Family Sailing Adventure

Starting Work

2015-03-01T15:04:00.001+02:00

19 Jan. 14

I started working on Tuesday and managed to last till the end of the week. I wanted to give up a few times but decided to stick it out until the weekend. The job itself isn’t a problem and could be quite enjoyable. My problem is the fact that my freedom is gone and I am trapped in a factory for the whole day wishing the time would go by so I can get back home to Yrumoar. This is a daily repeat story and soon my life will have been wished away.

Reinventing yourself

2014-01-14T09:13:00.002+02:00

07 Jan. 14

Over the festive period we had a visit from the Jones family and very short visit from Keagan afterwards. The weather was perfect for the entire visit and we all enjoyed a great Christmas day together. The Jones family left just before new year and Keagan arrived on a bus from East London the same day. We dragged anchor once again on the day Keagan had to leave, fortunately this time we noticed it quickly and managed to save ourselves before dragging into something. We now have two anchors down and hope they keep us in place. Knysna has a shit anchorage and the holding is obviously not good enough since we keep dragging anchor. Dragging anchor also means working shifts to do anchor watch thus no sleep again. You would think it is safe when you are in a harbour and you can stop worrying about storms and all that scary sailor stuff. Well, yet again, just another one of those mainstay fallacies “they” make you believe.

Lola, Keagan and I have decided to quit smoking as part of the whole reinvent yourself in the new year thing most people do every year. So far we are winning but it is not an easy habit to break. I have tried and failed many times before. Let’s hope this time is different. So so glad I am not hooked on crack, heroin or one of those serious never able to kick drug habits.

10 Jan. 14

And the year is running along as fast as it can. Sometimes I wish I had a brake pedal I could push and it would slow the time down or even make it stop, or perhaps something like a pause button on a dvd. Anyway, it’s been seven days since my last cigarette and it isn’t getting any easier. My dreams have even included the habit and in them Lola fails and starts smoking again thus allowing me to begin again. Funny how my dream wants to make it someone else’s fault.

12 Jan. 14

Only two more days till I start work at the motorhome place. I am not sure how it is going to work out since I haven’t worked for a boss in the last twenty odd years. I have somehow always managed to find a way to employ myself, not always successfully and with good profits, but it has allowed my time to be my time. Now my time will belong to someone else and I will be on the clock, don’t know if I can handle it. I did try it once before a long time ago during a “dry spell” in my self-employment days when money was rather tight. It only lasted for two and a half days when I couldn’t do it anymore and had to quit. Hope it goes better this time.

The Woes of life...

2013-12-21T16:32:00.001+02:00

10 Dec. 13

The Oyster rally yachts left yesterday morning at slack tide. The wind was calm and the water was like a mirror so I checked the weather and wondered if we should follow them out. The predicted wind was around 20 knots which already was a problem for me but the sea state was the actual problem. Around 3 metre waves 7 seconds apart, I just couldn’t do it. It made me wonder once again if this was the right thing for us. We are honestly chicken shits and I don’t know why we are even considering this.

Anyway I packed my thoughts away and we decided to go for a dingy ride in the lagoon after lunch. During the morning the wind started to pick up and by lunch time it was blowing around 20 knots as predicted. The lagoon was choppy and I wasn’t sure if we should still go but we ate lunch then jumped on the dingy. Our plan was to motor across the lagoon to Brenton on Lake. Through my binoculars I had noticed a yacht on a mooring and wanted to see if we could move over to that side of the lagoon as I believed it would be more protected from the Southerly winds. The wind had stirred up quite a chop and we splashed our way across the lagoon until I decided to cut across between the channel markers and head straight towards our destination. Mistake number one.

We had only gone a few metres when the motor churned up mud as we hit the bottom. In my wisdom I decided it was only a short shallow piece so I tried to continue in the same direction instead of turning around. We somehow crossed the shallow headed across some slightly deeper water and hit bottom for a second time. Lola told me to turn around but I looked behind us and noticed a piece of ground so told her we couldn’t go back. Instead of listening to her I jumped off the dingy and started to pull us across the ground. For a while this worked and we slowly moved forwards but then it became even more shallow and we all had to get out the dingy to lift and pull it along. Rauen and I could manage quite well across the muddy ground but Lola and Kyle couldn’t keep up as we yanked the dingy a few metres forwards at a time as they tried to keep their balance while sinking into the mud. Kyle lost one of his crocs and caught it just in time before the current took it away as Lola got stuck in the mud again unable to free herself without losing both her shoes. At this point there was a lot of screaming and confusion as Rauen tried to help her and I held onto the dingy so it would drift away. When Rauen couldn’t get his mother unstuck and she had screamed at him to stop pulling her around I shouted at him to hold the dingy so I could help Lola. I managed to get her unstuck for a few steps before she got stuck again then told her and Kyle to get back in the dingy. The water was slightly deeper again but we were still surrounded by shallows and Rauen and I yanked and jerked the dingy with Lola and Kyle falling about and holding on for dear life.

By this time everybody was angry with everybody. We finally managed to reach a narrow channel of deep water and Rauen and I jumped in the dingy. I tried to start the motor but the current and the howling wind quickly blew us across the channel and back onto the ground on the other side. We grabbed our oars and tried to row back to the channel but only managed to move sideways and the channel wasn’t getting any closer. I tried the motor again and for a while we headed towards the channel before the prop hit the ground again so I lifted the motor quickly and grabbed my oar. We eventually reached the channel and I told everyone to continue rowing until I could get the motor running so we didn’t end in the shallows again. The motor started after the fifth pull and we could finally head up the channel. As we motored into the chop I looked around and noticed people on the shore staring at us. I knew they had been watching us the entire time and must be thinking what idiots we are. I just hope they didn’t record it on a cell phone and it is now on U-tube with the tittle “dumb ass idiots.” The trip back to Yrumoar was bouncy and very wet and we arrived back an hour later shivering and pickled in salt water.

Now, looking back, it was quite funny and we all had an experience not soon forgotten. At the time though, not so funny. I wonder if this whole trip will be like that. Funny afterwards.

21 Dec. 13

So many things have happened in the last few weeks I am not even sure where to begin. The discussions about our uncertain future came up again and we debated our available choices. This time however things were slightly different since we had an extra option we never had before. A few weeks ago I finally managed to get a job offer here in Knysna. The job, working in a factory that builds motorhomes. Wow, I find that so ironic. Is it just another sign telling us our choice of transport was wrong? Anyway ignoring the irony the money isn’t quite enough to sustain the lifestyle we want but I suppose half a loaf of bread is better than none. Or is it? With this new option in mind we looked at our choices. Keeping in mind our original plan was to sail across to New Zealand resettle, find work and continue with “normal” life. Our finances were time based and calculated on this option and we even had a small buffer. However things didn’t quite work out as planned so now what?

We have managed to get our oldest child educated at the end of 2012 but still have three kids to educate and anyone with kids will know this is not a cheap hobby so money remains a huge problem. Taking the job here with little money may not be a real solution and may only prolong the final outcome. As every month ticks by we have less and less money since our expenses exceed our income even with the job. Home schooling our kids is not free, as some people believe it is and neither is anything else. Everywhere you stop costs money and this doesn’t include sightseeing, things you want to do or boat repairs, it just costs money to park the boat. With this in mind we have to wonder if the job is even an option.

On a different less traumatising subject our time on the chain mooring ran out and we had to move back on anchor. The club informed us they had it booked for someone else so left us no choice and we moved a few days ago. We are now swinging on our hook and hope it doesn’t decided to drag again. When something goes wrong it takes a while for your confidence to return and we have not had much sleep since we moved.

Rauen flew up to Joey’s to see his dad and Amy arrived in SA on holiday. I didn’t get to see Amy since her time was limited but did speak to her on the phone twice. I miss her and Keagan a lot. It’s been more than a year since I saw Amy and slightly less for Keagan but it feels like a lifetime.

I finally managed to get our second hand water maker installed the day before we moved onto anchor. It is a 12 volt unit and only fills one glass in about 4 minutes so doesn’t make much water but should suffice. We ran it for a half hour to test it but the water still tasted salty. It was second or third of fourth hand when we got it and I don’t know its history or if it actually works but will test it again when it is sunny. It is overcast today and we need the power to run the freezer instead.

Knysna

2013-12-06T10:22:00.001+02:00

17 Nov. 13

Yesterday we set foot on land for the first time since we arrived here. The weather hasn’t been good enough for us to want to leave Yrumoar and we were still a bit shaken after our anchor dragging ordeal. Even though we are now tied to a swing mooring we still don’t feel secure. These kind of events tend to do that and it takes a while for your confidence, or is it faith, to return.

Knysna reminds me of a quaint village and the surrounding area with its flowing mountains and lush green vegetation makes a spectacular view. The inner city buildings are unique and different to any other place I have been in South Africa. It is an obvious tourist attraction since everyone, and I mean everyone had a camera. Just walking and looking around I can understand why it would be a destination as opposed to a “passing through”. It has a good feel to it and walking around the waterfront and even into the city centre felt safe and secure.

After checking out the town we headed to the Yacht club. We wanted to find the skipper on the fishing boat who had assisted in our rescue and thank him. We also needed to get some contact details of the owner of the Catamaran we had bumped into. We didn’t find the skipper or get our contact details but instead met some really wild and interesting characters at the pub. This led to yet another impromptu party and we eventually managed to escape back onto Yrumoar just before cruisers midnight, in other words nine thirty. The dingy motor? Well I am not sure if I managed to find the leak but at least it started again after I put it back together.

18 Nov. 13

I sent my CV off again today. Hopefully I have some success at finding work here. There are much worse things I can think off than being stuck in Knysna for a year or two while I do a creative writing course and write my second novel. The place is beautiful and inspiring.

I took some photos of the damage on Yrumoar and will have to start with the repairs soon. Still not sure about the rudder but hope to dive down this afternoon and have a look.

20 Nov. 13

I didn’t dive down the next afternoon but instead went to town to buy a wetsuit first. The water here is so cold I would’ve died of hyperthermia without it. Now all who know me will know that swimming is not my strong point. In fact, I have a water phobia. If you look back in the blogs you will find my post on my attempted Midmar mile swim where my phobia got the better of me. So it was with great trepidation that I climbed down the back steps and entered the water. Lola had tied a rope around me and her encouraging words “I have you and will not let you go” helped me to eventually succeed. It took close to an hour of repeated dives under Yrumoar and lots of hacking with a few different knives before I finally managed to free our rudder. I was relieved and couldn’t wait to get out the water. At one time while I was diving under I looked down into the depths and couldn’t see the bottom. It scared the crap into me and I had to come up quickly and gulp air repeatedly staying on top of the water for a while before I could dive under again.

At least our rudder didn’t suffer any damage and seems to be working again. My swimming phobia? Did I finally conquer my fear? No. I still shudder at the thought of having to swim in water where I cannot see the bottom.

We did eventually find the guy that came to our assistance and thanked him. He however had other ideas and thanks wasn’t enough for him so presented me with an invoice of R1000. Wow, I was surprised. I suppose it did cost him money to help us so did a quick calculation to determine just how much. He assisted from the beginning and towed us across to the mooring bow. The entire operation took about three hours and covered a distance of about 500 metres. That equals just over R330 an hour. His time is obviously more expensive than the dentist I went to in East London since he only charged me R150 for the hour consultation including the local anaesthetic and tooth extraction. But hey, I suppose he is just a simple dentist with only six or seven years varsity studies behind him. I could never expect to pay him as much as this skipper with all his obvious courses and degrees. We bumped into him again later while we did some shopping and he offered to give us a lift back to the yacht club. We thought about it but decided to decline since we were not sure how much he may charge for the lift considering his 100 years driving experience.

24 Nov. 13

We are still in Knysna and have decided to do the tourist thing here since it is such a beautiful part of the country with many attractions. I have seen most of these at one or other point in my life, some as a kid and some as an adult but my two boys haven’t. It is Rauen’s birthday on Wednesday and he wanted to ride an ostrich so Lola planned our tour around this.

Last night we had a few visitors, Andy the farmer, his wife Anna and a friend of theirs Gordon. Andy called me during the day and was interested in Yrumoar so invited himself over to have a look. We had sundowners and he then invited us to stay over on his farm on Tuesday. That is the one thing I really enjoy about this life style, its unpredictability. You never know who you will meet or what is going to happen next and the time you spend with the new friends you meet is good quality enjoyable time. Sadly it comes with a twist at the end when you decide to move on but I don’t want to dwell on that part now.

I know I have mentioned this before but today I found myself comparing living on a boat as opposed to living in a house yet again. Being in the Knysna lagoon spurred it on. Today is Sunday, no not our proverbial every day is Sunday thing it is actually Sunday and half the country and their sister owns a power boat down here and is powering around the lagoon like it’s going out of fashion. There is no “no wake” zone around us so we are bouncing about every time someone decides to fly past us at warp speed. It’s been happening since we arrived here so we are getting used to it and have had to adjust our routine accordingly. The only time it becomes a real problem is when Lola is cooking lunch and we have to quickly get up and run over to grab the pots on the stove when a wake is about to hit us. This made me think about the house comparison. Imagine having to run over to your stove and grab the pots every time a car passes your house. Fun isn’t it.

29 Nov. 13

We spent the last three days doing the tourist thing. First we hired a car and drove to Andy’s farm to spend the evening. He lives on the side of a mountain and his farm is very secluded from anything. After a twenty minute drive up a small gravel track his house appears between the lush green foliage. On one side a river flows gently towards the ocean and on the other a mountain grows up a steep incline. His home is constructed from wood planks and has many different levels as it stands on stilts up the incline with his main bedroom right at the top level. The setting was perfect and we enjoyed their good company well into the early hours of the next morning before going off to bed. We had a big day planned so had to rise early. I felt a bit rude as we rushed through breakfast and sort of forced our way into leaving without spending more time on our goodbye. It was easy to get captured by Andy and his wife Anna and not that easy to leave.

Even though we left quite abruptly we were now behind schedule and had to call the Cango Caves to change our time of arrival. We had a pleasant scenic drive through the Outeniqua Mountains and into the “Klein Karoo”. About 10 km from Outshoorn we were stopped in a routine roadblock and as they checked my drivers licence I mentioned it was Rauen’s birthday. To my surprise all the policemen and women stopped what they were doing, gathered together and started to sing happy birthday to Rauen. It was like being in one of those organised flash mob videos and I quickly looked around to see if I could see any cameras. When they eventually finished they told us we could leave and we drove off laughing and discussing what just happened.

We arrived at the Cango Caves just as our group departed into the cave and had to run to catch up. Once inside I became irritated when I discovered how large our group was, about fifty people. I couldn’t hear anything the tour guide was telling us as the whole group never seemed to shut up and someone also had a screaming baby with them. So the Cango Cave tour was a bit annoying. At least the boys got to see it.

After the tour we drove into the town of Outshoorn, had some Steers burgers for lunch then headed to the Highgate ostrich farm. It was Rauen’s birthday and he wanted to ride an ostrich. The tour around the Highgate ostrich farm was quite informative and we each picked up and held a baby ostrich. They are like all baby animals, really cute. After this we drove across the road and Rauen finally got to ride his ostrich. It was fun watching him hang on for dear life as the ostrich ran around trying to get rid of him. We wanted to go to the cheetah park but it was just too expensive so had to give it a miss and drove back to end our day on Yrumoar at about seven.

The next morning we took another drive. This time we headed up the coast and onto the R102, the old road through the Tsitsikamma forest. I wanted the boys to experience the “SA garden route” as I had done it before and it is well worth doing. On our way we passed a 3D puzzle park and the boys got so excited we had to stop and do the 3D maze on our way back. Lola and the boys love that kind of thing, mind puzzles and quiz games. I on the other hand don’t. I’m not very good at puzzles and thus don’t like to try them but went along with my family since it was something they enjoyed. At some point while struggling to complete one of the puzzles a question went through my head, am I with the wrong people? It was an intriguing question for a moment and came to me during a moment of frustration when I was doing something I don’t usually even bother trying. The question was still in my mind when the puzzle pieces fell suddenly back under the table as the game timed out. I was feeling frustrated and annoyed and stomped over to the next puzzle only to be timed out again before I finally realised I was being childish and got over myself.

06 Dec. 13

A few days ago 4 “Oyster” yachts arrived here and today another 3 arrived as part of the Oyster round the world rally. They are beautiful yachts as far as monohulls go but I couldn’t help but think about Barney’s cheerleader effect theory in "How I met your mother".

Video of Port Elizabeth to Knysna trip

2013-11-21T12:25:00.002+02:00

Never thought we would need the NSRI!

2013-11-17T18:02:00.000+02:00

14 Nov. 13

We left PE six o clock on Tuesday morning and beat into a choppy uncomfortable Algoa Bay for four hours before rounding Cape Recife and turning west towards Mossel Bay our next stop. Once we turned the swell direction was more comfortable but still gave us a bouncy ride until we passed Saint Francis, about 45 miles and 10 hours later where we finally turned west and placed the swell behind us.

The sun set just after seven and we had a relatively good sail across Plettenburg Bay overnight.

At sunrise our speed dropped from almost six knots to under three and we started beating into an unpredicted South westerly wind. As the hours passed and the sun rose in the sky the sea became increasingly uncomfortable and our speed dropped to under two knots. The wind kept building and sea became more and more uncomfortable. Yrumoar was bouncing into big waves and was taking a beating as her bridge deck slammed onto the water each time she crossed a wave. Sometimes she crashed down so hard I thought her windows would smash. It was not even nine o clock in the morning and we still had a long way to go to get to Mossel Bay. At this point we started looking for options. We couldn’t carry on like this and wanted to get off the boat and off the ocean. Lola and I discussed our options, could we turn around, run downwind and anchor in Plettenburg bay or not. We searched through the pilot guide hoping to find an answer but the pilot guide did not recommend using Plett as an anchorage and especially in a big South Easterly which was predicted to arrive the following day so we discarded that option. Fortunately we had met up with Ian on HQ in PE and knew he was in Knysna so we called him and asked him for some options. Ian is a very experienced skipper and we needed help. We were not making any headway and started to panic. Ian told us he would come out on his duck and meet us if we could get to the Knysna heads. The entry to the Knysna heads is reputed to be quite adventurous and it is not recommended without local knowledge so we had no intention of trying it but now with our choices limited we decided we would take him up on his offer and continued beating into the wind and swell for the next nine hours till six in the evening when we finally arrived at the heads. Yrumoar took such a beating that her big heavy saloon table ripped off the floor and is now still loose.

About an hour before we arrived at the heads Lola finally broke down and released her tension. As the tears flowed she told me she hated me, she hated sailing and she hated the boat and it was all my fault. I did nothing to defend myself and understood how she felt. I actually felt much the same way so just kept quiet and let her get it all out. A few minutes later she was done and started smiling and talking about our next leg down to Simons Town. I was confused but still kept quiet. Was there two Lola’s on board and I hadn’t noticed? Anyway Ian met us on the leading lights and climbed aboard. He powered Yrumoar through the heads without a hitch and we finally dropped anchor behind HQ just after sunset. Ian was a lifesaver and we all thanked him multiple times before sending our aching overtired bodies off to bed.

16 Nov. 13

Yesterday morning when I got up I had no idea that yesterday was the day our trip may have ended in disaster. It was a beautiful morning and the sun was shining as I sat in the cockpit drinking my morning coffee thinking about the day ahead. I asked the crew what they wanted to do for the day and we thought we would head to shore and check out the waterfront. Knysna is a stunning place and my view from the cockpit is amazing so we all looked forward to a fun day. But first I had to fix our dingy motor since it leaked petrol and we had anchored quite far from land so needed it to work. I started stripping the motor when a friend called on Skype and asked how things were going. I told him things were good and we were excited about the trip except off course the money issues. With this mentioned I joked with him to go onto our website and make adonation. He then asked my why he should make a donation since we are living the dream life and he has to slave at work all day. He even equated my suggestion to the guys begging at the robots on his way home from work. I could see his point and understood what he was saying but told him our donation button on the website is not the same as begging. We take a lot of time to write about the trip and the places we visit. I think Lola spends about six to eight hours a day loading photos and making the website as attractive and user friendly as possible. For this “work” we do not charge anything. So the donate button is there for those people who enjoy reading what we wrote about and wish to continue reading so decided to “donate, or pay” for what they have read and seen.

Anyway after saying goodbye I continued stripping the dingy motor. I don’t know how it happened but when I looked up I suddenly spotted a catamaran right next to us and we were heading rapidly towards it. I shouted to the crew, “oh shit our anchor has dragged” and everyone rushed outside. But it was already too late and we smashed into his bow with a loud crunch. I shouted for someone to get me the keys so I could start the motors and Kyle ran inside to get them. I started the motors and tried to motor off but our rudder was tangled in his bridle and we were stuck. A fishing boat was sailing by and we shouted for assistance but he couldn’t hear us over his engines and just continued on his way. Behind the catamaran we were now stuck to a low bridge crossed the road and I was concerned his anchor would also drag with our combined weight wrecking both our boats onto the bridge. I told Lola to call sea rescue for assistance and passed her the phone. She dialled the number at the same time as pushing our boat as hard as she could away from the bow spirit of the catamaran that was jutting over into our cockpit. She managed to get through the second time she dialled and sea rescue was on their way to us.

In the meantime another fishing boat had spotted us and made his way over to help. He dropped his anchor some distance from us and tossed a line for us to cleat. He then tried to pull us off but couldn’t. The NSRI arrived about ten minutes later and took control of the situation. The owner of the other Catamaran also arrived and wasn’t in very good spirits. I suppose I can understand, I would also not be impressed if someone had dragged their anchor and got stuck on Yrumoar.

For the next three hours we watched as NSRI devised a plan and saved our boat. Our rudder was no longer working so they, together with the fishing boat, towed us onto a mooring buoy and tied us up before departing back to wait for their next call. I can’t begin to tell you how thankful we are to them and the guy on the fishing boat for their help but was really glad we donate money regularly to the NSRI even though we never believed we would need them.

Around Port Elizabeth

2013-11-14T17:20:00.000+02:00

07 Nov. 13

We decided to take a walk to the Spar about two kilometres from the harbour entrance and passed the South End Museum so decided to take a look. The museum is about the forced removal in 1960 of the people who lived there and includes some history about all the different race groups in the Eastern Cape. It’s true that history is written by the victor and since I was taught history in the apartheid era I can see how it has been changed to suit the new South Africa. I was taught that Vasco Da Gama landed near here somewhere and was attacked by the locals. He killed many of them in the battle and drove them off. He obviously won at the time otherwise I wouldn’t have known about it since he would have been dead and couldn’t relay his story. Now the new history goes that he landed here and “stole” water so the locals attacked him suffered very little casualties and they drove him off. I suppose every story has two sides, depends who is telling it. I also noticed the new South African history starts in 1950. Before 1950 nothing happened and no humans walked the planet. I know the old government was stupid and did some really atrocious deeds that nobody is proud of but these things did happen and should be noted in history so we don’t make the same mistakes in future. We can get to make new ones instead.

My first impressions of Port Elizabeth. From where we sit in the harbour it is an attractive city. The buildings are interesting and modern and the landscape clean and good looking. About the locals, PE must have the most attractive women in SA and Rauen and I have been exercising our neck muscles as we have to spin our heads from one attraction to the next.

08 Nov. 13

We caught a taxi to the airport to pick up a rented car. Afterwards we drove to one of the many malls in PE to meet Leon an old friend from Lola’s school days. We arrived a bit early for the meeting so took a walk around the mall and looked in one or two of the shops. Leon arrived a few minutes later and we had coffee while Lola caught up on years gone by departing with “lets not wait 20 years till we meet again.” However, our future is now so uncertain we can never tell when or if we will ever see someone again.

Yesterday we drove to Jeffreys Bay to see Lola’s gran, her uncle Reg and his wife Denise and Chantelle her brother’s ex. I wonder if it’s just me or what, but somehow all the people we are meeting are related to, or friends of Lola and nobody has anything to do with me. Must have something to do with my secret past as an undercover agent or the fact that I am from a distant planet.

Oh, two things I forgot to mention regarding our sail from East London. Lola was not seasick and it made a huge difference to our sail. And the second, Yrumoar developed a new creak near the Nav station. We tried to see what was causing it but couldn’t find anything so sent Rauen under the boat when we got here with my “test instrument” to tap around and make sure nothing had broken under the bridge deck. Fortunately he didn’t find anything wrong under there and since we can’t find anything obvious inside the boat either we decided to strengthen some of the bulkheads in that area and hope it stops the creak.

11 Nov. 13

On Saturday we decided to go down to the beach and try out the IPTS. IPTS, integrated public transport system or in laymen terms, the bus. The bus stop was just outside the harbour and we only had to wait a few minutes before a bus arrived. The bus trip was short but enjoyable and we walked through the flee market had lunch, watched Rauen skate at the skatepark and finally headed to the beach. PE has a beautiful beach with soft clean sand and turquoise blue crystal clear water. In my opinion the beach in Port Elizabeth would be far better than the beach we saw in Mauritius except for one thing, the water temperature. In Mauritius the water was warm and inviting. In PE the water was not.

On Sunday morning the Herald Newspaper came to the yacht club to do an interview with us. It seems fame has finally reached our doorstep. Okay no, it seems Lola knows people who know people who know other people. Thanks Leon.

We strengthened the bulkheads with an epoxy fillet and a layer of glass. Hopefully our creak disappears.

Last night we had an impromptu party on Yrumoar. Dylan arrived from Cape Town to sleep over and Ian on HQ whom we had met in Richards bay also arrived. We also made a new friend John. He owns a 24 vivacity that is moored next to us and I chatted to him about it since it reminded me of our time on Bluefin. He had some interesting stories about his time in Argentina and we all stayed up till after midnight having fun and catching up.

This morning two boats left and I helped Miscky undock and watched her leave. We then took a ride on the back of a bakkie to drop Dylan at the airport and bought the newspaper. We just had to see the article and couldn’t contain our excitement when we saw Kyle’s image on the front cover. Our story was on page 3 and it sounded great. Ian also left this afternoon and we are alone again. Well not quite alone since about 200 other boats are docked in the harbour but alone in my mind anyway. And of course the inevitable goodbye’s had to come again. I don’t know if I will ever get used to them.

Sailing from East London to Port Elizabeth

2013-11-07T07:26:00.001+02:00

23 Oct. 13

I sat in the cockpit and watched another cruising boat leave this morning. Another one is still here but plans to leave this afternoon. We considered leaving with them but don’t like the weather window and don’t want to set ourselves up for yet another failure. At least we all feel better again and have decided to carry on giving it one more attempt.

29 Oct. 13

Haven’t had much to say so couldn’t write anything. We are still in East London. The weather here has been terrible with howling wind for about a week now. I had toothache since Saturday and finally went to a dentist yesterday. He was quite good and I didn’t feel a thing when he pulled my tooth but suffered with severe pain afterwards and couldn’t even enjoy my Steers hamburger. This morning it is still a bit painful but at least the Genpayne tablets are working.

31 Oct. 13

Another month comes to an end and we are still sitting in East London. After our last attempt I had called 3 delivery skippers and asked them to deliver Yrumoar back to Durban so we could put her up for sale. I asked them all for an estimated price to do this but none of them gave me an answer. About a week went by and one of them came back to me telling me he is busy and won’t have time to do it. He is also a good friend and asked why we wanted to go backwards. Lola spoke to him on Facebook and she explained. The other 2 came back to me two days ago. They also told us to carry on. After I posted my blog we received an inspiring message from another good friend, Dylan also telling us not to give up yet. On Facebook Marc another friend on Atlantis also sent us a motivational line. Well, we had already decided to try again but it was great to have all the support and thanks guys. Oh I am still on the Genpayne tablets and I am not sure if I told the dentist to pull the correct tooth.

01 Nov. 13

So we launched another flight plan for PE today with the intention of sailing on Sunday morning. Now we wait and see if we are going to succeed this time round.

06 Nov. 13

On Friday night the harbour became so bouncy that by Saturday afternoon Lola was seasick and had to use the bucket. Seasickness is a terrible debilitating sickness that renders anyone who suffers from it helpless and I don’t enjoy watching my wife suffer feeling guilty once more for making her sail on Yrumoar. A good friend Sam told Lola she takes Adco Cyclizine the night before she goes out diving and it helps so Lola took a tablet. The tablet didn’t have time to work before she fed it to the bucket so she took another one. The seasickness also gave her a headache and she took two Genpayne tablets before finally passing out at about six in the evening. I sat alone in the cockpit and had a few very bouncy sun downers before going to bed at about nine. It was still bouncy in the morning when we woke up but Lola was feeling much better. She told me we may as well be out at sea with Yrumoar rocking and jerking away. The weather window said the wind would change from South west to North East at about one in the morning, blow at 15 knots until two in the afternoon then slowly calm. We waited until eight hoping the sea would calm down before we untied the lines and motored towards the harbour mouth.

I contacted port control to ask for permission to exit the harbour and was told to be careful when crossing the bar since a huge swell was running across it. Lola and I looked at each other. “oh crap” the thought entered my head. Where we going to turn around again? I wasn’t sure what to do but was still heading towards the exit. We couldn’t see the conditions outside so needed to get closer and around the north pier. Then my phone rang. It was John Barry. He asked me if we were planning to leave. I said yes. He then told me he thinks the sea outside is crazy and I should wait while he goes out on his rubber duck to check before we leave. This made me even more afraid and now I seriously considered turning around but Yrumoar just kept on heading closer to the exit. I then asked him if he thinks we should turn around and wait till the sea calms down. He said he would do that. Then the phone cut out before I could say anything else. I looked at Lola and told her what John had said. She sucked in a huge gasp of air and her eyes widened while clasping her hand across her lips. Her expression told me exactly how we both felt.

Yrumoar was still heading towards the bar. We turned the last corner and my eyes kept looking at the south break wall as the waves broke over it and came tumbled along and into the harbour towards us sending white spray in the air as it hit the bollards along the wall. Then I looked out across the bar and into the ocean. The swell was huge. On our starboard side a large roller tumbled across the edge of the south break wall. Directly in front of us but slightly off to port another huge roller ran across the harbour. A small gap existed between the two monsters and Yrumoar headed towards that gap. As we approached the gap the bow rose up suddenly and I could see a wall of water coming rapidly towards us. I froze and held onto the steering. Yrumoar climbed up the wall and reached the summit within a fraction of a second. My fear was mounting and the adrenalin was pumping through my veins as I wondered what was on the other side of this huge wall of water. Would it be a cliff face and we would plummet down the other side into disaster. I had been praying since we launched the flight plan on Friday and shot off another quick one. “please Lord, don’t let this be another Richards Bay Durban experience, I don’t know if my nerves can handle it.” Just then we reached the summit of the wave and I could see the other side. Yrumoar slid over the top and I swear I could hear her go swoosh as she surfed down the trough. We had crossed the bar. Yrumoar sped off towards the next wave and without any hull slam or complaints flew over the crest and swooshed onto the next one. I suddenly realised my fear was irrational and even though the sea was huge, about four metres, it was not dangerous or uncomfortable. The waves were far apart and Yrumoar sailed gently across them. Another sailing yacht “Miscky” had left at five in the morning and we caught up to them in the late afternoon just before sunset.

I took a few photo’s as we passed them and called them on the radio. We had a quick chat and sailed on into the night passing Port Alfred just as the sun was setting. We encountered a few large ships on route and I had to call one of them to find out if they had seen us on their Radar since our paths would cross. They said they did and changed course slightly to pass on our starboard side. They passed us close enough for a good photo and Lola snapped away happily at our new camera. This camera takes awesome photos and I am happy we made the investment.

We rounded Bird Island at three in the morning and headed on into Algoa Bay. Our speed dropped almost instantly from five knots to three and the short choppy sea slammed and slapped on our bows. A south west wind was blowing and I measured it at 10 knots. The weather forecast said nothing about it so I was a bit concerned. I shared my thoughts with Lola and she was also concerned. It was about five in the morning, both Lola and I were very tired since we hadn’t slept and I told her to try get some sleep. Since our speed had decreased we weren’t making much headway and our initial estimate of arrival wouldn’t happen so we needed to get some sleep.

As she got up to go inside a loud grunting noise came from the sea.
“What was that?” I heard her asking me.
“Shit I don’t know.” I replied.
And just like that we were wide awake again. After a while we decided it must have been a seal shouting at us as we may have passed to close by so our nerves calmed and we carried on at a tortoise pace towards Port Elizabeth. Lola went to sleep and I sat outside watching the sun rise over Algoa bay.

I woke her after an hour and she was much better and told me to go sleep. For some unexplainable reason I said no. Yrumoar was bouncing on the short choppy waves and the motion wasn’t comfortable. Lola took the pilot guide and read it for the first time. I don’t know why we didn’t check the guide before we left, we normally pour over it a few times but didn’t do it this time. After she was done she came outside and told me we should head back out to sea. I agreed and we turned away from our destination and headed back to deep water. The motion was even worse now as the waves hit us on the side. A motion none of us enjoy but our speed increased as we rolled out the Genoa so we accepted the slap and slam for the next four hours.

We had to round Riy Bank before we could turn back towards PE and sail the last twelve miles towards the port. At this point I was so tired I could no longer concentrate and went to sleep. As I lay down my toothache that I was still suffering with throbbed away but I closed my eyes and hoped the pain would go away while I slept. I woke up an hour and a half later with a throbbing tooth and very tight skin. I never realised it at the time but the sun must have got hold of me and roasted my skin to a bright red glow. I haven’t been sunburnt for a long time but I quickly remembered how it felt and decided to avoid the sun in future or use some of the sunscreen we sell.

We rounded the break wall and crossed the bar into Port Elizabeth harbour just after twelve. I was tired and irritable and struggled to park Yrumoar so ended up shouting at Lola for no particular reason. This lead to an uncomfortable afternoon as we went over to the yacht club to sign in and out to lunch afterwards. It took a few hours before I realised what I did, apologised and she decided to speak to me again.

To sail or not to sail, that is the question

2013-10-29T15:06:00.001+02:00

16 Oct. 13

A big 30 knot easterly wind nearly blew the saw out of my hands as I was cutting some wood to repair the seats in one of John’s boats. It was one of those typical nothing is going to work out according to plan days. John told me to repair the seats on his river charter boat and if I need any screws or spares I could find them on his yacht on the hard in the harbour grounds. I carried the broken seats onto the jetty and collected my wood working power tools only to discover the jetty had no power so I had to cut the wood the old fashioned way. By hand. Next I tried to fetch screws from his yacht but as I approached the gate to the harbour the guard stopped me and told me no entry without a permit. At that point I gave up and called it a day.

19 Oct. 13

I finished making the seats and installed them on John’s harbour tour boat not quite happy with the job I had done since he didn’t give me the products I normally use to do repairs. My mood was glum and Lola noticed it as I moped around on Yrumoar so she asked me what was wrong. I wasn’t sure myself but believed it was because we were still in East London and it was time to go. Lola listened to my sop story then went inside and checked the weather. A window was open to head to PE so we started preparing Yrumoar for the trip and went to the water police to launch our second flight plan. We thought the best time to leave would be about 11 at night but by 2 in the afternoon we became impatient and untied the lines. Even though the sky was covered in clouds and it was a miserable day John told us the sea was flat and he thought the conditions would be good to go. We motored out the harbour and turned to head out about 6 miles offshore to find the current. The sea was “flat” is a relative term in my opinion. Yes it was quite flat compared to our horror trip from Richards Bay to Durban, but it is never “flat” like a dam. A two meter swell was running directly at us and made our outbound journey quite bouncy with our bridge deck slamming the water every third or fourth wave. Then we turned southwest and the swell came from the side. This must be the most uncomfortable position for a cat to sail. The wave arrives and hits you side-on slapping against the side before it lifts the hull up tilting the boat up on one side before slipping under. Once it passes under the hull the bridge deck vibrates as the boat slams back down on top of the wave and then the other hull shoots up into the air tilting the boat the opposite way. It feels like the boat is going to capsize on almost every wave. Anyway this continued for 2 hours before we again gave up and turned around.

Our second failed attempt made us question yet again if this is what we want to do. We discussed our options with the kids and we all agreed we should sell Yrumoar and fly to New Zealand. Although it is by far the most sensible decision considering our financial position it is not an easy one and soon got the better of us and we spent the day in deep depression with little to say to each other.

20 Oct. 13

The mood on Yrumoar is still sombre and each of us seems to have withdrawn into our own world. Rauen spends more and more time on his phone and Kyle disappears into his room to play with his teddies. Lola has buried herself deep in a book and I sit alone in the cockpit staring at the water. Two other cruising boats have arrived and one of them has two little kids on board. This makes me feel even more ashamed at our failure so I wasn’t surprised this morning when I woke up with feathers sprouting all over my body. I thought about Darwin and his theory, nature had finally evolved me into a chicken but then I woke up and realised my pillow had torn.

21 Oct. 13

Our mood has started to lift and this afternoon we all sat around the saloon table to discuss our options. Each of us has a different feeling about this trip. Lola wants to get to New Zealand but is worried that we may not have enough money to get there on Yrumoar since it would take another year at least. Rauen feels his teenage life is being stolen from him and he is missing out on the social life most other teenagers have. Kyle doesn’t really have an opinion but doesn’t want to go back to real life since he feels he never fitted in socially anyway. And me? Well I feel I have the opportunity in my hands to cross oceans and live my dreams but I’m not sure it will happen. I am not even sure if it’s what I want anyway. So I don’t know, will we continue? Send me your comments, if you have any and perhaps we can be convinced to continue and feel more positive.

22 Oct. 13

We managed to sell the car we bought in Durban today so have no reason to come back here again. Hopefully getting rid of our “anchor” helps.

My New "Job"

2013-10-16T10:24:00.000+02:00

12 Oct. 13

I just want to thank all those people who took the time to read my first novel “Undercurrents” I want to give a special thanks to Sam for the constructive criticism she gave coupled with the great advice. It gave me inspiration and helped me decide to write a second novel. The book sales are slowly trickling in but from a financial point of view I haven’t even reached the first pay-out threshold. Hopefully it gets there one day and I actually get paid for the work although it never felt like I was working.

14 Oct. 13

A huge 63 knot south westerly wind blew through East London on Saturday. It whipped at the water and sea spray was blowing everywhere even here in the harbour. The wind was so strong that the large Autoliner across from us had to call the tug boats to keep him pushed against the docks to prevent his lines from snapping. Yrumoar bounced and squealed as the tyres we used to protect her from the jetty got squashed and scraped against the wall. I was glad we were in port and not out at sea.

That mist on the water is the gusts of over 40 knots whipping spray from the ocean.

Yesterday John, the owner of the jetty came by and asked me for some assistance. I said no problem and got off the boat to help him. He handed me his car keys and some money and asked me to go to town to fill his jerry cans with fuel. Again I said no problem and drove off to the petrol station. When I came back he asked me to go with him on his “superduck”. “Superduck” is not a real name of a boat but I think it suites this boat perfectly. It seats about ten people very close next to each other and has two huge 200 horsepower motors. He named it “adrenalin”. Quite appropriate I think. Anyway I put on a jacket and my life jacket and got on “adrenalin” along with some German tourists. We left the harbour about a minute later at breakneck speed and headed out into a still very confused sea caused by the 63 knots of wind that had blown it into confusion the day before. About two hours later we returned to the harbour drenched in salt water and shivering cold. I have not been at sea on a rubber duck before so it was a new exciting experience for me.

15 Oct. 13

So this guy whose jetty we are on offered me temporary employment while we wait for a weather window. The money isn’t very much but at this point every cent counts. When he told me about the job I believed I was going to fix his yacht but yesterday morning I went with him on the rubber duck to pull a long orange inflatable boom across the harbour. The exercise formed part of an operation to contain an oil spill and this was a practice run to test the equipment. When that was done we went and had a look at his yacht. Then he left and I went back to Yrumoar to have lunch. At about 3 he called me and we went on the duck again to pull the orange tube back onto the dock. The exercise was very badly planned and the people in charge had no idea what to do and all the wrong equipment to do the job but it got done anyway in typical African style using whatever they could find, in this case all John’s equipment. He didn’t form part of the team but they had sub contracted him since they didn’t have a boat. Again African style, get a contract to do a job but you don’t have any of the required equipment however you obviously know someone in the tender department so it doesn’t matter. When the thin ski rope they supplied tied to the end of the boom finally snapped our job was done and we left to collect some German tourists waiting on the dockside to go whale watching. Again I got to go out to sea on a rubber duck and watch whales. The sea swell was huge about four metres but the ride was incredible and I am still crusted with salt from the sea spray. We got back just as the sun was setting and then John gave me R400 for the days “work.” Wow, and this is the job he wants to pay me for, I would do it for free without a second thought.

East London to Ponta Do Oura and back

2013-10-12T09:55:00.001+02:00

24 Sep. 13

We are still here and still tied to the jetty waiting for next week so we can catch the bus back up to Durban to fetch our car and go off to the wedding in Mozambique. After the wedding we hope to sell the car and catch another bus back here. I don’t like leaving Yrumoar alone for too long, she misses me I think, so we don’t have much time to sell the car and hope it sells quickly. Sharlene and Kenny have invited us over on the weekend to celebrate their anniversary and today is national braai day in SA so we will row over to the yacht club and see if anything interesting develops.

Braaing/barbequeing on Yrumoar

A cruising yacht came into the harbour yesterday morning and wanted to raft up to us. I had to tell them they couldn’t since the owner of the jetty told us not to allow anyone to raft onto us or tie onto his jetty. Later I apologised to them when we went across to have a shower and they invited us aboard for coffee. On board the two Australians had hijacked a South African couple in Durban to sail down this treacherous coastline with them. They had suffered a knockdown and all their plates had broken as they had flown out of the locker onto the cabin floor. One of the guys told me that South African sailors have to have balls of steel to sail in this ocean. I just laughed at his comment thinking silently to myself how my balls turn into raisins and try hide inside my body whenever we go out.

25 Sep. 13

So the Ozzies left sometime last night and we are still here. I wonder how often this is going to happen to us, people coming and going and more people coming and going while we don’t seem to move. Perhaps it will change one day and we will become the movers while others wait.

Today I have to do the washing again since Lola has some or other “allergy” to washing powder. Quite convenient I think. Anyway I don’t understand how we wear so much clothing considering we don’t go anywhere. So I decided to tell the crew to start getting used to their naked bodies since I am going to toss all their clothes overboard when we cross the Atlantic.

I don’t know if I mentioned this before but doing the washing is quite a job. I have to get off the boat with a jerry can and fill it with water. Next I empty the jerry can into two buckets. I use one bucket to wash and the other to rinse and soften the clothes. I am sure everyone had to do it like this about a hundred years ago before the advent of the automatic washing machine so why am I whining about it. It is after all just one of those little perks that comes with the lifestyle we have chosen.

I don’t mean to sound like a disgruntled ex-housewife but after I did the washing this morning I counted the t-shirts on the line and noticed that Rauen and Lola are the washing culprits. Lola had numerous items on the line and took about half the space, but then she is a girl so it’s understandable. I won’t mention the underwear since us boys all had about the same and Lola more than doubled that but it’s the t -hirts that got me going. Kyle and I had two each, but Rauen had four. I know it doesn’t sound like a lot but I did washing about a week ago and everything was clean. Anyone who knows Rauen will know that to even find him in a t-shirt is impossible. He walks around topless all the time and I can’t remember the last time I saw him in a t-shirt. So my question, or gripe is, when does he wear all these t-shirts? It must be while he is asleep because I asked him and even he couldn’t explain. As for Kyle and myself. I know you are all thinking 2 t-shirts in a week, that’s disgusting! But anyone who lives on a boat will tell you it’s how it is. I like to call it “eco” dressing.

8 Oct. 13

Leaving Yrumoar is not like leaving your house when you go on holiday. Well I suppose it is similar except your house won’t disappear out into the ocean if you didn’t tie it down properly, or sink if a huge log comes floating down the river and punches a hole in your hull. A disaster could still happen to your house while you are away but is usually the last thing on your mind while you sit on a beach somewhere sipping cocktails through a straw. I mean the chances of the ground suddenly opening up and swallowing your house or a river spontaneously developing in the neighbour’s yard then flooding over your walls are rather slim. So generally when you go away on holiday you lock the doors switch on your alarm and leave without a second thought. Simple isn’t it?

However when you are leaving your floating home tied to a jetty in a bouncy harbour that tests the strength of your ropes during every tide change, things are a bit different.

We had to leave Yrumoar to fend for herself while we headed off to Tammy’s wedding in Ponta Do Oura, Mozambique. The morning we left I had to close all the sea cocks and prepare the toilets by rinsing them a few times with fresh water and vinegar so the smell would not kill us when we came back. Marine toilets stink all the time, but if left for a while and I mean a short while like 24 hours without flushing, they really stink. Something like the inside of a morgue without refrigeration to keep the bodies “fresh”.

The toilets are only one thing on a list that has to be done before leaving. Checking and rechecking ropes, switching off water pumps, testing bilge pumps, turning off the gas, checking the dingy, pumping the fenders etc etc, and even after everything is done things can still go wrong. Anyway I did what I could and we left her alone while we caught a taxi to the bus stop in town. Typically we arrived an hour early and the bus was an hour late so we had a burger at the roadhouse next to the bus stop to kill some time. Eventually the bus arrived and we found our seats on the top floor at the back and sat down. Both Lola and I are nervous passengers and I thought the back of the bus would be the safest place if the bus driver decided to fall asleep and crash into a tree.

The bus took off down the road and we tried to make ourselves comfortable. This wasn’t easy as there is very little leg room between the rows of seats and we suddenly realised what a sardine in a can must feel like. Fortunately for the sardine it is dead when it is shoved into the can.

It was a long bus ride and the seat soon became uncomfortable. Adding to our discomfort was the fact that we couldn’t smoke on the bus and our addiction made us irritable. At one point I tried to pour some Coke into a glass for Rauen as the bus went over a bump and spilled it onto my shorts. This lead to a small temper tantrum by me and a reprimand by Lola followed by an uncomfortable silence in the back seats of the bus. After four hours the intercom system went squeeeeee and a barely audible voice announced our arrival in Mthatha. The bus finally made a pit stop and we could get off to stretch our legs. Oh, and of course satisfy our addiction.

I think my cigarette was alight before my feet touched the ground but I can’t really remember the moments before I lit up to clearly. When my mind finally cleared a few minutes later we went into the shop to buy a pie and a snack for the rest of the trip. The shop was quite busy but we found what we wanted and the queue moved quickly and a few minutes later we left the shop. As we walked out the door we saw our bus leaving and had to run after it. Someone on the bus noticed us running waving our arms in the air and told the driver to stop. As we got on and walked towards our seats at the back I could hear the comments as each person on the bus had to add their 5 cents worth. “ah nearly got left behind hey” giggle giggle. “almost missed the bus hey” giggle giggle. I didn’t find it quite as funny as they did but I think it was due to nicotine withdrawal.

Our next pit stop was in Kokstad. It was already nine in the evening and we had been on the bus since midday so just wanted to get off already. This time however we stood right next to the bus so it couldn’t leave without us. Rauen was asleep at the time so we left him on the bus. As we stood there the bus started up again and this guy standing next to us whose job title I don’t know but he had walked around offering coffee and tea on the bus so I assumed he is like a bus steward or something told us it was going into town to drop off and would be back in a few minutes so we could just wait. We did that but stood panicking about Rauen as we watched the bus drive off. What if he woke up and couldn’t find us? Anyway it happened just the way we panicked and I could see Rauen running around in the bus as it drove down the road. His phone had died so he couldn’t call us but managed to find a lady on the bus that gave him her phone to use and he called to tell us the bus would be back so we mustn’t panic. Still not sure who panicked the most.

It was one in the morning when we finally arrived in Durban and called a taxi to take us to Kim’s house. The taxi cost R160 for the 12 km and we watched the meter all the way as it counted up rapidly. More than once we considered telling the driver to stop and we would just walk the rest of the way. Fascinating how a bus ride from East London, around 700km costs R350 but a taxi ride from Durban to Durban a short trip of 12km costs R160.

11 Oct. 13

We stayed over a Kim’s house and she took us to the Bluff Yacht Club to fetch our car in the morning. We had left it there under a tree and wondered if it would start after standing for more than a month. It started first time and we went back to Kim’s with a few stops along the way to get some stuff for her son, Devon, whose school project was due the next morning. I helped Devon with his project and by 10 in the evening we all went to bed. The next morning we left at sunrise and headed towards Richards Bay. We decided to buy a new camera and made a few stops along the way but couldn’t find what we wanted in our price range. After walking Gateway mall flat we left empty handed thinking we would try again in Richards Bay.

Dylan was still at work so we had some time to kill and stopped at the mall in Richards Bay where we did eventually find our new camera at a price we were prepared to pay. We saved about R1500 on our purchase so were happy we had decided to shop around.

It was really good to see our old friends again and we spent a pleasant evening at their house. The next morning after a good breakfast we left for the border at Kosi Bay. Dylan gave us directions and told us it was a three hour journey so we had timed our departure to arrive at 2 in the afternoon. The trip took a bit longer due to extensive road works with many stop go’s and we realised we would miss our arrival time by over an hour so tried to call the guy who was supposed to collect us at the border. Unfortunately Vodacom had other ideas and our cell phone signal only lasted long enough for his phone to ring once. We were about 10 minutes from the border before the signal came back and had a slightly irate Mike meet us there after about 20 minutes. He told us the Taxi had already left for Ponto and we would have to wait for it to come back. Living on Yrumoar has made us extremely relaxed so we didn’t mind at all and I think he was way more concerned than us as I watched him trying to make phone call after phone call to find out the progress of the taxi.

The taxi eventually arrived and it reminded me of the taxis in SA, small minibus terrorists intend on killing everyone on the roads. My suspicion was confirmed when we came flying over a sand dune and stopped directly behind a four by four going in reverse. The inevitable happened as the four by four kept reversing and we went forward only stopping once we had collided with his tow bar. In typical Mozambique style both vehicles drove off after the accident without even blinking an eye or swearing at each other. The drivers didn’t even get out to access the damage.

For the rest of the journey we bounced up and down and held on for dear life as he sped his way across the dunes avoiding the occasional four by four going in the opposite direction on the same path as us. It’s only about 15km but it was the most treacherous and bouncy ride I have ever experienced in my life. At one point I tried to take a photo of Kyle as he had wedged himself in the back seat with his arms holding onto the roof but the taxi bounced so much my photo couldn’t catch the moment very well.

Tammy and Jason had a very romantic wedding service on the beach and we had a great weekend with very little sleep. They stayed some distance from us and we had to cross the sand dunes a few times to get to their place and back. Fortunately it wasn’t in the taxi as they arranged someone to collect and bring us back so the trips were a lot more comfortable.

Sunday arrived all to quickly though and we had to say our goodbye’s. It’s never easy parting with friends and this time Lola broke down in tears as we headed back to our tent in a friend’s Subaru. I just left her to cry and didn’t say anything to make her feel better. I thought she needed the tears.

Monday morning we left Ponta Do Oura in the taxi and had another breakneck journey back to the border. This time the taxi got stuck in the thick soft beach sand and had to be towed by a passing truck. We stayed overnight with Dylan and Niccolette before leaving on Tuesday morning to Durban to stay at Kim and Darren.

We left Durban at 5 on Thursday morning and arrived back at Yrumoar in the late afternoon. She was happily waiting for us and it felt great to be back home.

Along the way I noticed something and asked Lola and the kids if they had the same experience. When the bus arrived in Durban it didn’t feel like home even though we had spent almost a year there. The same thing happened inRichards bay and again in East London. I thought back to the last time we had been up to Joey’s and realised we didn’t feel at home there either. It made me wonder where, if anywhere, we would feel at home again.

Overnight sail to nowhere

2013-09-22T13:35:00.000+02:00

19 Sep. 13

We sat happily on the dockside when a man in Transnet uniform walked over and informed us we have to move off the docks as they are derelict and could fall down at any time. I asked him about the steel boat next to us and he said it also has to move but they don’t have a contact number for anyone to inform them. He told me to contact port control to confirm his story and gave me a number to call. I made the call and port control confirmed we had to move. Lola and I discussed our options and decided to check the weather. The forecast was mild but the wind was variable and from all directions which was not an ideal window for a trip down to PE in our opinion. Other more experiences sailors would have taken this window with a smile but for us it wasn’t what we wanted. However since we had been chased off our spot we went to the police and lodged a flight plan for PE.

At five in the afternoon we motored out the harbour and headed out to sea hoping to find the current to give us a push down the coast and add a few knots to our speed. The current however had other ideas and instead of helping pushed against us slowing us down from 5 to 3 knots so we turned and headed further out to sea. After 3 hours and about 12 miles offshore we were still heading into the counter current and the swell had now teamed up with it so we found ourselves heading into the waves making our ride rather bouncy and uncomfortable. Lola was slowly turning green and I knew she would be talking into her bucket soon so asked her if we should head inshore to try avoid the counter current instead of continuing our fruitless search for the current. She agreed and we turned inshore. As we headed inshore our boat speed steadily decreased until we could only do 2 knots under motor. At that point the wind started to pick up but it was coming from the south west, directly on the nose. So now we had the current and the wind against us. We decided to close haul and raised the sails hoping the wind would help. In order to sail against the wind we had to change course again and this time headed almost directly towards the shore. Our speed increased slightly from 2 to 3 knots but now we were tacking in towards the coast then back out to sea. Two hours went by and we had only made a few miles headway although we had sailed a lot more in distance. The wind was steadily increasing and the waves grew bigger, Lola was speaking seriously into her bucket and was not a happy camper and me, I of course, was feeling guilty for making her do it. In between her discussions with the bucket Lola mentioned that the prediction had only called for wind between 5 and 10 knots coming from the north. We had about 15 to 20 coming from the south instead so the next time we closed in on the shore I asked her to go online and see if we could get an updated prediction. She did and the conditions had changed dramatically with the south west wind climbing all the way to 30 knots in the morning. We looked at the prediction and calculated where we would be at that time considering our pathetic boat speed. We had hoped to be near bird island at lunch time but our current rate would place us somewhere before Port Alfred. This was not going well and it meant we would be out at sea when the wind arrived so we decided to turn around and head back. We arrived back just before sunrise and waited outside the harbour until it was up wanting to find a spot to drop our hook in the daylight. So our first attempt at PE turned out to be an overnight sail to Hamburg, about a quarter of the way, and back.

Technical difficulties along the way? Yes we had a few. My repair in the starboard hull seemed to work as it stopped creaking but we took on water instead. About a litre during the trip in the starboard hull. The port hull however took a lot more, about ten litres. I wouldn’t have noticed the water intake since I did not check the bilges until we hit something under the water. We don’t know what it was but heard the bump as we collided with it and I went to open the bilges to check. It sounded like it came from the starboard side so I checked that side first. If I didn’t find water in it I’m not sure if I would’ve have bothered checking the port side. So it was quite a surprise when I opened the port bilge and found it half filled with water sloshing all over the place. There wasn’t enough water in it to make the electric bilge pump switch on but was still annoying and I had to keep an eye on it the rest of the way. Electric bilge pumps are a dumb design in my opinion and they normally only work when the bilge is completely full and the water reaches the floorboards. I would like a bilge pump that keeps the bilge completely dry but this would probably be impractical. I don’t know where the water comes from but we had the same problem on the sail down from Durban. I had dried the bilges after we arrived here and they had stayed dry the entire time this means the water ingress only happens when we motor sail. Just one more thing to add to my list.

21 Sep. 13

A beautiful 54 foot Royal Cape Catamaran arrived here from Durban with a delivery skipper and his two crew members. We were still at anchor and they dropped their hook nearby. For most of the day and into the evening the two boats swung happily next to each other as the wind shifted direction from north east to south west. At about eight the south west picked up to over 20 knots and I noticed their boat slowly drag passed until they were no longer next to us and well on their way back out the harbour. We tried to grab their attention and blew our fog horn repeatedly but they did not come outside. As they dragged further and further down the channel Kyle decided to test his vocal skills and screamed at the top of his voice hoping to warn them of the danger they were in. His voice echoed back at us from across the harbour but the crew was still unaware of their plight. At that moment Kyle noticed a reflection of a TV screen coming through one of their windows and informed us they would not hear us since they were pre occupied by a PlayStation game. With no other choice we launched our dingy and rowed across to warn them. A very surprised young man came out the door when we knocked and thanked us for the warning. We rowed back to Yrumoar as they reset their anchor. This incident stole all Lola’s sleep as her mind wouldn’t stop worrying so she was up and down all night making sure our anchor stayed put. In the morning we moved Yrumoar and tied her onto the wall. I guy we had met here runs a charter company and he rents the wall from Transnet so had invited us to tie up here while one of his boats is on the hard undergoing some repairs. We were really glad he had made the offer since we needed to leave Yrumoar somewhere while we go to the wedding next month and couldn’t leave her at anchor. Another amazing East Londoner, this town seems to be filled with really helpful people.

The Royal Cape catamaran followed us shortly afterwards and also tied onto the wall to wait out a forecasted south west blow. Even though we exchanged a few words when they came in to anchor we actually met the crew officially once they had tied up to the wall. They invited us over for tea and cake in the evening and we had a great time chatting and getting to know them. The time just flew by and by the time we noticed it for the first time it was almost midnight. As we prepared to leave we noticed a dingy rowing across the harbour towards us. We all exchanged glances and none of us knew who would be rowing across to us at midnight. The skipper Brad asked me if we knew who it was and we said no. So we all waited as he rowed across. He was struggling to keep his dingy pointed in our direction and we could hear him talking to himself as he came closer. At that point we all realised he was on his way over from the Yacht club after the bar had closed believing he wasn’t quite drunk enough and needed more. He arrived and got onto the boat without listening to a word we said. When the skipper finally managed to explain to him that the party was over and we were all on our way to bed he became obnoxious and mumbled a few insults under his breath as he climbed back on his dingy. While he rowed away back across the harbour we could all hear him speaking to himself again. This time however we had become the centre of his conversation and he described us a bunch of shitheads that didn’t do him any favours. I wonder if he is going to remember anything in the morning or next time we bump into each other over at the yacht club.

People who get that drunk fascinate me. I don’t know how they do it or why. It surely can’t be fun and even if it is they normally can’t remember it anyway. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy a good dop as much as the next guy, I just don’t enjoy making an ass of myself. I think I did enough of that when I was younger.

Suspects

2013-09-16T20:16:00.000+02:00

14 Sep. 13

Feeling a bit down we decided to get off Yrumoar and go for a walk down to the beach. Our time here has dragged on for longer than expected and we are all ready to move on, however, we did a calculation and financially it makes more sense for us to wait here until after Tammy’s wedding. The bus fares will be cheaper and we would be away from Yrumoar for less time.

The beach is quite far from here but the walk was a pleasant distraction and is good for the heart anyway. Besides, it also doesn’t cost anything to take a walk. The scenery on route is not something to write about since it runs through the centre of town and East London central is not scenic by any stretch of the imagination.

About half way we stopped under a shade port next to an empty car show room to catch our breath and give our legs some time to recover. The short rest stop gave us enough energy to continue and since none of us are psychic and able to predict the future we went on our merry way not knowing our rest stop would have any significance in our future lives.

The ocean is always spectacular and we sat on a wall watching the waves crash on the rocks while we again caught our breath. When we had enough of the waves to last us a few days we headed on down the beach front road to check out the aquarium and the German memorial site. Our stomachs told us that lunch time had arrived and we started looking towards the various restaurants that are lay scattered all along the road. Our first choice was a place named Y-knot. However when we entered the doorway we were told that it was still too early for lunch and we would have to come back later so we left and looked for another place. A beautiful building on the beach with a 180 degree sea view housed another restaurant, La Vida. Here we sat down, looked at the menu, gasped at the prices, and left. Almost directly across the road another restaurant, Guido’s, advertised a really good value breakfast so we decided to give them a chance.

Our meal and the service from our waiter were mediocre and we left after lunch feeling disappointed in our choice. On our walk back we stopped at the same place as before and our unknown future suddenly presented itself. We were still sitting in the shade resting when a bakkie with two men inside pulled up and stopped in front of us.

They stared at us for a while before the one decided to get out. He then walked towards us and sat down on the wall next to Rauen. We greeted him in our usual casual manner and waited for him to say something. He started with a question, “how long have you been sitting here?” Then he told us something about a missing I-phone and R2000 he has in his pocket that he would swop instantly if the phone was returned to him. We all just looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders. Then he got up and left. It was surreal and we felt accused of somehow making this I-phone disappear. After a few seconds we accepted our new roles as suspects involved in cell phone theft syndicates and we got up and made our way back to Yrumoar.

My book is finally available in print copy at Amazon and I wanted to order a few Author’s copies to sell along the way. This plan however is flawed since the Author’s copies along with postage and import duties from Amazon makes the book too expensive to sell so Lola and I have discussed an alternative plan. We looked around on the net for a printing company here in East London hoping to print a few copies. We found one and sent an e-mail but they had not sent us a reply so while we were walking back Lola noticed their signboard and we went into their offices. We met a bubbly young lady with an infectious laugh and she quickly printed a quote for us. The price per book is more reasonable but we would need to order at least five hundred copies. Hmm, we will have to think about that.

16 Sep. 13

This morning three boats left the harbour on route to their various destinations. One of the boats was a Rodman power boat with a delivery skipper on board on his way to Cape Town. His next stop would be PE. We met him and his crew two days ago when they arrived and wanted to tie onto us. I told them to go tie onto the wall behind us and was glad I did that when they asked me if I had any fenders they could borrow since they didn’t have any. Power boats as a rule are not a welcome sight. They never have the correct equipment on board and their skippers are usually very inconsiderate towards other boats. Anyway I didn’t have any spare fenders so found an old car tyre on the docks and gave it to them. The next morning they asked me to boil a kettle for them since their microwave didn’t work and they needed coffee. I boiled the kettle and wondered if they would be over at lunch time when they got hungry.

The other two boats were sailing boats with very different destinations. One was heading for Madagascar with a French solo sailor on board and the other, a young couple on board heading down the coast to PE. We were tempted to follow them but had already made our decision to wait until after the wedding.

Far away family and long lost friends

2013-09-09T15:43:00.000+02:00

02 Sep. 13

My daughter turns 23 today and I can still picture her as the small little girl with her hands up in the air beckoning me to pick her up and carry her around. The time flies by so quickly and sometimes I wish I could turn it back and have her sitting on my arm with her little face close to mine as we walk around the backyard while she points inquisitively at everything around her and I try to name the plants, trees and birds. It would look odd now since she is almost as tall as me and possibly knows the correct names of the things as opposed to the ones I invented but it’s a great dream anyway. I hope to chat to her on Skype sometime today since she is still on the other side of the world and I miss her.

We had some friends come over on Saturday and stayed overnight to get the feel of life aboard Yrumoar. Lola made a roast with vegetables for Sunday lunch and we all ate like pigs. Kenny tried unsuccessfully to land a fish on board and Sharlene chatted away to Lola. The time went by quickly as usual and I hope they enjoyed their visit.

04 Sep. 13

Yesterday I decided to fix our geyser since it hasn’t been working for the last year or so. We haven’t really needed it so it wasn’t a priority but the water down here is cold and the boys are suffering a bit when they wash the dishes. I stripped it piece for piece but couldn’t find anything wrong. The things that light the gas like little spark plugs worked shooting small sparks whenever I tried to get it going but the gas wouldn’t light. I stripped the gas pipe and checked if it was blocked. It wasn’t and I could smell the gas as soon as I removed the pipe. Next I tried to follow the pipe into the geyser and found a solenoid in the line. I took the solenoid out and tested it. It worked. I put it back in and tested the geyser again. Still nothing. I stripped the next thing above the solenoid, a gas adjustment knob. Put it back together and tested the geyser. Nothing. I don’t know why but finally I decided to replace the batteries. In my mind the batteries were working since the little spark plug thingies worked. With the new batteries installed I tested the geyser and it worked. Lunch time had arrived and Lola told me the food was ready. After lunch I tested the geyser one last time to make sure it was actually fixed and it wasn’t working again. I became very frustrated and gave up on the stupid thing. Later in the afternoon Kyle tried to boil the kettle and the stove wouldn’t light. This was when we discovered our gas bottle was empty. With the new bottle installed the geyser worked perfectly. I still don’t understand why I never replaced the batteries the first time the geyser wouldn’t work about a year ago and why I only decided to do it after stripping half the geyser’s guts out. All I can say, if the mind is slow the body must suffer and I am an idiot yet again.

This morning we had a pod of dolphins come by for a visit and this afternoon we saw our first seal swimming in the harbour.

07 Sep. 13

A few days ago Marimba sailed into the harbour. We had met Ilene on Marimba in Richards bay when she was struggling to set sail to Simons Town. Marimba had some engine trouble and a bent shaft but it was eventually fixed and she left. We waited a few days for them to settle before we oared over to catch up. It’s fascinating how the sailing community works. In Richards bay we only had one or two quick conversations in passing but now we are like old friends that are reunited after a short absence. Ilene told us about their trip down to Simon’s town and how Mark from Atlantis who was sailing along with them had landed on the shore after his anchor chain snapped in Struis Bay. Sea rescue had pulled him back out to sea and he did eventually get across the Atlantic to Brazil. Ilene had again sailed with Mark on Atlantis in Brazil where they had steering problems and almost had to abandon ship. Apparently Atlantis is now up for sale in Brazil and Mark’s dream has come to an end.

Marimba is on her way up to Dar Es Salam but had to make a stop here since Ilene picked up an eye infection somewhere off PE. She invited us aboard for supper and we ate Warthog for the first time. It doesn’t taste like pig and is very stringy like rabbit so I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not but ate it anyway. Maybe it’s just the way they cooked it in a soupy stew with no rice as starch. While listening to her I realised how much sailing she has done in the last year compared to us and I felt like a wimp but I suppose the facts are the facts and I cannot deny them. I am a wimp.

09 Sep. 13

Marimba left at five in the afternoon and we blew our fog horn and waved our final goodbye’s as she sailed passed us on her way out the harbour. I sat in the cockpit wondering if we would ever meet again as I watched their progress until their mast disappeared around the corner and out to sea. This sailing life is one filled with farewells and hopes that we may meet again somewhere in an uncertain future.

Nick and Doreen invited us over for another one of Nick’s special potjies and we spent a great afternoon over at their place.

My Book Arrived!

2013-09-01T09:42:00.000+02:00

27 Aug. 13

The cell rang and Lola answered. I was standing outside in the cockpit but could hear the excitement in her voice as she spoke. My print copy had finally arrived and Vava from the Greenfields post office had made the call. Lola whooped and bounced around as she excitedly rattled off her thank you thank you over and over again into the cell. I love the way she reacts to some things, uncontrolled and with gusto. I myself struggle to get excited and treat most things as one would feel about eating the same breakfast cereal day after day, it’s just something that has to happen. Anyway, we readied ourselves and took the long walk up to the post office. The last time we caught the taxi to the post office to find out if the book had arrived and when it hadn’t we had walked back to let off some steam and it turned out to be a pleasant walk. Our calculations however, didn’t consider the fact that last time the walk was downhill. We had to stop a few times on the walk uphill to catch our breath but made it in the end. Vava handed over our parcel and Lola’s excitement returned quickly even though we were all a bit tired. She tore open the wrapping and waved the book about in the air passing it to me to hold while she took out the camera to document the moment. Her excitement was contagious and everyone in the post office stopped what they were doing and watched as the camera snapped away. I felt a bit like an idiot but also elated holding my first book in my hand. We passed it around in the post office for all to look at then waved goodbye as we walked over to Pick & Pay.

With two heavily loaded trolleys we arrived at the checkout. The teller asked Lola why she was buying so much stuff and a conversation about our boat started. After we had paid our bill and started leaving the store the teller shouted for us to wait. We all stood looking at her confused and wondering why she stopped us. Then she handed Lola a slab of chocolate and said thank. We were still confused and very surprised but thanked her and left the store. We walked around the corner towards Pick & Pay liquors pushing our trolleys. I asked Lola what just happened and she shrugged her shoulders. Never before had we bought groceries at any Pick & Pay and been given a chocolate for doing so. When we got to the end of the back parking area we asked the boys to watch the trolleys while we went into the liquor store and bought some drinks.

When we got back I told Lola to call a taxi and we lit a cigarette to wait for its arrival. A man dressed in a Pick & Pay shirt walked over to us and asked if we were waiting for someone to pick us up. I joked with him and said we were going to walk the trolleys home then quickly told him we would be calling a taxi. He said no we don’t need to call the taxi, he would organise us a lift. We all looked at him in confusion and tried to protest but he had already walked away. A few seconds later he arrived back with another guy dressed in Pick & Pay uniform. He introduced us to the other guy and told us this guy would give us a ride back to our boat. We were dumbfounded but followed the other guy who we discovered was the store manager to his vehicle and loaded our trolleys onto the back of his double cab. He drove us back to the boat and even helped us unpack and carry our stuff to the boat. Wow! What service! I still can’t believe it happened but urge everyone I know to go and support this Pick & Pay if you ever pass through Greenfields in East London. I think I am even going to sit down and write a compliment letter to their head office.

Toilet troubles and good friends

2013-08-25T11:10:00.001+02:00

19 Aug. 13

Wow, what a great weekend. On Saturday morning Gavin, Lola’s 2^nd cousin came to pick us up and took us to a place called Lavender Blue for breakfast. An awesome venue set in the countryside with a few tables placed around a water feature. His wife Marlene met us there and we all enjoyed a good breakfast. When we left Lola and Kyle went with Marlene to the mall and Rauen and I went with Gavin to the spar to buy some meat for a braai at their place. On route Gavin’s cell rang and he answered while I grabbed the steering wheel and steered the car. Typical man stuff, Gavin working the pedals whilst concentrating on his conversation with me negotiating the road. Yes I know, First for woman insurance gives woman a better rate, but men have much more fun so don’t really mind the extra payments.

I followed Gavin around in the Spar as he picked out the best cuts for the braai. When we got to the tills he swiped his card to pay and the teller tried to pass him his bill. He waved his hands at her and said “If you give me that slip I will put all this stuff back in your shelves and walk out of your shop.” I laughed but understood exactly why he did it. If you look at the price of food nowadays you will stop eating and want to grow all your own food.

They live in possibly the best neighbourhood in East London and for the first time since we arrived here I liked the neighbourhood and the houses. That evening we met Gavin’s sister Doreen and her husband Nick, had a fantastic braai and a few drinks before going to bed in their spare room. In the morning we helped them move around some furniture before Doreen fetched us for a potjie pot at their house. We spent the afternoon at their place and they brought us back in the early evening. When we arrived home at Yrumoar we invited them on board for a cup of coffee. After doing the grand tour of our home we sat in the cockpit drinking coffee and I noticed “the look” appear on Nick’s face. I have seen “the look” before on many people’s faces, perhaps even on my own at some point in the past. That distant far away look that tells you someone is dreaming about places never seen before waiting to be discovered somewhere over the horizon.

21 Aug. 13

We have pretty much done everything we wanted to do here so the time has come to find a weather window. We could’ve left yesterday but my book still hasn’t arrived and we have to collect it before we go. I still want to do some reinforcing in our starboard hull by adding a few layers of fibreglass in the bilge. It’s not mission critical but the hull creaks as we head through the waves and I would be more comfortable if it didn’t. I am sure that the creaking is due to the damage caused when they dropped Yrumoar in Richards Bay and even though we added a few layers of glass already I think it needs more, another five layers or so should do it.

25 Aug. 13

We are still waiting for my book to arrive so I decided to get started on the hull repair and a few other small things. We have a wet locker at the back of the boat and it fills with water when we sail making everything in it soaked. Hence the words “wet locker”. Anyway I grinded around the drain hole and will close it at the same time as adding the glass in the hull making it a “dry locker” instead. Just when I thought I was ready to lay the glass I heard one of the boys in the bathroom struggling to empty the toilet. The toilets take priority over all other repairs and I stopped my work and removed the toilet to service and clean it. It is a regular job on the boat and I have done it more times than I have ever wanted to and hate doing it. Plumbing has always been low on my list and I would never choose the job if I could avoid it. Anyway I removed the toilet and stripped it. Once I had all the pieces separated I discovered the waste water impeller had cracked in half so decided to strip the spare toilet and use its parts to fix the boys one.

The job took most of the day and it was already late in the afternoon when I had the toilets back in place. I tested the toilet about ten times and it worked. A while later I heard Kyle running and running and running the toilet. I didn’t want to ask him if everything was okay and hoped I was imagining the noise. As he continued running and running the toilet I eventually had no choice but to ask him if the toilet was working. The answer I already knew. So I huffed and groaned down the stairs with a kettle of boiling water and poured it into the blocked toilet flushing it a few times and knocking the pipes against the hull. It worked and the toilet emptied. I tested it another ten times and then I asked Lola to go down and test it and tell me what she thinks I should do. Lola tested it five or six times and came back up and told me she also thinks it is working. So we agreed and forgot about the toilet. Later in the evening Rauen went to the toilet and guess what, yes you guessed it, it did not flush. This time my boiling kettle water trick didn’t work either and I had to strip the pipes. Stripping the pipes is not as easy as it sounds as they fit together very snuggly and require a lot of force to separate them so I grabbed the pipe with all my might and pulled. If I could relate that moment to a movie title it would have to be seconds from disaster. I pulled and twisted and yanked and jerked until finally the pipe suddenly broke loose. I don’t have to mention what happened next but there is a saying that involves a fan that would fit just perfectly. This was not at all what I had in mind for a Saturday evening.

Nahoon Reef hiking trail

2013-08-16T18:05:00.000+02:00

13 Aug. 13

We took our dingy for a ride up the Buffalo river. It was one of the things to do on the list and the scenery was beautiful, green valleys that run down to a rocky river edge with birds and Dassies playing on the shoreline. Here and there someone had declared their eternal love for their girl on the rocks with a spray can and it spoilt the pristine untouched beauty of the river, but for the most part it was completely uninhabited and wild. I must wonder if Petrus and Helda are still together or if he had a midlife crises and left her for his young receptionist with the big boobs. Or perhaps he became a drunk and they never got together in the first place except for that one perfect afternoon in summer when they took the romantic river cruise together.

Today we caught the taxi into town to go to the museum and have a look at the coelacanth on display along with the old human skull and footprint fossils found here. It took the best part of three hours to walk through and look at all the items on display and we were quite tired when we took the taxi back to Yrumoar. I have to mention the taxi driver. The one that we have had for the last two trips and not the owner of the taxi service that fetched us the first time. This lady drives like she is being chased by a huge dog and doesn’t believe in following distance at all so I find myself pressing an invisible brake pedal on the passenger side of the taxi and bracing myself for the inevitable impact that I feel is about to happen. Unfortunately my pedal doesn’t work no matter how hard I press it. To add to this the roads down here have been neglected by the government and have potholes and huge ditches across them everywhere. I slam on my brakes as I spot a ditch but she doesn’t even blink as her cars suspension creaks and knocks when she flies through the ditch with her petrified passengers.

14 Aug. 13

So Bryan, another one of Lola’s childhood friends picked us up this morning at ten to go over to his house for lunch. On the way we asked him to stop at the post office so I could ask them to reroute my book that has finally landed in Durban. Typical it would arrive in Durban after we left but life wouldn’t be the same if things went according to plan anyway. We ate lunch and had a great afternoon but the time flew by to quickly and it felt we had just arrived when we left again. On the way back we had to stop at the post office again to write and fax a letter giving permission for the first post office to send my book to the second one here. Now we wait and hope it arrives.

15 Aug. 13

The Perfect Day:

Coffee with dolphins playing in the background this morning. There is no better way to wake up. An entire school of dolphins came swimming into the harbour this morning. We even spotted a few babys.

16 Aug. 13

The perfect day.

Yesterday morning started with the dolphins playing in the harbour while I had my coffee. Next I did a quick load of hand washing and hung it out to dry. Yes you may wonder why I do the washing. Well, two reasons. Number 1, I like doing it and number 2, Lola is allergic to washing powder. So anyway the weather was great and we decided to go to Nahoon point for the day. The taxi arrived a few minutes later with our regular Michael Schumacher as the driver and we flew across to the nature reserve in no time with me hitting the brakes again as usual. At Nahoon point we had the most amazing burger for lunch before we headed out on the constructed bridge walkways towards bat cave.

After a while the walkway ended and we strolled leisurely across the soft sandy beach for a while. Then we arrived at a rocky outcrop and stood wondering if the trail carried on or if we had missed bat cave somehow. After a while we sent Rauen ahead as our scout and he climbed over the rocks to look for a trail. A few minutes later he came back and told us he had found a way over the rocks and we should follow him. We are not the most adventurous and we clambered our way clumsily over the rocks. On the other side a few stairs led up into the cliffs and we walked up the stairs and over some more rocks. The further we went the more adventurous and daunting the trail became.

Sometimes we crossed over narrow pathways with a cliff face on the one side and a shear drop of about forty metres into the ocean on the other. I was at the back of the pack and felt panicked more than once as I watched Lola and Kyle trying to negotiate their way across the rocks and narrow slippery pathways. We continued climbing and sometimes crawling along until we found bat cave and the blowhole. The scenery on the hike was spectacular with small coves and huge breaking waves smashing into and across the rocks. Once we got to the cave we decided to continue forwards instead of going back and had to cross more treacherous cliffs and finally a huge sand dune that was sliding and falling over a cliff.

With the hike behind us we continued walking on the beach until we reached town, about four km away from the end of the hike. We had a waffle at Wimpy and decided to walk back to the boat instead of calling the taxi. A few hours later and one or two wrong turns in town we arrived back home to Yrumoar.

Nahoon point was by far the most enjoyable and exciting hike I have ever been on and all of us loved it wanting to go back again before we leave East London. Although we were all quite bushed we were to excited to go to bed and sat in the cockpit reliving the experience for a while before the kids went to sleep and Lola and I watched a spectacular thunderstorm out at sea. The perfect end to the perfect day.

East London Harbour and the fish market

2013-08-12T10:29:00.001+02:00

08 Aug. 13

When we woke up yesterday the dock across the water from us was half filled with Mercedes cars and more of them kept on arriving until late afternoon. I tried counting how many there was but could only manage an estimate of over a thousand and they just kept on coming and even parked some of them down the road that leads to the docks. Around lunch time an Autoliner arrived in the harbour and started unloading more cars and trucks. We sat watching them offload until we eventually went to bed and they were still busy. We don’t know what time they finished but this morning when we woke up a different autoliner had arrived and the cars are slowly driving into its belly. The entire dock and about a mile down the road is filled with parked cars and trucks and I am wondering how they will fit all these into the ship.

09 Aug. 13

I don’t know what time they finished loading that ship last night but they were still busy when I went to sleep and only left this morning after I got up. We did a brief calculation and they loaded ten cars every four minutes with a short break of about ten minutes to fetch the drivers in the ship and take them to the next ten.

There was another ship wreck yesterday, this time it was a big cargo ship off the coast near Knysna. Fortunately sea rescue managed to rescue all the crew but it adds some more to our trepidation regarding this coastline. We had a big south westerly wind through here yesterday and the harbour was quite bouncy. I had to check our lines a few times and our fenders really took a beating against the steel yacht next to us. We decided we need more fenders and added this to our list.

10 Aug. 13

Yesterday was national woman’s day and I decided to take Lola out for lunch. I looked up the buffalo river and one of the buildings not far from us looked like a restaurant. We got off the boat and took a walk down the road across the railway lines towards the restaurant. When we got there we discovered it wasn’t a restaurant but a fish market so we bought some seafood mix and a fresh carpenter fish. We are expecting some visitors tomorrow for lunch so we decided we would use the fish to make Paella. When we got back the security guard stopped me and informed me I wasn’t allowed to take any photo’s in the harbour. I never asked her why and just thought about the video’s and pictures already on my blog. Hopefully she doesn’t go on the internet very often.

12 Aug. 13

We had Lola’s aunt Max and the whole family come over for lunch. We got off the boat and met them on the landing where I briefed them how to get onto the boat. They all followed me gingerly across the rotten deck took one look at how we had to climb down the rusted ladder across the steel boat and onto Yrumoar and said no. I walked them back to their car and we went over to plan B. They would drive around to the yacht club on the other side of the river and we would go over with the dingy to fetch them. The wind was howling at 20 knots and the harbour was quite choppy so rowing across to the yacht club was not going to happen as the wind would blow us up the Buffalo river and we would only be able to come back once the wind changed direction and blew us back so Rauen fetched the dingy motor and we put in on the dingy. We haven’t used it for a while and had to fill it with petrol, quite a task in the bumpy conditions. After we got it filled I pulled and pulled and pulled the start rope. Just when I was about to give up it fired into life and we motored across the choppy harbour. It was a bouncy wet ride but we made it to the walk-on to fetch our visitors. Another bouncy wet ride later we were back at Yrumoar. Getting the people off the dingy was quite an experience since it was jumping up and down sometimes above and other times below the dive platform but once everyone was on the boat things returned to normal. Living on the boat has made us unaware of its movements and it was interesting to watch as the visitors tried to find their sea legs and stand still on the boat without holding onto something.

While they visited I made Paella with the fish we bought at the fish market and boerewors rolls for those who don’t like fish. After lunch we took them on another wet bumpy ride back to the yacht club. It was a great visit and we hope to see them again before we leave.

The dangers of the Sea

2013-08-07T15:41:00.003+02:00

05 Aug. 13

What do I think of East London so far? Well it’s a small city with very few sky scrapers a tiny aquarium and a few beaches. We drove through it yesterday with a friend of Lola's who she had not seen in almost 17 years but kept in contact with through Facebook. We had lunch at their place and spent the day listening to the stories of old times. It was fun and we promised to take them sailing before we leave. Hopefully I am not lying this time.

06 Aug. 13

So yesterday we climbed over the steel boat next to us and made our way carefully across the derelict docks to catch a taxi to the mall. The taxi arrived quickly but was one of those tiny chevy sparks and the four of us with our three diesel containers had to squeeze ourselves in like sardines in a can.

At the mall we posted some documents to the lawyers for the sale of our house, had lunch at Wimpy, filled our diesel containers and bought some groceries. While waiting for the taxi some guy came over and asked me what I thought about the weather and how I enjoyed my weekend. I knew his small talk was leading up to something but I answered him patiently and waited for the inevitable. I didn’t have to wait very long, about five seconds before he begged me for some money for food. Unfortunately for him I have lived in Africa my entire life and he was not the first guy to beg from me, he was possibly number six hundred and seven million so I just said no I don’t have a job either and have four kids to feed, after listening to my story I think he considered giving me some money for a split second but changed his mind when he looked at my shopping trolley. The trip back in the taxi was even more squashed and we had to load the groceries onto our laps filling the little car all the way to the roof.

06 Aug. 13

Went to town again to fill our last two Jerry cans with diesel before the price goes up tomorrow. The lady that picked us up yesterday was also the owner of the taxi business and she had invited us to her house so today’s taxi took us over. She lives in a suburb named West Bank and on the way over I thought if this West Bank also has a Gaza strip next to it and is bombed every so often. Well, talk about the wrong side of town. The houses are old and small like the type they used to build as railway houses in the old days. The neighbourhood is run down to the point that it makes Brakpan look like an upmarket city. The roads had more potholes than tar and almost every house had a couple of unemployed people sitting on the porch looking rather used and miserable. She owned two properties next to each other and had converted most of the useable space into small flats filled with different families. In her house she had an assortment of parrots, cockatiels and some other birds as well as two small marmoset monkeys. We were given a tour of the house and the backyard that was filled with some wannabee race cars. The type they use on oval track racing. We hung around a while, had some coke, spoke about the town and went on our way again with an open invitation to visit or go out for supper before we leave. It was an interesting few hours and reminded me of my uncle Tolly. He also lived in some dodgy neighbourhoods and always had broken and half built cars filling his backyard.

07 Aug. 13

This dangerous coastline lives up to its reputation. While we were sailing down here Lola kept a constant eye on the barometer and checked the weather forecast regularly. The latest forecast before we arrived predicted 25 knots north easterly winds and we considered passing East London and heading onto Port Elizabeth. However, since we are relatively inexperienced and honestly quite petrified we decided to head into East London and wait for a milder prediction to come. On Friday while we were sitting in the cockpit safely tied onto the docks we watched as a yacht left the harbour. Lola and I spoke about them leaving and we believed they would be heading south taking the predicted 25 knot north easterly wind to get to Port Elizabeth. We spoke about this and decided that we wouldn’t leave on that weather window since it had to much wind for us. We prefer a prediction with no wind. Yes I know that sounds very un-sailor but we have discovered a prediction of 25 knots can easily turn into forty, add to that the land breeze that develops and suddenly you are sitting in 50 knots shitting yourself. So that window was not for us. Yesterday we read the newspaper and discovered that their yacht was heading north and had hit a reef and was shipwrecked on the wild coast shore. Fortunately all the crew survived but it reminded us of the dangers out in the ocean and added to our already petrified feelings.

S/Y Boundless is the yacht on the left

East London - An abandoned town?

2013-08-03T14:38:00.000+02:00

24 Jul. 13

Our new raw water pump finally arrived and I had to strip the gear from the old one and fit it to the new one. Typical boat stuff, you buy a new part and it comes incomplete and you have to use pieces of the old part before you can use it. Not to mention the “half part” costs the price of a small house. Next thing to do is get into the engine room under the bed and refit the pump. I am so looking forward to the job, it’s all I can think about.

I discovered that I love walking on the beach so have dragged Lola andKyle off to the beach twice now in a week. Strange how we live on the ocean but getting to the beach is still a half hour car drive away, or an hour sail out of the harbour.

A few days ago a pelican decided that it was going to make our mast its home and landed on it bending our VHF antenna. Next it proceeded to crap all over our windows. By the time we got up in the morning we couldn’t see through the window under the mast it had so much bird crap on it. I went to investigate the source and spotted it sitting on the mast. I tried chasing it away but the mast is high and he just ignored me and continued empting his insides onto our window. I don’t know how many fish this guy ate but judging from the state of the window I think the oceans are now completely empty. I wanted to throw something at him but struggled to find anything on the boat that wasn’t going to come crashing through the windows on its way down. I thought about climbing the mast to chase him away but was afraid he could just bombard me with crap on my way up and by the time I got to him I would be blind. So I eventually crumpled and empty cigarette box and tossed it at him. It missed the target completely but he got the picture and flew away. After he left we cleaned up the boat and decided we need a plan of action in case he decides to make our mast his permanent home. The mast head has lots of equipment on it and we can’t have him damaging it.

Now I know my next paragraph is going to determine my future in the bird lovers community so I state this at my own peril. We went to the Toti mall and I bought a slingshot. In SA it is also known as a “ketty”. I don’t want to kill the pelican but I also don’t want him on our boat. I could’ve bought a pellet gun but as I said my intention is not to maim or kill the bird. Next I had to get some ammo for the ketty and we decided that some rubber balls would do the trick. The balls would have enough weight to make the ketty effective yet at the same time shouldn’t hurt the bird or more importantly our boat when gravity pulls them back down. We searched all over the mall but couldn’t find any shop that sold rubber balls. On our way out we noticed a pet store and went inside. They sold old bones and all kinds of pet toys and treats including some rubber balls, so we found our ammo. A bit ironic how we found our ammo to shoot a bird in a shop that specialises in spoiling animals. I did feel quite guilty when we stood at the counter to pay. Luckily they didn’t ask why I wanted so many rubber balls.

After leaving the mall we went to the beach to practice with our new weapon. We found a wall in an empty car park and all took turns shooting. Lola and Kyle had never used a ketty before and would need some practice. My childhood quickly came back and I instantly knew how to use it and hit the target. I hope the pelican flew over and saw my skills making him find another home so I don’t have to shoot at him.

27 Jul. 13

This morning we went off to the Bluff flea market to have a look around. We have driven passed it a few times and it looked busy so our curiosity drove us to find out what everyone found so interesting. It wasn’t quite the typical flea market you would find up in Joey’s these days where it has become quite commercial and you would find the same things in various stalls and the same things in general at all the flea markets. Anyone who goes to the flea markets in Joey’s will know the products, some cheap Chinese Reeboks or Nike shoes, the same heavy metal T shirts, a few funny T shirts and a whole array of cheap toys. This market was like the old flea markets before cheap Chinese products flooded the markets. Some old tools, a few different electrical suppliers and even an old car or two. Of course there was a few stalls with the “what you would expect to find” and being in Durban, the capitol of India, the selection of hot and spicy Indian food was everywhere. We decided to stay local for a change and Kyle had a vetkoek and mince while Lola and I ate a boerie roll.

Then to our surprise we bumped into some old friends from Brakpan. They had moved down here about three months ago and we had a great afternoon catching up on the old times we had left behind. Tomorrow we are going to have a braai at their house and I promised to take them fishing some time before we leave Durban.

03 Aug. 13

Well it seems I am a man of empty promises since I didn’t take our reunited friends out fishing and instead left Durban to sail down the wild coast and onto East London. In my defence it all sort of happened at the spur of the moment. One minute we had no real plan to go anywhere and the next, Lola happened to look at the weather forecast and mention that it looks like a good window to head down the coast. From that moment it all became a blur and the next time I opened my eyes we were 20 miles offshore looking for the fast flowing current that rushes down the SA coast towards the cape.

Since Lola and I are not real sailors, she gets very sea sick while I have a knot in my stomach the whole time we sail, obviously worried about all the things that can go wrong, we decided to create a “safe word”. If either of us feels we cannot cope anymore one of us would say the word “lobster” and we would turn the boat around and head back to port putting the boat up for sale when we get there and forget about the whole sailing around the world thing forever. It was not the first time we discussed this option, in fact, we do it every time before a passage.

So true to form the knot arrived in my stomach before we even cast off and I could see the nervous tension written across Lola’s face. Anyway we left the harbour with this option in our minds and while searching for the current Lola started to feel sick and I gave her a bucket. She spent the next few hours speaking into the bucket while I watched her feeling very guilty that I was forcing her to follow my ridiculous dreams. After a while she had nothing left to offer the bucket and my guilt coupled with the stomach knot won and I uttered the word “lobster”.

Lola pulled her head out of the bucket and asked me if I was sure I wanted to go back. I said yes. We went inside and broke the news to the boys. Kyle, who doesn’t like sailing either, smiled and agreed instantly. But Rauen didn’t and anyone who knows him has surely seen the look of disappointment he can muster up and paste on his face. Lola and I looked at his disappointed face and went back outside. We sat down in the cockpit and looked out across the ocean in silence. Neither of us went towards the steering wheel and we didn’t broach the subject again.

After six hours we found the current and managed to stay in it till Port St Johns, about halfway, where we lost it again. I had been up for 24 hours at that point and went to sleep in the saloon while Lola and Rauen headed out to sea to find it. It was an uncomfortable sleep on a bouncy surface but I did manage to get about three hours of restless sleep before getting up again.

We still had a long way to go but they found the current and it pushed us along making up a lot of time. When we did our original calculations we anticipated doing between four and five knots arriving at East London on Friday morning at about eight. With the help of the current we averaged seven and arrived at East London nine hours earlier than planned and in the dark around eleven on Thursday night. I did not want to enter the harbour in the dark but the current kept pushing us even though we tried to slow ourselves down by dropping all our sails and running the motor at idle speed we reached the harbour mouth at one o clock and decided to go in.

Our pilot guide told us to tie up at Latimers Landing near the end of the small harbour. When we got to Latimers landing we discovered we would need a wooden plank to tie onto our fenders to create a fender board before we could tie onto the docks. Since we don’t carry large planks with us we decided to raft onto another yacht already tied onto the docks. Lola and the boys attached our fenders and I pulled up next to it. Rauen jumped across quickly tying our ropes onto it. We all fell asleep before the boat had even settled.

I woke up at about eleven and found everybody already awake. While I had my coffee some guy came over and started telling me that I was going to damage the yacht next to us and I should get some tyres and a plank to tie onto it. I thought about this for a while while he was still speaking to me and asked him if he had any tyres or a plank with him that he could donate to us since we don’t really carry these things with us. He stared at me and said no. I then asked him if it was his boat since he was obviously very concerned. He said no it belongs to some guy that died about six months ago. I asked him if they were related still sensing his concern. He said no, turned around without saying goodbye and left. It was a strange surreal conversation and I was confused. Anyway I forgot about him soon after he left and we all decided to go find a shower since we hadn’t had one in a while. We climbed across the steel yacht onto the docks and were very surprised by what we found.

The docks are made up of wood decking that was badly in need of repair and we had to pick our way carefully across the decking so as not to fall through. I wondered about the state of the decking but didn’t even notice that nobody was around. Some palisade fencing surrounds the decking and we found a gate tied up with wire to keep it closed and I also wondered why someone had tied it up. While I untied the wire I noticed all the shops were empty and the place was deserted then I turned around to look at our boat and noticed the sign. “Construction site, enter at own risk”.

So we discovered that all the businesses had closed down and Latimers landing is no more. As for showers, they don’t exist anymore either. Luckily the yacht club is across the river from us and we managed to row across and use the showers. I hope the rest of East London has more to offer and hasn’t closed down. I also hope the rest of the people are not as weird as the first one we met.

Lipton Cup and MSC Week

2013-07-14T18:00:00.000+02:00

21 Jun. 13

I thought I would be a good human again this morning when I noticed an oil spill floating down the river towards our boat. Last time we reported a spill I was bitterly disappointed in the reaction I received from the authorities but thought I would give them another chance to redeem themselves. So when the oil slick reached our boat I took some photos remembering that last time my samples could not be used for some or other technical reason. I now know what that technical reason is. Anyway I took some photos and called Bonga from Transnet to inform him of my discovery. He told me he would pass the information onto his supervisor and took my number. A few minutes later I received a call from Aradhana and she asked me to mail my photos to her. I composed a mail and attached the photos. Because she had called me back so quickly I believed that she was the correct person to contact and action was about to be taken. About an hour later she called me again and told me she was at the yacht club with her team. I was quite happy with her relative quick response time even though most of the spill had already disappeared down the river and into the ocean but some of it was still floating in the channel. Finally we would make a difference and the culprits would be caught, hopefully given a hefty fine or prison term.

But disappointment followed soon after. Lola and I rowed across the channel and met her on the club grounds where she was waiting with four other people. She introduced herself and told us she brought the other four along to clean up. I asked her if she had anything to take samples with. She told me she didn’t have anything and besides they did not have a laboratory to test samples anyway. That took care of my technical question regarding my first samples. No lab equals no tests.

I wasn’t sure how to proceed at this point so I asked her if they had a boat to come out and at least look at the remainder of the spill. My second disappointment arrived when she said no. I was confused, they arrived without any way to take samples, without any way to get on the water and without any equipment to do a clean up.

When Lola and I arrived at the walk-on we noticed a large pool of oil still floating next to it so I told her to follow me onto the walk-on to take a look. She refused telling me she has no life jacket and is therefore not allowed onto the walk-on. More disappointment. The clean up team however said they would go without life jackets and did follow me. We quickly found the spill and they stood looking at it for a while before they asked me how I think they should clean it up. I was more than surprised by the question and couldn’t give them an answer so just shook my head in amazement as I walked away to fetch Lola. Lola had an idea somehow that this was a waste of time and had been giving me a hard time since the first phone call in the morning so I finally admitted my mistake to her once we arrived back on Yrumoar.

So saving the environment is just never going to happen and I won’t waste my time reporting the pollution again.

22 Jun. 13

Either today or tomorrow the sun should start its journey back south and our solar panels can start to be more effective again. At the moment we only get about 0.6 of a kilowatt per day on a sunny day. It’s not even enough power to run the freezer for a whole day and we have to keep an eye on the voltage all the time switching the freezer off as soon as it gets dark or overcast.

14 Jul. 13

The past few weeks have flown by like a whirlwind. It all started when Keagan arrived on holiday and we fetched him at the bus stop. We stayed on Yrumoar for a few days then Lola’s sister asked us to house sit her place while she went away to Jeffreys Bay in the Eastern Cape so we moved out of our floating home and stayed on dry land for a while.

While we were at her house we had Kirsten and Brad come down from Richards Bay for a weekend visit. On the same weekend we had Keanu, another friend of Keagan come over so the house was rather busy. The day they left we fetched Nika, a friend of Rauen from the airport and a day later we fetched Andre, another friend of his also from Richards Bay at the bus stop. Before Andre arrived we all went out sailing on Maxscene, Kevin and Donna’s boat. They were down from Richards Bay to support the Lipton Cup yacht race. The Lipton cup for South African sailing is like the Currie Cup is for SA rugby and we had a great day on the water watching the yachts battle it out. All the kids however fell asleep so didn’t get to see much of the racing.

The boys had a lot of fun catching up with old friends and we also enjoyed the visit realising how reclusive our lives had become. We hardly ever socialise with only the occasional quick word or two to a few of the regulars at the yacht club. Most of the time we just stay on the boat and speak to each other. When we do speak to someone here it’s usually on passing and very superficial like “so how’s it going today” or “so what do you think of the weather.” Really boring stuff.

Anyway the time went quickly and it seems Keagan had just arrived and we were back at the bus stop to drop him off again. Rauen had to go to Joeys to do his lab practical’s so he, Nika and Andre also got on the bus.

After we dropped them at the bus stop we waited for Kim to get back home in the afternoon and then we packed our stuff and came back to our floating home. I had forgotten how convenient it was to live in a house, being able to bath everyday and sleep in a clean dry bed. When I spoke to Lola and Kyle about it they had the same feelings and none of us looked forward to getting home to Yrumoar. Sleeping in a cold damp bed with dirty feet is one thing, not being able to bath however, I miss the most of all.

On the repair list, we are still waiting for our new raw water pump from Sweden and made no progress on anything else but I hope to get back onto it this week.

My book has eventually been published on Kindle and is available on Amazon. The print copy however will only be available in September.

2013-06-18T15:30:00.001+02:00

10 Jun. 13

Yesterday the weather was crap and it was cold so we stayed on the boat with the door closed. Lola baked a bread and some rolls stuffed with boerewors for lunch. Later in the afternoon she also baked a cake. Her baking helped to keep the boat warm and was delicious. Today the sun is shining again but the wind is still quite cold.

11 Jun. 13

Imagine being able to get up every morning, sit outside drinking coffee and watch the birds in the sky. Deciding what you would like to do for the day and not what you have to do. Sounds perfect doesn’t it. Oh how I wish for that.

12 Jun. 13

A friend asked me to attend a site meeting in New Germany in Durban today. He works in Joeys and it would save him the flights and car rentals etc. I am excited about doing it since it gives me something to do for the day. It also gives me the opportunity to mess with him. I like messing with people. After the meeting I will start sending him messages asking him questions regarding my new found employment. Things like, “So now that I am a full time employee, when do I get to go on leave. What benefits come with the job and when do I get to meet the shop steward so that I can join the union.” He loves his union workers and I know this will make him very happy.

13 Jun. 13

Yesterday was a lot of fun. I never realised how different it would feel wearing my denims again. For the last two years I have only worn shorts and the occasional tracksuit in the evenings when it was cold. Except of course for the one dress-up day at the spar when I tried to sell some sunscreen, but that was different and I still wore shorts. So believing I was dressed to kill we drove to the meeting. We left very early since I didn’t want to be late due to some or other unforeseen event like traffic jams or broken traffic lights. This gave us time to kill when we arrived almost two hours early so we decided to wash the car that had been standing under a tree and looked like a bird dumping site. I had forgotten its colour it had been so long. The meeting was around the corner from the place we repaired our alternator and we popped in for a visit trying to kill some time. It is strange to visit people you don’t know especially ones you only met once for business and have no business with now however we did have a problem with the repair and needed to get it fixed so it wasn’t that strange. While waiting for the technician to check the alternator I made our first suntan cream sale to the receptionist.

At the meeting Lola and I were the only one's dressed in jeans and all the other reps had suits. My suit was on the backseat of the car and I thought about putting it on but decided that I would rather be dressed in my jeans and sailing in Mauritius T shirt anyway since I would rather be sailing in Mauritius than be at the meeting any day.

During the meeting I realised why I no longer have my own business. It is just so much effort with so many different laws and irrelevant crap that has nothing to do with the product or service you are providing. Then of course there would be all the employees and the unions and the and and…… no thank you. I wouldn’t swop my simple uncomplicated but slightly poor life I have now for all the money in the world.

18 Jun. 13

My mother and stepfather came down to Toti for their by-annual timeshare week again on Friday and we went to visit for the weekend. We haven’t seen them since last year and it was good to catch up.

While visiting we took a walk on the beach and I sold a few of our sunscreens while Rauen did some tricks on his skateboard. I thank all those people on the beach that took the time to listen to me and supported us by opening their wallets and buying some of our product.

During this week I will get back to the repair list and hope to make some progress with our steps. Keagan is coming down on Sunday to visit for the school holidays and I am excited to see him. We also haven’t seen him since last year. We are still not sure when or if we are leaving and which direction we will go but have to wait until Keagan has visited and Rauen has gone on a course for his home schooling up in Joeys.

Doubting myself

2013-06-09T09:14:00.002+02:00

04 Jun. 13

There have been few times in my life when I have doubted myself. Sitting waiting for replies from literary agents is one of those times. I received my first rejection this morning. Being rejected is never pleasant but the agent wrote the rejection so well that I have to respect her talents. I suppose that is why she is a literary agent. She has the skill required to tell you to go to hell and make you look forward to the trip.

I always have the option to self-publish if all the agents reject my work. I was hoping I wouldn’t need to go that route. it would make me feel I am not good enough but decided to publish anyway. Besides the economics. If an agent publishes they have contacts and I will sell thousands of copies. If I publish myself I could possibly sell two copies to my mother and another two to my kids. My wife would also buy one. This equals five copies. I know I didn’t do very well at school but even my limited knowledge of mathematics tells me I can’t survive on the R175 I made from the five pity sales.

05 Jun. 13

Two more rejection letters today. Also well written, the trip to hell is sounding more and more exciting.

We received our first batch of sunscreen and insect repellent yesterday. Obviously the labels had to be wrong. It’s just not possible for anything to go smoothly. I suppose it is our first payment in the learning curve that comes with all new ventures.

06 Jun. 13

While Lola and the boys went to the spar for some groceries I stayed in the parking area and tried to sell some product. It’s been a while so I was a bit rusty but I still remember most of the requirements. Never ask a question that can prompt a negative response. For example. Do you have a minute? This question immediately allows the potential buyer to say no. Another example. Can I interest you in blah blah blah? Also allows a negative response.

Always have more than one product. This allows you to form an option question and eliminates a negative response question. Example. Do you use sunscreen or insect repellent? Most people would choose one. If you pass this first obstacle and they have chosen one or the other, focus on the one they choose. You ask no more questions explaining one or two benefits of your product. Then you offer a test of the product, like smell or whatever your product has to offer. If they don’t ignore you and walk away at this point you inform them your price by comparison to your nearest opposition. Example. You will save 40% on this product, but for today only. Hopefully you have your sale.

However, the amount of beggars in South Africa have made this job quite difficult. As soon as you are noticed people try to find an escape route. I was standing at the lift entrance and the stairs are about fifty metres away. So now they spot me and have to choose. Do I deal with the “beggar”, or walk the fifty metres to the stairs? Most people are lazy and use the lift anyway. So they look me over from a distance then avoid eye contact when they get closer and attempt to slip into the lift before I can say anything.

Since it was Wednesday during working hours I only had a total of nine people going into the lift. Of the ten four were old men, close to a hundred, so I didn’t stop them. I couldn’t see them going to the beech very often. One slightly younger man about eighty five, informed me he never goes outside. One more man arrived and waved me away before I said a word stating something about his mother on her death bed and how he shouldn’t even be at the spar. My first two ladies arrived in the same car and informed me they only use product x and are allergic to everything else. Finally a young mommy arrived in a fancy four wheel drive. She was almost sold when the lift door opened and some of the nearly dead came out. So no sales.

07 Jun. 13

We watched as a black sparrow hawk tried to hunt breakfast this morning. Someone here told me it is a black sparrow hawk so I hope he gave me the correct name. He glides silently across the sky and swoops down on his prey chasing it acrobatically until he catches his food. This morning however his prey outsmarted him and escaped. There are always birds in the sky here and I can see at least five different species at any time. When the hawk arrives however, the sky clears and all the birds disappear. Not bad considering they all have, “bird brains.”

I didn’t get any go to hell responses yesterday. Not sure if it’s a good or a bad thing. I decided to give the job search another try and sent my CV to another ten places. Perhaps I am lucky this time round.

08 Jun. 13

One more go to hell yesterday. This one less tactful than the others giving me a more direct path to follow. Simple yet effective. “Not for us, thank you.” At least they said thank you.

We ordered a new raw water pump for the port engine from Sweden and await its arrival. I finally completed the wood rot repair near the filler cap and will start with the rotten piece on the back step next week. Soon the entire boat will be fibreglass with foam core. Using the foam core and glass is expensive but at least it won’t rot.

Lola is busy with a course on line, hopefully it teaches her something useful. We are expecting a big blow later this afternoon so I have to pack everything away. While living in our house we never worried or even took note of the weather. Now it is everything and all our decisions are made accordingly.

My first pickhandle baracuda

2013-06-03T16:40:00.000+02:00

19 May 2013

Living on a boat gives new meaning to load shedding. The sun has gone even further north taking almost all our solar energy with it. We can’t even run the freezer overnight and have to switch it off when we go to bed. The fridge, well we run it for about an hour at lunch time. I suppose Eskom has a similar problem except they use coal.

The engine problem, well we ordered some rubber boots and hope they are the solution. They had to be flown in from Sweden and should get to us next week.

Lola is still editing my book and should be finished at the end of the month. I took a few photos of Lola’s culinary delights that she prepares for us at lunch time. This should answer the frequently asked question, “so what do you eat living on a boat?” For the recipes see http://recipes-lola.blogspot.com/

Lola's nearly famous vienna cheese rolls

Pancakes!

Homemade Pizzas!

A few weeks ago we removed our bathroom portlight. It was a stupid sliding thing that was installed when they first built the boat and leaked so much when it rained that we had a river flowing through our bedroom. Since the new portlight is not the same size, nothing is ever the same size on a boat, we had to build the hole closed and sand it till it was beautiful and flat. Then we had to cut a hole in it to fit the new portlight. Typical boat repair stuff. Step 1: make it perfect. Step 2: destroy it. Step 3: make it perfect again.

25 May 2013

I started typing my blog yesterday when the computer decided to die so I never saved and now I can’t remember what I wanted to say. Today is another day so here it goes. Lola has finished her first edit of my book and gave it back to me to do a rewrite. I started earlier today but ran out of power so couldn’t finish. Now my laptop is charged but its late and I don’t feel like doing it.

We ran the starboard engine to charge the batteries and test it. I think we eventually found the fault but will only know for sure when we do our sea trials in the next week or so when the book is finished and we have sent it to few literary agents. Hopefully one of them decides it is good enough to publish. Again I seem to be on a down cycle and feel depressed. Staying in one place is not what we intended to do and it is getting to me. I have spent the past two years fixing the boat without going anywhere and it is bringing me down. Durban irritates me, the harbour never goes to sleep and the noise is incessant. I sometimes wonder if we are just finding excuses not to leave. The tenants haven’t paid, I have to finish my book, the starboard engine overheats, we are running out of money. All these things are true, but, I wonder if they are the actual reason we are still in Durban.

30 May 2013

Lola and I finished our final edit of my book today. I have sent a copy to a friend for a proof read and an opinion. I am also working on a synopsis to send to a literary agent.

01 Jun. 13

Yesterday I tried to write a query letter and synopsis to send to the literary agents. It was harder to write than I expected, even harder than the book, and I eventually gave up throwing my toys out the cot. This morning I tried again. It still didn’t sound right so I gave up again.

02 Jun. 13

Another five attempts at the query letter. I will paste what I have, if it makes you want to read my book I have succeeded. Please make comments and help me out.

Falsely accused of a heinous crime, Willis a simple farm worker escapes from prison, crossing the border from Zimbabwe into South Africa. His life becomes a living nightmare as he stumbles from one unfortunate event to the next finding himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, every time.

Haunted by his past he discovers he is being hunted by his former employer and decides to flee even further. He manages to get a position as crew on a small sailing boat with three strangers. One of the strangers Johan, a man with a violent past and driven by dark forces, executes a plan that places all their lives in danger.

When Johan accidentally overdoses Willis his plans make an abrupt change as the skipper, Warren, a brute with a miserable home life, discovers his ploy.

The crew suddenly find themselves fighting for their lives and Lucy the only female on board finds her courage, but will it be enough to save them?

And that’s that.

We haven’t been able to test the repairs on the starboard motor and now the port motor has a problem with its raw water pump. It never ends.

03 Jun. 13

I finally tried out my new fishing tackle Lola bought me for Christmas last year. Yesterday I used a spoon, a flat piece of lead shaped like a spoon with a hook attached to the back end. My first catch was a plastic packet. The next two, also plastic packets. Then when I was about to give up, an old used underpants. Catching the things is one thing. Removing them from the hook quite another. Luckily I have gloves. Eventually the sun went to sleep and I thought I might have better luck in the dark. This time I caught a submerged rotting tree and had to row out in the dingy to retrieve my spoon. What would be next, an old shopping trolley or a dead body?

This morning I replaced the spoon with a pink and silver rubber lure. It is a lot lighter and stays near the top so I hoped it wouldn’t find more old underwear sitting waiting at the bottom for me. I cast it a few times without catching anything and was about to give up when I decided to cast one last time.

Something bit and I managed to land my first pickhandle Barracuda. Awesome! He wasn’t big enough to feed the whole family so I let him go hoping to catch him again when he is bigger. Perhaps this year’s fishing license is going to work.

Visitors and broken boat parts!

2013-05-13T15:50:00.001+02:00

30 Apr. 13

I haven’t written anything on my blog this month because I have been so busy trying to get my book finished. I am not sure when I will get it done but I am going to guess that it should take about another two weeks or so. Dave and his brother Jan came for a quick visit over the weekend. They stayed with us on Friday night and again on Sunday night. On Saturday they went to Margate. There was a bike rally on for the weekend and they wanted to go and see. Having waited a bit too long to decide, all the accommodation in Margate was booked up and they landed up sleeping on the pavement like homeless street children. They had a lot of fun anyway and enjoyed their trip. We enjoyed their visit and told them that they are welcome to come again. Maybe next time they could bring their wives along and we could go out sailing.

01 May 2013

Yesterday morning we were sitting in the cockpit when I noticed a line of some oily looking stuff floating down the river towards Yrumoar. We watched it floating closer and closer till it eventually reached us. The air became misty as it passed by and it left a foul smell. The water around the boat started to bubble as it obviously reacted with our antifoul paint. This was not good. Someone at the yacht club had told us previously that we should report this to Transnet and they would send someone to do an investigation. We did not think about this at first so I only managed to take a water sample once the bulk of the stuff had passed us. But then about an hour later another line appeared across the water and this time we were ready so I managed to get a good water sample. Another hour passed and again it floated down the river, again I took a sample. Today Lola will send an e-mail to Transnet and then we will wait and see if they will actually do something about it.

06 May 2013

Today I finished writing my first fiction novel. The characters have been living in my head and I finally managed to help them escape onto paper. It has been a long and hard slog to get to the end. More than once I thought about giving up but…..with the help of Lola and the kids I pushed through to the end.

Now Lola’s work begins when she takes on the mammoth task of editing. When she is done and I have corrected and changed the mistakes and she has re-edited it three or four times becoming really sick of me and my creation. Well, then…. who knows. I will let you all know when it has been published. Please buy a copy and help us continue sailing. Oh,… and to all those English teachers out there that told me I would never amount to anything. Ha ha. You were wrong. (thank goodness for spell check.)

07 May 2013

Now that the book is finished I can get back to my blog for a while. Yesterday afternoon I was on a high. I had finished the book and felt like a million dollars while we walked around the Spar buying a few groceries. Our stocks were running low and we were out of coke. Running out of coke is normally the sign that tells us it is time to go to town. Lola turns into a four headed monster if she has no coke and none of the heads are friendly so we normally try to prevent this from happening. It’s just safer that way. Those of you that know her will know what I mean.

Anyway I was joking pretending to be a famous author and telling people to move out of my way. Rauen joined in the game and we wreaked havoc in the store. While all this is happening and we are having the time of our life, Lola and Kyle are doing their normal thing of course. Lola walks around with her list checking prices on the specials and buying five of everything on special that we may be running short off, completely ignoring my stupid game, and Kyle keeps making comments that I am no longer related to him and that he is going to kill me with some or other death ray gun that he has invented.

Leaving the store we went down marine drive and bought a Pizza. Then we came back home to Yrumoar. At the yacht club we discovered that Lola’s article that she submitted to SA Sailing more than a year ago was finally published and is in this month’s magazine. Peeeeeuuuuuuyyyy. Deflated. And just like that. My fifteen minutes of fame comes to an end.

08 May 2013

Some feedback on our “scientific research.” The environmental guy from transnet replied to our E-mail. He sent us two replies. In his first reply he seemed excited and told us that he would come down and collect the sample, thanking us for taking the effort and recording the times. However, a few minutes later in his second E-mail things had changed. Somehow our sample wasn’t going to be good enough and had to have been taken by a lab technician within five minutes of blah blah blah. Now I don’t know what happened between his first and second reply but I can only guess that he spoke to the powers that be and was shut down. Shame, at least he tried. He was probably given the position on the pretext that he would be able to make a difference. The reality seems a bit different. From our side. We did what we could and will just have to accept that the oceans have become man’s dumping ground and are slowly being poisoned to death.

Today I will get back onto the list, starting with the starboard motor that I stripped about a week ago. It still overheats and I am no closer to finding out what the problem is. I have narrowed it down though and will use parts from the port engine to try establish which part is faulty. Hopefully it isn’t one of the expensive ones like the insert on the heat exchanger.

A few days ago our dingy pump snapped in half while Lola was using it. Fortunately we have a spare so we won’t be left stranded and unable to get to shore.

As the sun continues with its journey into the northern hemisphere we have less and less charge in our batteries. We used to switch the fridge off at night when we go to sleep and turn it back on in the morning when we get up. Now however we have to wait until the sun is already up. Sometimes we have to alternate between the fridge and the freezer switching the one off when we switch the other one on. I never even had to consider this while we still lived in our house.