June to mid-July (Richards Bay)

Finally we are back!

Unstepping mast and maneuvering
Esmeralda in the boat yard

As is always the case in the run up to an event, everything seems to build in intensity and panic rears its ugly head often, especially when Murphy steps in.  Well the build up to the Lipton Challenge Cup and the actual competing was no exception but is finally complete.  It was fantastic to watch many of the yacht club members join in and give assistance where ever they could, either financially or physically, prompting one of the members to remark that this is like the old club that they remember.

Sirocco towing Esmeralda 

The first support boat Sirocco was already in Durban two weeks before the Lipton Cup began, they attended the Durban Boat Show and then took part in the MSC regatta, racing their 40ft mono hull by themselves, braaiing lamb chops during one race and generally having a good time.  They almost came second in one race, but unfortunately they had to retire early as Esmeralda, the ZYC Lipton race entry, had arrived.  They did the last two legs of the race and attended the prize giving and were most surprised to be awarded a prize for the best effort put in by a yacht with the least crew, they won a 3 day cruise on the MSC Opera to
Portugese Islands.  Next year Kevin and I are doing that race!!!!


We, in the meantime had visitors, the Hooles arrived on 22 June for their first ever visit to the boat and it was such fun.  It was Sandra's birthday on Monday 24th and we had a lovely day doing a bit of shopping followed by a harbor cruise with lots of wine and snacks and dolphins and a stunning sunset, so glad she chose to spend her birthday with us.  They left on 26th and on 27th Kevin and I drove to Manguzi on the Kosi Bay Border between SA and Mozambique to fetch Kylie after her outreach program there, helping out at an orphanage, humbling I think.  


Then Leanne, Grant and Kirsten arrived on Friday 28th til 2nd July.  Unfortunately they really had to bear the brunt of the last minute organisation of the Lipton Cup and the boat and Kevins work so their trip was not as peaceful and relaxing as we hoped but at least we managed to get a great days sailing in where we saw loads of whales out at sea and dolphins in the harbor on our return.

Poor Nomad (with Andrew and Virginia as crew) left twice, attempting to get to Madagascar for a research charter but weather and boat issues saw them have to turn back and eventually abort the trip.  We took the opportunity of taking Virginia with us on the trip to Durban, we needed her qualification for insurance and she needed a break.  We left on Thursday night 4 July with Dave and his friend along as crew.  We needed to have them (Dave and friend) in Durban by 2pm on Friday in order to catch the Stallion coach back to Richards Bay (it does not run on weekends) but unfortunately the wind would not play along, in fact we had next to none and were heading into 2.8m swells head on, making our motors work really hard without really achieving anything.  



We were really privileged to be in the company of many whales on the trip and eventually found the front that was predicted just off Umhlanga and with no sails up were being pushed along at over 4 knots, but that was too much too late, got there at around 5pm.  Anyway they managed to get on the Greyhound Coach early the next morning so all was not lost and we were in Durban, with our boat, in time for the opening Ceremony on Friday night :-)  The Royal Natal Yacht Club is steeped in tradition and they pulled out all the stops for this race as it is one of South Africa's biggest.  After the mixing of the waters from each represented club and a speech or two, the cannon blast had everyone jumping a couple of feet in the air!!

Racing with Soccer Stadium
in background

The weeks racing was really exciting, we were out on the water every day with Sirocco, except for Thursday when Kevin had a meeting in Johannesburg.  Our Zululand Team were the best represented and supported team there.  I am obviously not very used to being on a mono-hull anymore, on Thursday I went to sea with Sirocco and on the way back to harbor after the racing we had a slight lull and heeled over, the box I was perched on, gin & tonic in one hand and camera in the other, slid a little then stopped, well I didn't and with Alan hanging on to my ankle I came to a sudden halt against the rail, plonked down on the deck and quietly took a sip of my drink to the cheers and laughter of all on board, apparently I didn't spill a drop!!!!  We had a full boat most days, Kirsten the Commodore and his wife and various club members, Gus and Salome and little Pickle their Jack Russel and even our old neighbors from ZYC Barry and Lola and kids of Yrumoar , great to see them again.


Our team came a very respectable 17 out of 18.  Their effort daily and their attitude whilst participating made them winners all round and very popular amongst the other teams.  Unfortunately in this class of racing the boats are so closely matched that one small error leads to dropped places and lost time which are impossible to make up.  We are sure that next year they will make a huge difference and the team are really fired up for the challenge.




We held the raffle draw at the yacht club for the bottle of Bells Whiskey and the holiday at the Elephant Lake Hotel, just before we left and they were won by Fiona and Michelle.  To everyone that bought tickets, thanks a heap your contributions went a long way to helping our team and no one is more sorry than me that we didn't win that holiday!!!

Virginia & Ully looking
out for Yacht Ingrid
traveling with us

Sunrise on our way back

Our trip back to Richards Bay was fantastic, there was an airshow on at Virginia Airport on Saturday so we headed over to float around just off shore of the airport and had a brilliant first hand view of the airshow.  We had a great braai whilst watching and at 17:30 when the show was over we just kept motoring north. 
 By early morning the wind had swung behind us and we were able to switch the motors off and enjoy a good few hours of sailing, lovely.  We were closer in shore on the way back, not nearly as many whales, but we did have the company of a lovely mom and calf early Sunday morning, blowing and diving, really great.

Weber being dragged up from the depths

Before we left the crew on Isis caused us a good giggle.  Somehow bad luck seems to be dogging them right now, firstly the two young crew members Martin and Damien, in an attempt to get rid of monumental hangovers, took the Isis tender boat out around the harbor to Zululand Yacht Club, resulting in a very stressed and speedily sobered Martin running back on foot a couple of hours later - somehow the outboard motor had come loose from the tender boat and had dropped into the channel - around 5m of water, so the more sober and in charge crew members had to don dive gear and off they went to go and fish the motor out.  An almost successful operation, unfortunately the cowling of the motor did not survive being dropped on its head and departed from the motor, never to be seen again.  But good news was that after some intense treatment it worked again.  

Fresh from the ocean

The poor abused Weber

This was not the end as during the strong south wester a couple of days later their weber braai blew into the water from the walk on.  Dive gear donned again and down they went, the braai was pretty easy to retrieve, apparently the grid was a bit more tricky, but again after a good dunking in a barrel of water and some spraying it was braaiing chops and wors in no time.  Apparently this is the third time they have had to dive this same braai out of the sea and it still works, this would surely make a great advert for Weber!!

Well, as is always the case with boating we have some hard work to do.  We have discovered quite a serious leak which is going to probably test our fibreglassing skills yet again and we are now at the point where we HAVE to reseat one of our big saloon windows, was the first one replaced by outside help and done incorrectly.  We also discovered and repaired two hot water pipe leaks - never a dull moment.  Hope you are all having as much fun....

April to end May Update (Richards Bay)

 What fun this boating life is, never a dull moment indeed.  

After we got back from Inhaca we took at bit of time off to just enjoy our boat and ourselves.  We wandered around MaxScene commenting over and over how well she had managed the trip and ignoring the newly updated (since our return), long list of changes and improvements we still need to effect. 

Then we took a full day off and headed for the Umfalozi Game Reserve for something different.  Well that was for sure.  Heading down the main road we were stopped by an excited chap - there was a pride of 7 lions 3.1km's back so eye's glued off we went in search of cats.  Closer to 5 km's we managed to squeeze our way through the other 3 cars stopped in the road to see 3 lions quite far back, but lions none the less, our first cat sighting in the Park, woo hoo.  With big smiles we headed down the road, there had been a lot of rain and there were turtles in every bit of water even the little pools on the side of the road.  




We passed through the main camp and on the way up the road heard a helicopter overhead.  On inspection it was carrying something through the air, Kevin jokingly said its probably a rhino. Well, true as bob, there it was, a rhino hanging upside down from a helicopter by a rope, what an amazing sight.  We found out later that apparently this is a preferred method of moving the animals as when they dart them on the ground they then have to get them into trucks and out again before they wake up, this is a fast and relatively harmless way of transporting them.  Sure had us on our toes.  We had a lovely day, saw loads of buck, zebra, giraffe, warthog, buffalo and a couple of rhino, but alas there are definitely far fewer to be seen than on previous visits.  To top the day we saw another two prides of lions on the way out, awesome trip!!!!


The next big event was that Kevin got another contract with EOH.  Their head office is in Johannesburg and we thought a lot of commuting was on the cards, trying to figure how to get our caravan back to Jhb from Sodwana and the best way to travel up and down, when to our pleasant surprise we found out his work is remote work and they are happy for him to carry it out from Richards Bay, on the boat.  Some travel up to Jhb will be required but not often, what a bargain.  So now Kevins corporate clothing takes the form of shorts and if we are lucky a t-shirt, it takes him all of 30 seconds from bed to office in the morning and he has the most awesome view from his office windows while working, life really is good.

After a lot of thought and for various reasons we moved home again.  Being concerned about the possibility of travelling we were happier leaving our boat unattended at Tuzi Gazi Marina and financially we benefit a bit from being here, we get a good rate for long term mooring.  Also the water here is so much cleaner as we don't have the pollution flowing down from the river here that we had before it is amazing, the fish are clearly visible from quite a distance and there are so many different ones.  We have two hatches that face into the water, under the saloon, on the side of the back cabins and every morning I crumble up two slices of bread and feed the fish through the window.  At Zululand Yacht 

Club they were mainly African Moony's, triangular silver small fish, and they got so used to being fed every morning that if I put my hand out the hatch I could get them to do synchronized swimming just following my hand.  Well one morning we were obviously a bit late with the bread and one of them jumped in through the window onto the bed with Kevin - he jumped out of the bed and I threw the poor fish straight back in the water, ha ha ha.  Here at Tuzi Gazi the fish aren't quite as used to being fed yet, still a little too scared to come to the surface, but now I have a school of powder blue surgeons as well, counted at least 9 this morning, fighting for food with the Moonys.  Shortly after we moved here we had quite an unusual phenomenon, after a pretty heavy south westerly wind the water around our boat was full of little pink jelly fish, it was like a carpet of jelly fish surrounding our boat.  They hung around for a few days and gradually disappeared.


The Vasco da Gama race - Maputo to Durban - was the next big sailing calendar event.  We were unable to enter as Kevin had just started his new contract so we decided that we would make a trip to Durban by boat to be there to welcome in the racers, one of our young sailors Tyron was crew on a racing boat - Southern Storm - from Durban and Nomad a catamaran from Zululand Yacht Club whose crew were all good friends of ours had entered the race.  Unfortunately the weather turned against us, especially for the trip back so in the end we made a roadtrip of it, went to visit my mom in Hibberdene for a couple of days, then two days in Durban to welcome the racers back and attend the prize giving.  Unfortunately Nomad had to retire from the race around 5nM from Durban as they had steering problems.  Nonetheless we had a huge evening at the prize giving, Ty's boat came 5th so no prizes there either, just lots of fun and great company.


We left the next day for Johannesburg as Kevin had a couple of days of meetings, and spent a week trying to get the bakkie fixed, a small starter solenoid replacement became a full weeks work including exhaust branch pipe and starter motor replacement.  Thanks again to Graeme, Michelle, Samantha and Nicole and even little Crystal who all worked around giving us lifts and lending us cars, you guys are great friends.  


We managed to spend some time with Gaynor and Rhiannon and all their dogs at their dog school, absolute bliss - well for me anyway :-)  Very proud of how well they are doing, hope they become as big as they are aiming.  



They have a huge fun day planned for 9 June - so sorry we can't be there.



We also saw Jessica and Christopher practicing for a hip hop competition, so cool and saw Leanne and Kylie and met Grant, all in all a most beneficial trip, just too short, sooo ran out of time!!

We came back with Kevin's mom who spent a week on the boat with us and surprisingly seemed to quite enjoy it.  Boat life really does seem to be good for the soul.  We came back to a sad situation - we met crew and owner of a beautiful power catamaran 
named Isis three years ago and watched them spend three years sitting here in Tuzi Gazi Marina, waiting for the right time - weather and financially - to head out to places more beautiful.  The end of April and 

their waiting was over and to the really loud sounds (they have one heck of a sound system) of Thunderstruck we and half the marina waved them farewell as they headed off to Dares Salem and the start of the fulfillment of their dreams.  While we were away we got the sad news that the owner had died of a heart attack in his sleep in Vilanculos, Mozambique, where they had stopped to refuel and fix one or two issues. This saw the crew bring the boat back, they arrived shortly after our return and now the boat sits back in its mooring, hopefully to be sold to someone who will be able to fullfil that dream.  Absolute proof that life is really short and not to be taken for granted at all. 


Our current project is the Lipton Cup Challenge.  A competition that began in 1909 to encourage sailing and seamanship.  The race is held annually and the winning club becomes the hosting club for the next race.  For the last 29 years it has been held in Cape Town, but in a surprise upset last year a team from Royal Natal Yacht Club in Durban won the cup and this year the Challenge takes place in Durban.  Zululand Yacht Club have decided to put in an entry and Kevin and I are on the committee and are helping to organise their representation.  A task not without its challenges :-)  the race takes place 6 - 13 July and we plan to head down there with our boat to be a support vessel, together with Sirrocco, a mono hull from here owned by Chrissy and Alan Crichton.  This time we have no time constraints to return so can wait out the weather if necessary, looking forward to it, exciting times. Keep watching Facebook for regular updates, photographs and progress.

Right, well I think thats all for now........

Richards Bay to Inhaca and back 22 March 2013 - 30 March 2013

We are back!  It is with mixed feelings that I say that.  We had an amazing trip to Inhaca and Santa Maria and whilst it is always nice to be home, we wish we were still there.

Our Crew

After drawing up shopping lists and shopping and re-drawing up shopping lists then more shopping, taking stock and doing more shopping, finally the boat was "provisioned".  Enough food to keep 7 of us (our crew were Us, Graeme and Michelle Weston, Dave Bennett, Renier Greyvenstein and Sonja Simak) from starving for 8 days and it was with astonishment and pride that we managed to stash everything in cupboards, holes and the fridge and freezer with space left over, the space on this yacht never fails to amaze us.  Strapped to the back were 7 x 25lt drums of water and stashed in the yacht yet another 50lt in 10, 5 & 1.5 lt bottles.  This was our drinking water as we do not yet have a water maker and the water in the tanks - +/-  800lt was to be used for washing dishes and showering.  

The tanks were filled with diesel - 230lt, and an additional 100lt in drums added to the overall weight, together with a Honda whisper generator kindly leant to us by Graeme and Michelle to compensate for our lack of solar energy, as the two small solar panels we have not yet managed to upgrade were not at all up to the job, accompanied by 85lt of petrol to power the generator and the two motors for the two tender boats - we took Renier's one too, our water line was looking rather strained.

Water and power consumption being a concern, meant this was no luxury sailing trip.  Showers were either taken outside under the rain water falling from the roof, ending in a rinse with water collected in the buckets, generally by the guys, or showers using salt water heated by the sun, in a camping solar shower bag, followed by a brief rinse off with fresh water.  The toaster was only used when the generator was working as it drains loads of power, the use of lights and chargers was kept to the bare minimum and fans taboo.  Our water consumption was so good that in the last days of our trip we were able to have proper showers on the yacht, most enjoyable.  

Clearing out of South Africa was a painless exercise thanks to the yacht club, they had organized that the water police, customs and immigration were here at the yacht club from 11:00 - 13:00 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  Under the trees at the Jib and Anchor bar our passports were stamped, documentation verified and we were given the all OK to leave. A careful eye was kept on the weather and much discussion went on between the 15 or so yachts from Richards Bay that were heading up, as to when would be best to go.  Zeus were brave enough to take a small weather window on Wednesday evening 20 March 2013 and headed out around 22:00.  Whilst the rest of us were all hoping to leave any time from Thursday onwards, nature had other plans and the first decent weather window appeared again on Saturday 23 March.  At around 14:00 we heard that the front we were all planning to follow up the coast had passed Durban, heading our way, causing a flurry of activity in the club and especially on our yacht, getting the last things prepared and tied down, motors warmed, water tanks topped up, excitement under control and at 15:30 we were off.  We knew the waves would be quite choppy as the wind had been blowing 

Spirit of Adventure and Ingrid ahead
of us on the way out of harbor

Maranatha leaving
Richards Bay

constantly from the North for a few days and it would take a day or two for it to catch up with the change in wind direction, but we warned all on board and took the call to go anyway.  Spirit of Adventure, Us and Ingrid took the bit between our teeth and headed out.  

Ingrid pounding the waves

As predicted it was choppy indeed, lots of bobbing up and down in the swells, some rocking back and forth and all of us watching Ingrid, a large mono hull, bobbing all over the place and thanking our good choice in a catamaran.  The unsettled seas continued right through until Monday morning, causing some real sea sickness which was bravely fought and eventually conquered by those concerned.  At around 3am on Sunday morning we were surprised by a squall, the wind swinging round and going from dead calm to +/- 32knts in seconds, with waves breaking over the sugar scoops, causing a flurry of activity on deck to reef the main from 1 reef to 3 and furl in some of the genoa, restricting the sail area and thus depowering the sails.  An hour later and all was back to normal, 

Sodwana Bay

think this was made more stressful as it was dark, but yacht and crew handled it extremely well.  We passed Sodwana and waved at Eric of Tanjeera and Andre Slade who were on the beach cheering us on.  



We had lost sight of Maranatha and Sirroco who had come out of Richards Bay just behind us and stayed with us most of the journey, we later found out that due to various reasons, both yachts turned round and returned to Richards Bay at this point.  Spirit of Adventure had disappeared over the horizon and Nomad had caught up to us by then and together with Ingrid we continued up the coast, tacking hard due to the north east wind.  Sunday night was almost full moon and made the sailing almost romantic with the moonlight on the water, we sometimes sailed right into the moonlight reflection on the sea, what an experience.  The lines and bungees were out 
from the time we left Richards Bay harbor and between Sunday and Monday Graeme caught 3 barracuda, which we kept, one which we released as it was too small and a rock cod that we released immediately, our policy is game fish only.  The barracuda were filleted - one was baked, one was braaied and one packed in the fridge for later.

Raising the Mozambique flag

We arrived at Inhaca to find that Ingrid had beaten us there and Garuda had steamed past us in the night and were also already anchored.  We went past and headed on our waypoints to Santa Maria, a complex entry into the bay as it is so shallow in so many areas, fortunately we had been given GPS co-ordinates to follow by Steve and boy did they work.  We were met and welcomed by Jaco and Janet of Spirit of Adventure, already zooming around on their jet ski and when we got to the anchorage it was to the comment "welcome to paradise" from the back of Zeus, that was no exaggeration.

Hells Gate

Floating behind Maxscene

Santa Maria is a beautiful, unspoiled Nature Reserve, pristine beaches, crystal clear water and a huge current as the water rushes in and out of Hells Gate, a break in the land which allows access to and from the ocean, for those brave enough to attempt it in the right conditions.  We dropped anchor and spent the next 1.5 days chilling and enjoying peace and solitude.  There was a small rocky outcrop that Graeme, Dave and Michelle spent some time snorkeling  apparently there is a surprising number of fish and turtles here.  A favorite past time was floating in the warm water behind the yacht, foot through the floating ring to prevent being carried away by the current, pool noodle in the back, bliss.  The last barracuda was turned into a yummy fish curry, life is good.  We spent our time in the company of Zeus, Spirit of Adventure, Nomad and for a very short time Quazami.  

Spirit of Adventure & Zeus at Santa
Maria

Maxscene at Santa Maria

A near coming together with Nomad on the first night saw us up anchor and move and everyone spending the night 
on anchor watch duties, another lesson learned.

Nomad at Santa Maria

Inhaca Beach

Inhaca Island

Wednesday arrived far too soon and on the incoming tide we all headed off to Inhaca Island, some bottoming out on the sand and having to wait for more water before being able to continue.  Rounding the point toward Inhaca excited voices called out the names of yachts we recognized  those that had made it and chosen to stay at Inhaca, joy at those that had made it and sadness and concern over those that hadn't.  We anchored with everyone else, between Portugese Island and Inhaca in a sheltered bay, then made our way ashore to Lucas' Tavern for the race briefing and dinner. 

Anchored at Inhaca

A fun evening was had by all, fines were handed out to all yachts and some individuals for various offenses, monies going toward tips for staff and each yacht had to perform a "ditty" before receiving their shirts sponsored by Southern Ocean, thankfully we had Dave on board who did a fantastic rendition of a Monty Python skit, earning himself a bottle of Bells whiskey for his efforts.

Jack from Spirit of Adventure

A near damper on the evening, in fact the whole trip, was when little Jack - the Jack Russel from Spirit of Adventure - decided he had enough of waiting for his family to come home and after howling for hours he jumped in the water, heading for the beach where we had all gone, only it was really far and fortunately the crew of Zvedsda Mora, who left the function a little early, found him floundering in the water and rescued him.  He is now known as Midmar Jack!!!!!

The welders workshop

Clearing in and out of Mozambique

On Thursday we were back at Lucas' with all our passports and paperwork, cleared out and were ready to go.  We were then guided, via the garden of the local hairdresser (wigs hanging from the trees), through a hole in the fence to the workshop of a local welder.  On Saturday night of our trip up the helm seat post had separated from its base, the welds breaking, depositing Graeme, who was sitting on it at the time, onto Kevin's lap.  Meant that all steering was then done standing up so we were most grateful that we could get it fixed for the trip home.  On our way back to the yacht we were stopped by the Maritime official who, it turned out, also wanted his pound of flesh, so back to Lucas' for everyone and an additional R700 had to be paid out for Maritime tax, an increase of R350 on last year apparently, quite a shocker but nothing was going to spoil our trip!

Dhows at Inhaca

Portugese Island

Thursday afternoon we re-anchored just off Portugese Island, there was a soccer match there in the afternoon - yachties versus locals, followed by a beach braai.  Turned out to be a pretty huge event and maybe not the best idea the night before the race back.  Friday morning and the last things were tied down or stashed away and at 7:30 we set off for the start line, an imaginary line out from the the two lighthouses on the shore.  Rounding the point of Portugese Island was like a surf launch at Sodwana Bay, there was lots of surf and the swells were massive, up to 3 meters.  Everybody hung around the start line until 10:00, the official start time then those of us in the 

Start of race

cruising category engaged our motors and off we went.  The 

Big swells at the start

poor racing boats bobbed up and down on the swells with no wind for a couple of hours before they eventually managed to get going. 

Modern technology vs tried and
tested charts

Our lines were out for the majority of the trip home but unfortunately no bites whatsoever.  Jaco on Spirit of Adventure caught and released his first marlin and he seems to have been the only lucky angler.  Apart from the swells the conditions on the way back were very favorable, no sea sickness and the trip back only took about 30 hours compared to 48 on the way up.  As we passed Sodwana Bay at around midnight, there was Eric on the beach and as we passed he lef off fireworks, what a supporter!  The majority of the winds were north/north easterly and we only encountered a south wester as we neared Richards Bay harbor.  Again we sailed into Richards Bay with Nomad, following Garuda.  We received a warm welcome from those who were already back and those waiting to welcome the racers home, what fun.

Sunday morning was clearing in at the Jib and Anchor bar again, just as painless on the return with no hidden extra costs here.  Then Graeme and Michelle headed back home to Pretoria and everyone else went their own ways and all of a sudden our home was empty, so weird.  Sunday night was the official end of the race and the prize giving.  We managed to scoop first prize for the best log book and third place in the cruising catamaran category.  Very proud of ourselves :-) 

What an incredible experience, our confidence in our abilities and our yachts capabilities has grown over and over.  We sailed with dolphins many times, playing in our wake and next to our yacht, you never get tired of dolphins.  

Can't wait to do a sailing trip again, hopefully soon.