So here I am back on LAD and it’s de je vu all over again. Yes, we are once again preparing LAD for the South Pacific. Since I last blogged in September 2008 (and that blog chronicled our various abortive attempts to leave last year), most of my time has been spent off the boat. A brief two weeks in San Francisco playing in the Eagle Cup (which we won), then onto South Africa to visit friends and prepare for Colleens wedding. Everything went off great and the wedding was fantastic. Then a month of R&R with friends and family in Johannesburg and the Cape, then back to Hawaii via San Francisco where I spent four days with my good buddy John.
I returned to LAD was with some trepidation, as I knew that Robin had not spent too much time on her and latterly we had not been in contact. My fears proved groundless and, although there was a lot of housekeeping to be done, everything seems to be in good shape. One of my first tasks was to get the freezer working - the heat exchange water pump had given up the ghost a few months earlier and despite all attempts to get the pump working it stubbornly refused to build up suction. The solution, a new pump, albeit expensive, was painless and we now have a freezer.
I took the decision in South Africa to have the scoop that we had lost on our earlier abortive trip to the South Pacific, replaced. This would entail taking LAD out of the water once more. A helluva lot of effort but, I believe really worth it as it gives us an opportunity to thoroughly inspect the daggerboard, rudders, undersides, propellers, steering system, etc. before the trek into the South Pacific. So my next job was to get the scoop fabrication underway. The solution I have undertaken is to cut the port scoop off and use it as the template for a plug from which we will construct the replacement scoop. We will then attach both scoops on the hard (out of the water). LAD will be hauled out next Monday (March 23rd), and hopefully we can finish everything in four or five days before the weekend. I have two more crew arriving in the next two days and I expect them to make a significant contribution to all the work we have to complete in the yard.
We would like to leave for the South Pacific as soon as possible thereafter. I am however determined not to rush it and to try and enjoy our last few days in Hawaii. Also we still have quite a lot of maintenance and inspection work to undertake before leaving. So a likely departure date is sometime after the first week of April. I also want this to be a pleasant sail so I will try and fetch Tahiti but if we are too close to the wind I will bear off and head directly for the Cook islands which is the most likely plan.
Watch this space for more regular updates.
Labels: 2009 Update, March 15
Time flies!. Hard to believe that my last post was April 10. Lots of water under the bridge, so to speak, since then.
First off, I and my sail boat Life's A Dream are still in Hawaii! My forecast in the previous post that we would leave by April 20 was indeed accurate however.........
After feverishly getting LAD all prepared for our second attempt into the South Pacific, we (Robin and me) were finally all ready to leave. All systems were "go"and the weather forecast was good. We were headed for the Tuamotos islands in the Society Island group and then onto Tahiti. The wind forecast was a bit too easterly for a perfect reach and we would be quite close on the apparent wind once out of the lee of the "big Island" (Hawaii). I was not too concerned as LAD is a big girl and having fixed the daggerboard leak I was very happy with her condition.
Our leaving was inauspicious and we had a grand first few days. Lots of sea life including a great pod of whales and countless dolphin sightings. The highlight however was Robin catching a VERY large Marlin (estimate between 200 to 300 pounds) about 40 miles out of Oahu. He fought the fish for about an hour and when we finally got it alongside Robin took some great underwater video of the hapless victim (now dead tired) swimming alongside. We were pondering how we were going to release the beast when it obliged by making one last desperate dash for freedom and breaking the line.
Fast forward to the fateful day 4 days and about 500 miles out of Oahu. It's about 4pm and I heave-to to do our daily inspection. Wind is about 30 knots out of the East with moderate but choppy and uncomfortable seas. Robin makes the first nasty discovery - the starboard stern scoop which attaches to the kick-up rudder has sheared off. In itself not a major problem but quite disturbing (how did this happen, what caused it to shear, is this an indication of a bigger problem?). After completing all upper deck inspections I take the decision to continue on. No great issue that the scoop is gone. As I haul on the wheel to bring LAD on course I realize there is another and far bigger problem - the steering is very sloppy and barely turning the rudders. Once again I heave-to in order to locate the problem. By this time it is getting close to sundown and I'm edgy. we discover that the steering cable has come off one of the sheaves just under the starboard helm and the steering cable is trailing in the water. I take the decision to stay put for the evning and investigate further next morning. Both Robin and I are dead tired and needless to say not happy at all.
After a very restless night we investigate further the next morning. Robin dons a life jacket and life line and dives under the bridge deck to understand what has occurred and whether it can be repaired. Now the seas are really lumpy and confused and the conditions under the bridge deck are not good. After an extremely harrowing (for Robin and me) 10 minutes Robin returns on deck with the news that he cannot get the cable back on without us dismantling a large part of the steering apparatus. I make the decision that we need to return under emergency steering (I carry a tiller for emergencies which can be attached directly to either rudder). It's almost as though LAD is happy to be returning. She sails beautifully for the next 5 days with the emergency tiller lashed, on a direct course back to our base in Oahu and we arrive back intact and safe.
At this stage I was not sure what had caused the cable to jump off the sheave and whether this was in anyway related to the scoop shaearing off. A post-mortem reveals all. The two problems are unrelated. The scoop shearing off has been caused by a serious build error which had passed the scrutiny of the designer John Shuttleworth. It is probably fortunate that it sheared, as further hard sailing would have undoubted manifested in far more serious problems. The cable jumping off the sheave was an AMAZING chain of events which, even as I recount them now, boggle my mind. Imagine this: a small lock screw comes lose from the starboard steering system, it falls through a gap in the bridgedeck which is there to allow the cables to run freely, it somehow lodges in the sheave on which the cable runs thus causing the cable to jump off the sheave. How do we know this? The set screw is still lodged in the sheave when we inspect it back in Oahu. Now, I am not sure what are the odds of this little screw bouncing through the gap and somehow lodging nto the groove of a sheave which is constantly turning as the rudders turn, but I bet they are greater than predicting the winning numbers in a lotto draw. Are the sea gods telling me to quit sailing? Am I the victim of incredible bad luck (bear in mind previous incidents and problems I've experienced)? Are thes incidents things that I could have avoided or obviated? As of today I don't have an answer.
The die was now cast. New and significant repairs had to be effected before we could leave. It was getting later in the season, and quite frankly, I was so pissed off that I took the decision to delay our departure until next season (April 2009).
lots was achieved in the following 5 months. We repaired LAD, I played a lot of golf, and we had a great sail (we took part in an organized race) up to the island of Kauia where we stayed in Hanalea Bay (of "Puff the Magic Dragon" song fame) for 3 weeks. Colleen joined us for 10 days. What a wonderful place! There was some drama on the finish line of the race - another steering problem manifested itself (the streak of bad breaks continues) which has since been repaired. Another design/ build problem - I'm getting used to them by now!
So that's where we are at. The steering problem is repaired, Robin is looking after LAD, I am on my way to South Africa for the next 5 months. Lots going on when I return. Firstly I have a golf trip arranged with my American buddies, we will also be going to the Injatimi, my game lodge. Following this my whole immediate family (Colleen and her fiance Gary, Stuart, Robin and his girlfriend Tatyana, Pat and her sister Nita) plus many friends from overseas and Johannesburg arrive in Cape Town in December to attend Colleen and Gary's wedding.
Watch this space for more exciting adventures, trial and tribulations of Mark, his boat, and his family.
Labels: 2008 Update, September 30
It’s a long while since I updated my blog and the enforced down time I have now (the reason will soon become apparent) allows me to take a leisurely stroll through the events of the past few months.
Our arrival in Honolulu on July 19 2007 was a very welcome landfall after the time pressures we had set ourselves to get to Hawaii in time for Jess and Theo to catch their flights back to South Africa. These had already been extended due to the issues we had with the starboard engine prop and other sundry problems (including two “encounters” with Parks Board boats) in the Galapagos.
The sail from Galapagos was as near to perfect as a blue water cruise can be. We literally flew from the Galapagos in winds rarely dropping below 15 knots and rarely exceeding 25 knots. We flew the working jib and the mainsail on a port beam reach for the first half of the trip, then 36 hours of motoring to get through the doldrums, and finally a beam reach on the starboard tack all the way to the Hawaiian islands. We completed 4500 nautical miles in 23 days – some sail. For a few days I was concerned about hurricane Cosme, which seemed to be following us to Hawaii. It was a few hundred miles north of us but rapidly converging as we approached Hawaii. Fortunately it blew out before arrival and the resultant tropical depression over the islands gave us a great wind and a robust sail during the last two days of the voyage.
The few days before Jess and Theo left were a whirlwind of tourist activities, and when they left I settled down to a routine of boat maintenance, golf, and social activities. The marina we happened on, is on the west side of the island of Oahu, and turned out to be perfect - close to the boatyard, next to a golf course, and four idyllic man-made lagoons to snorkel, swim and hang out.
I had always planned to leave the boat in Hawaii and return to South Africa for a few months via a short stop in San Francisco to meet friends and play in the annual Eagle Cup tournament which I have been part of for the past nine years. Robin, my son, joined me just before I left, and he took care of “Life’s A Dream” during my absence.
On my return to the boat in early December, the next few weeks was hectic preparing for the arrival of my family for Xmas and New Year. I decided to rent a condo for the period. We had a super time over the festive period, and when the family left in early January 2008, it was time to get down to the serious business of preparing the boat for the next adventure into the South Pacific. We needed to haul the boat out to do a number of fairly significant repairs and to give the boat a new coat of bottom paint.
The haul-out was as bad as I imagined. Dawn to dusk work in a grimy boatyard, eight hours of exhausted sleep, and then the same thing the next day. Ten days later we went back in the water, and I believed all was fixed. One of the important jobs I needed to complete was a small leak in the daggerboard casing, and I really believed we had it licked. Imagine my disappointment when I found that the problem was still there. Nevertheless, it had not caused any major issues, so I resigned myself to finding the leak on the next haul-out sometime in the future.
We were now gung-ho to leave Honolulu for our trip into the South Pacific (first stop Tahiti) and the planned date was set for the end of March. We conducted sea-trials to test all of our fixes. Other than the daggerboard leak, it all looked good.
The last few days of March were a hive of activity taking on provisions, last minute gear checks, and a myriad of other tasks needed to get ready for a long trip. We had four crew on board when we left Oahu – myself, Robin, Blue (a good friend who lives on a boat in the Marina), and Meryl (Blue’s mother, a person who had previously undertaken long ocean passages as crew). The plan was to spend a week cruising down the islands, stopping at a number of anchorages on the way, with a final stop in Kona, which is a little town on the most southern island of Hawaii. Blue had planned to leave the boat at that point and fly back to Oahu. The three of us would continue on to Tahiti (about 2000 miles).
The first leg of the trip was a short sail (75 miles) to the island of Molokai, which is due East of Oahu. Since the wind in this part of the world typically comes from the East we knew it was going to be a fairly robust upwind haul. I decided on a night sail – it was a full moon and the forecast was fair (20 to 25 knots of wind from the East with moderate seas).
Life’s A Dream seemed really happy to be back at sea and we were cracking along at a lively pace, tacking on an hourly basis into the wind but making good progress. I had just finished my watch and was dozing off down below when I heard a new and unfamiliar noise emanating from the area of the daggerboard - a loud deep creaking and groaning. On investigation I discovered that the small leak, which had dogged the boat for so long was now a significant leak (about 10 liters an hour). I decided to continue on to Molokai as we were more than halfway, to see if we could assess the problem and undertake a temporary fix to continue the planned voyage.
On arrival Robin and I dived on the daggerboard case and it became apparent that we needed to return to Oahu – there was severe delaminating at the junction of the case and the hull and we just could not assess how bad it was. We attempted a temporary patch to slow the flow but that did not help at all.
Ironically sail back was superb – 25 to 30 knots of wind on a broad reach and we were back in the marina in record time. As a small compensation Robin caught four wonderful eating fish (three dorado and one tuna).
So here we sit, still in Oahu, once again on the hard. This time we have got to the real problem and the fix is underway. The outboard hull had separated from the daggerboard due to below par workmanship and deviation from the plan. My builder did such a great job on most of the boat but this is one area that was not done well.
I hate to make new forecasts but I do expect to leave by not later than April 20th.
We are philosophical about this enforced stay and we are very positive and looking forward to our next voyage and its idyllic landfall!
Labels: 2008, Update April 10
It’s the 3rd of September, 2007 in Honolulu, Labor day (a big long-weekend holiday in the USA) and I’m getting ready to depart for the mainland. The past month and a half in Honolulu has passed by in a flash. Jess (my niece) and Theo (my South African buddy) who were my crew for the remaining leg from the Galapagos stayed for a few weeks and then departed back to South Africa. While they were here we did the tourist bit and it was really great to stretch our legs wandering around Honolulu, driving through the countryside, taking long walks along the shore. Jess left first and Theo and I concentrated on the myriad of jobs that had to be undertaken after fairly intense cruising (12,500 nautical miles/ 14,000 miles/ 24,000 kilometers) since leaving Cape Town on March 19, 2007.
Before I catch you up on current affairs, let me summarize the last few legs of our trip after saying goodbye to Robin and Devon in Bonaire (by the way if you would like to read the delightful newsletters written by various members of the crew from Bonaire to Honolulu, I have published these on my personal web page http://www.markvanniekerk.co.za/. (they give a little more detail):
Bonaire to Colon (entrance port of the Panama Canal) about 600 nautical miles
We left Bonaire on May 16, 2007 with good winds and lots of excitement. After the first day the wind dropped and the remainder of the voyage was a succession of squalls with some wind for a while followed by the dreary sound of engines as we motor sailed for most of the way to our destination.
After 5 days of fairly uneventful sailing we arrived in Colon and moored at the Panama City Yacht Club in the heart of the port, dirty and uninviting. After the blue waters and clean streets of Bonaire this was somewhat of a culture shock. There was complete agreement amongst the crew (which, at this stage, included Shirley, Theo’s wife) that we should try and get through the canal as soon as possible as, in addition to the desire to leave Colon, Shirley had a flight out of the Galapagos that could not be changed. Imagine our “despair" when we discovered that it was taking yachts upwards of 2 weeks to get a space for the transit. An option was to throw money at the problem and book a pilot (normally reserved for large commercial boats) that would ensure an immediate transit. This we did, and 2 days later we were on our way.
Canal Transit
What an experience! A lot easier than I had imagined and just fabulous. It’s a two-day experience. The first three locks are transiting into Lake Gatun which is the fresh water lake that feeds the water for the locks. An overnight stay on the lake and then the remaining locks going down to the Pacific side.
Two memories that I want to share with you:
1. Fresh water is lighter than salt water and I was quite disturbed to see how much lower in the water Life’s A Dream sat in Lake Gatun. The normal waterline disappeared below the water and took me a while to calm down and convince myself that LAD was not sinking.
2. One of the yachts that was doing the transit with us was a catamaran as well, and the owner had a “contact” in the lock authorities whom he asked to aim the web cam which operates at one of the locks, at his catamaran as the transit took place. This was duly done…except the web cam was aimed at the wrong cat resulting in the great shots of Life’s A Dream beamed in real-time around the world. Jess’s mom Gail in South Africa was talking to Jess on the telephone (cell phones are wonderful devices) and watching the web shots as we were transiting. I was beside myself with excitement (as were the crew) as we transited the lock with Gail giving us a commentary as the pictures came through and us waving a gesticulating like Banshees towards a stupid piece of equipment atop a pole taking out mug shots. People in the restaurant overlooking the lock were waving back, thinking we were addressing our madness towards them!
Balboa (exit port from the Panama Canal) to the Galapagos about 800 nautical miles
After spending an enjoyable few days in Balboa (what a difference from Colon) we left for Galapagos on the 27th of May, 2007. I was expecting a motor sail with no winds (typical for that leg). Well, I was in for one helluva surprise. For the first 6 days we had 15 to 20 knots of wind right on the nose. A very uncomfortable sail into steep waves and the engines droning 24 hours a day.
And then a day out….disaster! We lose the propeller on our port engine. No warning, no reason, no explanation, it simply fell off. I was devastated. We still had one engine and losing a prop is hardly dangerous to limb or life, but after a tough 5 days, it was just so disheartening. The way things work though convinces me that life is indeed a dream – all of a sudden the wind shifted and we had a delightful last 24 hour sail into Puerto Ayora on Santa Cruz island in the Galapagos and we arrived on the morning of the 3rd of June, 2007.
Our Stay in Galapagos
We had originally planned to stay about 2 weeks – enough time to tour, dive, explore. However the best laid plans often come to naught, and it seemed as though there was some invisible force driven by a bunch of bananas that was preventing us from leaving.
Before talking about the series of mishaps, a general impression of our time exploring and enjoying Galapagos:
1. I had this childhood dream of sailing into Galapagos, the mysterious group of islands with the incredible flora and fauna. This childhood dream had grown into a minds-eye picture of the islands, which was a romantic vision of mystical uninhabited areas abounding with birds, marine animals, and spectacular wild vistas. My bubble was burst on arrival in Puerto Ayora, a bustling, overcrowded, busy, noisy harbor typical of a tourist-infested Caribbean island.
2. After the initial disappointment, I decided to discard all of the pre-conceptions, and take a fresh look….that done I proceeded to thoroughly enjoyed a very unique place.
3. The climate. How weird to be right on the equator and have to wear sweaters at night. The influence of the cold Humboldt Current dominates the climate. It was wonderful after the hot humid experiences in Panama. The water is positively cold with temperatures ranging between 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees C) in some currents and 65 degrees Fahrenheit (19 degrees C). SCUBA diving requires 7mm wet suits and even then one comes out of the water with teeth chattering.
4. The food. Scrumptious and inexpensive.
5. The flora and fauna. Once I had readjusted my preconceptions, I couldn’t get enough of exploring the many unique/weird/strange specimens abounding.
6. The islands face a real challenge in the future to maintain their distinctive character. It’s a vicious circle. Those who travel to the islands to experience this priceless environment are the ones who threaten it. Tourism is changing the islands and the environmentalists are really worried. They are concerned (with some justification) that the authorities are killing the goose that lays the golden egg.
And so back to invisible forces and bananas.
Before relating the events, a short digression – In Bonaire we had bought some bananas and Robin (my son) voiced his concern regarding a story he had heard about it being bad luck to sail with bananas on a yacht(!!??). Being the skeptic that I am, I scoffed at the story and thought no more of it until Galapagos.
After our arrival, I immediately contacted the propeller supplier to get a replacement prop sent to Galapagos. The prop was promised to arrive within the week. Two weeks later we were still waiting. During this time we had gone to the local market and bought lots of fruit and veg including a large bunch of bananas that hung resplendent in the cockpit. As the delays mounted I would stare at the ripening bunch and think of Robin’s words but immediately dismiss them.
Then the next disaster befell. 10pm at night, a large 70 ton Galapagos Parks Research vessel lifts its anchor alongside us, fails to engage its propeller and drifts onto us removing our bow striker and damaging our forward cross beam. Chaos is about the only way I can describe it – people shouting, and the awful sound of LAD being hit. Finally the crew of the Parks boat managed to get her away from us. Literally another meter and we were toast, so maybe we were lucky! Nevertheless the damage was bad enough and it was going to involve more delays. Parks Board admitted liability and undertook to fix the damage.
In the meantime the prop had arrived, so at least that was going according to plan. We fitted it with very few problems in a very quiet anchorage in the next bay and things seemed to be on the up. Against my better judgment we decided to return to our original anchorage at dusk. After dropping our anchor in what seemed to be a very uncrowded area, we somehow managed to hook our anchor around the anchor line of another yacht. By this time it’s dark and a big surge in the anchorage is making a collision with the yacht that we are now attached to, seem inevitable. Cut a long story short, I don SCUBA gear and dive on the mess to try and unhook out anchor from the line. Try this sometime if you are stupid enough to attempt it – night vision underwater in very poor visibility with a heavy surge, with anchor and tangled line swirling around you. Definitely not nice. Don’t know how, but eventually I managed to get them untangled and the third potential disaster was averted. At this stage I was really starting to get freaked out.
Two days later, we arrange with the Parks board to take the boat to another island so that they could effect the repairs to the cross beam and the bow striker in calm waters. After an uneventful trip we dropped anchor in a great anchorage and the following day the repairs began on LAD. I decided to tie up stern-to behind another Parks boat (“will he never learn” I hear you say) so that the glass fiber work on the bow could be carried out without strands being blown back onto LAD. Two hours into the work, the weirdness begins. I am on watch to ensure that we keep our distance from the Park boat we are tied to, when the guy doing the repairs asks me for a tool. I go below to fetch it and at this very instant, the wind (which has been absolutely steady over the past 24 hours) does a 180 degree switch and I hear an awful crunch. I literally jumped up the stairs and into the cockpit to find LAD being pushed repeatedly into the Parks boat as the changed wind direction took effect. Again chaos, again damage, this time on the starboard beam - a big gouge almost a hole. I was devastated.
The bunch of bananas just had to go.
We decided to get a temporary repair done and to depart Galapagos as soon as possible. Early the next morning we left…without the bananas.
Galapagos to Hawaii about 4500 nautical miles
We finally left Galapagos on June 27, 2007. Funny enough, I just somehow knew that there would be no more disasters on this leg and we were all in very high spirits (just 3 of us now – Theo, Jess, and me).
What a great sail it turned out to be. We averaged just less than 200 miles per day and the trip took 24 days only. We arrived in Honolulu on July 21 after the most glorious weather with favorable winds all the way.
Current Affairs
Since beginning this project starting from the conceptualization of Life’s A Dream in April 2005 I have created a pressure environment which culminated in the launch in December 2006 followed by three months of intense preparation for the cruise, followed by a tight sailing schedule to reach Hawaii by July 2007.
The past month and a half in Honolulu has been great. Theo and I, and latterly me on my own have been working at a sane pace on getting the many jobs that needed to be completed on LAD. It has been a very cathartic experience. It is the first time for many months that I can truly relax at the end of the day knowing that I have enough time to do what I need to do without having a time pressure imposed on me.
The plan over the next few months is to leave the boat here (a lovely marina 23 miles west of Honolulu called Ko’Olina), spend a month in San Francisco playing golf and visiting friends, 7 days in the UK spending time with Colleen (my daughter) and then a month in South Africa. I return to Hawaii on 12th December, 2007 to get the boat prepared for the arrival of my immediate family to spend Xmas and New Year together (an annual tradition). I’m not sure what the New Year holds but the general plan at this stage is to leave Hawaii in March 2008 and take LAD into the South Pacific.
Robin (my son who lives in San Francisco – actually Berkeley just down the road from SF) arrives here tomorrow, and will stay on the boat until I return, which makes me very happy. Robin loves LAD and I know he will take care of her in my stead. I leave for the San Francisco by air on Thursday.
As always I will update my blog as the plans unfold. Looking forward to seeing all my friends and family over the next few month
Labels: September 2007 Update
Update May 14 2007Hi to all my friends and family. Life has been so hectic since leaving Cape Town on March 19. We had a fast sail across to Trinidad (5000 miles) stopping briefly in St Helena and Ascension. New crew joined the boat (Jess - my niece - Shirley and Theo - good friends - and Nikki (a good friend too) and her husband Aron in Trinidad and since then it's been a whirlwind ride through a bunch of wonderful Venezuelan islands arriving in Bonaire (in the Netherlands Antilles) today. We stay here for two days and then depart for the Panama Canal. Yes, I agree, it's a crazy schedule. Sadly Robin and Devon are leaving the boat (they have commitments in the USA). Thank you so much Rob and Dev - you have been fantastic and will be sorely missed. Nikki and Aron are also leaving as they want to spend more time in Bonaire. So, the crew will now be myself Theo Shirley and Jess.
My frenetic schedule does not allow any more blog writing - it's happy hour and my crew are calling but fortunately Jess is a much better blogger than me and here is her site - please enjoy the wonderful pics and commentary with my compliments (aka plagiarizing Mark)
http://jess-travelling.blogspot.com
If December and January were hectic, February is frenetic! We are busy with lists, lists, and more lists. Lots of items get ticked off every day but others just add on. Some days I feel really good about progress and others I wonder if we will ever finish. It looks like March 15 or thereabouts will be the departure date but we are working really hard to bring that forward.
Here are a list of highlights (and some lowlights) of the past month:
- As we get more familiar with her, Life’s A Dream becomes more of a special boat in so many ways – comfort, ease of handling, incredible speed and responsiveness;
- Took part in our first Wednesday Night race at the yacht club and were quite quick and we raised some eyebrows in the local fraternity;
- Had a person from SA Sailing magazine on the boat for a “test drive” and he seemed very impressed. We will have a write-up in the April edition so keep a look out for that;
- Hit a sunfish (really gigantic and slightly stupid brutes) while sailing and damaged out dagger board (keel), fortunately it is built like the proverbial brick s--- house so the damage was small In case you want to read up and see pictures of these gargantuans (up to 2 tons in weight here is a link http://www.earthwindow.com/mola.html:
- Have had a steady stream of visitors (family, friends) on the boat which has somewhat relieved the tedium of work but also takes up time.
- My crew are a bunch of stars and from being mere rookies a month ago are now able to comfortably handle the boat, sails, mooring lines, etc.
- The weather has been quite strange – very few howling South Easters and some unseasonably cool and rainy weather.
- Robin can now park and drive this huge craft much to his and my delight.
We plan to take part in a two day regatta up to Saldanha Bay next week which will be our first major off-shore trip. No, it’s not that we have the time to enjoy ourselves – it’s part of the preparation and sea-trials.
Not sure whether I’ve mentioned it in previous blogs but our future plans have changed a bit. Instead of proceeding to San Francisco once we get through the Panama Canal we will take a 2 week detour to the Galapagos islands and from there head up to Hawaii where I will keep the boat until early next year.
I will continue to update my own web-site with pictures but I couldn’t resist placing this one in my blog as proof that she does sail rather well.
Also I have had requests for videos of her under sail. Robin took a short video which he has on his MySpace site – here is the address if you would like to view it
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1792423614Must get back to work now!
Labels: February 2007 Update
January 2007 Update
Hi to everyone, It’s been a VERY hectic Xmas and New Year with the whole family here but very enjoyable. They have all left now except for Stuart, Robin and Devon (Robin’s girlfriend) who are my crew.
We have had some great times over the past two weeks including a great trip to the game lodge (I saw my first leopard at a kill and a fight between a leopard and a hyena!). Also, some great sails on Life’s A Dream. She performs even better than I had hoped and certainly better than John Shuttleworth (the designer) had promised.
Now that the family has left it’s down to the serious business of getting the boat ready for our voyage. It is still planned for early March but there is a lot of work between now and then. The “To Do” lists are endless but it’s all so enjoyable and we are really looking forward to getting it all done.
Cape Town is great and the weather for sailing has been unbelievable. I have updated my website (
http://www.markvanniekerk.co.za/) with some really great pictures of the sailing and the views. I have even got some shots of the interior (galley and saloon). Watch out for some more interior pictures in the near future.
