A 7 day trip from Ascension with twin head sails at night and the spinnaker up every day, averaging 7 knots and up to 11 knots on occasion. The most impressive thing I have seen to date happened on our 5^th night just after I came on watch at 1:00am. The phosphorescent plankton had always kept me occupied but I kept seeing larger and even brighter patches in the black water. They got bigger and bigger, my excitement mounting as patches 6m X 4m, and endlessly deep were passing right next to the boat. Thankfully I had the sense to harness myself on as I scuttled from one side to the other and watched this with fascination, particularly when we went over a section bigger than Katlyn and we were lit up like an eerie soccer stadium. Well, I couldn’t resist, I belted downstairs and woke everyone up. According to Dad they were probably phosphorescent jellyfish. Think ‘Life of Pi’ when the whale is feeding – Surreal.

We arrived to pristine blue waters and picturesque beaches, and spent a lazy afternoon catching up on sleep and swimming under the boat with the resident barracuda. As surprising as it may sound, this was the first time that a real sense of cruising set in, with a emphasize on enjoying life and the surrounding culture and forgetting the pressures of what should be done (fixing, washing, seeing) and just doing whatever we came upon. I’m sure you all laughing this outlook of mine!

We headed to the ‘Capitania dos Portos’ for customs and immigration and spent an interesting morning playing charades with the extremely hospitable port office officials. We were shocked to discover the $125 daily charge and the numerous restrictions of where you may go on this small island, but being the holiday Mecca for all wealthy Brazilians, it was to be expected. After being drilled about the punishable offense of touching the dolphins and swimming without payment in the protected areas, we were unfortunately disappointed in the snorkeling and reefs. This is perhaps from being spoilt with incredible underwater gardens from a young age that my expectations were too high, but nonetheless the water was warm, clean and fun. There were endless tourist boats back and forth accommodating first time divers and the never ending parties and booze cruising. The most interesting contraption was a cross between a hover craft and what we could only imagine was a glass bottom boat.

The island itself is breathtakingly dramatic with smaller surrounding islands, inlets and beaches stretched along the coast. Its tiny airport does not stop, with planes in and out and beach buggies piled high with beach clad tourists. The shabby chic houses are painted in a multitude of colours, 50% of which are restaurants offering a host of island style cocktails, with a main meal ranging anything from R250 and up. There is only one main tarred road that covers the basic 7 km length of the island, the rest are sand, dirt or more commonly cobbled in a rough, higgle dee piggle dee way. Hammocks are strung up, locals run on a leisurely island time and if you don’t have a beach buggy, a scooter or a horse is a peachy alternative.

The ‘Policia Federal’, Walter and his team took us under their wing, giving us lifts and showing us the local market, before inviting us to ‘Jingas’. This resident open air restaurant/club treated us to a slice of Brazilian life, with live Portuguese music, local cervejas (beer), general joviality and ‘Felicidade’ a toast to happiness!

Check out the rest of the pics.

– Kate

Fernando de Nora
(Sun, Music, Siestas)
Bargain: Never having to worry about what you look like, or wear, if you in fact choose to wear anything at all.
Irritation/Quirk: Ridiculously expensive, with an average main meal costing R300 and a beer costing R50.
Cost of a coke: R$5.00 (Reals)

View from Green Mountain

Having not stopped at Ascension on our previous crossing on Finesse, we have decided that this time around we will. It is an uncomplicated downwind sail of about 4 and a half days from St Helena, the trades are kind and consistent and we settle into an easy routine of 3 and a half hour night watches and easy going day times, interchanging between spinnaker up and twin headsails depending on the strength of the wind. I am grateful to have Kate along, she is young and energetic and Doug can rely on her to be his first mate when it comes to sail changes.  I of course am galley slave.  Only on our last day do the trades die down and we decide to put out the rod in addition to the two handlines which have fed us on passage. We are rewarded with a big wahoo which requires that the entire freezer be repacked to fit in ten meals of fish.  A further five meals go into the fridge, some of which I pickle using Glee + 2’s delicious recipe from Chagos days, and the rest we eat for lunches and suppers.

Dinner and some.

We are escorted in by shoals of black fish ‘Durgeons’, and are enthralled by their sheer numbers. Ascension is not a cruisers paradise in terms of anchorage, getting ashore, maintenance and provisioning.  Scott and Nikki on The Beach House have given us the run down by email, but in practice it translates into a much more adventurous  undertaking. We arrive on a beautiful calm afternoon and wonder what the fuss is about, the bay is flat and the water crystal.  But overnight a northerly swell builds and by the next morning we have a better understanding of the hype surrounding ‘getting ashore on Ascension’.  One dinghys in towards the pier head, a large concrete promontory with a steep stairway cut into it and a landing platform at the base with several thick knotted ropes hanging like nooses off an overhead bar.  There is a wooden fishing boat about 30 meters before the pier head which is tied bow to it, and stern to a series of other boats and mooring buoys. To this one ties ones dinghy, and then transfers crew and paraphernalia to the fishing boat.  Once aboard one smiles confidently up at the gathering spectators before pulling the fishing boat in to the landing platform using its mooring line.  Sounds simple enough, but factor in a huge swell and an uncooperative fishing boat, protruding rocks at the base of the pier head, and a 20 knot wind.  Once at the landing platform the boat lurches and surges up to two meters and more against the concrete, smashing the wooden bow and protective car tyre around it, it mounts the platform and then gets dragged back off it, at some stage one has to position oneself on this angry bow, grab a knotted noose and launch oneself onto the swirling platform with a measure of calm and dignity, and clamber up the staircase before being washed off again.  Once everyone is safely ashore, the boat with ones dinghy attached is released and pulled back off shore using a block and pulley system.  Now try to do this all with four 25 litre water containers, laptops, provisions etc!  Islanders and visitors alike love to watch this debacle.

Thwarting our Nemesis.

Georgetown is a neat but uninspiring village set among volcanic gravel with a few indigenous trees spotted here and there. The heat radiates off all this black tar-like gravel but is cooled by the persistent trade winds. The local people are mostly from St. Helena on contract here as the pay is better and are generally accommodating.  There is a shop at which most things can be bought at a price, (save for fresh veggies), a post office and a bank.  Internet access can be bought at the only hotel, the Obsidian.  Ascension is a ‘closed’ island, visitors unwelcome, but in fact everyone is remarkably friendly, from the chief of police who doubles as immigration officer, to the shop owners. As the island is a military base for the Americans, and a hub for several communication and radio companies, there are cordoned off areas of multi-million dollar high tech equipment and satellite dish type things, and rules do apply.  We have used the opportunity here to catch up on blogging whilst sitting in the shade on the verandah of the hotel.

Weird contraptions

Did I mention about all the fish we have been eating?  Well it turns out this is not all a good thing.  A few mornings ago Doug complained of a sore big toe, red and swollen and not a pretty sight. It got progressively worse until we had to painstakingly hobble our way to the hospital. There we were greeted by a South African doctor who diagnosed gout. Doug was disgusted that he had an old man’s condition, especially when we have had an alcohol free boat for months now! A jab in the bum and some Voltaren and the gout is on the mend.  Hey, Tim Noakes, so what’s with the protein rich diet and cutting out carbs – protein rich diet amongst other things, is responsible for gout.

Following on this bad note, let me tell you about yacht ‘Moonshine’. They arrived a couple of days after us, abandoned their boat to this unpredictable anchorage within hours of their arrival, headed straight to the Saints Pub, stopping only to intercepting some unknown American service men on the way, whom they casually asked to watch their boat. They settled into the Saints Club at about lunch time and proceeded to provide the Islanders with enough gossip to last them decades. Some mildy inappropriate PDA (Public Displays of Affection) culminating open air sex, followed by the mugging of a member of the US airforce… on the restricted Military Airbase, stealing his cell, ipad and wallet. They went on to harass the hotel staff at 01:00am for a room which they trashed. The next morning during our breakfast we watched as Rod, the chief of police boarded this yacht, revoked their visas and kicked them off the island, the first time in 23 years. Not a cool refection for yachties especially as one of them was South African but thankfully the stolen items were returned.

Hiring a car was well worth it, especially the trip up the 856 metre Green Mountain (aptly named) and a two hour hike once up there. The drive up is hectic with the tightest of tight hairpin bends, and the contrast from volcanic rocks to lush green tropical vegetation makes it incredibly scenic.

We were told that we can help ourselves to any bananas but to pull down the whole tree as they were taking over as it is – we were happy to oblige.

Kate and I have continually challenged the nipping ‘Durgoens’ (Trigger fish) by swimming with them daily. Think Pied Piper of Hamlin, Kate gets into the water the blighters swarm behind in their multitudes, if she dives down, so do they. Ascension is the 2^nd largest nesting ground for the green turtles, with every beach resembling a snow slope of moguls, where females have pulled themselves up to lay their eggs and thousands of hatchlings each year. Unfortunately only a small portion of these make it and the beaches are scatted with biltong baby turtles and egg shells.

The trigger fish in their hordes

The beaches with all the turtle nests.

Yesterday we took the dinghy up to English Bay and checked out the wreck and surrounding reef, so many tropical fish and morays, a stone fish and huge jack. Because Ascension is so inaccessible, the marine life and fishing is of the best in the world and there are no restrictions at all. We have been to some remarkable snorkeling sites and I don’t believe there is clearer water anywhere in the world.

Our stay on Ascension ended with some fun and festivities on the US base for the 4^th of July celebrations. A small town affair, with minimal talent lead to an entertaining beauty pageant and endless line dancing. Doug dominated the pool table with JP, one of the SA crew members delivering a Moorings cat, their winning streak even follow odd US rules was unfaltering. Katie reveled in company outside of her parents, equally so for the US recruits whose employment perks don’t usually include a exuberant blonde girl.

Long Beach, Ascension

The local friendly donkeys that potter around generally getting in the way and nevertheless well loved.

Have a look at the Gallery for more pics.

– Val

Ascension
(Durgeons, Military Transport Jets, Turtles)
Bargain: Joining in the 4^th of July celebrations on the US base.
Irritation/Quirk: American, British and French adapters needed depending on where you are on the island.
Cost of a coke: 75p

Sunset at Luderitz Harbour.

Our sail up to Nambia was on quiet seas, with nearly no wind and mist all day everyday apart from one glorious moment when it cleared up and we thought we were in heaven. The only positive I can derive from the lack of wind, was that I had plenty of batteries from motoring all the time, to use all my usually much hated electronic things that Dad has forbidden me to use without measure. On arrival we were lucky to have shrugged off the mist and have a full moon, that rose spectacularly early on in the evening.

Not a true representation of how beautiful this was.

Luderitz was quiet on that first day before we were inundated we people enjoying the annual Crayfish Festival – we felt safer on board over this weekend. We took a trip out to the Ghost town which was created during the diamond rush before becoming deserted. It was an incredible place, particularly for someone like me who is fascinated with anything from another time. We also enjoyed a visit to the oyster factory follow by wine and oysters – next time I’ll just stick to the wine, yuck. Dad was more than happy to finish off mine and order more.

My oyster experience.

The weather was getting worse and the forecast showed us the smallest of gaps and we decided to head out regardless rather than end up stuck in harbour waiting for a better weather window. Next stop St. Helena.

Check out the gallery for more pictures.

The Ghost Town

– Kate

Ludertitz, Namibia
(Desert, Diamonds, Fog)
Bargain: Free, fast internet at Diaz Cafe and the strongest coffee.
Irritation (Quirk): The massive and noisy Crayfish Festival where everyone only sold chicken.
Price of a coke: N$10.00

Once a cruiser, always a cruiser…

After a decade or more of conventional lifestyle, work, earn, spend, panic, work, children in high school, then young adults, escalating living expenses, vehicles, more vehicles, phones, cellphones, more cellphones, insurance, people who don’t pay you, and so on… Something starts to itch, rather like a grain of sand caught in an oyster shell, and it just won’t go away. You become an armchair sailor, constantly surfing the internet and dreaming of the freedom of cruising. You forget the hard times, remember only the good times and so it was one day as I sat at my computer ‘working’, that I become distracted and ended up on gumtree (I have been called a gumtree addict). I was helping Kate to find a casual weekend job, using the search word ‘yacht’ as she was keen to do any yachtie type job, and this is what I see…

Then known as Papagena.

Something about her prompted me to send the link to Doug’s email address with the simple caption “nice???” The rest is history, within a few weeks we were the proud, if not shell shocked, new owners of a sleek and beautiful 44ft St Francis cat.  Dearly loved, cared for and lived on by Heinz and Patricia from Greece, from the day she was launched  in 1997 til the day we bought her in 2012, they sadly had come to the end of their cruising days with Heinz suffering ill health at the age of 72.

It is a misinterpretation that people who can afford to cruise must be wealthy. To the contrary, the opposite often applies. There really needs to be a mindset change, a MASSIVE mindset change, and that is what creates the financial freedom and opportunity to do it.  We immediately put our house on the market, in fact the very day we flew to Richards Bay to fetch our new home we gave Seeff a sole mandate and left for a month. To be truly committed, one needs to cut the bonds (no pun intended) that hold one beholden, besides which, we needed the house funds to pay for our boat. Once the commitment has been made to simplify life, so the associated paraphernalia and inevitable costs start to decrease. The house sold quickly, the first and major hurdle accomplished, necessary but not so quick and easy was the disentanglement from all the belongings. How does one decide what to keep? Where to keep it,  why to keep it, why did we have it in the first place?  It plays havoc with the emotions, causes dissension amongst the ranks and inhibits sleep at night. But once done, how liberating it is, clutter and baggage disposed of equates to a freeing up of the mind, a commitment to the project and a clearer definition of the reason to go cruising…and with the disinvestment of possessions, so a decrease in monthly costs. Our lifetime belongings reduced to a few kists and boxes kindly accepted into my brother Vin’s attic and Jacques and Elmaries’ garage.

First Day we were all her.

Celebrations in Richards Bay.

Relaxing fishing.

What are the chances? We came across Gambit, our first cruising yacht in Richards Bay, on our way to Katlyn.

Warm waters on the Richards Bay to Durban leg.

Richards Bay to Durban nighttime watches.

Jacques and Elmarie

Boys being Boys…

Through the Knysna Heads.

Rob Walker… enjoying life.

Some free time for Paragliding on the way.

So back to leaving for Richards Bay to fetch our boat, along with Dylan and Kate for the first leg to Durban so that they could bond with their new mobile home. Then Rob Walker joined us to East London, so great to catch up with him, and in Port Elizabeth a trusting Jacques and Elmarie undertook their first ever coastal passage in through the Knysna Heads, round the southern most tip of Africa (Cape Agulhas) and so to the False Bay Yacht Club in Simon’s Town.

Arriving at Simon’s Town on a beautiful day.

We moved onto “Katlyn” four months after we got her, on the 1^st Sept 2012 with totally edited possessions. From here started the really hard work, REALLY hard work, punctuated by some delicious fish braais, trivial pursuit, walks in the quaint seaside town, home visits to friends and family, boat visits from friends and family, yoga with Anita, yes, and Jeremy. Whilst Doug started maintenance and overhauling of all the systems on the boat, I got stuck into scraping, sanding and repainting and redecoration of the interior. One starts this sort of project with great gusto, but truth be told, 6 months later we were both exhausted from the toil of groveling in small spaces, hard physical work, and endless troubleshooting, all along still living a ‘landbased’ life in a sense.

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Along the way we have been fortunate to have had the input and knowledge of so many people, Dylan has spent hours on computers and Nav systems, and our fabulous yacht club friends have been great sounding boards for a myriad of ideas and queries. We are certainly chuffed with the outcome. The engines have had extensive TLC,  we have modernized all electronics, Nav systems, electric and plumbing systems and décor – of which there are several pics to compare to see what we have done.

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This included a trip up to Saldanha in order to haul to boat and continue the interior and exterior work.

Leaving Simon’s Town

Leaving Sinon’s Town for Saldanha.

On our way to Saldanha.

Coming around the point.

Deck taping skills.

Katlyn being hauled.

Kate preparing the decks with sugar water.

Fitting the new props.

Kate’s first coat of anti-fouling before her next 3.

Doug starting to paint the decks.

Redoing the stripes and name.

Finishing off the name.

Provisioning – a massive task.

Putting Katlyn back in all shiny and clean.

Enjoying sunset on the way to CT to clear customs.

It has finally culminated in us being ready to leave our shores, in every sense but one…how does one ever say goodbye to one’s closest and dearest? I can rationally understand and accept that Dylan is keen and completely capable to live his own life now, that our impulsive gumtree purchase has meant that he has moved off on his own, and that we will undoubtedly miss him way more than he will miss us. No rational thinking can compensate for the separation anxiety that wells up within as departure becomes imminent.  It makes a mockery of the value we place on material possessions, they are just things, easy to sell, easy to replace. So Dylan, we will see you at Christmas, it is not so far away, on your new floating fishing home. We will stay in touch.

I console myself with the knowledge that we will have Kate on board with us across the Atlantic, and further if she wishes, with her energy and ‘joie de vivre’. Dave, this is your holiday home too, regain your strength, regain your vitality, it is our greatest wish to welcome you aboard for a fabulous fishing vacation. Mom, new horizons for you too, a fabulous opportunity to travel, not goodbye, just a different venue for your visits. To all our family and friends, thank you for all the effort you made in trekking out to see us during our preparations, you cannot imagine how much it means. However lives are so busy, time so fleeting, that we will see you all through facebook, blog or back home before you realize we were gone, or better still a visit to Katlyn.

It is Thursday, 23^rd May, it is Mom’s birthday, and the day we are leaving the Royal Cape Yacht Club headed to Luderitz, Namibia.  We were going to leave tomorrow, but it will be Friday and no sane minded yachtie leaves port on a Friday, so today it will be. It is 6am, Dylan slept over after a family meal at Panama Jacks. He needs to leave early for Stellenbosch and work or he will get snarled in the traffic, it’s a bleary eyed cup of coffee and a rusk in the saloon, a wordless group hug in the cockpit as the first signs of day start to show, his tall silhouette with overnight bag slung over his shoulder walks purposefully down the jetty, my heart aches and my resolve to stay calm starts to falter as we start the motors, loosen mooring ropes and head off across the harbour towards the bay. There is no traffic in the bay.

-Val

The plaque Kate gave Doug for his 55 Birthday, exactly 15 year after I gave him the one for Finesse.