 

10^th March

We were up and away by 6am (again) for our guided scramble on Table Mountain. Kloof Corner Pinnacle was its name, and our friendly and very professional guide was Mike. 

It was a thoroughly enjoyable scramble, only marred by having to haul ourselves up on chains in a couple of places. I’m glad we employed a guide. The route was quite tricky in a couple of places. With Mike there providing rope work and route-finding, we could concentrate on enjoying the scrambling and the view.

Table Mountain and Lion’s Head to the right

12th March.

We walked into town today It was hot, noisy, dusty and not at all pleasant. We shopped at Woolworths. (No, not that one) Good quality food, well presented and very fresh. It was great fun finding our way out of the shopping precinct with a trolley full of food. We tried one exit, but were turned back by a security guard. We persevered and eventually found our way to the taxi rank via a convoluted route involving a lift and a completely different store. 

14th March.

We continue to enjoy Cape Town. Our walk to the summit of ‘Lion’s Head’ today corresponded with a fell race following the same route. It was a Saturday too, so there were also hundreds of other visitors to the peak. We shrugged and accepted the bustle of people ascending and descending our route. Surprisingly enough we still enjoyed the experience.

Lion’s Head from the Yacht Club

Our exertions earned us an evening meal at the Yacht Club. Black olives, feta cheese and salad for starters, followed by an excellent Mediterranean pizza and tall glasses of cold beer to help it down.  If that wasn't enough, we shared a table with three German speaking Europeans. “But tonight we speak English.” And so they did. Perfectly. I feel quite humble sometimes.

Monday.16^th  March.

The wind is howling a force 8 gale, exacerbated by the katabatic winds pouring down the slopes of Table Mountain. Despite being perfectly safe in harbour, it still makes us feel edgy. We escaped into town and bought about 30 bottles of emergency water for our next passage and other goodies. Two large trolley loads. We have a watermaker on board, but still like to have just enough water stashed away to survive, should the watermaker break down.This is our second provisioning shop and we will need a third for fresh meat and veg.

Thursday 19^th March

Following our successful scramble on Table Mountain with Mike our friendly guide, we were invited to join him and his girlfriend Eva for a scramble called Outlook Ridge, on Elsie’s Peak near Fishhook. 

This was Mike’s day off work and of course he was doing what all guides should do, i.e. going climbing with friends. He described it as one of the best routes in the area. It was very exposed in places and we were very happy to tie onto the end of his rope. What good memories we will take with us from our stay in Cape Town. 

Outlook Ridge, on Elsie’s peak

Sunday 22^nd March

We tried to clear customs today. They wouldn’t accept that we have been issued with a visa extension. This, despite our showing the customs officer the receipt issued in Durban. This is particularly frustrating because we had been assured that it wouldn’t be a problem because we had a receipt.

In the end, after much arguing with both each other and the customs officer, we were persuaded to be declared undesirable aliens. That done, our paperwork was duly stamped and filed. Now we must go on line and email a written representation, with copies of various documents. We were assured this was only a formality and our undesirable status will be rescinded. But we weren’t hanging around to find out.

     

24^th

It was beautifully calm this morning, so we finally set sail from Cape Town. Within an hour of our departure the wind, as usual, piped up. But by that time we were in clear water and had a fine downwind sail Past Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela spent much of his life in prison. 

By mid-afternoon we arrived at  Dassen Island. We weren’t really allowed to stop, having cleared customs, but were ready with an excuse in the very unlikely chance we were challenged. 

Our anchorage at Dassen Island was lovely. Well sheltered from the wind and swell and with a huge number of all sorts of birds. We instantly decided to stay for two days. One of our outstanding jobs was to check the watermaker. We couldn’t do so in Cape Town because of the poor quality of the sea water. I suppose it served me right, because we really did have a problem with it. It turned (the beautifully clear) sea water into good quality drinking water, but whilst doing so also leaked water all over the cabin sole. I eventually sorted the problem out, so now we really will be able to start our passage tomorrow morning.

We arrived at St Helena on the 10^th April, after 17 days of trouble free downwind sailing, that included a record breaking day’s run of 155 miles.

 Jamestown, Saint Helena

What a lovely island. We tied up to a huge yacht-friendly mooring buoy and for the first time in quite a while we swam from boat. Delightful! 

Once we had rested a little, we took a water taxi ashore for the princely sum of £2 each, return. This was really good value. It would have been a long row in our inflatable dinghy. The landing was awash by a considerable surge. It was necessary to stand on the edge of the water taxi, grab a thick rope secured to an overhead scaffold and swing Tarzan fashion ashore! Great fun!

The Tarzan swing ropes (on a calm day)

The harbour master, customs and immigration officials were all helpful, and clearly understood visiting sailors. We had accidently left on the boat a document the custom official required. Normally we would have been sent back immediately to collect it. But not here, “We do need to see it, so please bring it in next time you come ashore”.

Once the dry land stopped wobbling and we had found our land legs, we went sightseeing with Robert’s Taxi Tour. It was interesting enough and we were able to orient ourselves a little. Napoleon’s residence was interesting and a good bit smaller than I had imagined. The governor’s residence “Longwood” was rather grand and we were amused to see giant tortoises on the lawn. One of which is reputed to be 180 years old. 

Longwood (If you look very carefully you can see the tortoises)

The British & St Helena tax payer, are paying for an airport to be built on the island. The cost is astronomical. The locals are divided on the issue, with a small majority in favour of its construction. 

Now, why is it being built one wonders, and why is it so huge? It will be able to accommodate very large and fast military and civil aircraft! 

Then one remembers Margaret Thatcher’s Falklands War. Of course, there is oil to be found in Antarctica. Possession of the Falklands entitles us to a bigger slice of that remote continent. We might even need to dissuade Argentina again, from claiming sovereignty over a group of islands clearly on their continental shelf.

Pippa’s folly

15^th April

Pippa and I went for a walk to the Sugar Loaf Hill. It started along a dirt track overlooking the sea. There was no hiding from the ferocity of the sun. It was incredibly hot, but we persevered. Near the summit, Pippa discovered a prickly pear cactus that she decided was in need of investigation. I think she must have had a tad too much sun. It resulted in her spending the rest of the day picking spines out of her hand. Having descended from the summit we retraced our route and headed for the shady gardens behind the Courtyard Café, for iced drinks. 

Val Joshua & Dee

19^th April,

Our next and final walk was in the excellent company of Val Joshua. Val is a bit of a legend in St. Helena. She loves walking, especially in the company of like-minded souls. We chose Diana’s Peak, a simple but very pleasant ramble. Unfortunately much of the time we were in quite thick mist. We had a very pleasant outing nonetheless.   

Val Joshua & Pippa

20^th April

The RMS (Royal Mail Ship) St. Helena came in on Sunday with essential supplies. It was fascinating to watch her unloading. A stream of boats ferried containers and cargo nets to the jetty and their cargo was lifted aboard by a large crane on wheels. 

The RMS is one of 2 remaining mail ships. With the arrival of the airport, it will be decommissioned early 2016. From 1502 until 2016 the only way to reach St Helena has been by sea.

We sailed next day on the 2100 mile passage to the Cape Verde Islands. We had fine weather as far as the Equator. But then had the ITCZ (Doldrums) to contend with. There were intermittent calms, squalls and threatening black clouds. It was very hot, and very frustrating.

And then the problems started. 

And then the problems started…

There was no wind, so I reached for the tin sail, but to my horror the engine wouldn’t start. We have three batteries on board and they were all completely flat. I think we had been overusing the watermaker.

We were, however pleased to see a black cloud approach and drop a deluge of water on us. As quick as we could, we rigged an awning and collected several gallons of rain into our water tank.

We then drifted all night and wished for some wind. We did eventually find a zephyr and morale improved a bit, but not for long. Next on the list of mishaps the GPS packed up. I narrowed it down to a fault on the antenna. But there was nothing to be done. Fortunately, we carry a hand held GPS, and Pippa has an ipad with an integral GPS and electronic charts.

Next day we found that our two big batteries were completely flat and wouldn’t charge from the solar panels. Fortunately the smaller one would. We were now able to start the engine, but had to be really strict and not use it for anything except engine starting.

16^th May         

We arrived at Praia on the island of Santiago on the 16^th May. It wasn’t somewhere we would want to revisit. We were at anchor and it was difficult to get ashore. We had a long paddle to the fisherman’s dock where we had to transfer to another dinghy to get to a place where we could scramble up a steep slippery bank to get ashore. We settled for just buying a few provisions and fuel before setting of again.

Praia. It wasn’t somewhere we would want to revisit.

20^th May.

We sailed on to Tarrafal in the north of the island to break the journey, and anchored in a pleasant bay overnight. The following day we set off on the 120 mile sail to Mindelo, on the island of Sao Vicente. We had three reefs in the mainsail and just a tiny bit of gib sail.

We tried hard to reach Mindelo, but wind and tide in the channel between Sao Vicente and Santo Antao was on the nose and just too strong.

We retreated to Sao Pedro on the west side of Sao Vicente. The wind was still blowing hard, but as we approached the anchorage we escaped the swell. We were watching the depth as we sought the best place to drop the hook. 

Suddenly, we spontaneously ducked as a large commercial aeroplane coming into land screamed over our heads. It really looked as though it might clip the top of the mast, though I’m sure that was just an illusion. Our anchor bit well into the sand and we let out double the length of chain that we really needed. What the heck, there was plenty of room and we were safe and secure. We read in the pilot book that we had anchored in one of the best wind surfing venues in the world!

Later that afternoon, We noted that a large orange and very official looking power boat was taking a lot of interest in us. Paranoia set in. Were we going to be arrested for endangering an aeroplane. 

The boat came nearer then backed off. I called them on the VHF radio but the language barrier prevented communication. Then they got closer and closer, and a man in uniform seemed to be preparing to leap aboard. But at the last moment the boat backed off again. It was too dangerous. Then as quickly as they had arrived, they lost interest in us, and started escorting a dozen or so fishing boats full of children on a circuit around the bay. And that was the last we saw of them. Thank goodness.

23rd May

In the morning the wind had abated considerably, but was still strong.We left Sao Pedro at 0500 just as it was getting light, and motored at full speed towards Mindelo. I say full speed, but the best we could manage against the wind and current was two knots! 

By mid-morning however, we were tucked up in the shelter of Mindelo Harbour on a marina pontoon. Then we started work. Once we had cleared customs we found a Mr Fix It who got us a new antenna for our GPS, and a new screen for our laptop. Next was to find and buy two new, heavy duty batteries. Once I had fitted them, we bought a couple of extra jerry cans and filled our tanks with diesel fuel. A shopping trip for provisions and to fill our gas bottles were the final chores.

We enjoyed our short stay in Mindelo. There was a little swell in the harbour, but not too much. The locals were friendly and helpful, and nearly everything we needed was within walking distance.

 Leaving Mindelo

On the 30^th of May we left the marina and anchored for the night in the harbour in order to make a quick departure for Azores. We were faced with eight hours of motoring against a strong wind, to escape the channel between the two islands.

It wasn’t the easiest of passages, we had light winds and/or no wind much of the time. For the last four days we were in the Azores High and completely becalmed. Fortunately we had foreseen this problem and had taken plenty of fuel in jerry cans.

Angra do Heroismo.

We arrived in Angra do Heroismo, on the island of Terceira in the Azores on the 15^th of June. What a fantastic place. A quiet marina, with helpful staff. A picturesque town, with red roofs. The green slopes of Monty Brazil.

But oh dear, did I say a quiet town? We have arrived just in time for the Sao Joao festivities. Last night, until the small hours, we were treated to three bands, with different types of music playing at full blast, all at the same time!

The evening before, it has to be said, we were out in the streets with the locals, watching the colourful processions and listening to the brass bands. It was quite something to be part of such benevolent, multi-generational crowds. The streets are illuminated, people hang patchwork tapestries from balconies, there is plenty of food and drink from numerous cafes and sandwich bars. People are enjoying themselves!

This is technically the completion of our circumnavigation. Not that that matters very much, for there still remains half the Atlantic Ocean to cross before reaching our Llangwm home. The weather is not what it could be for the crossing, so we are waiting patiently and watching the Grib files before setting off on the home leg of our odyssey. 

I will of course send you an Email ASAP after our arrival in Llangwm.

St. Helena steps

Quite right

RMS St Helena