Judy and Joe invite everybody back to their boat for a celebratory drink so we head back there, Jutta and Jochem arriving shortly afterwards. We manage to avoid the seals on the way although not their smell, which is pretty noxious.
Photo: The seals on their specially built platform
After a while, Bev and Moe, along with some of their friends turn up as well. Shortly after Jutta and Jochem leave, we leave too. They have only got to walk across the road to the hotel where they are staying but we’ve got to get back to the marina and it’s not really safe to walk – that’s presuming we know the way anyway – which we don’t! Judy and Joe offer us the couch for the night if we don’t manage to find a taxi.
We walk over to the Cape Grace hotel and walk in to use the toilets. When we come out we approach the doorman confidently as if we are staying there and ask him to get us a taxi but apparently there are none to be had. He advises us to walk down to the main road and wait there, but we can see thousands of people heading that way and we know our chances of getting a taxi there will be almost nil.
We walk down to the security gate and ask the doorman there if he can get us a taxi. It’s the same guy that let us park in the hotel car park a few weeks back and Mike slips him some money to do what he can. Although he tries to get one, he is unsuccessful and I am beginning to think we are not going to get back tonight. Then he spots his friend, one of the waiters in the hotel, parking his car and manages to persuade him to drive us back to the marina. He comes too as his mate doesn’t know the way, and after a while we are back. He even gives the night watchman a piercing whistle to wake him up as we can’t get through the security gates without him.
The Crazy Horse crew are now on board but from where we are berthed I can’t see any signs of life so after bidding goodnight to the guys partying just along from us, we go back to Jeannius. I try to make a couple of phone calls but all lines are busy (surprise, surprise) so we head off to bed, glad to have made it back.
We wake up to torrential rain in the morning, but at least it’s washed the salt off the boat. Amazingly it’s nothing for the dirt though – Jeannius is in dire need of a good scrub, inside and out and I think the ‘out’ part needs professional help!
I manage to get hold of Victoria. I do wish we had been able to spend Christmas together. Hopefully, next year we will, wherever we are.
We both potter around the boat until the rain starts to ease off and gradually Table Mountain comes into view and blue sky appears. Jutta calls and wants to meet up with everybody at Panama Jacks so I trot down to Crazy Horse to say hello and welcome them back. It’s great to start to get everyone back together again, even though we are here rather than Hout Bay. Maggie and I worked out that over half the fleet are scattered around the 3 locations in Cape Town, and just 8 at the moment are actually in Hout Bay. I don’t know how many of the Cape Town fleet will join the start line in Hout Bay.
The afternoon is hot and sunny, a complete contrast to the grey, wet morning. Mike fixes the handle on one of the hatches that came off in his hand and I vow to start cleaning the inside of the boat but don’t. We both end up asleep in bed in the afternoon, only getting up when it’s time for a cup of tea just before we need to leave for the restaurant.
Jutta and Jochem are waiting for us and Rosemary, Bill and Matt arrive shortly afterwards. Panama Jacks is reputed to be one of the best seafood restaurants in Cape Town and it certainly lives up to its name. We have a great meal. It’s weird that such a good restaurant is in the middle of nowhere, well, not actually nowhere, but certainly alone in the huge area of the commercial port. Everyone knows about it and as usual it’s packed.
We end up eating much later than planned and don’t get the early night we promised ourselves, but it’s worth it.
Photo: Rosemary, me, Mike, Matt, Jochem, Jutta and Bill at Panama Jacks
Tomorrow I really must start getting the boat in order, not just because we leave to cross the Atlantic for Brazil in less than a week now, but also because Ann will have a blue fit when she arrives on Monday and sees the state of the boat!!!
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