Action all round

23 Dec. 11


The last few days has seen some action here with a yacht catching fire and almost completely burning out. We were sitting behind the boat chatting to our neighbours when Lola, looking across the water seen a fire. The fire wasn’t very large a little bit larger than your average camp fire so we dismissed the conversation and continued making small talk. Then we heard the sound of a power boat roaring across the water at extreme speed and Lola commented that it’s a no wake zone and the idiot must slow down. And back to chitchat. Suddenly two or three cars came screaming across the grounds and we all commented that they should slow down and stop driving like fools in the boatyard. We were still discussing the idiots driving so dangerously when a fire truck came tearing threw the boat yard. Only then did it dawn on us what all the commotion was about when we stepped to the front of our boats and seen a massive roaring fire with a huge black cloud billowing across the sky. A yacht had caught fire and was rapidly being devoured by searing hot flames. The first small fire that Lola noticed was the tender that had melted loose and had drifted down steam past our view. The roaring power boat was trying to extinguish the fire on the tender.



The fire brigade eventually managed to kill the blaze but it was too late for the yacht to be saved. Being a catamaran she didn’t sink and was quite a site to behold all melted, distorted and soot covered with the mast leaning over precariously. The fire had been so hot that the boom melted away to nothing. The entire back of the boat and most of the bridge deck including the saloon and cockpit was completely gone, melted away. The front deck had collapsed and was distorted beyond use. The only parts that were recognisable were the two bows with the cross beam and trampolines still intact.



The night before last we invited some friends over for cocktails on the foredeck. The evening didn’t go quite as planned when Lola told our neighbour, Barry to get off our boat and he is never allowed back unless he apologises to her. I explained this incident simply but in reality it was slightly different. Lola asked Barry not to fiddle with the ropes that we tied up as temporary forestays to keep the mast up. He ignored her and tried to be funny by yanking the ropes even harder. Lola didn’t mince her words as she flew off the handle and explained that he was no longer welcome aboard. All I can say is there were lots of describing words used.

Burntout yacht - cockpit and saloon area

All that left of multi million rand sailing yacht

And the weather turns good...for a while

15 Dec 11


Yesterday was possibly the hottest and most humid day of this season. We struggled to work with buckets of sweat pouring out of every pore in our bodies as we moved about. At about eleven Lola and I decided that we could no longer stand the heat so we took a walk to the swimming pool for a quick dip to cool down. The water was so refreshing and the pool temperature was just perfect. There was a couple of people at the pool and I had a small moment of embarrassment when my new swimming shorts came off as I dived under the water making me lose concentration and forcing me to surface immediately after.. I hoped that no one had noticed but when I came back up Lola and Kyle where giggling away. The other people said nothing but I could feel that they had noticed so I tried to avoid eye contact with everyone for a while. Fortunately the most they could have seen would have been a brief glimpse of my very white un-tanned butt. The humidity persisted and by the time we came back to the boat from the pool we where dripping perspiration and wanted to go back almost immediately.



We cut out a small piece of the coach roof and replaced the rotten wet wood with foam core. Besides the fairing sanding and painting that is required on the boat this repair is our second to last one that is required for now. Okay possibly our third to last. The port bow has some wood rot and still needs to be done as we did the starboard one already then we can start fitting solar panels a water maker and be on our way. All other repairs could be done on route or so we hope.



There is a new boat parked next to us at the moment and this morning I was woken up at four by the new neighbour’s cat jumping into our bedroom hatch and landing on our bed. Fortunately I like cats so wasn’t to perturbed by it.



Today being the 15th would have been the day we would have to pay salaries to our staff. Oh how things have changed without this huge responsibility hanging over our shoulders. I still feel stressed out just thinking about it. Now that stress is gone but has been replaced by another, are we going to survive financially? Owning and managing your own small business has many stresses and pitfalls but money used to come in on a regular basis and even though it was never quite enough it did keep us afloat for the most part. Now every cent that we spend is gone forever, never to be replaced. The thought of that fact gives me cold shivers down my spine.



16 Dec. 11

Today is a public holiday here in South Africa and also my mother’s birthday. The public holiday and her birthday are not related but conveniently help me to remember her birthday. Raining again today and yesterday so I am limited to indoor work on the boat. I managed to sand the fairing compound that I stuck on with a trowel a few days ago on the bottom of the bridge deck yesterday but cannot continue adding more since the products are very weather dependant. It’s a long and tedious operation since you trowel the stuff on then sand most of it off just to trowel more on then sand most of it off again. This cycle can be repeated a few times dependant on how experienced you are with the stuff and how fussy you are about the finished product. My neighbour here on the hard, also called Barry, told me that someone told him, and I quote his words “if a man galloping past on a horse looks at the boat and thinks it is fair, then it is fair.”



20 Dec. 11

Only five more days till Christmas and six till my Daughter arrives. Christmas is great but I am way more excited about the arrival of my oldest child as she is by far my favourite daughter. I can say this because it is true and because she is technically my only daughter.



We started painting over some of the repairs that we have completed using 2K automotive paint. The paint gives a nice finish even though it makes any and all imperfections visible. Fortunately my eye sight isn’t what it used to be and neither Lola or I are very fussy about perfection, we are more about how well it works, so it doesn’t matter. The durability of the paint will have to be judged in time. Taking the decision not to bother fairing some of the repairs may allow us to stick to the plan and still be on our way by the end of January which means we will still be able to leave within this sailing season all be it on the tail end of the season.

Dolphin nose nearing completion

Piecing it together

Kyle loves his new hatch

We start on the steering box

We start fairing the steering box

Painted...

Morale - when things go wrong...

2 December 2011


The night before last night we went to the grand opening of the new yacht club wet deck. It was a fine evening with fair weather so sitting outside by the water was very pleasant indeed. Lola became quite engrossed in conversation with Michelle who is sailing with her three daughters and her husband on a classic monohull made from bamboo. The boat has beautiful lines but isn’t for me since the maintenance must be an absolute nightmare. As I sat watching all the different characters around me I felt a little removed not being involved in any of the conversations but rather just sitting on the sideline. This made me think that perhaps I am not a very interesting person since I haven’t got any stories to tell or maybe I just wasn’t in the mood to make small talk. Still I quite enjoyed the evening feeling as if I wasn’t really there like a spectator to a sporting event on television as opposed to a participant.



Yesterday we managed to fit the new starboard bow and glassed in on from the inside. What a messy and uncomfortable job. The space inside is really small and I could barely fit inside. Lola had to wet out the cloth on Rauens bed, then pass it to me in this cramped excessively hot little space. I had to contort my body into different shapes and make the glass stick to the underside of the new deck piece. After an hour or so I couldn’t breathe from the fumes in there and had to get out. We managed to get it all done though except for the cross beam that just wouldn’t stick and kept falling down bringing with it all the fibreglass pieces that we were using to attach it.

Today it is raining again which is probably a good thing since my arms and my legs are covered in tiny little itchy red bumps.



03 Dec. 11

We managed to laminate the glass on the outside of the starboard bow and she is looking good. Still have one or two spots that need glass then we can apply fairing compound, sand fair paint and replace all the cleats and stainless steel. At the moment she looks a bit like a shipwreck with all the repairs unpainted but will return to her former glory once we paint.



09 Dec. 11

The rain that started yesterday and is still pouring into the boat today has revealed more leaks with the old leaks that we thought we repaired still leaking. Kyle’s bed is soaked again and the water is running like a small river down the inside of his newly installed ceiling becoming a waterfall at the ceiling joints and creating a dam in the middle of his bed and all across his pillows. I am so close to just giving up on this stupid piece of sh*t that it’s not even funny. Nobody seems to be able to give advice that actually solves the leaks and everybody changes their advice on a daily basis. Today they tell you to use one product and the next day that product is useless so why are you using it? It seems there is no answer to boat leaks even huge waterfalls like in Kyle’s room don’t have an obvious point of entry like a visible crack or hole. I mean you should surely be able to see where this water is coming from but no such luck. I am even considering charging an entry fee to people to come and view the waterfall it is so spectacular yet at the same time making me feel clueless and incompetent.

Kyle's new hatch

Working on a boat is always comfortable and easy

The start of our new dolphin nose

20 Nov. 11


Anyway the rain abated for a few hours today so we took the chance and laminated some fibreglass replacing the wood rot in Kyle’s room and strengthened the port keel with six layers of glass at the aft end of the keel. If the weather holds out tomorrow then we will jack the starboard side of the boat up to allow the fibreglass dent on that side to pop back out and then add six layers of glass to the starboard keel which would pretty much make the keels bullet proof, hopefully. Lola and I had a few moments of disagreements today which is very unusual for us but I believe it to be the left hand right hand brain thing. She is left handed and I am right handed which seems like a small detail, however we seem to see things from exactly the opposite angle. Sometimes we will argue over a certain thing just to discover that we are saying the exact same thing from the opposite side. A simple example would be to draw a line, I use the one side of the ruler as a reference and she would use the other side. Another example, when I place a heavy object like a transformer oil welding machine or a battery in the back of a bakkie, I would use my right hand to pick it up and place it on the left hand side of the bakkie. A left handed person would however use their left hand to lift the object and place it on the right hand side making it difficult for me to remove it from the bakkie using my weak arm. If I twist a wire before I put it into a lug or chocolate block I would twist it clockwise. A left handed person would usually twist it anti-clockwise ensuring that I would first have to unwind it before I twist it up again if I have to replace the lug for any reason in the future. For this and many other reasons I despise working on anything after a left handed person has worked on it before. And at this point I am going to be brave and just say it, I am right, ha ha.



21 Nov. 11

Today we jacked up the one side of the boat with the help of a friend down here. We then repaired the dented in keel by adding seven layers of glass near the back end. Tomorrow we will grind inside the bilge and add another few layers from the inside. Tonight the wind is howling away making the boat shake and rock on the jacks, a little nerve racking but not to serious. Even if it falls off the jacks it doesn’t have far to go. It may however ruin the work we did today. Only a few more days before my son arrives for a long visit. I am very excited to see him.



25 Nov. 11

Yesterday we drove to King Shaka airport in Durban and collected my son. So last night was celebration time again. Today we go to Richards Bay airport to fetch Rauen our other son coming back from his week long visit in Johannesburg. The persistent rain and bad weather down here continues to hamper our progress and eats away at our morale. Every morning I wake up to the south westerly wind with the rain and I feel my spirit just seeping out the hatch. The rest of the day is then ruined as I sit glumly in the cockpit and wait for the sun that never arrives.



26 Nov. 11

We had proper sunshine this morning for the first time in weeks but only till twelve, then it rained again. Yesterday the sun glimpsed through the clouds for a few minutes so I decided to take a chance and mixed some epoxy with micro balloons to fair the last piece we repaired and to cover a leak in Kyle’s room. As I started on the leak the rain came bucketing down and I sat getting drenched trying to epoxy knowing that it shouldn’t cure because it will be wet. At that moment my morale sank to the lowest it has been in a while. I actually felt like breaking down and just sitting in the cockpit crying like a baby. But since I am a “real” man I didn’t.



28 Nov. 11

That epoxy cured in the rain so we were lucky this time. Kyle room is nearly finished, today we should fit his new plastic ceiling and then he can move back into his room. This should make the whole family happy because we get our saloon back and we no longer have blankets pillows and teddy bears all over the place. Yesterday we took Rauen to Jacks corner to celebrate his 15th birthday. He managed to devour an entire kilogram of ribs. It always surprises me how much this kid can eat and still be as skinny as an Ethiopian on diet.

The new dive platform is erected - bigger and better



Filleting the dive platform in



Dive platform looking good

Boatyard happenings

15 Nov. 11


At last some sunshine and we can continue with the repairs. The dive platform that we extended is now finished and that along with the bridge deck requires fairing and painting to be completed. Yesterday we went to an internet café to update our blogs. After two hours we weren’t able to load the photos yet so we decided to just give the photos a miss. After we laid fibreglass today I was sitting on one of those plastic garden chairs behind the boat whilst Lola was packing our shower bags when suddenly I heard what sounded like a bird flying into the starboard backstay and then falling onto the deck somewhere. Lola shouted “Barry, what was that?” I scaled the ladder as quickly as I could since I could still hear the “bird” scurrying about on the boat. Lola came out into the cockpit and asked me again what all the commotion was about saying that she thought the new dive platform had broken off. I told her about the bird story and we both looked around on deck. To my surprise Lola found a fish lashing about on the bimini roof. Wow the bird must have dropped it by accident and it hit the backstay on its way down landing on the roof. I put it back in the water but I am not sure if it will survive. But just imagine fish on the roof whilst the boat is on the land, surreal is all I can say.



17 Nov. 11

It’s just after five in the morning, overcast, hot and extremely humid. As I sit here in the cockpit my body feels hot and clammy with a consistently damp top lip no matter how many times I wipe it dry. From one extreme to the next seems to be the weather system down here. The high humidity today may prevent us from laying fibreglass since it is not only affected by the rain but also by the humidity. Tiny little near invisible insects are landing periodically on my back just out of arms reach and cause me to stretch my arms over backwards every few minutes to chase them away and scratch. Yesterday we fitted Rauen’s new portlight in his heads. That means his new window in his toilet. We also cut a hole in the deck to fit a new hatch in Kyle’s bedroom but need to fibreglass around the edge first before we can install the hatch. Using the mould that I made the day before Lola completed our starboard dolphin nose and started with the port one so today we will probably complete the port one weather permitting of course.



19 Nov. 11

Well we managed to fit the hatch in Kyle’s room after grinding most of the fibreglass that we had laid the day before off. What a waste of time that was. Today the oven glass door exploded whilst I was grinding open the keels. In fact it exploded after I had finished the one keel and sat down under the boat to have a smoke break. I heard a loud bang and heard something falling on the floor above my head. Then another sound of falling objects like marbles bouncing on the floor. I was still pondering the sound when Lola called me and told me that the oven door exploded. I asked her if she was cooking something and she said no she was busy sending an sms to our son Rauen who had flown up to Jo-burg to visit his dad. So no real reason for the glass to shatter and we still cannot explain what would have caused this.



Rauen flew up to visit his dad and granny in Johannesburg on Friday morning. Well here we go again. Never start a journey on a Friday. As I have said before this superstition shouldn’t be applicable to car or airplane journeys. But it seems once you get involved with sailing or boats in any way whatsoever everything changes and suddenly these superstitions are applicable no matter what form of transport you may chose. So on our way to the airport we see the newspaper headline that reads SA Airlink leaves its passengers in the lurch again. We turn on the radio and the news reporter’s voice announces that all flights from Richards Bay and Durban have been cancelled due to fog. When we arrive at the airport the passengers from the previous flight are all still waiting. Anyway to cut a long story short this was Rauen’s first flight on an airplane so he was very excited as well as a little intrepid and the news didn’t help the intrepid part much. We explained to him that the take off wasn’t the problem but the planes landing from Johannesburg had a problem caused by the fog and they couldn’t see the runway so he didn’t have to worry. After many hours delay the fog lifted and the first plane landed. Rauen’s flight was supposed to leave at nine but eventually left at twelve.

All struted and waiting for the new boards to set

Taking a break

Wood rot? like I've never seen!

Progress slow but steady

15 Sep. 11


At the moment the wind is howling outside and I decided that sitting indoors is a better option. The wind is possibly the thing that scares me the most about this trip. It blows so hard that you think the boat is going to take off. Then you think surely it can’t blow any harder than that, then it does. Then you think no way could it blow any harder than that, then it again shows you that it can. Yes, so I suppose we will have to learn to deal with the wind since it appears to be our chosen mode of transport or “engine” as such.

The repairs on the bridge deck have started and I decided to use a permanent marker and write a short note to Lola on the core to remind her that I love her. Since our first piece of the repair is under our bed I thought it would be an appropriate place to do this. In my haste to get the repair done I however forgot. But all is not lost as the next piece is also under our bed and is in fact under our pillows so I will be able to make a note that would live forever under the skin of the boat and hopefully, wander into Lola’s dreams.

23 Sep. 11

We seem to have a few days with great progress followed by about a week of nothing but rain and more rain. The rain started on Monday, today is Friday and I have had about as much rain as I can stand. I tried doing some work but my mood doesn’t allow any real work to get done so I just potter about doing small tasks that could actually be done once we are back in the water. This process isn’t very rewarding but seems to be part and parcel of boating.

03 Oct. 11

Not much progress at the moment again due to rain. It did stop for a few days, long enough for me to cut out the next piece of the bridge deck but just not long enough to put the new core in and get that piece back up.

10 Oct. 11

At last the rain stopped and we managed to get the next piece up but then, as luck would have it, I woke up two days ago with huge puffed up eyes and a massive itchy rash all over my arms. So today I just took the day off and hope that by tomorrow I feel better again so that we can continue.

28 Oct 11

We decided that today would be Sunday and thus no real work will be done. We are hoping instead to have a casual and relaxed day. We made steady progress on the bridge deck repairs and only have one more piece to install as well as make a new dive platform. The wood rot extended over more than 70 percent of the bridge deck and the repair was therefore not a waste of time but rather essential. Looking back over the work done is rewarding and a little unbelievable considering that we had absolutely no idea what we were doing before we started. After the bridge deck the repairs to the deck will be a bit more creative and hopefully easier. We are still trying to get back in the water by December in order to still leave during this sailing season. So lets hope for the best.

29 Oct. 11

Today I miss my kids so much I could just die. I think it was caused by Mike leaving his family and heading down to Cape Town. Mike is another Barry here in the boatyards son. We are onto the last piece of the bridge deck and then the deck repairs can begin so a really large project is finally coming to an end and perhaps we can leave soon.

11 Nov. 11

Yesterday was Lola’s birthday so in the evening we went to the newly repaired Jacks corner with a few friends and celebrated. Earlier in the day we went to the mall and just walked about looking for an electronic piano to replace Lola’s original one that we had to leave behind since it was too big and heavy to take with on the boat. We discovered that electronic piano’s are expensive so gave the idea a miss for now and bought some movies instead. Yesterday and today the weather is bad again so not much progress on the boat repairs will be made. The yacht club has planned two events for this weekend with beer gardens and live entertainment so not much sleeping for us. My son Keagan is due to fly down for a visit on the 24th and will be staying till early January with my daughter Amy and her boyfriend Dean to follow just after Christmas. We are all looking forward to their visit as it has been a quiet a while since we last seen them.

12 Nov. 11

I decided to try and update my blog more regularly so that huge chunks aren’t missing in the plot even if it is just a short paragraph or a single sentence. Since I typed yesterday here goes, last night we had Dylan Nicholete and their two year old Daughter Kate over for supper. Lola made spaghetti bolognaise using Portuguese chicken spice so it had a bit of a bite. Not my favourite spice but it seems Lola likes it since she also used it the last time she made hamburgers. Both times I commented that there is something wrong with the food. Lola is a bright girl and an excellent chef why she decided that this spice was the way forward I don’t know but I hope she wasn’t offended by my obvious ‘what is wrong with this food’ statements, and at the same time I hope she gets rid of the spice. We eventually called it an evening at about two in the morning so today isn’t going to be very productive.

13 Nov. 11

The yacht club was a hive of activity for the last two days as they hosted a raft race with a beer garden and some stalls with a potjie pot competition. Lola and I walked over to the club grounds a few times, more due my insistence than hers, but eventually I had to admit to myself that the large crowd gatherings no longer hold an interest for me. The stalls are always just about the same, selling almost if not exactly the same goods as the stalls to be found at all these types of events. The crowds hang around in small noisy groups trying to compete against the overly loud music and perhaps each other. Nobody can actually hear what anybody else is saying so just pretend to have heard and understood what was said by smiling or laughing. In the early evening we decided to watch a movie on the boat. The wind was howling south westerly and it was raining yet again. As the movie began I heard a loud bang against the port hull of the boat but thought perhaps it was something blown over by the wind outside. Then another and another bang so I went outside to investigate the cause of the banging. To my surprise I found two young boys around thirteen years old throwing rocks at my boat. When I shouted at them the one bolted and his little friend started to follow him but then changed his mind and stopped. I leaped off the boat and gave stormed after the boys closely followed by Lola. The runner’s courage returned once he decided he cannot outrun us and his mate had already been caught. so he stopped to wait and find out his fate. Lola was so mad that steam was coming out of her hair and if these boys weren’t so young I am sure we would have killed them and buried their bones, but instead we marched them off to the club manager’s office and found their father. The man apologised for his kids behaviour and said that he would come around today to discuss any damage caused to the boat.

14 Nov. 11

Well to my surprise he didn’t pitch up or call, how amazing is the human race, so reliable and trustworthy. I guess I should have known better I mean anyone that sits in the beer garden all day not knowing that his brats are running around throwing rocks at other peoples property obviously wont take responsibility for his children’s behaviour. We checked the boat and couldn’t find any damage anyway so he chickened out for nothing. Well such is life.

Yesterday we managed to cut some of the materials for the bulkhead repair in Kyle’s room but couldn’t epoxy them in due to the weather. I am sure that we have lost more than half our repair time due to the consistent bad weather here. Today we are going to cut the material for the starboard bow repair but cannot epoxy that in either and I think you can guess why. We haven’t finished the bridge deck yet but decided that we will start with the deck repairs or at least start with the preparations since we cannot continue in this weather anyway.

Repairs and Joburg Trip

07 Aug. 11


So a few more days have come and gone with painfully slow progress on the boat. The boxes are installed but not yet complete. We managed to repair one of the multiple leeks in Kyle’s room but still have a few to solve.

The last two days have been spent indoors again trying to avoid the never ending rain. I found the guy we bought the boat from and told him that he sold us a piece of rot and that he knew about all the problems on the boat. He of course denied having any knowledge of the problems and said that the boat passed a hull inspection by SAMSA. Okay he did give me that so called hull inspection done by SAMSA but then I have to question the competence of the inspector or if he was bribed. If he did even a half arse inspection using a blind guy with a stick he would have found the problems so one or the other is fake and bullshit.

We decided to do the repairs using a material called airex instead of the wood since the stuff cannot rot like wood does. So a few days ago we took a trip to Durban and bought two sheets of the stuff. It costs about twice the price of wood but the future benefit seems to outweigh the cost. Typically as life seems to be going at the moment we bought the two sheets one for the deck repairs at 12mm thick and the other for the bridge deck repairs at 20mm, using the sizes of the existing wood as a guide, only to find that we should have bought the deck thickness at 10mm and the bridge deck at 15mm. The reason for this is off course that once you add the fibreglass to the stuff it increases the size by about one and a half mm for every layer of glass and you have to glass both sides.

13 Aug. 11

The last few days have seen my mood change from sombre and moody back to the old Barry who was a positive and generally happy fellow. Lola commented that she prefers me when I am happy in her words she said “when you are happy, you are extremely happy”. “But when you are sad you are also extremely sad”. I suppose that makes me slightly bi polar.

Yesterday I finally managed to master the art of mixing and applying the fairing compound to the repairs that we have already done. This was after many unsuccessful attempts involving much frustration. The boat looks like a complete wreck at the moment with all the ceilings removed and tools everywhere. I have learnt such a lot about the construction process that was used to build the boat by stripping it that I now feel a lot more confident to take on the required repairs.

22 Aug. 11

We tested some products to see which one most suited our needs for the bridge deck repairs and decided that we would use a closed cell foam core instead of the balsa wood that the boat has in at the moment. By using this we eliminate future wood rot problems as this stuff is like a type of plastic and a bit of water getting in doesn’t really matter anymore.

27 Aug. 11

The other day I was speaking to this guy here at the club about our blocked toilets, when he asked me if we have any portlights in the toilet. I told him no we have a normal 12 volt light in the toilet. To which he repeated himself asking if we have any portlights. I told him yes we have one port light and one starboard light. The port light is red and the starboard green. He stood there for a while with a strange expression on his face and stared at me, then he just shook his head and walked away. Later I realised a portlight is actually a window.

28 Aug. 11

We seem to attract the slightly younger crowd and have always got along with the upper teen and early twenties group. A few times now we have had the five or six people in this age group on the boat for a gathering which turns into a raucous drinking affair ending in the early hours of the morning. This doesn’t help towards the progress of the boat the following day but has lifted our spirits somewhat and given some enjoyable times even on the hard.

Today we are going to fit the new ceiling in the passage after having ripped out the old one a few weeks ago in our quest to discover the condition of the deck. We have also planned another trip up to Joeys to surprise my daughter on her 21st birthday. This is exciting times and I am looking forward to seeing two of my kids again. Technically my daughter turning 21 makes her a fully fledged legal adult now but for me she will always be my little girl even when she turns fifty one day. For once I am hoping she doesn’t read my blog and ruin the surprise so perhaps I will only post this after the weekend has passed.

The weather here the last two days has been rather miserable but worked perfectly in any case due to the fact that we partied a bit hard on Friday night and thus I was slightly incapacitated yesterday. We spent most of the day in bed with Lola reading a sailing adventure called “The walkabouts” to me whilst the rain pattered gently on the decks above our heads making it an almost perfect day.

07 Sep. 11

Never start a journey on a Friday was a discussion that Lola and I had when we were planning this trip to Joburg. I eventually dismissed the old sailing superstition by saying that we were going in a car and certainly old king Neptune’s power surely doesn’t reach that far inland so Friday it would be. We got up early on Friday morning and packed our bags ready to leave. I got off the boat and walked down to the car park to fetch the car. A few minutes later I was back on the boat and broke the news to Lola that the car’s battery was flat and wouldn’t start. So we all walked down to the car park to push start the car. On the way to the car I roped in some of the boatyard workers to help push the car and with a short push in reverse gear managed to start the motor. So king Neptune was instantly defeated. Or was he? We packed the car and left at about eight. The sun was up and there was a beautiful clear blue sky overhead. The previous day the barometer had dropped and I told Lola that whilst we were away there would be a blow in the bay and we should miss it. We turned on the radio and listened to east coast radio playing music in the background.

The news came on we asked the kids to be quiet and turned up the radio to catch up on current affairs in the country. When we are on the boat we don’t watch TV or listen to the radio so we are a bit out of touch with reality and this was a perfect opportunity to catch up. After the bad news, it seems to always be, the traffic presenter informed us that an abnormal load would be travelling from the bay to Vryheid thereby blocking our path back up to Joburg. He mentioned that they would be considerate and pull over every so often to allow cars to pass.

We caught up to the abnormal one about twenty minutes later and spent the next two hours of our journey doing ten kilometres an hour in first gear behind him with no way to pass. Strike two for the king? Eventually after an eternity had passed someone with a flat tyre coming from the opposite side made Mr abnormal stop and we were allowed to get passed.

Then king Neptune spoke to his contacts and the wind started to blow. As we made our way across the winding mountain pass the wind picked up debris from the recently cut sugar cane farms and sent it hurtling across the road and into our car. Lola kept ducking inside the car as the pieces of cane bombarded the window on her side of the car. At one point a large piece of corrugated tin roof from one of the rural shacks came flying across the road in front of our car making me swerve and hit the brakes in order to avoid being hit. The wind continued to howl and blew us across the lanes at times all the way to Volksrus. At one of the many roadwork stop goes we wanted to exit the car and have a smoke break. Lola could not open her door to get out and I had to get out from my side of the car and help her open her door. Outside the car the wind lifted our t shirts and tried to snatch the cigarettes from our mouths.

Eventually we started to move again and as we drove off a gravel road next to the roadworks together with the wind sand blasted our car to such an extent that I thought we would have to re-spray the paint work. The radio presenter announced that the road between Malmoth and Vryheid was closed due to runaway fires that had set the saw mill on fire and the smoke across the road made passing impossible. Lucky we had just completed that section of the road so the king must have underestimated our travelling speed and we had thus thwarted his plan.

The rest of the journey went by without incident and we arrived safely at our destination at about half passed four. The journey that would normally have taken six hours took eight and a half.

The rest of the weekend went by so quickly and we had very little sleep rushing from my brother’s house to my daughter’s 21 to and old friend’s house party and back. We tried to spend as much time with each of my kids and friends in such a short time span as is possible but the time just is never enough and I find myself wishing we had stayed longer. The next time I will get to see them will only be in December and then who knows after that.

The dreaded south westerly

27 Jul. 11


The night before last night the dreaded south westerly arrived in force. The wind started blowing at about 30 knots and gusted at 35 knots, steadily building through out the day and evening into a full force gale last night blowing at 45 knots with gusts of up to 55. I had to keep moving around on the deck trying to re stick the roofing plastic that covered all the holes in the boat as the wind ripped it off. Whilst I was up on deck I looked across the boatyard and watched as Mother Nature ruled her fury over the boats. People everywhere were scrambling about trying to tie down pieces of shade cloth and other materials that were being ripped to shreds. Others were knocking in extra chocks as one of the boats started falling over. Two separate walk-ons had their fingers snap and landed in the water preventing access to the boats on the water. The roof on the garage right next to our boat was ripped off and tossed so far away by the wind that I couldn’t even see where it landed. Lola and I kept an eye on the barometer whilst checking Windfinder on the internet every so often in an attempt to find out when the wind would calm down. On Windfinder the force 8 gale was going to reach its peak at 11pm and then calm down. At one point I looked at Lola and could see from her pained expression that she was having difficulty believing that we would survive. I suggested we leave the boat and go sit in the yacht club bar to wait out some of the storm.



After sitting in the club for an hour or so watching the storm rage outside we returned to the boat, turning on some loud music, in an attempt to drown out the sounds coming from outside. At this point we discussed the option of abandoning the sailing trip and rather getting a camper. We are not even on the water and already we are struggling to cope.



This morning’s breaking eye witness news “container ship breaks anchor and runs aground in four metre swells off Ballito”. Yes so perhaps our reaction was normal considering the conditions last night. I don’t know. This morning all is calm again and as we clean up around the boat the memory of last night will hopefully be forgotten soon enough. I am hoping it will be like childbirth. Excessively traumatic but soon forgotten with the rewards of a small baby as consolation.



The dream and the reality.

I am not really sure what I expected this “dream” trip to be like. I suppose it is because I never really gave it much thought except for the romantic notion of a dream holiday on a deserted beech. You know those little dreamy moments just before you go to sleep or in the morning just as you wake up before you actually wake up and get out of bed.



These dreams where usually ignited by reading about others that had done such a trip and their recollections and memories. All the thoughts that I ever had where only of such fleeting moments and the “beauty of the first land fall” the “new smells and the awesome nature and creatures of a tropical paradise.”

The reality is a little different.



We did the whole “romantic sell up and sail” routine just to find real life with all its pressure and stress waiting in the dark corners, ready to pounce and tear you out of your little dream world bringing you back to reality with a bang. The worst is that you are now out of your depth and comfort zone entirely. Nothing that you knew before is relevant and everything has to begin again from the beginning. Your new home is always damp smelling and wet with mould growing in the dark crevices that you cannot find. Leaks are everywhere when it rains and even when it doesn’t your bed has a damp feel whenever you get into it. Your outside patio is small crowded and flooded in water most days with no really comfortable settee.



Any repairs that need to be done will cost your soul and will take longer than you have to live to complete. Maybe I am having a bad day and am not yet qualified to make such judgment calls on the cruising life. I mean we haven’t even started yet so who am I to say.



29 Jul. 11

Today we went to the mall and bought a few more movies. We also looked at some cameras but decided that we will just go with the cheap one that we already have on the wait and see if we really need it basis. I also feel a bit more positive again after the male menstrual stress or mms that I had a few days ago. I decided to manufacture two boxes to fit our outside led lights into but could only measure and draw them on the wood since it is raining again today. A couple of days ago I removed one of the windows and drove all over town and all over Empangeni to find new rubber seals. Nobody could help me with the seals and it appears as if I would either have to buy new port lights, as they are named, or try to make up some sort of a rubber seal modification. We also tried to research a portable water maker that can be kept in the grab bags in the unfortunate event that we have to abandon ship but couldn’t find any.

completing the circle

05 Jun. 11


Another fine day in paradise, slightly overcast this morning but not to cold. Yesterday the Cirrus clouds showed up from the west informing me that the good weather of the past few days was about to change. The wind in this area is predominantly from the North but every few days a South Westerly wind arrives and brings with it some foul weather. Fortunately it normally only lasts for a day or two and things quickly go back to normal.

Progress on the boat has been rather slow as with everything here at the coast as the rush and pressure that is in Gauteng doesn’t seem to exist down here although I still feel it inside me. I haven’t quite been able to let go yet as there are still things that I have to deal with pertaining to the business. The stupid cell phone that has been a burden in my life for the past few years just keeps on ringing which hasn’t helped either. I can’t wait for the day when I can stand on the foredeck with a small hammer and viciously attack and destroy the little black monster.

The freezer is still not back but has been running in the workshop on battery power for the last few days so seems to be in working order. We will probably collect it tomorrow and reinstall it on the boat. I have completed the shelf in the bathroom and Lola is now going to paint that one whilst I start with the next one in the kitchen. The boat still looks a mess but things are slowly finding homes making it a little better everyday.

About two days ago the geyser decided that we no longer require hot water on the boat so has been supplying only luke warm water. I sat staring at it for a while obviously willing it into working order again but its mind was made up and my intimidation tactic wasn’t working. Then I tried stripping off the cover to see if I could find anything wrong but the screws were rusted solid and the knobs on the front refused to come off. I decided to spray some Q20 on the screws and give up for the day. The next day we went to the supplier to ask for some assistance and they informed me that the knobs just pull off and then the cover also pulls off and then I should check for spider webs. Back on the boat the knobs just slipped off this time round and after finding the right screw driver the rusted screws came out, but no spider webs and still only luke warm water.

09 Jun. 11

We eventually made the decision to haul the boat after a few days of grinding and poking holes in some of the small cracks on the topsides. After grinding open one of the cracks we found some wood rot and had to continue grinding open just to find that it had affected the deck on the starboard bow quite extensively. We stripped the wood back and removed all the deck fitting including our cleat that keeps us tied to the dock. This isn’t a problem as long as the weather stays relatively calm but if it kicks up a notch or two we may find ourselves in deep water, literally. So the decision was made by default for us and all work stopped for now until next week Tuesday when the boat can be hauled and put on the hard.

It is a rather costly exercise getting the boat out of the water and the boat yards have found some rather ingenuous methods of making money. First they charge for the haul of the boat out of the water. Then for space on the hard, this excludes live aboard fees which would be separate. Then again a fee for putting the boat back in the water. At the same time we still need to pay towards the walk on even though we won’t be using it. All this eats at the already small cruising budget and doesn’t include any labour or materials needed for the work itself.

11 Jun. 11

My woes with the diesel engines continued again today. The engine on the starboard side has, except for the one "start myself" incident of the other day, never missed a beat and starts first time every time. That port engine however has been my nemesis from day one and always struggles to start. Today began the great mystery of the diesel engine that just plain refuses to do anything. The worst is my incompetence and lack of knowledge in anything mechanical. In the past whenever I used to do any motor repairs on my car it would land up either the same as it was, or worse than before. So years ago I gave up on the little metal beasts and took my car to experts when it needed fixing. Now I don’t have that luxury anymore and will have to learn how the annoying things work. I started by stripping out the instrument panel and after some switch and contact cleaning found a corroded wire in the main plug in the main wiring harness. I just cut the wire on both sides of the plug and joined it together bypassing the plug altogether. This however still didn’t solve the dead motor problem and my search through the fuses and relays also came up to nowhere. After a whole days fault finding and very drawn out and slow learning curve I eventually packed it up and called it a day with absolutely no answers.

25 Jun. 11

After getting some help from a neighbour we figured out that the negative wire from the battery was corroded and not enough power was getting to the starter motor. This helped to get the motor to turn over but still it wouldn’t start. We eventually used some WD40 spray in the air filter to start the motor so that we could get the boat to the slip for hauling it onto the hard.

We got up at 02h00 in the morning and after an almost perfect undocking Lola shouted that I had forgotten to untie one of the dock lines. Then the pandemonium and panic started with all of us running around with boat hooks and fenders trying to keep us off the docks and the other boats whilst trying to untie the forgotten line. Luckily for us there was absolutely no wind and it only took a few minutes to get the line loose and calmness could return once more.

We motored the boat over to the slip way just after 03h00 and gently touched the keels to the floor leaving her in forward gear at idle speed to ensure that she stayed on the ground and wasn’t pushed out by the receding tide. It took a while before I was satisfied that she was hard aground and wouldn’t float back out, then we killed the motors. Now we had to wait until seven in the morning for the trailer to arrive and carry us onto land. This little exercise didn’t work out quite as planned and after two attempts at loading the boat onto the trailer the whole exercise was abandoned and we had to wait on the boat for high tide at 15h00 to motor her back to our walk-on.

Whilst she was on the ground I did some inspection of the hulls and bridge deck and found some more problems to add to my list of woes. I am not quite sure how these are going to affect our future plans yet.

Anyway last week we went up to Joburg again to tie up a few loose ends and we felt like gypsies with no fixed abode. First we stayed at my brother Anthony’s then at my X wife Carol’s then at Rauen’s gran, Lela, then back at Anthony’s. I am hoping not to have to do the trip again but will probably do it a few more times before we get to leave.

This morning we went to the cruising connection in Durban and bought a cruising guide for the South Atlantic from Cape Town to St Helena, Ascension Island and on to Brazil. We also bought some other navigational gear and a diesel engine manual which I hope gives me some much needed help in that department. Glancing through the book I realised that I already know a lot of the theory. I am hoping that the book gives me the reassurance that some of my knowledge is correct and thus gives me the confidence to attempt the necessary repairs. Right now I wish we had more money and had bought a newer boat with less problems.

28 Jun. 11

Yesterday we eventually managed to get the boat out of the water and onto the dry docks but not without hiccups. In the morning we rushed around emptying everything out of the boat including anchor and chain to try make it as light as possible. Then we went off to town to buy some scaffold planks that we constructed into long square boxes that were to be used under the bridge deck to hold the boat up off the trailer. Anyway our constructed boxes collapsed and my life flashed in front off my eyes as I watched her slowly rock backwards then followed a sight that would live in my nightmares forever. A loud crash as she slipped backwards off the trailer and slammed down onto the concrete floor. All I could do was watch as our entire lives rocked and shook in front off my eyes. At this point both Lola and I couldn’t stand the pressure anymore so we just turned around and walked away. In the boatyard we found a friend and sat down to a couple of whiskeys, even Lola tried one but still couldn’t get the foul stuff down. I wonder what it would take for her to break and give herself over to drink.

01 Jul. 11

Well it’s official, now that the boat is on the hard and we have done some inspections we found that the boat has more problems that need fixing than it is worth which probably puts an end to our dream trip. We have spent the last few days pondering and trying to come up with solutions but none are viable. Hiring people to fix the boat will cost us the entire cruising budget and then we still have a boat that we can no longer sail due to two reasons. The first being the obvious, no money, and the second, having faith in the repairs done on the boat.

09 Jul. 11

Miserable cold wet and raining, the weather seems to match my mood at the moment. We have spent the last few days moping about with no real direction trying to decide what to do. Yesterday we eventually decided that we have no choice but to repair the boat ourselves if we want to save any part of the trip. We would have to do some speed reading on fibreglass repairs and perhaps even go on a quick crash course or two at the suppliers. The trip itself would have to be cut short in order to allow for the time taken to repair the boat and the money spent doing them.

11 Jul. 11

This is not really how I imagined the dream trip would be but I suppose that the reality of life is never quite the same as the dream. Instead of sailing happily down the coast line in pure bliss I am preparing to tackle a huge boat building project that I have no knowledge or experience in. Well this is how life seems to be and we will just have to make the most of our situation and carry on regardless.

13 Jul. 11

Another trip up to Joburg tomorrow to drop off my son and tie up the last few loose ends on that side. My Daughter and her boyfriend paid us a surprise visit over the last few days which lifted my spirits a lot and gave us some good bonding time together. On their trip down they hit a goat in the road causing some damage to the car but fortunately no injuries to themselves. The goat apparently just casually walked away as if nothing had happened.

20 Jul. 11

I just received such a sad sms from my son telling me that he should have spent more time with me whilst he was down here on holiday. I tried to reply with some words of wisdom and inspiration but could only come up with a half corny remark as I typed out his reply with tears in my eyes. I miss my kids already and haven’t even left the hard back onto the water. It is going to be really tough to leave on this trip and I hope I will be able to control my emotions. Yes I know I sound like a girl but I think that we all have some girl in us sometimes.

25 Jul. 11

For some or other reason I woke up at 01h40 this morning and haven’t been able to get back to sleep so eventually I just got up. Its now 03h10 and I think I will make myself a cup of coffee and accept that my day has already begun. A little earlier than usual and I am sure that by this afternoon I am probably going to regret this. However sometimes your body decides something other than your mind and whilst the two of them argue you are stuck in the middle.

At the moment we are on the hard as sailors would call it, which means the boat is out of the water on dry land, quite obvious really. Well life on the hard is a lot harder than life on the water. To explain a typical day on the hard will begin with the pressing need to go to the bathroom first thing in the morning as soon as you wake up. I don’t know if we are all the same but for me that first call of nature doesn’t allow much margin for error and the sooner I can get to the bathroom the better.

The bathroom however is on the other side of the boatyard some fifty metres away and first you have to negotiate a two metre high rickety step ladder whilst your eyes are not quite ready to focus. Needless to say the trip to the bathroom in the morning can be an interesting one. After all the necessary and a quick shower its back across the boat yard and up the ladder onto the boat.

Normally at this point I would open the tap, fill the kettle and make myself a cup of coffee. No! First I have to take the kettle for a walk, down the ladder, around the boatyard looking for an available tap, then fill the kettle and back up the ladder. After two and sometimes three cups of coffee I am now ready to tackle the rest of the day. The bathroom exercise will be repeated a few times as and when required during the course of the day. Then the repair work inside the boat can begin. The repairs on the outside have to wait until about one in the afternoon so that the boat has time to dry.

Due to the high humidity here the decks are soaking wet in the mornings so every time that you go down the ladder onto the ground and back up, the ground comes back with you, turning into mud once you arrive back on deck leaving a nice big muddy trail everywhere you go. This wouldn’t be so bad if you could just use a squeegee to quickly dry up the decks but due to the none slip surfaces the squeegee just tears apart as you wipe. The more you dry up the more the condensation seems to wet. So we have learnt to patiently wait till the sun has dried the deck then broom the mud that has now turned back into sand off the decks. At about five the work on deck has to stop and be covered with roof plastic to keep dry overnight. This predicament allows very little time for deck work so progress has been slow.

During this week we are going to try our first lay up of fibreglass on the deck once we have cut out and replaced the piece of rotten plywood. The first time is always the hardest because we are not confident in our ability. Cutting out and replacing the rotten wood pieces isn’t a problem since we gained lots of experience working with wood whilst building our house. Fibreglass however is foreign to us but we will just have to try and hope for the best.

Lola baked our first bread yesterday made from raw ingredients and it was mouth watering good as only hot baked bread can be. This has been something that has concerned me as we could never stock and carry enough bread for ocean crossings. Not the amount of bread our family requires.

At least we seem to have come a full circle at this point. First the absolute shock and horror of discovering the problems on the boat. Then added to this the damage caused during the two different haul outs. Next disbelief followed by anger. Anger at ourselves for being so stupid and naïve to believe that we didn’t need to have a professional survey done on the boat. Anger that we believed that Greg whom we bought the boat from was honest and above board. And to complete the circle accepting the situation that we find ourselves in.

Moved Aboard

31 May 2011
We officially moved on board on Saturday with all our belongings packed everywhere all over the boat. Lola has spent the last three days trying to finding place for everything, but no matter how much she packs away there is still mountains of stuff everywhere.

We reinstalled our freezer that has now been converted to a 12 volt unit and will be testing it for a few days on battery power to see how well it works. Our sails are back from repairs but we haven’t yet managed to put them up and see how they work so among all the other things they are also just lying all over the place. The weather service predicted a strong south westerly wind this afternoon but at the moment all is quiet and the weather is just fantastic at the moment.

A couple that we know set out a few weeks ago to Australia. They chose the lesser travelled roaring forties route and should have arrived about fifteen days ago. They have been placed on the missing persons list and the Australian coast guard has sent out search and rescue to find them. I hope that everything is okay and that they are found soon.

1 June 2011
About 18 degrees Celsius on the boat, a little cold for Richards bay, but very warm compared to Gauteng which is probably around 3 degrees this morning. You can instantly spot the locals wrapped up in jerseys and scarf whilst us out of town ers are walking around in shorts and T shirts thinking wow this weather is awesome.

The freezer 12 volt modification isn’t working, so today we will be wrestling it out again and carrying it back to the boatyard to get fixed. At the moment the boat is leaning towards the one side so we will have to move things around to even out the weight. Its hard enough finding a place for everything without having to weigh it first and then deciding where it will fit.

03 Jun. 11
Yesterday the boat decided it was ready to leave all by itself and had both Lola and I running around in complete panic. I was busy making a shelf in the bathroom when I thought I heard Lola trying to start one of the engines. So I asked her using my loud voice why she was starting the boat. I could hear her scrambling about when she replied that she wasn’t trying to start the boat so I ran out of the bathroom to find Lola checking the exhaust to see if it was pumping water and that it was actually our motor that was turning over. Now I switched into complete panic mode as I get into Kyle’s room and get under the mattress to open the engine compartment. The more I wrestle with the mattress the less it wants to allow me to get to the engine. After throwing my toys out the cot for a while Lola arrives and pulls the mattress off the bed saving me from myself. I then rip open the engine compartment just to stare in blankness obviously looking for something that isn’t there. My mind was sure that this motor had a solenoid that I could turn off but I just couldn’t find it. So I scramble out of Kyle’s room across the boat to the other engine and wrestle the mattress out of the way and yank open the engine to discover that this is the only engine with a diesel solenoid. Running back and fourth between the two engines for a while wasn’t solving my problem so I tell Lola to undo the ignition panel so that we can pull the plug from the back of the ignition switch. Then I told Rauen to pull the engine cut off and still the starter is turning away. Eventually it stopped all by itself and my mind can only see dollar signs as I am thinking that the starter must have packed up by now and possibly have to be replaced.

We sprayed some switch cleaner into the ignition switch and tried the motor which started and shut down as if nothing had happened. So we are still not sure what the cause of the problem was and if it will happen again but for now all seems in order.

Departing JHB

12 May 2011


Reading over my last few postings, some of which I am not sure whether to post or not, has made me realize just how much turmoil my life is in at the moment. It feels like I am wading through a huge swamp. Thick mud all around me, slowly sucking up all my energy. Clambering over one obstacle just to encounter the next one, directly in my path.



We must have postponed the move down to the boat about a hundred times now. Every time we set a date something else has come up stopping us dead in our tracks and making us re-evaluate and change our date.

In fact it has become so bad that people are starting to accuse me of lying about leaving.



25 May 2011

The past few days have been extremely traumatic and my level of confidence has diminished to a level even I can’t understand. On Sunday the house was filled with tears as we said goodbye to my Daughter and her boyfriend. And this morning when I dropped my son off at school for the last time I suffered to hold back the emotions and keep control of myself. The fact that we have to leave them here is difficult, no almost impossible to deal with. Considering the fact that we should still see them in July during the school holidays doesn’t seem to make an ounce of a difference to the emotional rollercoaster that we are riding at the moment.



29 May 2011

We eventually ran out of excuses and finally left the house yesterday morning. Today we are sitting at Kim and Darren in Durban after spending the night here last night. We decided to rent a car from Avis after our second last bakkie didn’t make the trip from the panelbeater to our house. A trip of almost four kilometres. Luckily or unluckily it packed up before we had embarked on the 600 km trek down here, and we didn’t land up having to call a towing service in the middle of the freestate. Now as I sit here I ponder about our decision and wonder if it was the correct one to make with all our worldly possessions packed into the back of two cars and a very uncertain future accompanied by no income. There is nothing like having no income to make you realise how much everything costs. I called my Daughter last night and my son this morning, cost R20 in airtime for plus minus three minutes each. I shudder to think about the cost of international or satellite call.



Packed and ready to go



Empty house on departure



Beginning of a life long dream or the start of an extended nightmare

19 Apr. 11


The myriad of tasks that have to be completed before taking a trip like this is humungous. First we had to complete the cupboards in the bedrooms of the house, then we still have to finish the plumbing and tiling in the bathroom. Next we applied for a pre-paid meter for the electricity which has taken five weeks already and we still have to wait another six to eight weeks before the meter arrives. In order to rent the house out we will have to have the pre-paid meter installed already. These are just the big tasks that have to be done and don’t include any of the business problems or getting rid of the last of our furniture. Luckily Lola has been relentless at getting rid of our personal belongings for some time already or we would definitely have run out of time.

We finally managed to sell one part of the business and moved our control room into the new owner’s premises yesterday. The other part we are going to sell to one of our existing employees. At the moment we are trying to sort out the accounts for the first part so that the transition can go as smooth as possible. Next week I have to start selling off the company vehicles. We also have to get to the bank sometime to make sure that our accounts remain open and active whilst we are away.

The kids passports are only valid for five years and we will have to apply before we leave for new ones for them as well as a new ID for me. Mine has been through the wash a few times and is all in tatters. I have been postponing getting a new one for some time now because I still have hair and am a lot younger in the old one.

We only have about a month left here before we plan to move down to Richards bay and the boat. Then the next phase can begin, getting the boat into ship shape for the trip. Hopefully the next phase isn’t as stress filled as the present phase.

24 Apr. 11

It is Sunday morning, in fact today is Easter Sunday and I woke up earlier than usual for a weekend. My mind was filled with thoughts as I had my first cup of coffee sitting in the garage waiting for the rest of the house to rise up and meet the day. I thought about the trip and wondered whether it was going to be the beginning of a life long dream or the start of an extended nightmare. So many different emotions are attached to a trip like this and not all are excitement, some are doubts. I am hoping that the decisions that I made along the way involving certain people, friends and family members, that I chose to ignore for what ever reasons doesn’t come back to haunt me on route and I suddenly find myself feeling as if I should have fixed things with these people before I left. On the other hand if I wasn’t going anywhere would I want to fall into the ever revolving trap of forgive and forget, then get screwed, then forgive and forget, by the same people over and over again.

Lola read her blog for the day to me and it is way more exciting than mine. Anyway as time goes by and we get closer and closer to leaving we decided to make our lives more and more inconvenient. A while ago we sold our fridge but after about two weeks of hell we borrowed a fridge from a friend making our decision that life cannot be lived without a fridge.

At the moment Lola is busy stamping our clothing in the bath since we sold our washing machine. The jury is still out on a washing machine and so far we have decided that we could live with hand washing for most things. Towels and bedding however, need a washing machine so we would probably make use of a Laundromat for these.

I never realised how much I would miss my lounge suite, since we sold ours we have been sitting, lying on the kids foam mattresses to watch TV. Not that we watch TV very often but the occasional afternoon nap on the sofa or just reading a book has gone. The boat has no real sofa type of seating so I will just have to miss my couch for the next few years.

This morning, being Easter hunt day, Kyle woke up all excited and came running through to the garage. Some years ago my kids stopped believing in the Easter bunny and I tried to convince them that in fact it was not an Easter bunny that came bounding around all cute and cuddly with chocolate eggs in his kangaroo type pouch but instead it was an Easter cockroach that vomited out the eggs. Hence the reason nobody ever sees the bunny. This morning I told Kyle that I seen the roach running around in the garage and stepped on him by accident so no eggs. He just looked at me for a moment then asked his mother where she had hidden his clues.

Tough Times

29 Mar. 11


We haven’t managed to get down to the boat in a while but last weekend was three days long so we managed to sneak off from work for the four week days and took the long road down to the boat. Its seems to be in our destiny to battle roaches and have electrical problems every time we arrive. This time the plug on the walk on melted and thus the fridges again had to be disinfected and cleaned.

The Saturday night before we left we had our ‘bon voyage’ bash at our house and invited all our friends and relatives around to say goodbye. Even though we are not leaving in the next three months there is just so much going on and things to get completed that we may not find time to get around to seeing all of them again, so we figured that by inviting them all around at the same time we could say goodbye to everyone at the same time.

Thanks to all you guys that came to the bash, at least we won’t starve with all the great presents of tin food and other provisions that you brought.

11 Apr. 11

Just too much going on at the moment and finding all the changes quite daunting. We have been busy negotiating with the buyers of our business and trying to make sure that the transition runs as smooth as possible. The difficulties in my mind are that I have to accept that I will no longer have a job and thus no income. This is tough and I am petrified. Other influences have been that some of my friends seem to have a problem coping with our decision and have decided that they no longer want to remain our friends. This too has been hard to deal with. I am not sure if anyone that has made a choice like this has had similar experiences with their friends but I don’t believe I am the only person on earth to have this happen. Perhaps I wasn’t a good enough friend anyway and this was the perfect opportunity to find an excuse to end the friendship. Who knows.

Climbing the mast

08 Feb. 11


On Sunday we emptied out our store room trying to decide what we needed on the boat and what we could get rid off. A lot of the stuff I had never seen before and would have no idea when or where to use these things. Luckily we met a young guy that was going to open a chandlery in town and he went through each item with us explaining the use and purpose of everything. Afterward we managed to swap some of the things for a second hand outboard motor for our dingy.

By the time we had finished unpacking and repacking the store room it was about two o clock and we decided that we would go off to the yacht club for lunch instead of cooking. We ordered hamburgers and after Rauen found a fly in his patty he couldn’t finish his burger. Don’t blame him actually I am not sure if I would be able to continue eating after finding a fly. After lunch we went for a cool down swim in the pool. When we finished swimming and as we headed back for the boat I felt my stomach start to churn. Both Rauen and I got sick after that, Rauen for about two hours, and me for almost two days.

13 Feb. 11

Well we just arrived back home again today after just ten days on the boat. At least it feels as if we are starting to make some headway on the list of things to do. We had North Sails come out and measure the cut required on the main sail. After they left we removed the main sail and put in it a sail bag ready to go to them for repairs.

We also had to remove the head sail. I have never had to remove a roller furler sail before so I have been trying to find out what to do. At one point I lay on the deck with a pair of binoculars trying to see how the sail is attached up at the mast head. I checked and rechecked the bottom of the mast for a halyard or rope or anything that should be attached at the top of the mast onto the sail. This rope would then be used to pull the sail back up once it has been removed and would need to be released in order for the sail to come down. But I just couldn’t find one anywhere. We even took some photos of the mast head to try and figure out the puzzle. Anyway eventually I decided that I would have to climb the mast and loosen the shackle at the top of the sail and then I would tie a halyard onto the sail. So I climbed the mast and did just that, having to shout a warning to Lola at the bottom of the mast to get out of the way when I dropped the shackle pin nearly killing her. I am just glad it wasn’t the shifting spanner.

Up the mast

After getting down from the mast we discussed our next step only to discover that I would have to climb the mast again to remove the halyard I had tied onto the sail because it would wrap itself around the pole when we unrolled the furler, and the rope was down at the bottom already in any case so me taking it up just to bring it back down again was a pretty stupid exercise. Now the wind suddenly started to pick up and because I still wasn’t sure that the sail would come down I phoned a friend for some advice and he told me that I shouldn’t have removed the shackle as the drum is supposed to come down with the sail. The more he spoke on the phone about a drum and all other goodies the more confused I became since I hadn’t seen anything resembling a drum or a slide or in fact anything that he mentioned up there. Eventually I asked him if the sail would come down if I pulled at the bottom and he said yes but we would have to retrieve the drum afterwards. So before the wind picked up some more and without further ado we unrolled the sail and pulled it down onto the deck.

Up the mast again

Later that day we had a rigger come out to check the rigging and he explained that our furler system didn’t have a drum as it was of an older design. So you learn something new everyday.

Boat work

05 Feb. 11


So here we are back at the boat again. Today being Saturday there seems to be a party going on at the yacht club tonight because as I sit here on the boat I can hear loud music playing in the background. We haven’t gone down there to look because I know that I will spend more money than we have and will probably drink a bit too much and not be able to face anyone in the morning, so better avoided. Anyway we arrived on Thursday afternoon to a stinking maggot and cockroach infested boat. Last time we left we decided that since the power was quite stable we would be able to leave the fridges stocked with some meat and pies for the next time we came down. Well we didn’t calculate that the stupid clowns working on the boat across from ours would unplug our boat and leave it unplugged for long enough to make everything rotten and stink. Even now after two days the fridge still has a “special” smell every time the door is opened.

We had some boat work to complete in order to tick the jobs off our list. So yesterday we started measuring for a book shelve to put the kid’s home school books onto. After we cut the wood to size we had to paint a few coats of undercoat and allow for each coat to dry, so the shelf still isn’t up yet but at least the undercoat is done.

At the moment I feel as if we are not making any progress toward the trip but rather that things are going in reverse. The boat, as I sit here and think about it, is at the moment an oversized extremely underpowered and slow “power boat” with a huge pole sticking up in the middle of it. I cannot use any sails as both the head sail and the main sail aren’t working at the moment. The main sail has to be cut shorter at the foot by about 300mm due to the bimmini and then the bridle has to be sorted out so I can use it. The head sail has got worn out cars so I removed one to find out if it can be repaired or has to be replaced. Guess what, yes nothing can ever be repaired and always has to be replaced at an astronomical amount so no head sail at the moment either.

06 Feb. 11

I don’t know what has happened to me lately but it seems as if I have become completely incompetent. We had to by a new catch for the geyser cover because the last one broke while we were out sailing. The old catch was a swivel catch and not very strong so when we were looking for a new one I picked on up at the marine chandlery and inspected it to make sure that it would be strong enough and not of the same swivel type. We found one that would do the job and bought it along with some other stuff. I don’t know how it happened but when we got back to the boat and started fitting the new latch we were surprised to discovered that it was a swivel latch exactly the same as the previous one that broke. I even checked the till slip to try and find out how this happened and even on the slip it said swivel latch so my only explanation can be that I must have gone blind and stupid in the shop.

Next we decided that we should move the chartplotter screen to the outside next to the helm. A simple job really that should have taken about a half hour to do. Well after drilling the holes about 5mm to much to the one side we discovered that the plotter fits exactly and now the cover has no space to fit and has to be forced on. Next we had to drill a hole to fit the wiring through and even this didn’t work out as planned and I landed up having to fill extra holes afterwards. So it’s become official, when it comes to boat work, I am an idiot with two left hands.

Wow what a trip!

28 Jan. 11


At the moment I am sitting at the dining room table in a self catering accommodation named Monia in a small town named Graskop in what used to be the eastern Transvaal but is now called Mpumalanga. The accommodation is unusual in that it is a three bedroom house that has been converted to take guests but everybody shares the kitchen and dining facilities. Luckily we happen to be the only guests so we managed to avoid having to battle with somebody over who drank who’s coke from the fridge.

Anyway we left home on Wednesday morning at 04h30 and drove here. We arrived at eight in the morning at the Sudwala caves and had to loiter about until nine thirty for them to open. We all enjoyed a casual stroll through the dinosaur park before exploring the caves with a guide. Then we took a scenic drive through the mountain towards Sabie. Unfortunately we didn’t get to see much scenery because the mist was so thick that we just managed to see the road most of the time. After having Wimpy breakfast in Sabie we headed to Graskop and booked into our accommodation. On the way we passed by Mac Mac falls but the mist was still too thick so we didn’t stop to look. Once we had unpacked the car we decided to head of to Burkes luck potholes and the Blyde river canyon. The mist was still too thick to stop at Gods window when we passed but lifted as we went down into the valley and by the time we came past Lisbon falls it was clear so we stopped to look at the falls.

I was surprised to have to pay R10 per person to look at the falls as this used to be free the last time I was here. I suppose this is part of the government’s new job creation plan so we paid. Lisbon falls are quite impressive with the roar of the water rushing over the rocky cliffs and the shear drop into the gorge being about 40 meters down so I didn’t feel too badly ripped of. The next waterfall on the way is Berlin falls also R10 per person. Berlin falls is a single stream of water dropping about 40 meters and wasn’t half as impressive as Lisbon falls so I think the price should be adjusted accordingly. It also started raining so we had to run back to the car and leave just after getting to the falls. Anyway the sign clearly states “no refunds” so we didn’t ask for one and just headed on to the potholes instead.


Bourkes luck potholes were named after a guy that wasn’t very lucky so I suppose the name is ironic. The holes are formed when the two rivers meet and the swirling water causes large round holes to be cut out of the rocks in the cliff. The potholes are in the Blyde river canyon which is the third largest canyon in the world and the views of the canyon are stunning. The two rivers that meet are the Treuer and the Blyde river and history tells us that when the Voortrekkers arrived at the canyon they told the women that the men would have to continue on alone as the journey was too treacherous. If the men didn’t return after some time then the woman would turn around and head back. The woman waited at the one river and when the men failed to return on the discussed date the woman mourned and the river was named Treuer meaning “to cry”. The men however caught up to the woman at the next river and that river was then named Blyde meaning happy.

After the potholes we had booked a ghost tour of the Pilgrims rest graveyard but the tour operator called and told us that it was raining in Pilgrims rest so we postponed the tour till the next night.

In the morning we thought we would be able to go to Gods window but the mist was still too thick so we hung about Graskop town instead and went for pancakes at Harries pancakes before heading off at about lunch time to Pilgrims rest for our booked tours of the town.

The tour was very interesting and informative but the night visit to the graveyard was the most exciting. The tour guide had told us that a ghost of a young man lived in her house some way down the hill from the graveyard. Near the end of the tour some “ghosts” appeared at the top of the cemetery and when we left the gates Kyle spun around and closed the gates. The tour guide then told Kyle that by closing the gates the “ghosts” would stay inside the graveyard and he wouldn’t have to panic when he promptly reminded her that one of them had obviously escaped and lived in her house.

29 Jan. 11

We got back home to the land of the big smoke yesterday. Wow what a trip! Both Lola and I were finished our bodies not used to all the walking and climbing of steps. Before we embarked on the journey back home we decided to try Gods window one more time and even though it was still misted up everywhere we stopped at the pinnacle and the mist lifted just long enough for us to view this tall finger of rock standing in the middle of a deep 60 meter gorge. There had been so much rain that the usual stream that ran through the gorge provided a roaring river with wild rapids flowing past the pinnacle and away into the valley. After the pinnacle we drove through the thick mist on to Gods window. When we stopped the mist was still thick but we proceeded to climb the steps up to the top to the many view points anyway. Lola suffered along having to stop every so often to catch her breath and I decided to go on ahead with the kids to the rain forest at the top hoping to catch a glimpse of the great view.

We reached the top lookout spot but the mist was just not going to give us a chance so we gave up and went back down to find an angry Lola on her way up towards us. After being in trouble for a while because we had left her behind and did not return promptly enough to fetch her, she calmed down and forgave but somehow I felt that I would probably be on rations for a while. The mist had cleared sufficiently by the time we passed MacMac falls so we decided to stop and take a look. Unbeknown to us this also included a hike across some rocky terrain. The view was spectacular and worth the struggle.

The rest of the car journey home wasn’t as pleasant because firstly we took a wrong turn that added some kilometres to the already uncomfortable journey and then we had to take an unpleasant phone call from an irate client. Sadly my aching body caused by a combination of the extremely uncomfortable bed at the place we were staying and all the exercise that I wasn’t used to had made my mood dark and when Lola was trying to collect answers for the client I snapped and started shouting at her as if it was her fault. You know what they say “don’t kill the messenger”. Well lets just say I forgot that saying. I think I must have apologised later because she is still talking to me.

30 Jan. 11

All those of you that know me well can visualise me sitting in the garage on one of the green plastic chairs. The garage has always been my entertainment area of the house and I sometimes wonder why we even built the rest of the house because it only serves as sleeping quarters. When we are awake be it alone or with visitors, we are sitting in the garage on the green plastic garden furniture. Anyway this morning I am up earlier than everyone else in the house and I’m sitting in the garage thinking about leaving on the boat when suddenly the reality of the situation dawns on me and I can feel the emotions well up inside. I don’t know how I am going to say goodbye to my kids Amy and Keagan. Its one thing to say goodbye in the morning when they are off to school and will be home that afternoon. Being divorced from their mother has also allowed me to get used to not seeing them for about a week at a time and this has been okay. But now I have to say goodbye and not be able to see them for an indefinite period. I have joked with them about the situation by saying that I not going to tell them when we leave and just phone from Brazil or send an sms saying “oh by the way we are in Brazil at the moment so I wont be able to pick you up from school this afternoon, hope this message gets to you in time for you to arrange a lift”. Funny ha ha, but I really have no idea what I am going to do. So here I am standing at the forefront of the greatest adventure of my life so far, but feeling like I am treading water at the same time.