The Emperor Napoleon & Fine Wine In St Helena

St Helena's most famous resident was Napoleon Bonaparte, exiled here by the British after his final defeat at the battle of Waterloo. He was sent to a converted farmhouse known as Longwood, a damp residence in the wettest part of the island, which he constantly complained about. With his small entourage he lived there until his death in 1821.

Longwood House is now owned by the French Government, along with several other key locations associated with Napoleon's time here. We took a guided tour of the restored house, accompanied by a knowledgeable local guide. It is kind of spooky to be in the room where he died, then where he lay in state, then where his autopsy was conducted.

I was more interested in the wine cellar, now a simple gallery of paintings and drawings from the period.

There is some controversy surrounding his death, with some claiming he was poisoned, while the autopsy concluded that he died of stomach cancer - as did his sister and father.

Whatever the cause, he certainly enjoyed fine wine - he had a standing monthly order for 18 liters of Vin De Constance, an intensly beautiful desert wine made in the hills above Cape Town.

Our good friends on the catamaran Ceilydh gifted us a 500ml bottle of the wine, which is still in production and is still winning awards. We shared the bottle with the Ceilydh crew after dinner in the anchorage, accompanied by sauteed and flambeed local bananas, saluting the Emperor and acknowledging his very fine taste in wine.

When he passed, Napoleon was interred in a beautiful valley that is also now a significant monument owned and administered by the French Government, despite the fact that his body was removed and re-interred in Paris some 20 years after his death.

The entire saga of his defeat, imprisonment, eventual death and associated controversy has made the Emperor Napoleon one of the islands biggest tourist attractions. For many it is an emotional pilgrimage - we visited Londwood House, and the grave, with French cruising sailors who were very moved and grateful to see something so significant in their national history.

The Emperor Napoleon's Tomb In St. Helena

Baby, It's Cold Outside

The South Atlantic Ocean welcomed us with very light winds, but cold weather and 5 meter swells when we departed Cape Town on Monday afternoon. After three days of sailing the water temperature has risen 4.5 degrees to 18.5, and the air temperature is becoming acceptable - just.

Crystal Blues was farewelled by dolphins, penguins and sea lions as we motored out of Cape Town Harbour, where we spent a frustrating few hours re-calibrating our two autopilot systems prior to setting a true course north and west. The big swell has us rolling uncomfortably for the first day or so, but that has all settled down and we're now scooting along nicely towards St. Helena Island. We've covered 392 nautical miles, and have just 1322 miles to go - this will be our longest passage since we departed Australia 11 years ago.

For the first two days we had a personal escort - a group of sea lions slip streaming in our wake, doing aerobatics and generally playing up, though they've now left us and we are content to watch the many albatross, petrels, shearwaters and gannets that constantly surround the boat, soaring over wave crests and zooming through the troughs.

All is well on board, though we picked up some kelp in the propeller departing Cape Town. Most of it was thrown off but something has lodged somewhere as the blades are not folding as they should, which causes the prop shaft to rotate when we are sailing. With leather gloved hands we've slowed the shaft down to a stop and then jammed a wooden block between the hull and the shaft coupling nuts - it's now locked, and I can wait until we reach St. Helena before diving to clear the problem. Ley has done her usual incredible job of provisioning for the several long passages coming up - we have over 5500 nautical miles to travel before the end of June. Already she's baking muffins and planning our menus well in advance. If the weather holds we should be in St. Helena in 8 or 9 days.

Lubrication 101 - Use Something That Doesn't Damage Things ....

More than 12 years back we were shown just how incredibly slippery McLube Sailkote dry lubricant spray really is. However the spray can doesn't detail the contents, and we didn't want to use anything with silicon on a painted deck, so we chased down the manufacturer for details.

Eventually, in a late night call from Australia, I spoke to an engineer in the USA, who explained that the contents were actually chemically milled, microscopic teflon ball bearings, floating in a propellant that evaporates completely.  When you spray on McLube Sailkote, the micro ball bearings stick to the surface using static charge only - sure they eventually get washed away, but they last long enough to be amazingly beneficial.  The great thing is that they don't gum up the works - ever.  There is no build up of wax or chemical gunk to attract salt, moisture and dirt.

Looks Pretty, But It Doesn't Roll Anymore

On Crystal Blues this means we spray-lube the mainsail track once or twice a year, and Ley can hand haul the mainsail almost to the top without even using a winch. It is amazing stuff.

We also used it on our Schaefer "Clear-Step" sheaves, that manage the furling lines on deck.

Around five or six years later the Schaefer sheaves started to jam up, and no amount of cleaning or lubrication would get them to work under load.  I could spin them easily, though they sounded a little noisy - it was a mystery that even Schaefer themselves could not solve. This lead to us replacing them with an alternate product here in Cape Town, at reasonable expense to our boat budget (and that's another story).

Here in Cape Town we spotted a new McLube product called One Drop on the shelves of the distributor.  The technical representative there explained that the new One Drop liquid product was for "things that turned, including any product that used ball bearing races". The older spray product, he said, was specifically for things that slide.

He went on to explain that the original SailKote spray is just so extremely slippery that it can cause problems in ball bearing systems - the ball bearings actually skid along the surface, instead of rotating as they should (!).  This can lead to flat spots and failure of the ball bearing system.

Suddenly, we know what had happened to all our older Schaefer sheaves - all that fresh water washing and lubing with SailKote had actually created flat spots on the ball bearings.  We can see why the new McLube One Drop liquid product was developed - they needed a product that worked with ball bearing races.

We'll continue to use SailKote spray on our mainsail track, as the Antal track uses carbon faced fiber slides, rather than ball bearings.  But our turning blocks will all receive the One Drop treatment from now on.  Sailkote is ONLY for things that slide...

When A Gale Is Blowing, Watch The Marina Move

It was far worse at Tuzi Gazi Marina in Richard's Bay (story here), where many boats were seriously damaged late last year. But even the "good" marinas here in South Africa can suffer when it blows hard.

This is the main walkway at Royal Cape Yacht Club just when today's expected gale force winds started pumping.  The difference between here and Tuzi Gazi was however immediately obvious - management here were on the spot as it happened, observing and checking.

 All the local marinas are moored in place by heavy chains, tethered to anchors on the bottom - divers inspect and adjust the chains periodically.  However if the chain length isn't exactly right, you can get some surprising events at certain states of the tide.  After raising our fenders we also ran lines off on the port side of Crystal Blues, to haul her clear of the (now exposed) plastic marina floats.

Ship Causes Traffic Jam In Cape Town

AQUASHIELD II Being Delivered For Launching

They do build a lot of boats here in Cape Town - over 200 catamarans are exported every year by local builder Robertson & Caine alone.

This high speed patrol and supply vessel is one of four built by Nautic Africa for the oil industry in Lagos. 36 meters in length, she runs fast at 35 knots, driven by three MTU diesels. Yesterday she traveled much more slowly, stopping traffic at a leisurely walking pace for her 2 kilometer ride to the water.

This was her first voyage, from factory to launch, on the ship lift in Cape Town harbour.  The self propelled carrier is hydraulically driven and remote controlled, with the "driver" walking alongside.  No less than 64 big wheels spread the load on the road.

Our friends here at Associated Rigging, who recently re-rigged Crystal Blues, also benefit from these commercial projects - they supplied the swaged life lines and gates for these vessels, in 316 1x19 wire.

In Cape Town, We're Preparing For The Atlantic

Table Mountain, viewed from the northern end of Table Bay                                           

Back in Cape Town we're been very busy preparing Crystal Blues for the passage north, up the Atlantic. New sheaves for the genoa cars are one of the items we are waiting for, and they just might be here tomorrow.  Additional Admiralty paper charts (for emergencies) and 25 liters of Jotun anti-fouling paint are also on the way.

With Rolf and Irene, eating our way around Cape Town.

We've had time to farewell many local friends, including Rolf and Irene Fricke of the cruising catamaran Ketoro (they have a nice blogsite here - check their cruising notes for the Indian Ocean) We first met them in Thailand some years back, and they've been great friends, inveterate tour guides and great information sources here in South Africa - we really look forward to seeing them again out cruising.

Today we topped off our petrol stocks for the outboard motors, and tomorrow Ley will shop for fresh fruits and vegetables. We have full diesel and water tanks, and most systems have been tested while sitting here at the dock.  Now we just need a weather window.  We are very late in the season, with lighter trade winds and the winter lows starting to roll in from the west, complicating the weather here down south.  So we may need to motor north for a day or so, to escape the influence of the cape and pick up the trades - we'll see.  Departure may be this coming weekend, with luck.

It is 1700 nautical miles to St. Helena, then another 700nm to Ascension Island, before we start on the bigger passage of 2900nm to the Azores.  By the time we reach Europe, hopefully in late June, we'll have sailed around 6,500 nautical miles.  A lot of ground to cover...and yes, we have plenty of books to read !

Cape Town Clean Up - We're Traveling Home

We're leaving Crystal Blues in the marina at RCYC here in Cape Town and traveling to Australia to be with family for a few weeks.

In fact Ley is already home in Melbourne, and I fly on Qantas tomorrow.

I have been shutting down systems, pickling the water maker etc, and have removed most of the lines from the deck.  These have all been laundered as you can see in the photo here.

Cape Town has very clean air, except when the South Easterly blows, bringing with it the dust and dirt off Table Mountain.

Botswana Safari #3 - Travel Details

Some readers have asked for details on our recent Botswana trip, so here is the information on where we went and how we traveled.  The map is interactive - click on the icons for images from that site. On the map below, we started at the top and traveled anti-clockwise.

We specially wanted to see Botswana because of the fantastic book series we had read - The Number One Ladies Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith.  Those books spoke vividly of the spirit, courtesy  and graciousness that is everywhere in Botswana.

The best game viewing was in the Chobe National Park (right at the top) and in the Moremi Game Reserve, in the south west.  However, you will see game wherever you travel in these regions - baboons and warthogs run around the towns, and elephants have right-of-way corridors between the towns and the farms.  Giraffe run along side the highways even 200km from any national parks - the wildlife is everywhere.



We flew in and out of Kasane in northern Botswana, which is only a few hours drive from Victoria Falls. It would have been more efficient to start in Kasane (or Victoria Falls) and finish in Maun, had we known the state of the tracks when we booked.

4WD Truck Rental - Bushlore

There are many companies offering 4WD rental vehicles at varying prices, the cheaper units being not so well equipped. Our truck was a Toyota Land Cruiser long wheel base utility, with a six cylinder diesel and a custom camper rig fitted into the utility tray. It came from Bushlore in South Africa, one of the more substantial hire operations, who provide excellent equipment. They have bases in Kasane, Victoria Falls, Johannesburg and Windhoek (Namibia). We saw many broken rental vehicles on our travels, but none from Bushlore.

The vehicle was well prepared and completely reliable. Fitted with a spacious fold out tent on the roof, it also had a 12volt refrigerator, second battery system and 100 liter water tank. Folding chairs and a folding stainless steel table stowed in the rig. We carried additional water and fuel on the roof rack. A comprehensive kit of bush travel equipment was included - two spare wheels, tyre repair kit, tow rope, compressor, tyre gauge, high-lift jack, rubber sand tracks, first aid kit etc etc.

On the back of the truck was a cunningly effective Braii plate (BBQ) that strapped to one of the spare wheels. The camper rig included compartments for everything, including massive slide out drawers for food and supplies storage.  Dual gas bottles with stove tops handled the cooking when we didn't have a fire burning. Setting up camp usually took about 20 minutes after arrival.

Detailed specifications for the truck and equipment can be downloaded here.

The Bushlore vehicles are priced from the base in Johannesburg - we paid additional fee's to take delivery in Kasane, but it saved us one or two days of highway travel to make the drive north into Botswana.

The truck was supplied with basic maps and comprehensive wildlife guides. GPS navigation and satellite telephones are options - we carried our own satellite phone, and used our iPads for GPS navigation running the Tracks 4 Africa application. With this free application we were able to purchase just the maps we wanted (Botswana) for US$29.00.  Included with the maps was a complete interactive database of the parks, reserves and camps, plus special features, viewing spots, shopping and fueling locations etc. The camp database included photography, service and contact details, so we were able to contact the parks and camps in advance for bookings and confirmations.

Detailed GPS navigation was an essential tool on our travels in Botswana - we found many other visitors lost or unsure of their travel options, as they did not have good mapping or position information.

What To Wear - And Not To Wear

It may seem bleeding obvious, but you do need to wear the right clothing.

For example, if you want to wear thongs in the showers, don't even think about wearing them to and from the shower block. The African undergrowth is full of spikes and prickles that will make you regret your decision.

This photo shows the spikes I collected on just one visit to the shower - the real problem is that some of the spikes are long enough to go right through the rubber sole. Both Ley and I suffered "spiked foot" from this silliness!

Do wear light cotton or synthetic clothing for the daytime, but be prepared to rug-up in the evenings. You certainly don't need to visit a safari outfitter - just be smart about it. The organised tour groups in brand new co-ordinated safari clothing stood out so clearly at the airport - it really did feel like Disneyland - they were all so clean and shiny. Of course they stayed in electric fenced hotels and ate in restaurants every evening... no spikes in their shoes. Those groups fly with guides into the Okavango Delta in light aircraft, no dirt tracks for them.

You can have a fine time touring in Botswana that way, but you won't have your own personal travel experiences - it wouldn't be half the fun! And you will never sit by the river in the moonlight, watching the elephants graze just meters away ...

Part 1 of our Botswana Land Cruise is here.

Part 2 of our Botswana Land Cruise is here.

Ley Preparing Dinner, While In The Background The Elephants Head For The River

After Watering The Herd Moves Toward Our Camp to Graze In Front Of Us

Botswana Safari #2 - The Wild Life Cruising Continues

This is Part 2 of our Botswana safari adventure ... if you missed Part 1 you can read it here.

Valentine's Day - These Lovers Were Celebrating

At this point I have to say that WE DID ask the park ranger at the north gate of Moremi Reserve about predators, and he said, quote, "No Lions, but maybe some hyena chasing antelope through the camp in the evenings". OK... so just an hour later I read on the national park incident log board that two lions were in the camp ground four days ago. Later we learned that the hippopotamus also come through the camp each night, and we heard them clearly close by. So, ignore what the local people say, and be prepared. 

At around 8:30pm that evening we both froze in our camp chairs as a very large predator stalked silently past our camp fire, just a meter from our camp table and maybe five meters from us.  Hyena.  Big hyena. Like a Shetland pony on steroids, but with a large wolf's head.  Beautifully spotted shaggy fur, her (the females are larger) shoulder was a foot higher than our camp table. The head was of course much higher again.  Silently gob-smacked is a good way to describe our reaction. A magnificent predator right at our dinner table. Thank god she didn't stay.

So we quickly moved our chairs closer to the truck (hyenas can work in packs), put more wood on the fire, poured a last glass of wine, gulp, and went to bed. This place is amazing. Sorry no photos of that incident ...

Next morning we talked to the resident ranger about the hyena and he said they have never been a real problem. "though sometimes they do come too close".  "How close?" we asked. "Oh well, sometimes they might walk up and sniff you ... best you don't move, just sit still" he said.  OK, we get the picture.

We found the hyena foot prints all around the camp fire the next morning, plus a deep set of rear prints where she probably sat and watched us for a while.  Smart critter, she sat on the other side of the fire, shielded by some bushes.  Read on for our progress into the Okavango Delta ...

The Work Continues - At Royal Cape Yacht Club

Ley Cutting Vinyl Stiffening Panels For The New Sail Bag

The biggest job for us this month - manufacturing a new sail bag or "stack pack" for the main sail.

Royal Cape Yacht Club have been generous with a great working space - a regatta function room that has good light, power and even a raised work platform.  Perfect.

The bag is over 5 meters long and slides into bolt rope tracks that are fitted to the sides of the boom.  Ley has been collecting the necessary materials for some time, and we found a great local canvas shop (B Canvas) who provided the missing parts for us.

It took a full day (yesterday) to mark up the fabric sections and do all the cutting out. Today we'll start the sewing, which we expect will take a couple more days. 

Botswana Safari - Land Cruising & Wild Life

On February 5 we flew from Cape Town to Kasane, a small town in northern Botswana. There we collected our rental vehicle and set out on a sublime adventure - 10 days of camping and cross country travel in northern Botswana. Our earlier game park visits in Kwa Zulu Natal had given us a real taste for this type of touring - we wanted to be independent travelers and to maximise our opportunities for wildlife viewing.

We chose Botswana because of its reputation for great wildlife experiences, plus the understanding that in Botswana the local people are generous, respectful and law abiding. This was a country we'd wanted to visit for some time. We chose our vehicle supplier because they had the best truck for us - a Toyota Land Cruiser long wheel base utility, with a double cab and a custom camper rig fitted into the utility tray at the back. The truck had a 6 cylinder diesel engine that pulled us through thick and thin without fuss, great ground clearance and significant capabilities when it came to deep sand and even deeper water. Our tent unfolded from the roof of the camper rig.

Ihaha Camp, On The Chobe River, Heaven On Earth

Kasane was bigger than we expected, it's people infected with the graciousness and courtesy that we had heard is normal here in Botswana. After some quick provisioning we drove out of town to a private camp ground on the river, where each site had its own shower, toilet en-suite, plus a Braii (BBQ) pit and benches. A five star camp ground for our first night...

Next day we provisioned in Kasane for 10 days of "back woods" travel, frankly without realising just how far off the beaten track we would be. We had a good GPS navigation system plus an efficient 12volt refrigerator and a suitable supply of beer and wine - what could possibly go wrong? Fact is, we had under estimated the truly four wheel drive and remote nature of our chosen route - mainly deep sand and muddy tracks - and we drove for six days without seeing a fuel station or a town. With much of the driving in second gear, almost always in four wheel drive, the fuel situation was actually our biggest concern. Fortunately the truck had a 160 liter main tank, but the 20 liter fuel cans on the roof were a very welcome insurance policy. Oh, and then there was the wild life...

About two hours into our trip Ley spotted our first lion - a large and healthy looking female who stalked out of the bush ahead of us and completely ignored us as she pranced by about 30 feet away. Talk about regal - clearly the attitude of the apex predator in these parts. It was a breath taking moment - we looked around for the rest of the pride, could not find them. The lioness was beautifully spotted (look at her belly) and on the prowl. She ignored us completely, emerging from the scrub and marching past us with considerable purpose before we lost sight of her.  This is when you realise that all those Tarzan movies and the Jungle Jim TV shows are just so much crap - no, I will not get out of the truck to wrestle with her.

Back Working In Cape Town, After A 10 Day Safari In Botswana

Winch Servicing - Haven't Lost Any Parts (Yet)

On Monday night we arrived back in Cape Town after a 10 day adventure in Botswana. Walking down the dock, it was a nice little buzz seeing Crystal Blues shining in the evening light - all that work polishing the stainless steel certainly paid off.

Almost immediately we dived into the list of service and maintenance jobs we have in front of us. Number One is winch servicing - we tackled just one of the primary winches before we went away, so now we have only six more winches to strip, clean and re-assemble.

The weather in Cape Town has moderated a little, though yesterday it blew at 30 knots all day.  We're also finishing off the installation of our new Mastervolt / Masterbus electrical management system, which we started back in Malaysia 12 months ago. Somehow, no matter how many jobs you actually complete, more keep appearing.  At lunch today it occurred to me that one of our next stops may be in Suriname or Guyana in South America - just what is the AC power supply there? Ley quickly checked online, and sure enough they are 120volt / 60 cycle. Which means I have to complete the AC transformer installation that I started more than 10 years ago. The work list grows longer...

Yoda, A Little Younger & Smaller Here

On a happier note, we are still in communication with some of the wonderful folk we met in Botswana. Our safari was a fantastic adventure, not for the faint-hearted, but if you like the bush and the wildlife then Botswana is the place to go.

This image shows Yoda, the smallest creature we met, a Bush Baby (Lesser Galago) that has been raised by Sarah & Wayne at Drifters Camp outside Maun in northern Botswana.

Yoda was all over us one evening, jumping between Ley and I, hanging on with those impossibly human (but miniature) hands and wrapping his tail around everything. Wonderful large eyes and ears, certainly affectionate, the only animal I've met that gives really cute tongue kisses. Just think about it ...

We'll have the full story on our Botswana safari online soon. Meanwhile it's back to the winches.

Rounding The Cape Of Good Hope; The Cape Of Storms

On Monday, we finally rounded the Cape Of Good Hope. Named the "Cape Of Storms" by the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias, who rounded it in the year 1488, it remains an important milestone in a sailor's travels.

Ley, Having A Bad Hair Day At The Cape

Our rounding was simple enough, with little wind and lumpy seas. We'd seized on a rare "no wind" weather window, following almost three weeks of plus 30 and 40 knot winds.

So we motor sailed from Simon's Town to Cape Town, covering about 80 nautical miles and entering the Atlantic Ocean with sunshine and a cup of coffee in our hand. Excellent!

Just one day earlier we had visited the Cape by road, riding the funicular railway to the lighthouse station in the late afternoon.

Venturing out onto the parapet of the cliff face, we literally had to hold on to the rocks to stand up to the wind blast.  Damn this place is windy!

On our sailing passage the following day, whales, seals and penguins were our companions.  However the biggest surprise was the water temperature; 13 degrees centigrade at the Cape and barely half a degree warmer here in the marina at Royal Cape Yacht Club.  Damn this water is cold!

Cape Town & Table Mountain Approach

It was a beautiful day to round the cape.  We are now safely berthed in the marina in Cape Town and continuing with our maintenance and repairs.  We'll certainly be hiring a professional diver to clean the hull; I don't have a wetsuit thick enough to work in water this cold.  For the first time since we departed Melbourne over 10 years ago we have condensation forming on the inside of the hull, from the waterline down. I take beer from the storage locker and find that it's already cold enough to drink... well, almost cold enough.

Simon's Town & Beyond - Touring Western Cape In South Africa

Beautiful Simon's Town Harbour, home to the South African Navy and numerous wind blown cruising sailors. After an 800 nautical mile passage from Durban we were very pleased to be here, among cruising friends and the a very friendly local sailing community. The past twelve months in the Indian Ocean had certainly taken a toll on the both us and the boat, so we were keen to start preparing Crystal Blues for the next phase of our voyage - the Atlantic Ocean.

However after a couple of weeks in port, with the urgent maintenance issues on Crystal Blues ticked off, we took some time to explore further afield, driving to the Stellenbosch vinyard area, just an hour from Simon's Town.

Stellenbosch is South Africa's third oldest settlement, founded in 1679. The wine culture here was originally started by Huguenot refugees in 1690. Home to a large university culture, the town has many classified and significant precincts - truly a beautiful village feel.

Last century the area was a center of fruit growing, however the world wide boycotts on South Africa during the notorious apartheid regime saw that industry fail. The land was again on-sold and much has been returned to viticulture. 

Of course we were keen to sample the local wines and on that day trip we enjoyed two beautiful vineyards - the locals here call them "wine farms" by the way.

Solms Delta Wine Estate was a real eye opener. Quirky varietal wines and a deeply engaged and proud local staff opened our eyes to what is possible in the new South Africa. Here the traditional occupants of the land and farm workers have been empowered through a training and a profit sharing arrangement that says much about the management - more power to them I say. A fine restaurant and a museum dedicated to traditional African music make this estate a real pleasure to visit.

Boschendal Estate (see the image below) is centered on a 300 year old homestead in a magnificent park-like setting.  A lawn big enough for a football game is bounded by huge shade trees, just perfect for lazy warm weather wine tasting.  Here the "entry level" tasting was enough for us, and we returned to Simon's Town that night with yet more "produce" to be stored in the bilges.

After almost three months in South Africa we are convinced that this country is an undiscovered tourism and travel opportunity for the rest of the world.  A vibrant food and wine culture (specially here in Western Cape) plus the powerful game park wild life experiences are all available at bargain rates, given the decline in value of the local currency. This is a huge and diverse nation, with a fascinating history and a population that is anxious to please.

Dynema Shackles; Then & Now

As cruising sailors we can find ourselves a little behind the bleeding edge when it comes to changes in sailing technology. In a way I'm comfortable with that, happy to let the racing guys figure out what works and then adopt it some time later, when it costs much less.

So, we're now very happy to be using "hi-tech" Dynema (or UHMwPE) soft shackles, as in the image at right, in several applications on board Crystal Blues.  However yesterday we were taught a very clear lesson in just how far these new line technologies have moved ahead.

We visited the Southern Ropes manufacturing facility here in Cape Town, on a mission to analyze the remaining strength in some of our older lines (more on that later).  While there we noticed two HUGE soft shackles made of UHMwPE being checked.

Rated at over 76 tonnes, these shackles are made from 28mm UHMwPE line that has been heat treated and coated to improve the strength and life of the shackle.  This one is destined for the mining industry.  Interesting to note that the sailing market is only around 5% of Southern Ropes total business base.

Southern Ropes showed us the heat treatment facility where these lines are effectively baked under controlled tension to minimise the "creep" or elongation characteristic that is the one down side of UHMpWE or Dynema in longer term use.

The production line includes baths to die the fiber to desired colors and other stages that apply coatings to enhance the line strength by retaining the fiber alignment as it comes off the hot tension rig.

Simon's Town, South Africa - Blowing Your Sox Off

50 Knots On A Moored Sailboat Is Not Much Fun

Folks warned me that Cape Town was windy in the summer, but I really didn't expect this much wind. Sitting here in the marina at Simon's Town, we watch the wind speed as a form of entertainment - what will it hit today?

For the past five days its been blowing around 40 knots average, and for several days much higher.  Local mountains create katabatic gusts that swirl through the marina.

Yesterday, friends watched a waterfall being blown uphill, just above the town.  Yikes. We go forward to check the dock lines frequently, but over 45 knots that means holding on to the life lines - in the marina! Some boats are diving and bucking as if they are at sea.

Tonight we sat in the cockpit for an hour having sundown drinks and saw wind over 50 knots several times in the gusts, with the average for the hour being 45 knots. Just nearby, aboard the catamaran Emerald Sea, they measured 65 knots. This wouldn't be so bad if it was just for a day, or even two days, but it is expected to blow like this for another week.

Crystal Blues is riding to five (count 'em) spring lines, three starboard bow lines and numerous others. Chafe is constant - we added woven chafe protection to the bow lines yesterday, it was full of holes by the morning.  Tonight I added Spectra sheathing to two bow lines, we'll see if that survives. Vigilance is everything here.

Finally, here is a first for us - in the big gusts, the wind blows the fenders up through the lifelines and onto the deck. Give us a break! Locals are totally adapted to these "breezes", after all they get 100 days per year of gale force wind, here in Simon's Town. The locals also call this wind the Cape Town Doctor - we do love Cape Town, just not the doctor's medicine!

The 2015 Indian Ocean Crossing - Five Vessels Lost, A Very Tough Year

Yes, 2015 was a tough year for the Indian Ocean crossing - on Crystal Blues we suffered an unusual amount of damage, and many boats were lost or abandoned.  But was this an unusual year?

The massive El Nino conditions certainly had an effect, with the Indian Ocean waters being hotter than ever before.  I suspect that what we really had were "elevated" ocean wind conditions, compounded with a large number of boats undertaking the crossing.


Of course many cruising boats reported excellent conditions, specially those that crossed early in the season.  However both the southern and northern routes had their fare share of casualties over the course of the season.

Typically, the northern route vessels traveled from Chagos westwards across to the Seychelles and then south via Madagascar.  Southern route vessels crossed from Cocos Keeling to Rodrigues, Mauritius and onwards, or from Chagos down to Rodrigues or Mauritius and then onwards.

We chose the latter route, finding ourselves in 60 knot conditions for several days, with large breaking waves sweeping over the boat from the south east and from the south.  Swells were in the 8 to 10 meter range.  It was certainly challenging, and I was bloody glad to see Rodrigues appear out of the rain early one morning.

An informal "Indian Ocean Crossing Group" exists on Facebook, and this year there were 69 boats listed for the passage.  I estimate that at least another 30 boats made the crossing without listing in the group.

So what is the big picture for boats that crossed the Indian Ocean in 2015-what was the damage bill and just how tough was it?

Low Flying - Durban To Cape Town In A Hurry

Like this low flying gull, we literally walked on water as we traveled south and west to Cape Town.  Setting out from Durban on December 26 we sailed south east to find the strongest section of the Agulhas Current. 

Then the low flying began in earnest, with up to 5 knots of current assisting us and 30 knots of wind from the north, we covered  512 nautical miles in the first two days.

18 international boats departed Durban over two days, all wanting to reach The Cape. This was a great weather window, which allowed us to continue non-stop to Cape Town in just under 4 days. 
 
The total distance covered was 802 nautical miles, giving us an average of over 200 nautical miles per day for the 4 days.  Top speed was over 15 knots, which we saw quite frequently.

Thrilling sailing indeed, though tough on the boat and on the crew, specially the 50 knot easterly blast that hit us as we entered False Bay at 2:00am, just a few hours from our destination.  The damage bill for the voyage was minimal - a couple of broken battens in the mainsail and a shredded end on a genoa sheet where it ran through the spinnaker pole.

Not all the boats fared so well, with several retiring into harbours and ports along the way, the most common issues being autopilot problems - the big winds and cross seas really made those systems work hard.

We saw seals, whales, sharks and literally millions of sea birds, who were feasting on the ocean bounty where the warm Aghulas Current meets the cold water from the Atlantic.

We had good forecast data on the Aghulas Current location and strength (click on the image at right for details), however local sailors advised us to watch for the long band of cloud that runs down the coast, some way off shore - this cloud band hovers over the warm current.

As you can see in the image here, it was blindingly obvious once we understood what to look for.

Here in Simon's Town Marina, the sea life and bird life is prolific - the cry of gulls is a constant background music, punctuated by bosun's whistle calls as officers are piped aboard the South African Navy ships adjacent to us.  From a peak of 26.7 degrees off Durban, the water temperature has plummeted to just 19.7 degrees here in False Bay.  Sailing here feels awfully like sailing at home - the frequent weather changes, low water temperature, plus the sea and bird life give me just a small touch of home sickness.

We celebrated the New Year with cruising friends here at the very beautiful False Bay Yacht Club, in Simon's Town, a short commute from the city of Cape Town.  We'll stay here until late January, hoping to explore South Africa a little more.  For now, we'll launch into the necessary maintenance and repairs ......  Happy New Year to all !

Sunrise At The Cape - Ley Took This Photo On Watch.  Look Carefully For The Lights Of SV Totem At Right

Mummy Christmas & The Land Of 1000 Hills .....

To the west of Durban the land rises rapidly - just 30 minutes drive inland and you have climbed more than 1000 meters.

This is the Land Of 1000 Hills, green and beautiful countryside with hundreds of restaurants, B&B's and guest houses.

A traditional steam railway operates on the weekends, bringing tourists from Durban up into the hills.

The climate is cooler, the foliage is different and most importantly, Mummy Christmas delivers Christmas cheer by quad bike.  What ?

Friends of the family just happen to live up here, and we were invited to gate crash their "traditional" Christmas lunch.  Did I say traditional ?

This was a fabulous family Christmas celebration, with beautifully prepared lamb on the spit rotating well before we arrived.  The weather turned into rain and sleety fog, blocking out the hills, however the fire place roared and the food kept coming, so it was our kind of Christmas family gathering.


So a very big thank you to Shaun Visser, Tania & Lynette for the fabulous hospitality and for sharing your family Christmas with us.