The Woes of life...

10 Dec. 13

The Oyster rally yachts left yesterday morning at slack tide. The wind was calm and the water was like a mirror so I checked the weather and wondered if we should follow them out. The predicted wind was around 20 knots which already was a problem for me but the sea state was the actual problem. Around 3 metre waves 7 seconds apart, I just couldn’t do it. It made me wonder once again if this was the right thing for us. We are honestly chicken shits and I don’t know why we are even considering this.

 

Anyway I packed my thoughts away and we decided to go for a dingy ride in the lagoon after lunch. During the morning the wind started to pick up and by lunch time it was blowing around 20 knots as predicted. The lagoon was choppy and I wasn’t sure if we should still go but we ate lunch then jumped on the dingy. Our plan was to motor across the lagoon to Brenton on Lake. Through my binoculars I had noticed a yacht on a mooring and wanted to see if we could move over to that side of the lagoon as I believed it would be more protected from the Southerly winds. The wind had stirred up quite a chop and we splashed our way across the lagoon until I decided to cut across between the channel markers and head straight towards our destination. Mistake number one.

 

We had only gone a few metres when the motor churned up mud as we hit the bottom. In my wisdom I decided it was only a short shallow piece so I tried to continue in the same direction instead of turning around. We somehow crossed the shallow headed across some slightly deeper water and hit bottom for a second time. Lola told me to turn around but I looked behind us and noticed a piece of ground so told her we couldn’t go back. Instead of listening to her I jumped off the dingy and started to pull us across the ground. For a while this worked and we slowly moved forwards but then it became even more shallow and we all had to get out the dingy to lift and pull it along. Rauen and I could manage quite well across the muddy ground but Lola and Kyle couldn’t keep up as we yanked the dingy a few metres forwards at a time as they tried to keep their balance while sinking into the mud. Kyle lost one of his crocs and caught it just in time before the current took it away as Lola got stuck in the mud again unable to free herself without losing both her shoes. At this point there was a lot of screaming and confusion as Rauen tried to help her and I held onto the dingy so it would drift away. When Rauen couldn’t get his mother unstuck and she had screamed at him to stop pulling her around I shouted at him to hold the dingy so I could help Lola. I managed to get her unstuck for a few steps before she got stuck again then told her and Kyle to get back in the dingy. The water was slightly deeper again but we were still surrounded by shallows and Rauen and I yanked and jerked the dingy with Lola and Kyle falling about and holding on for dear life.

 

By this time everybody was angry with everybody. We finally managed to reach a narrow channel of deep water and Rauen and I jumped in the dingy. I tried to start the motor but the current and the howling wind quickly blew us across the channel and back onto the ground on the other side. We grabbed our oars and tried to row back to the channel but only managed to move sideways and the channel wasn’t getting any closer. I tried the motor again and for a while we headed towards the channel before the prop hit the ground again so I lifted the motor quickly and grabbed my oar. We eventually reached the channel and I told everyone to continue rowing until I could get the motor running so we didn’t end in the shallows again. The motor started after the fifth pull and we could finally head up the channel. As we motored into the chop I looked around and noticed people on the shore staring at us. I knew they had been watching us the entire time and must be thinking what idiots we are. I just hope they didn’t record it on a cell phone and it is now on U-tube with the tittle “dumb ass idiots.” The trip back to Yrumoar was bouncy and very wet and we arrived back an hour later shivering and pickled in salt water.

Now, looking back, it was quite funny and we all had an experience not soon forgotten. At the time though, not so funny. I wonder if this whole trip will be like that. Funny afterwards.

21 Dec. 13

So many things have happened in the last few weeks I am not even sure where to begin. The discussions about our uncertain future came up again and we debated our available choices. This time however things were slightly different since we had an extra option we never had before. A few weeks ago I finally managed to get a job offer here in Knysna. The job, working in a factory that builds motorhomes. Wow, I find that so ironic. Is it just another sign telling us our choice of transport was wrong? Anyway ignoring the irony the money isn’t quite enough to sustain the lifestyle we want but I suppose half a loaf of bread is better than none. Or is it? With this new option in mind we looked at our choices. Keeping in mind our original plan was to sail across to New Zealand resettle, find work and continue with “normal” life. Our finances were time based and calculated on this option and we even had a small buffer. However things didn’t quite work out as planned so now what?

We have managed to get our oldest child educated at the end of 2012 but still have three kids to educate and anyone with kids will know this is not a cheap hobby so money remains a huge problem. Taking the job here with little money may not be a real solution and may only prolong the final outcome. As every month ticks by we have less and less money since our expenses exceed our income even with the job. Home schooling our kids is not free, as some people believe it is and neither is anything else. Everywhere you stop costs money and this doesn’t include sightseeing, things you want to do or boat repairs, it just costs money to park the boat. With this in mind we have to wonder if the job is even an option.

On a different less traumatising subject our time on the chain mooring ran out and we had to move back on anchor. The club informed us they had it booked for someone else so left us no choice and we moved a few days ago. We are now swinging on our hook and hope it doesn’t decided to drag again. When something goes wrong it takes a while for your confidence to return and we have not had much sleep since we moved.

Rauen flew up to Joey’s to see his dad and Amy arrived in SA on holiday. I didn’t get to see Amy since her time was limited but did speak to her on the phone twice. I miss her and Keagan a lot. It’s been more than a year since I saw Amy and slightly less for Keagan but it feels like a lifetime.

I finally managed to get our second hand water maker installed the day before we moved onto anchor. It is a 12 volt unit and only fills one glass in about 4 minutes so doesn’t make much water but should suffice. We ran it for a half hour to test it but the water still tasted salty. It was second or third of fourth hand when we got it and I don’t know its history or if it actually works but will test it again when it is sunny. It is overcast today and we need the power to run the freezer instead.

       

  

Knysna

 17 Nov. 13

Yesterday we set foot on land for the first time since we arrived here. The weather hasn’t been good enough for us to want to leave Yrumoar and we were still a bit shaken after our anchor dragging ordeal. Even though we are now tied to a swing mooring we still don’t feel secure. These kind of events tend to do that and it takes a while for your confidence, or is it faith, to return.

 Knysna reminds me of a quaint village and the surrounding area with its flowing mountains and lush green vegetation makes a spectacular view. The inner city buildings are unique and different to any other place I have been in South Africa. It is an obvious tourist attraction since everyone, and I mean everyone had a camera. Just walking and looking around I can understand why it would be a destination as opposed to a “passing through”. It has a good feel to it and walking around the waterfront and even into the city centre felt safe and secure.

 After checking out the town we headed to the Yacht club. We wanted to find the skipper on the fishing boat who had assisted in our rescue and thank him. We also needed to get some contact details of the owner of the Catamaran we had bumped into. We didn’t find the skipper or get our contact details but instead met some really wild and interesting characters at the pub. This led to yet another impromptu party and we eventually managed to escape back onto Yrumoar just before cruisers midnight, in other words nine thirty. The dingy motor? Well I am not sure if I managed to find the leak but at least it started again after I put it back together.

 18 Nov. 13

I sent my CV off again today. Hopefully I have some success at finding work here. There are much worse things I can think off than being stuck in Knysna for a year or two while I do a creative writing course and write my second novel. The place is beautiful and inspiring.

 I took some photos of the damage on Yrumoar and will have to start with the repairs soon. Still not sure about the rudder but hope to dive down this afternoon and have a look.

 

 

 

20 Nov. 13

I didn’t dive down the next afternoon but instead went to town to buy a wetsuit first. The water here is so cold I would’ve died of hyperthermia without it. Now all who know me will know that swimming is not my strong point. In fact, I have a water phobia. If you look back in the blogs you will find my post on my attempted Midmar mile swim where my phobia got the better of me. So it was with great trepidation that I climbed down the back steps and entered the water. Lola had tied a rope around me and her encouraging words “I have you and will not let you go” helped me to eventually succeed. It took close to an hour of repeated dives under Yrumoar and lots of hacking with a few different knives before I finally managed to free our rudder. I was relieved and couldn’t wait to get out the water. At one time while I was diving under I looked down into the depths and couldn’t see the bottom. It scared the crap into me and I had to come up quickly and gulp air repeatedly staying on top of the water for a while before I could dive under again.

 

At least our rudder didn’t suffer any damage and seems to be working again. My swimming phobia? Did I finally conquer my fear? No. I still shudder at the thought of having to swim in water where I cannot see the bottom.

 

We did eventually find the guy that came to our assistance and thanked him. He however had other ideas and thanks wasn’t enough for him so presented me with an invoice of R1000. Wow, I was surprised. I suppose it did cost him  money to help us so did a quick calculation to determine just how much. He assisted from the beginning and towed us across to the mooring bow. The entire operation took about three hours and covered a distance of about 500 metres. That equals just over R330 an hour. His time is obviously more expensive than the dentist I went to in East London since he only charged me R150 for the hour consultation including the local anaesthetic and tooth extraction. But hey, I suppose he is just a simple dentist with only six or seven years varsity studies behind him. I could never expect to pay him as much as this skipper with all his obvious courses and degrees. We bumped into him again later while we did some shopping and he offered to give us a lift back to the yacht club. We thought about it but decided to decline since we were not sure how much he may charge for the lift considering his 100 years driving experience.

 24 Nov. 13

We are still in Knysna and have decided to do the tourist thing here since it is such a beautiful part of the country with many attractions. I have seen most of these at one or other point in my life, some as a kid and some as an adult but my two boys haven’t. It is Rauen’s birthday on Wednesday and he wanted to ride an ostrich so Lola planned our tour around this.

 Last night we had a few visitors, Andy the farmer, his wife Anna and a friend of theirs Gordon. Andy called me during the day and was interested in Yrumoar so invited himself over to have a look. We had sundowners and he then invited us to stay over on his farm on Tuesday. That is the one thing I really enjoy about this life style, its unpredictability. You never know who you will meet or what is going to happen next and the time you spend with the new friends you meet is good quality enjoyable time. Sadly it comes with a twist at the end when you decide to move on but I don’t want to dwell on that part now.

 

I know I have mentioned this before but today I found myself comparing living on a boat as opposed to living in a house yet again. Being in the Knysna lagoon spurred it on. Today is Sunday, no not our proverbial every day is Sunday thing it is actually Sunday and half the country and their sister owns a power boat down here and is powering around the lagoon like it’s going out of fashion. There is no “no wake” zone around us so we are bouncing about every time someone decides to fly past us at warp speed. It’s been happening since we arrived here so we are getting used to it and have had to adjust our routine accordingly. The only time it becomes a real problem is when Lola is cooking lunch and we have to quickly get up and run over to grab the pots on the stove when a wake is about to hit us. This made me think about the house comparison. Imagine having to run over to your stove and grab the pots every time a car passes your house. Fun isn’t it.   

 

29 Nov. 13

We spent the last three days doing the tourist thing. First we hired a car and drove to Andy’s farm to spend the evening. He lives on the side of a mountain and his farm is very secluded from anything. After a twenty minute drive up a small gravel track his house appears between the lush green foliage. On one side a river flows gently towards the ocean and on the other a mountain grows up a steep incline. His home is constructed from wood planks and has many different levels as it stands on stilts up the incline with his main bedroom right at the top level. The setting was perfect and we enjoyed their good company well into the early hours of the next morning before going off to bed. We had a big day planned so had to rise early. I felt a bit rude as we rushed through breakfast and sort of forced our way into leaving without spending more time on our goodbye. It was easy to get captured by Andy and his wife Anna and not that easy to leave.

 

Even though we left quite abruptly we were now behind schedule and had to call the Cango Caves to change our time of arrival. We had a pleasant scenic drive through the Outeniqua Mountains and into the “Klein Karoo”. About 10 km from Outshoorn we were stopped in a routine roadblock and as they checked my drivers licence I mentioned it was Rauen’s birthday. To my surprise all the policemen and women stopped what they were doing, gathered together and started to sing happy birthday to Rauen. It was like being in one of those organised flash mob videos and I quickly looked around to see if I could see any cameras. When they eventually finished they told us we could leave and we drove off laughing and discussing what just happened.

 

We arrived at the Cango Caves just as our group departed into the cave and had to run to catch up. Once inside I became irritated when I discovered how large our group was, about fifty people. I couldn’t hear anything the tour guide was telling us as the whole group never seemed to shut up and someone also had a screaming baby with them. So the Cango Cave tour was a bit annoying. At least the boys got to see it.  

 

 After the tour we drove into the town of Outshoorn, had some Steers burgers for lunch then headed to the Highgate ostrich farm. It was Rauen’s birthday and he wanted to ride an ostrich. The tour around the Highgate ostrich farm was quite informative and we each picked up and held a baby ostrich. They are like all baby animals, really cute. After this we drove across the road and Rauen finally got to ride his ostrich. It was fun watching him hang on for dear life as the ostrich ran around trying to get rid of him. We wanted to go to the cheetah park but it was just too expensive so had to give it a miss and drove back to end our day on Yrumoar at about seven.

 

The next morning we took another drive. This time we headed up the coast and onto the R102, the old road through the Tsitsikamma forest. I wanted the boys to experience the “SA garden route” as I had done it before and it is well worth doing. On our way we passed a 3D puzzle park and the boys got so excited we had to stop and do the 3D maze on our way back. Lola and the boys love that kind of thing, mind puzzles and quiz games. I on the other hand don’t. I’m not very good at puzzles and thus don’t like to try them but went along with my family since it was something they enjoyed. At some point while struggling to complete one of the puzzles a question went through my head, am I with the wrong people? It was an intriguing question for a moment and came to me during a moment of frustration when I was doing something I don’t usually even bother trying. The question was still in my mind when the puzzle pieces fell suddenly back under the table as the game timed out. I was feeling frustrated and annoyed and stomped over to the next puzzle only to be timed out again before I finally realised I was being childish and got over myself.

06 Dec. 13

A few days ago 4 “Oyster” yachts arrived here and today another 3 arrived as part of the Oyster round the world rally. They are beautiful yachts as far as monohulls go but I couldn’t help but think about Barney’s cheerleader effect theory in "How I met your mother".