Day 326: Cape Town, SA – 28/11/10

Mike and I are awake quite early as usual but eager to start the day’s sightseeing.  Mike checks on the internet and finds out that the cable car up to Table Mountain is closed due to high gale force winds and poor visibility at the top, so that’s one thing crossed off the list for today.  We drag Victoria out of bed around 8.30 am then call Maggie and Bob who are somewhere in Cape Town recovering from the flu, arranging to meet them at the Waterfront for breakfast.

There’s no sign of Victoria’s luggage yet as the flight from Dubai doesn’t come in until late afternoon, so with she and I both wearing the same clothes as yesterday (I was expecting some more things from home so hadn’t bought a change of clothes either) we wander around the V & A Waterfront until it’s time to meet up.

Photos:  V & A Waterfront, Cape Town

Suddenly we spot Maggie and Bob waving from the other side of the dry dock, and braving all sorts of vile bacteria and viruses there are hugs and kisses all around.

We find a venue for breakfast and eat a huge meal, complete with delicious filet steak (I have to add here that Maggie eats the healthy option of muesli and yogurt) and swap horror stories of the journey from Richards Bay to Cape Town (from Ocean Jasper) and just to Knysna (us).  It’s wonderful to see them but after a couple of hours we have to get going.  Hopefully we’ll see them at Christmas or New Year.

We take the car up to Table Mountain but the cable car is still not working so we just look at the view from viewpoints.  To be fair, the view is probably better from here anyway – any higher up and you can’t make anything out unless there is no haze whatsoever.

Photos:  Victoria and Mike admiring the views of Cape Town and Table Mountain

We take the toll road around the coast, stopping at Hout Bay to see what it is like as this is where the boats will start from on the next leg to Brazil via St Helena.  Mmm, not very impressing – we certainly won’t be in a hurry to arrive in this marina.  The pontoons look very rickety and it is all a bit scruffy.

We stop to watch a couple with their ‘tame’ sea lion doing tricks for the tourists.  As the sea lion approaches the dock, the man holds a piece of fish in his mouth, leans over the water and the sea lions jumps for it.  He is obviously very well fed because although he catches it, he doesn’t bother eating it at all and drops it.

Photo:  Feeding the sea lion

As we start to leave, Mike realises that he has no money less than a R200 note.  We realise that the inevitable request for a donation will soon follow and feel guilty not giving anything.  Victoria is a bit slow on the uptake and we have already moved away when the request comes in and she berates us quite severely.

We head further down the coast towards Cape Point, which is extremely beautiful.

Photo:  Hout Bay looks better from the distance!

Photo:  The Cape coastline looks more like the Italian Amalfi coast at times

 Photo:  Long Bay (or beach – I can’t remember)

From here we head down to Boulders Beach.  This is the bit I have been waiting for since reading about it in the WCC folder.  Boulders Beach, just past the naval base of Simons Town, is home to a colony of African penguins.  I love penguins.  I always have.  I love their silly waddling and waggling of bottoms; their forlorn head-hanging walk.  I find them comical and interesting.  I was so disappointed in the Galapagos Islands that the tsunami had scared off the colony there and all we saw was Billy no-mates penguin at a time when I didn’t have my camera.

There are a few penguins as we walk along the boardwalk, but once we pay our money and go down to the beach, the whole colony is spread out before us.

Photos:  Boulders Beach colony of African penguins

Victoria and I find it difficult to drag ourselves away but as Mike is waiting in the car, we eventually do although we go for a drink at a nearby restaurant before heading back to the hotel.  I notice that Mike is eager to get back but don’t realise that he has a hidden agenda until we arrive back in the room and he switches the TV on.  Lo and behold, Liverpool are playing live and Victoria and I have to wait until it’s finished before we can all go for something to eat.

There is still no sign of the luggage so Mike rings Emirates to find out where it is.  First of all they say it didn’t arrive on today’s flight, then they ring us back a few minutes later and say it did and it will be delivered by courier to the hotel ‘shortly’, which we presume to mean that it’s on it’s way.  We go out to eat.  Having tried the restaurant yesterday, we are in no hurry to eat there again and go instead to the pub which is attached to the hotel which has a much better menu.  Our meal is good, much better than yesterday’s.

The luggage still hasn’t arrived when we have finished eating and we ring the airline again.  They assure us it’s on it’s way and sure enough, about an hour later it arrives.  Phew.  Clean clothes and decent teabags!

Day 325: Knysna to Cape Town, SA – 27/11/10

The sea fog is still out to sea when we wake up and we wonder how Kalliope will fare when she tries to get in this morning.  While I drink my tea (made by me today as Mike is using the “I don’t know where anything is” excuse) I stand on the veranda looking out over the lagoon with the binoculars.  There’s no sign of them and by 8 am it’s obvious that they are not coming in.

We leave with Ann and Terry for the journey to George Airport to pick up our hire car.  There’s lovely scenery to see and they point out various things that we will do over the coming weeks as we go.

We pull into the airport car rental area and as we cruise up the lines of cream and white cars.  There’s a lone electric, lime green one which I point out and laugh at.  I bet it’s ours.  Naturally, it turns out that it is!  The trouble is it’s smaller than what we have paid for through Holiday Extras, and there’s not enough room in the boot for our luggage and Victoria’s so Mike goes back to Hertz to point out that there’s a problem.  There sure is – they have no other cars for another hour and we don’t have the time to wait.  He says we might be able to change it at Cape Town airport but when he rings them, they don’t have anything either.

We inspect the car thoroughly – Hertz are meticulous about damage and we don’t want to lose our deposit, then squeeze our smallish bags into the boot, and ourselves into the interior.  Terry has hired a car the size of a bus for all of us and he offers it to us but we decline as the rear is totally open and we couldn’t conceal any luggage if we parks up somewhere.

We kiss goodbye and start off in our lime green sardine tin.  We have nearly 300 miles to cover and potentially three sets of road works which can hold you up for 20 minutes at a time.

The scenery is varied as we travel through.  It starts off very green and lush with what looks like forests of pine and fir, but as we travel further west it opens out and there are mountains in the background.  At times we could be in Wales, or the Peak District in England.  Bits of Switzerland also come into view, and vast open sweeping plains of the mid west of the USA.  Not breathtaking stuff but the changes are interesting.  There are lots of horses, sheep and ostriches.

Photos:  Mountains and sweeping plains

We stop at a petrol station and buy some snacks to see us through then plough on, just stopping once more at one of the pit stops by the side of the road to let the air blow through the car.

Photo:  Mike stands by our lime green sardine tin

As we near Cape Town we go through vineyards as we are at the edge of the wine growing area.  Outside Cape Town we start to see the townships, sprawling for mile upon mile, some looking worse than others.  Rubbish spills out onto the so far pristine roads and through the fence we can see rows of portable public toilets, everything in sharp contrast to the beautiful property we have seen in other areas.

We arrive at the airport turnoff two hours too early as the predicted road work stops didn’t materialise so we continue on into Cape Town looking for the Waterfront area.  The traffic is amazingly light and we manage to park right there and wander through the marina, quickly spotting two of the rally boats, Destiny and Wild Tigris, but no one is on either boat.  We walk around for half an hour or so, just to get the feel of the place.

Photo:  Mike at the Waterfront with Table Mountain in the background

Photo:  Me and Mike

We manage to find our way back to the airport with the help of our sat nav system but are confused by the term ‘parkade’ and pass most of the car parks before realising that this is what the term refers to.  By the time we park we are miles away from the arrivals area and have to hot foot it back.  Victoria’s flight has just landed and - process the passengers quickly and within half an hour they start appearing.  We wait and wait.  Victoria doesn’t appear.  Then then regular flow turns to a trickle and one girl comes out without her luggage.  We hear she has a British accent.  Bugger.  Was she on Victoria’s flight from Birmingham to Dubai?  A few minutes later, Victoria emerges, also without her luggage.

Photo:  Victoria arrives minus her luggage

After huge hugs and kisses we hear the story of how the weather was so bad in Birmingham (they had to defrost the wings of the plane before it could take off) they left late and she had to run for her flight in Dubai.  She made it but the luggage didn’t.  Hopefully it will be on tomorrow’s flight!  However, the most important part of the consignment has arrived – our daughter!

We find our way to the hotel and decide to eat there rather than bothering to go back into town.  The restaurant is characterless and there is very little choice on the menu.  Still it fills a hole.  Although she says she is not tired, by the time we have eaten, Victoria is ready for bed and so are we after all the driving.  The beds are large and comfortable, and we tumble into them. 

Tomorrow we will explore.

Day 324: Knysna, SA – 26/11/10

The boat may have been swinging in a different direction to all the other boats all night, but it did it so gently that we don’t feel a thing and only wake up when a dinghy speeds by and its wake rocks the boat roughly.  It’s 4.30 am.  Ugh!

At 5 am we are drinking tea and deciding what to do, then at 6.30 am we get a call from the Yacht Club about one of the other rally boats, Kalliope, who have called them and are coming in tomorrow morning.  Roger tells us that we can come alongside one of their pontoons for a few days which will give us greater peace of mind than leaving Jeannius in the lagoon while we are in Cape Town.

Mike buys 4 hours of unlimited internet so I immediately start catching up with the blog and he gets our hire car and hotel booked.  We also find out that my passport arrived at the Consulate in Pretoria OK so that’s good news.  The internet is great for everything except Skype, which is a nightmare and we give up with it.

Around 11 am we are ready to move.  We get the anchor up and start to motor over to the Yacht Club, carefully trying to avoid the sandbanks which are not yet visible.  We are not quite careful enough and hit one, rocking for a few minutes before we manage to back off of it.  No damage done, but just a bit embarrassing!!!

We get to the pontoon, the wind gently blows us against it and people come to help us tie us.  We are directly in front of the Yacht Club restaurant in full view of everyone and probably very safe because of that.

Stephen from A Lady arrives and we go to have a drink with him in the club, ending up having lunch there while we attempt to get him connected to the internet, Mike’s skills coming in handy again.  David and his friend from Voyageur come in.  They have arrived in Knysna and are staying in a B & B up on the hill.

We go back to Jeannius to start packing up the stuff that we need to take to Cape Town with us and Mike talks to the marina manager and finds out that there is now a berth available for us from now.  We had been led to believe that there wouldn’t be one until Saturday so we were going to leave it until we got back from Cape Town but the thought of secure parking makes us untie the boat, redistribute the fenders and lines and head into the marina before someone else nicks the berth.

Mike backs into a very small space and we tie up – again.  I then disappear to dye my hair (the sun really takes the colour out so much quicker than at home), shower and get the boat in a state that we can leave it.  At least being in a marina means that we can leave the air conditioning, fridge and freezer on.  I open all the cupboards, drawers and doors so that air can circulate and hopefully the smell of pooh in my wardrobe will disappear before we come back!

Terry arrives to take us back to the house.  He looks at poor old Jeannius, battered and bruised from crossing two oceans.  She needs a good clean and polish and hopefully will get one of those here – the boat equivalent of a spa day.

We watch the sea fog roll in during the early evening.  It gets so thick that by the time we are ready to leave to eat, The Heads and most of the lagoon are not visible at all.

Ann and Terry take us to a beautiful restaurant called Firefly.  They have pre-ordered champagne for us and the food is wonderful as well as the decor.

Photo:  Mike, me, Terry and Ann at Firefly

As we leave the restaurant, whose style is eccentric/eclectic Indian, I see a door leading to the kitchens or somewhere else meant for staff.

Photo:  Interesting sign – meant for who?

We are knackered when we get back – having been awake early, moving the boat twice etc, all starts to catch up with us and we collapse into bed.  Sleep comes quickly.

Day 323: Port Elizabeth to Knysna, SA – 25/11/10

Mike wakes me up just after 1 am.  We still just have the genoa out and are still going along at the speed we need to get to the notorious heads at Knysna at high tide.

I can’t settle to watch a film so spend most of my time glued to the radar and the charts.  It feels like a long four hours.  When we get to the line Mike has marked on the charts for waking him up it is already light but very cold!

Photo:  Our last sunrise at sea – for a while anyway!

We can see A Lady entering the heads and we follow just half an hour behind them.  I ring my sister to give them advance warning of our arrival as they want to be down at the waterside cafe as we enter.

Photo:  Our first glimpse of The Heads at Knysna

Photo:  Approaching The Heads

High tide is at 5.50 am .  There is a sand bar across the entrance which we will have no trouble crossing but apparently it can make for some nasty waves as the water rushes in or out of the lagoon.  As we approach it doesn’t look too rough but when we are about a quarter of a mile away a wave appears to break across the entire 50 metre width of the channel and Mike tells me to go and get our life jackets.  I take one look at his face and rush to get them.  He rarely gets me to do this so I know this could potentially be serious.  I had wanted to video our entrance through The Heads but now know that he won’t let me out of the cockpit until we are through and unless I am at the front of the boat the video won’t show anything.

Horrifyingly, you have to keep over to the left side of the channel as you enter, right close to the rocks.

Photo:  Entering the channel – too close to the rocks for me!

Then Mike steers the boat directly towards the rocks on the right hand side and it feels like we are going to crash.  He must have seen the alarm on my face as he then explains that he is following the guiding lines on the rocks in front of us.  Phew!  Then we are in and the water is calm.  I look over towards the cafe but can’t see Ann and Terry anywhere so I call them and find that they are just a minute away and have missed us coming through.  There’s no way Mike is going out and coming back in again so we settle for turning around and going back just a few hundred yards and then we see them getting out of the car and waving.  What I don’t realise at first is that there are two unsuspecting fishermen on the rocks in between Ann and I and they must think that I am dancing up and down on the deck waving to them.

Photo:  Looking back towards The Heads from Knysna Lagoon

Photo:  The millpond that is Knysna Lagoon once through The Heads

The lagoon is flat calm but full of sandbanks so you have to follow a channel through because at high tide these sandbanks are completely invisible.  Ann and Terry race back ahead of us and take photos of our arrival from Thesen Island, one of the islands in the lagoon.  We anchor near A Lady and I have just got the bridle on the anchor when Mike says I have to take it all up again as we are swinging over a sandbank which will not be a good idea during low tide!

Up it comes and we move over behind A Lady then down it goes again.  This time we wait a little longer to see whether the hull of the boat can find another sandbank to hover over but it doesn’t.

Once settled we have breakfast then Mike starts to deal with the dinghy which is in a very sorry state.  It hasn’t been used since Cocos Keeling and is deflated beyond belief.  The flaccid sides hang down and as we lower it the only thing which keeps it afloat is the rigid bottom.  Mike steps confidently onto it (I can’t say into it because of the state of the sides) and starts to pump it up.  Given the state of it, this takes a while!

Photo:  A dinghy in need of Viagra!

Once it is pumped up he tries to start the engine.  Although it takes a few goes, unbelievably it starts.  After having God knows how much salt water thrown over it, and given that the engine cover is totally cracked and broken (probably why no one will ever attempt to steal it) and must allow salt water in, it  coughs, splutters, chucks out a plume of smoke and starts.  Amazing.

A yachtie who has been living aboard his boat in Knysna Lagoon for a year, comes over to tell us about the anchoring conditions here.  Although the holding is relatively good, the winds can be very strong and he recommends putting down a second anchor.  Apparently it can blow through the lagoon at 70 miles an hour!  Also, the constant ebb and flow of the strong tides means that the boats can turn around on themselves by 180 degrees and pull their anchors if the wind is strong at the same time.  This strengthens Mike’s desire to get a mooring or a berth while we are here.

We have a quick wash up and sort ourselves out then get in the dinghy and head over to the dinghy dock at Knysna Yacht Club where Ann and Terry are waiting for us.  Terry is wearing his World ARC 2002 polo shirt which he has adulterated to read “shore crew” to welcome us.  Awww!  After lots of cuddles and kisses all around we go into the yacht club to get temporary membership and see about settling Jeannius into somewhere safer.  The guy we need to see is not in so we head up to Ann and Terry’s house high up on the hill overlooking the lagoon.  We’ve never been here before and they have done lots to it over the last year, especially in the grounds.  The views over the lagoon are fantastic and we sit on their new deck for a while with a glass of champagne admiring them. Since chopping down a lot of rampant vegetation and trees around their property they now have views around the whole of the lagoon.  Both Mike and I having borrowed warm clothing from Ann and Terry as the wind is blowing cold at this height despite the strong sunshine. 

 Photo:  View over the lagoon with The Heads in the distance

Photo:  Mike admiring the view and checking the boat

As we watch the tide go out, the sandbanks become very obvious.  What is also obvious is that Jeannius is swinging differently to the other boats.  Her anchor is secure.  She is not moving, but it may be that she is just in a strange tidal current.  Whatever the reason, Mike is uneasy and keeps a wary eye on her.

Photo:  Jeannius and A Lady amongst the sandbanks

We have an early lunch then go back down to the yacht club to see if we can get a mooring.  No luck, and there’s no berth until Saturday so we decide to stay on board tonight just to see how Jeannius fares during a whole day of tidal changes.

Photo:  Knysna Yacht Club

We wander around the waterfront for a while.  There are lots of good shops and restaurants here as well as even more in town.  If we hadn’t spent all our money on the bloody boat I could have a field day!

Photo:  Knysna Waterfront

We have just a little tour of Knysna itself which is much bigger than I had expected.  I’m glad I’ll have plenty of time to explore over the next few weeks.

Photo:  Ann, me and Mike

Photo:  Terry in his World ARC 2002 shirt

We have a delicious early evening meal then Terry takes us back to the yacht club and we return to Jeannius in the dinghy.  It looks like it might rain as the clouds have come over during the late afternoon and we know the weather is on the turn but we are lucky and the rain stays away.

By 8.30 pm I am wrapped up in bed and ready for sleep.  I have been up since 1 am and am shattered.

 

Our position is:  34 deg 02 min S, 23 deg 02 min E

Distance so far:  18426 nautical miles

Day 322: Port Elizabeth to Knysna, SA – 24/11/10

What a difference a day makes.  We wake up to a beautiful blue sky, light wind and strong sun.  At 8 am it feels strong enough to burn.

Mike goes over to Lady Ev once more to look at Jorg’s PC and having fixed it again instructs all the crew not to fiddle with it.  When he comes back to the boat we begin the process of disengaging ourselves from the dock and A Lady, managing to pull away from her without scratching her lovely blue hull.

The harbour looks prettier than it did yesterday – it’s amazing what a little bit of sunshine can do for a view and a mood!

Photo:  Looking back at the Yacht Club

Photo:  Fishing boats at Port Elizabeth

We motor out of the harbour and as leave we get a good view of the town.  When we entered yesterday everything was grey and miserable so it is quite a surprise to see a nice looking built up area even though I had heard good things about Port Elizabeth.  It’s a pity we haven’t got time to explore it but we need to get to Knysna as soon as possible to give us time to get to Cape Town and meet Victoria on Saturday.

Photos:  Leaving Port Elizabeth

As we leave the harbour entrance a load of dolphins are playing around the boats.  We are still motoring at this point and don’t have much wake so they don’t swim by the boat but are still lovely to watch.

 

Photo:  Dolphins come to play

Once we get out of the relative shelter of the harbour, the wind starts to pick up but Mike waits until we are around the headland to see how the wind changes before deciding what sails to put up.  Initially we just sail with the genoa and one engine, then switch the engine off and sail at around 6 knots. 

I cook a huge breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and bread fried in butter for the Master and Commander which puts me in his good books for the day.  Later in the morning we put the main up then Mike, with the aid of a full stomach, has a nap.

We continue to sail at a good rate, a pace which should get us to Knysna just at high tide first thing in the morning.  Ann and Terry had wanted to be at the cafe at the opening of the lagoon to film us coming in but I’m not sure they will want to be there at 6 am!  Mike rings them to warn them.

It is a lovely sail.  Most of the time we are getting between 6 and 8 knots and the waves are gentle and just nudge us along.  A far cry from yesterday’s misery.  Suddenly there’s a yacht screaming up behind us.  No surprise that it’s Grand Filou, last out of the harbour and now zapping past us at nearly 12 knots.

Photo:  Grand Filou catches us and races past

I watch the sun set over our last night at sea for some time.  It’s not the best one but I’m glad we will see some from land for a while.

Photo:  Our last sunset at sea for a while

We decide just to do four hour watches tonight as we will be in so early and I head off down to bed at around 8.30 pm.  I’m excited about seeing my sister and brother in law tomorrow as it’s been a year and one week since I last saw them.  The icing on the cake will be when we see Victoria in a few days.

 

Our position is:  34 deg 20 min S, 23 deg 46 min E

Distance so far:  18389 nautical miles

Day 321: Richards Bay to Port Elizabeth, SA – 23/11/10

I get up at 2 am for my watch.  The sea is heaving and the noise is as deafening as ever.  The thought of this all the way to Knysna is not appealing.  More worryingly, the grib files have got it completely wrong for literally the first time.  I wonder whether there is worse in store for us further on.  When Mike gets up we listen to the weather reports on the radio, which sound like they are using a man with a speech impediment to announce, not a good idea when you are hanging on his every word trying to understand them.

After my watch I go back to bed for a while and even manage to fall into a fitful sleep, but one where the noise and unbelievable crashing of the boat permeates my dream.  I get up to go to the loo then go back to bed.  The noise and motion seems even worse and suddenly for no reason I start to sob – I just can’t stand it any more.  I get up and stagger upstairs to Mike, collapsing into him for a cuddle.  With headwinds of 30 knots and the short, sharp waves, thank God he has already decided that to continue in these conditions is untenable and has already set a new course for Port Elizabeth, just a few hours away.  I curl up on the sofa in a foetal position, still crying, and just wait for it to be over. 

Just after midday he calls me to put some more clothes on and go out to put the lines and fenders on as we are entering the port.  Even in what should be the shelter of the port, we have winds gusting to 35 knots.  It shouldn’t be like this!

We have been told that we are to raft up against a fishing boat but when we get to the end of the harbour we can see Grand Filou and A Lady rafted together and there’s room for us against them.  With lines and fenders in place I shout to A Lady and suddenly Neil and Stephen appear then Charlie and Richie from Grand Filou.  They take our lines and secure us to A Lady then take one of the hurricane lines and attach it to the dock. 

Photo:  Mike watches as Stephen, Neil, Charlie and Richie secure Jeannius

Aileen appears and offers tea, toast and biscuits.  How lovely.  I must have looked like we’d had a rough time!  We go aboard - it turns out that both they and Grand Filou tried to get out of Port Elizabeth yesterday but 30 or 40 miles out turned around and came back because the conditions were so horrible.  These were the conditions that we had been in and it’s comforting for me to know that the crews of these faster, bigger and heavier boats didn’t like the look or feel of the sea.

The port at Port Elizabeth is a real fishing one and we are surrounded by large vessels.  Their crews all seem very friendly and wave and say hello.  As we intend to leave tomorrow, there’s another flight plan to be filed, and Neil tells us where to go.  We follow him, Charlie and Richie to the yacht club, file the plan and stop for a drink before deciding to have lunch there as the menu looks so tempting.

One drink turns into three and lunch is delicious – melt in the mouth fillet steak (again) with potato wedges and pumpkin with chilli.  By the end of the meal I am totally relaxed and cannot believe that I am the same person who was lying sobbing on the sofa just a few hours ago.

Photo:  Jeannius rafted against A Lady and Grand Filou in Port Elizabeth

  Photo:  Port Elizabeth harbour from the Yacht Club

I watch from the veranda of the yacht club as first Ariane then Lady Ev VI arrive into the harbour and raft against one of the fishing boats.  I hope these guys don’t want to leave at 3 am!  The Lady Ev crew all come up to the yacht club restaurant and I wax so lyrical about the fillet steak, they all have it.

By the time we get back to Jeannius there are not many hours of sunlight left.  After a lovely hot shower (very, very hot as the engines have been on for hours) we watch some TV and have a early night.  Mike especially didn’t get much sleep last night.  The bed feels cold when we get in but at least not damp.

 

Our position is:  33 deg 57 min S, 25 deg 38 min E

Distance so far:  18291 nautical miles

Day 320: East London to Port Elizabeth, SA – 22/11/10

We’re in no mad hurry to leave so Mike doesn’t bother setting the alarm.  Just after 8 am he calls the Port Authority for permission (permission?) to leave and they ask if we have registered our ‘flight plan’.  A flight plan is a document which tells the authorities exactly where you intend your next port of call to be which, with the weather conditions here, is frankly anybody’s guess and therefore, as far as I am concerned, literally not worth the paper it is written on.  However, we obediently filed one in Richards Bay and since nothing had changed, we thought it was OK to stick with that one and leave.  Apparently not.  Every time you stop you have to file a new one.

We are given the name of the guy to contact but when we call he says he won’t be down to his office until 10 am so we have to wait.  Lady Ev are ready to go so we untie ourselves from them and the dock and wave them goodbye then wait until another two small yachts have pulled out before going back to the harbour wall and tying up again.

A nice lady comes down to chat and it turns out that it is the wife of the man we are waiting for.  They had felt sorry for us as they know that when the weather says go, you GO!  She takes Mike to file the flight plan then we are off.

As we leave the port, I call my sister and tell them we are on our way to Knysna.  They have just come back from a whale watching trip and haven’t seen any whales.  Even as we speak, Mike shouts that there is a whale in the distance!

Photo:  A whale in the distance greets us as we leave East London

There is only about 10 knots of wind and it is behind us.  We motor on a flat sea.  Unfortunately, it all starts to change after lunch.  Despite what the grib files say, the wind moves around and starts to blow from the west then south west and we go straight into it.  Our progress becomes agonizingly slow and the notorious Agulhus Current disappears altogether.  At times we are making just 2 knots.  It starts to drizzle, then rain and is truly, truly miserable.  So is our joint mood.  It just shows how it can all change so unpredictably.  Although the conditions are not unsafe for sailing, they are uncomfortable in the extreme and I would do anything to get off the boat!  Unfortunately, there is no way off, and we crash our way through the afternoon and evening. 

The only pleasant thing for the remainder of the day is that the nice looking piece of pork fillet that I defrosted for dinner earlier, turns out to be a wonderful piece of beef fillet which just melts in the mouth.  Along with garlic mashed potato, the meal cheers us up for a while before the weather and sea conditions eat away at us again.  The sheets feel cold and damp so I just make up a bed in our stern cabin with one of the fluffy blankets to wrap around us.  The artificial material at least feels warm against the skin.

Amazingly, I sleep.

 

Our position is:  33 deg 52 min S, 26 deg 44 min E

Distance so far:  18231 nautical miles