Crystal Blues

Image Courtesy Rocna Anchors So, how do you lock the screw pin on a shackle? Using monel or annealed stainless steel seizing wire is t...

On Monday, we finally rounded the Cape Of Good Hope . Named the "Cape Of Storms" by the Portuguese explorer Bartolomeu Dias, w...

Twelve years ago we purchased a set of plaited nylon dock lines for Crystal Blues, made by Marlow in England. These were an expensive p...

Beautiful Simon's Town Harbour, home to the South African Navy and numerous wind blown cruising sailors. After an 800 nautical mile ...

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...

It seems that the change over from Picassa Web Albums to Google Images, within the Blogger environment, is a slightly rocky road. All t...

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 expec...

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 ...

Like this low flying gull, we literally walked on water as we traveled south and west to Cape Town.  Setting out from Durban on Decembe...

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 L...

Image : Diane Selkirk While staying in Durban we made a visit to the stunning Drakensberg mountains, specifically to the area known a...

Our guide to service providers for the marine and cruising world in South Africa is now available online. Admittedly it is still a work...

Our first day inside the Hluhluwe / Imfolozi Reserve and we find a breeding herd of elephant, watering in the virtually dry river bed. ...

It's really hard to speak when you are on hands and knees, your face buried against the cabin sole, happily worshiping your genset  ....

Planning to move south, hoping to spend Christmas in Cape Town, we wrapped up our final boat jobs in Richards Bay last week. We found...