18 December 2010

Day 346: Knysna, SA – 18/12/10

The weather is really strange.  Although it is a clear, bright, sunny day, strange sea fog rolls in through The Heads completely shrouding them and the area around them.  There are even patches of low lying cloud on the hills opposite us, although the sun starts to burn these off even as we stand and watch.

P1050684 Photo:  Patchy low lying cloud over the hills

Mike goes down to the marina to meet the refrigeration guy but he doesn’t turn up so once he goes to pick up the outboard motor cover (now with a hole for the starter lever) he comes back for lunch then drags me down to the boat again to help him repair the chafing on the edges of the genoas where the lines have been pulling against them.  It’s important that we do this while there is no wind.  If the wind gets up we will have to take the genoas down and this will make the task much more time consuming.

He has got some off cuts of fabric from the people who made the cover for the dinghy in sort of the same blue.  The stuff we have to stick it all together is quite revolting.  He sprays a thin, cream coloured yuk all over one side of the material, waits for it to go off, sprays another layer then another one, and once this has all gone off again, we attempt to stick it over the edges of the genoa trying not to let it drip anywhere and also not to get is stuck to us.  We fail on both counts – it really is revolting stuff – but at least the patches seem to hold.  Just as we finish, the wind does start to pick up and we roll away the sails before Jeannius can start to pull the small pontoon that she is tied to away from its pilings.

I strip our bed and take all the bed linen up to Ann’s to put it in her very civilised little washing machine which sings when it has finished it’s cycle.  How pretty.

All during the afternoon, the fog has continued to drift in and by the end of the afternoon, very ominous clouds form over Knysna Heights where Ann and Terry’s house is.  The fog reaches as far as the marina and the light takes on an eerie appearance.

P1050685 Photo:  The sea fog just keeps rolling in

A few spots of rain start just as we leave the marina but it doesn’t really get going.  That doesn’t stop the formation of a beautiful rainbow though and beautiful evening light as we stand on the deck and look out across the lagoon.

P1050686 Photo:  Rainbow over Knysna Heights

P1050690 Photo:  Terry, Ann and Mike in the golden glow of the dying sun

P1050692 Photo:  Golden sunset and strange wisps of cloud

P1050693 Photo:  Me and Ann

For dinner we experiment with the boned, flattened leg of lamb.  Although it’s too cold and windy to barbecue it, cooking it quickly in the oven does it to perfection.  While it is cooking, Ann and I start to decorate the tree, trying desperately not to dislodge any of the needles.  Eventually, as we can’t see what we are doing with the fiddly cotton that we are using to tie some of the ornaments on with, we give up until daylight tomorrow.

No comments:

Post a Comment