An outing for a day

26 Sep. 12


Yesterday we moved Yrumoar from our regular parking spot to a new one. For a few moments I could feel the anticipation grow in my stomach as I realised that this meant we are even closer to leaving. The new owner of our spot should arrive here today or tomorrow. Today Kyle will be moving out of his room into the spare room whilst we strip and fix the wood rot that has manifested itself around his window. We also want to check why the motor under his bed overheats.

28 Sep. 12

We managed to cut away the wood rot and replace that piece with foam core and fibreglass. We still have to sand the fairing compound in some spots and paint our repair before we can replace the window. It is supposed to rain this afternoon so I hope we manage to paint and fit the window before the rain gets here. Lola took out the list and I was quite surprised to discover that we are down to forty one items. I didn’t realise that we had managed to tick so many things off the list. It hasn’t felt like we have been working at all yet these things are somehow getting done. It must be the fairies again.

30 Sep. 12

We managed to finish the window with about an hour to spare before the rain arrived. On Saturday morning we woke up and found our parking spot occupied by the new guy that was supposed to arrive on Wednesday. He came over and informed us that his trip up was very unpleasant with fifty four knot winds and steering problems. I was glad that he eventually arrived since we have been waiting for him. His arrival was one of the final obstacles that we had to use as an excuse to still be here. Somehow I just can’t become excited about the trip anymore and both Lola and I seem to feel the same way. Maybe it has just been too long, even though it is supposed to be fun sitting around all day doing nothing without having the responsibility of going to work, we can’t seem to see the fun side anymore. Everyday is just the same as the day before. We wake up, I have coffee whilst Lola has coke. Then we discuss the list and during the day I work on some of the items whilst Lola teaches the kids. Lola cooks at about lunch time and we eat. In the afternoon we sit in the cockpit and have the same conversation about the same things repeatedly whilst I have a few drinks. Then we go to bed just to wake up and have a rerun the next day. Yes, things will have to change soon.

Dylan, a friend will collect us here this morning and take all of us to a game park for the day. I hope this breaks the monotony and gives us something new to talk about.

01 Oct. 12

The trip into the game park was interesting and relaxing. We came across herds of giraffe, zebras and of course a few different species of buck. At lunch time we stopped and had a picnic under some trees near a small dam. Dylan romanticised about owning that setting and building his home near to the little watering hole. I agreed with him, it was a beautiful piece of ground and the natural pond was stunning. After our picnic we headed out of the game park. The game park is surrounded by plantations, rows and rows of trees planted in straight lines. If you study the plantation while you drive past your eyes can see far down the rows and sometimes, when the plantation isn’t that wide, straight along one or two of the lines and out the other side. Occasionally a firebreak is created between the rows, where there are no trees and the natural grass is kept short. It was down one of these firebreaks that we turned. Never being off road in a car before I watched and bounced around as the Toyota land cruiser made its own road, finding its way to one of the indigenous forests that lay hidden secretly between the plantations.

The Kwazulu Natal bush is lush thick and green. We found a small clearing hidden deep in the forest and parked. The remains of a derelict camp site, long forgotten and no longer maintained, stood built in the clearing. Here we found an old hiking trail and decided to take a walk. After negotiating with the overgrown bush covering parts of the trail for a while, we came across a broken down bridge that stood over a small creek. Since the bridge was no longer usable we clambered our way through the creek and went up the other side continuing along the trail till we found another bridge. Again this bridge was no longer useable and we had to cross through another creek. This one was a lot deeper and wider than the last one. The banks were muddy and slippery and we had to negotiate our way carefully to avoid landing in the mud. Being slightly unprepared and not wearing hiking boots probably made the task a bit more difficult than it should have been.

After our hike through the forest we made our way back towards the main road through a marsh and nearly got stuck in the mud when we had to cross a small river. We made a few attempts at crossing the river in full four wheel drive mode with wheels spinning and mud flying everywhere before we achieved success.

I enjoyed the day and was happy to escape the confides of the boat for a while. Lola’s day was unfortunately not as pleasant. Her seat in the back was cramped and uncomfortable with the wheel arch placed directly under her making for a bouncy hard ride. At some point during the drive she was also punished with her obligatory migraine and had to do the hike with a pounding head. I don’t know what evils she committed during her past lives to be punished in such a cruel and malicious manner, but I am left powerless and can only empathise with her pain.

Back to Boatlife

17 Sep. 12


We finally arrived back home on Yrumoar yesterday after extending our visit to Lola’s sister in Durban by one extra day. Our dingy was completely deflated and filled with water from all the rain that fell whilst we were away. The crew from Sea Shoes had been keeping an eye on our boat and told me they had to empty the dingy a few times during the week. We knew we would have to modify the way we carry the dingy anyway since it fills with water from breaking waves when we sail.

18 Sep. 12

Last nights regular Monday night braai left me feeling a bit tender today so I didn’t achieve much for the day. I did manage to get the dingy secured making us one step closer to leaving. The international visitors here have been grilled by customs for some or other unknown reason. While we were away customs arrived here in full force like some huge drug bust, posting police officers on every walk on and acting like they had just uncovered the largest and meanest underground organisation since Al Capone and the mob. They gathered all the “illegal” international yachties and detained all their boats stating that they were evading tax and breaking the law by not paying import duties on their boats. Wow, imagine that, every country you stop at now suddenly forces you to import your boat into that country. I suppose you would also have to pay export duties a few months later when you leave.

I can’t help but wonder which rocket scientist thought up this new found ludicrous misinterpreted law. If any such law even exists. It is just so good to know that our country has such intelligent people in control.

19 Sep. 12

I have a hollow feeling of anticipation in my stomach that has been haunting me for the past few days. I am not sure what has caused this feeling but it just won’t go away.

The south westerly wind is howling again today and we are going into town to buy some filters and things for the second hand water maker that we bought some time ago. We found a manual online and I am hoping to install the water maker before we leave here. It doesn’t look complicated but then this is a boat and nothing on a boat is ever as it appears.

I haven’t been able to find my rhythm and still forget to brush my teeth or shave some days only remembering to do this at about lunch time. I used to have a set routine before we lived on the boat but can’t seem to find it here. It also seems that the longer we have been on the boat the harder it has become. I try to remind myself as soon as I wake up, but I am even forgetting to remember to remind myself. Maybe I should make a list and sleep with it stapled onto the ceiling above my head, or perhaps photos stapled to the ceiling would be better.

24 Sep. 12

It was a long weekend and we had some friends arrive on Friday and leave today. A few times over the last few days I experienced emotional moments where I missed my kids terribly and found myself feeling miserable. Except for Lola I don’t think anyone else noticed these moments so I didn’t spoil the mood for anybody. Keeping a happy face whilst melting on the inside is a practised and acquired skill that I am not very good at.

The raging battle between customs and the international boats still continues. One of the detained boats managed to leave after paying a fine of two thousand rand, the others are still waiting to find out what fate has in store for them. Unfortunately for these poor souls customs holds all the cards and will slowly divide and conquer each futile attempt made at finding justice. I am embarrassed by this foul play and unprovoked attack on the international community and hope that we don’t find ourselves in the same situation in other countries that we visit. All I can say is, “welcome to Africa, remember to leave your wallet behind when you go.”

Mark will be arriving some time this week to take over our parking space so we will move to a rental spot for a while whilst I try to tick a few important items off the repair list. So it seems we are running out of excuses and will have to be on our way soon.

25 Sep. 12

Yesterday was another one of those “goodbye” days. Our “homeless” friend Ryun found himself a job up in Johannesburg and left. We had become quite close over the last two years and his leaving left Lola and I feeling glum. The regular Monday night braai seemed mundane as we sat in a corner by ourselves feeling deflated and miserable. The regular faces didn’t look as inviting and we decided that we are going to distance ourselves in future, taking the easier route by not making such good friends again. Doing this may not be easy but the “goodbye’s” will be easier.

19 Aug. 12


The question of staying has been coming up a lot lately. Lola could get a job here in Richards bay as a teacher which she had discovered to be her chosen profession. I considered starting a sailing school so I still get to do some sailing. During the school holidays we could sail up the coast to Mozambique and back. It has been very tempting to cancel the trip. There is a multitude of reasons for these thoughts. Money being on top of the list with the fear of the uncertain future being a close second. Last night however Lola and I discussed the subject once more and this time it was Lola’s turn to make the decision to continue with the trip. It is weird how we seem to toggle, sometimes it is me and the next time she would decide. I never realised how many times the temptation to cancel the trip would come up.

23 Aug. 12

Today we went to the airport to fetch our son Rauen, back from his two week visit to Joey’s. Now that he is back we need to get the most important items ticked off the list and then watch the weather for a window. Our new navigation system on the laptop with an AIS receiver seems to be working. The power problems that we have had are still not completely solved. The MPPT charge controller that we bought hasn’t made any difference. We received it with absolutely no paper work and even though it seems quite a simple thing to install there may be a trick to it. I tried contacting the manufactures but they just ignore me. I will send one more e-mail to them in a final attempt to see if I will get some joy.

29 Aug. 12

After spending about sixty rand on cell phone calls to WRND I am still no closer to solving our power problems. I must have asked the guy four or five times to please send me a manual, but still I wait in vain. Perhaps it’s a secret and my qualifications aren’t classified enough. Or maybe it is on a need to know basis, and I just don’t need to know. We also want to buy an inverter from them since their pricing is good, but now I am not sure if I should. Maybe their pricing is so good because their equipment comes without manuals and doesn’t really work. The equipment looks quite pretty though so I suppose that would make up for its inability to work.

Today we will go and collect a rental car that we plan to use for a trip to Joeys to say our goodbyes to the kids and family. This must be about the fifth time we have said our final goodbyes, so perhaps it’s not really the final after all.

07 Sept. 12

Our visit to Johannesburg has passed the halfway mark and I find myself wanting it to come to an end so that we can get back home to Yrumoar. More than once during our visit up here I asked myself why we chose to stay here for so long. This must be one of the ugliest places on the planet, especially this time of the year. Everywhere we drive we are surrounded by brown dirty pieces of open land with black patches where veld fires have scorched the soil and destroyed the dry brown grass. The icy wind blows through your skin until your bones feel cold and brittle. Even the stars refuse to shine here in the night sky and only a few of the very brave ones will show their faces to the poor souls that are doomed to survive here.

We have however enjoyed spending time with our family and friends and we made a point of seeing Keagan everyday after school. Amy has been a bit more difficult to see since she has a busy life and lives in Pretoria, about sixty kilometres from my mother’s house where we are staying.

14 Sept. 12

A myriad of thoughts were making their way slowly through my head as we drove away from my mother’s house on our way back towards the coast line, and back towards our home on the boat. Like a slide show the memories of the past week flashed on and off in my mind. Images of each of our friends in turn cycled slowly across my mental vision. The slideshow would play for a while flashing some of the memorable moments of our trip, but always ended with the sad eyes that accompanied the goodbye’s. Saying goodbye has never been one of my strong points and this perhaps final goodbye to some was particularly hard. The slide show was still running when we made our pit stop to buy KFC for lunch. I sat eating but not really tasting anything as we had our lunch. After KFC we walked to the convenience store to buy coke for the next part of the trip. Rauen attempted a conversation with me as we walked along and I must have appeared to be listening as he continued speaking. After reaching the shop we departed in our separate ways and I found myself thinking that I was really glad he didn’t ask me any questions, since I didn’t hear a word he said.

The trip to Johannesburg was a trip of extremes going from Axel’s thousand odd square metre, ultra modern, home to my sister and Warren’s small broken, in dire need of repair, rented house, to Russel’s mansion with the forbidden west wing, and then to my daughter Amy’s small student apartment. Each place we visited brought its own individual experience and the memories that go with it.

Axel's Amazing home

Lindie and Warren

Kids in the Lambo

For the most part we stayed at my mother’s house, making a point of going to see my son, Keagan every afternoon once he arrived home from school. During our visit to Sam and Russel we all had our first unforgettable experience in a Lamborghini. Going to Axel’s house confirmed our decision that going on a boat actually suited us. His place is large and modern, but for me, excessive. At his place, Lola and I discussed what we would need should we ever decide to settle back on land again. We realised that we are obviously just too simple and require almost nothing to live happily. Our “wish list” if you can call it that, went as follows. First we require a fridge/freezer, then a comfortable bed. A small stove and some plastic garden furniture completes the list. Everything else would be considered luxury items. Thinking back to past Barry and Lola this was about all we had anyway before we decided to go, so I suppose nothing has really changed.

Regatta Time

05 Aug. 12


The last week has seen me struggling with marine toilets again. It seems that these beasts never work properly. Everyone seems to have a similar solution to maintenance but none of the methods work. Pour oil in them, use vinegar. Yes buckets and buckets of vinegar. The amount of vinegar required to keep them from blocking up would sink the boat and bankrupt me. At the end of the day you have no choice but to strip out all the plumbing pipes and clean each piece individually. It is a disgusting job. And this little exercise has to be done about once a month. So today, yet again, I hate living the “dream”, and living on a boat.

08 Aug. 12

We volunteered ourselves some time ago to be the bridge boat during a sailing regatta. Now the weekend has come and we have to get involved. Being the lazy ass people that we are we no longer want to be involved and would rather just do nothing. So yesterday whilst walking past the office I was asked how much anchor chain we have on board. In my mind I hoped that not having enough chain would be our saviour and thus we could avoid being involved. I converted my reply into a question and asked how much chain we needed? The answer came as fifty metres. Yes! I replied in jubilation, we only have about thirty metres so could just continue in our quest for laziness. No, came the answer, the club would provide the fifty meters of chain. So, it appears we will be the bridge boat for the weekend after all.

15 Aug. 12

The club never provided that chain and I found myself starting to panic. After I realised that there was no way they were going to let me worm my way out of the regatta, I decided to do some research. For the last few regatta’s they used another cat named Nomad. She is fifty four foot long. Steve Martin, the Commodore, told me that she had dragged her anchor and they had to add extra warp. I went around and asked everybody that was anybody about the anchor of the last bridge boat, but nobody seemed to know. I needed to know how heavy the anchor was compared to our anchor. I eventually found the owner of Nomad and asked him, thinking he would be able to enlighten me. To my surprise the answer came as, “I don’t know, is that important to you?” I then asked him how they made up their bridle. He replied, “What bridle?” “We just tie a piece of rope around the mast.”

Thursday morning arrived and we found ourselves at the race briefing feeling a bit unprepared. To add to my misery, Rauen, my reliable crew, was flying up to Joey’s to see his dad in the afternoon. This would mean that Lola and Kyle, the rest of my crew, would be at the airport to say goodbye when the race was on. My mind was filled with trepidation as I listened to the race committee announce that we should be getting out in about an hour. Walking back to the boat I had visions of myself as a lonely solo sailor on a badly anchored boat drifting slowly towards the rocks and death.

Fortunately one of the race competitors called and informed us that he was stuck in the snow on his way down from Joey’s. Some of the others also experienced problems so the race was postponed to Friday and I went off to the airport to say goodbye.

Friday morning with two race officials and minus one crew member we motored out of the harbour to test the conditions for the day. After spending an hour drifting about in the same spot I opened the furler and we sailed at about one knot for the next hour. Another hour of waiting and testing and the decision was made to race inside the harbour instead so we motored back to our parking.

The wind finally arrived on Saturday morning and we dropped our anchor in twenty five metres of ocean. Lola gave me clear and concise instruction that she wasn’t accepting the rope around the mast bit so I had to make up our bridle and make it work. Fortunately I am a very talented man and made it happen as per instruction, thus saving my own life and making sure that future Barry would still be in existence.

Sitting out at anchor about three miles offshore watching Hobie Cat racing was quite an experience and we all enjoyed the day.

The racing finished as the wind turned north easterly and picked up to above twenty knots. It fascinates me how quickly the sea follows the change in the wind, within minutes the waves had become short, steep and choppy. Now the fun begins. Lola and I agreed before the time that we won’t fight this time and I ask her to steer us towards the anchor. Steve and I head onto the deck to quickly lift the anchor. Well, at this point I was to discover that my fears of the anchor dragging were all in my head and about to be obliterated. More than an hour later, after some blood, lots of sweat and even a few tears Steve and I finally managed to get the anchor back on board. I was so busy struggling that I couldn’t even find the time to fight with Lola.

With only a few weeks left of winter, Lola and I decided to stop being lazy and start preparing Yrumoar for our upcoming journey. We searched all over the boat for the list of repairs we made but it must have grown some feet and disappeared. After abandoning our search for the list we decided to make a new list. The new list has fifty three items that need to be addressed. Some of the items are big jobs, but most are quite small. On the first day we ticked two items off the list. Today we added one to the list.

Back to that wild imagination of mine

17 Jul. 12


Saturday night was the last night we had to spend with Amy, Keagan and Dean. The weather service predicted strong South Westerly winds and terrible weather for that night. We studied the prediction and felt disappointed that our last night together will be ruined by the weather. God must have seen our disappointment and delayed the weather till Sunday morning, giving us a clear beautiful windless evening instead. This allowed us the time to sit outside in the cockpit till about three in the morning before we eventually decided that we should get some sleep. We woke up again at five and after having our last cup of coffee together we helped pack the last of their belongings into the car and waved them goodbye.



We decided that our last Friday night should be spent at the waterfront. At around nine we arranged a lift with a friend who dropped us outside. We spent the evening alternating between the two remaining nightclubs here. Around three o clock in the morning we had enough and all six of us pilled into a small taxi sitting on each others laps and made our way home. It is now Tuesday and we are still trying to recover.



We discovered some more wood rot around Kyle’s portlight and will have to fix this before we can go again. We will spend the next few months waiting here so hope to tick a few things off the list. I want to focus on my book and hope to finish it before we leave here but haven’t made much progress since our return trip from Durban.



19 Jul. 12

During the night I woke up to Lola writhing and wincing in pain caused by earache. I am hoping she sleeps in a bit this morning and her earache gets better. I felt helpless lying next to her listening to her muffled suffering, trying not to disturb my sleep. This ear has been hounding her on and off for some time now with no real solution in sight. I did recommend a doctors visit but she stubbornly refuses saying that doctors don’t help, they just cost money.



Sitting here back at the beginning point of our planned sabbatical trip has raised many doubts in my mind. Mostly doubts concerning money. We have been delayed by almost two years and this delay has eaten its way into our budget. Thoughts about abandoning the trip or delaying it and starting some or other business venture keep appearing in my mind. The reality about any business venture is that it takes large amounts of cash and time to set into motion. The trip would have to be placed on the back burner until the business is well established and can fend for itself. History then teaches me that the moment the business is left un attended, it starts to fall apart and will eventually die. So any business ideas will actually kill the trip completely. I therefore have to resist the temptation and find other things to keep my mind occupied if we want to have any chance of continuing.



23 Jul. 12

Mtoro, a French couple with an adopted Malagasy son left a few days ago on their return voyage back to Myotte. We had made friends with them in the time they spent here so were on the docks to untie their lines and say our final goodbye’s. They started the motor and we tossed the lines to them as they motored backwards towards the opposite dock. Mario, the husband, mentioned in his broken English that he wishes he had his dingy motor attached to the back of the boat as it helps to steer the boat in confined spaces. We watched as they continued backwards slowly turning the bow towards the channel. The finger next to Mtoro was unoccupied allowing enough space for an easy exit away from the dock. Everything went smoothly and I thought we could start walking back towards Yrumoar when they selected forward gear and started moving towards the channel. The wind was blowing south west and we watched as their boat suddenly turned back towards the dock and headed straight towards another boat. Lola shouted to me that I should run around to the end of the dock and attempt to push them away from disaster. I hesitated for a moment worried that they were going to crash into the finger of the dock that Lola was standing on and thus run her over. Lola instructed me one more time to get onto the opposite finger and push them away. I ran towards that finger. The finger had two sets of stairs placed upon it to allow the owners of the boats usually parked there access onto their boats. As I tried to pass next to the stairs the finger tilted and I lost my balance. Instinctively I grabbed onto the stairs to regain my balance just to discover that the stairs also lost its balance and we both landed in the water. Fortunately two other people working on another boat had seen the pandemonium and ran over to help. One of them rescued the stairs and the other one helped push Mtoro away from the finger and then gave me a hand to get out of the water. In the meantime Mtoro reversed away from the dock again and going backwards towards the channel this time nearly collided with Yrumoar and two other boats on the opposite side of the docks. We tried to run around and save them but could only watch as Silvi the wife and Leo the son pushed Mtoro away from the other boats. By the time we arrived on the opposite dock they had made it into the channel and I stood laughing and dripping sea water as we waved them goodbye. The unplanned swim cost me a cell phone and a nearly full box of cigarettes. In future I think I will just watch people leave from the safety of our boat instead.



25 Jul. 12

Back when I was a child I used to have a little wooden dog. The memory of this dog is a bit vague but from the picture in my older mind I can still see its little wooden body. It had four plastic wheels with the back ones buckled making the dog go up and down whenever I pulled it along on a string behind me. The tail was made using a spring with a small round plastic cap on the end. The ears where pivoted pieces of plastic in the shape of a butter bean that had been driven over by a steam roller. This little dog went with me everywhere I went. This morning I miss the little dog for some or other unknown reason and wished I had kept it. I wonder if part of that child is still with me or perhaps I am just sad because he had to grow up.



31 Jul. 12

The last few days I have been feeling very antsy and restless. We need to move on and it is getting harder and harder sitting here waiting for summer to arrive. I don’t know how much longer I will be able to contain myself.



Woke up at half past four this morning. Whilst sitting in the cockpit freezing my butt off drinking coffee when, suddenly, and for no particular reason at all, I was overwhelmed by emotion. Firstly I missed my kids, then I thought about all the friends I have ever had in my life. I even missed the ones that I made in primary school and haven’t seen since. Not sure what brought on this extreme display of emotion but was glad nobody was awake to see it. Perhaps it was caused by the full moon or maybe its just that time of the month for me.



01 Aug. 12

My kids are always saying that I tend to exaggerate things a bit. Now I don’t agree with them since I feel I always stick to the facts as closely as possible. In a letter I wrote to them I explained the exact story of how I landed in the water and destroyed my cell phone. I copied and pasted the story. Its true, this is how it actually happened.



I wonder how much the story of the drowned phone will grow over time. It always starts off quite close to the truth but then somehow lands up being in a league of its own with a whole new life attached. Yesterday already I was explaining to someone how I jumped in to save a small black kid. Then I added that I also saved an old white guy. The old white guy had jumped in first to try save the young black kid. However as it turns out the old guy had dementia and he actually pushed the young black kid into the water, then he forgot that he did this and discovered the young black kid struggling for his life so decided to jump in after him. After he had jumped in he forgot that he himself couldn’t actually swim so only made matters worse. That was when I arrived and jumped in. unfortunately for me the old guys mind flipped again and he turned into the first world war hero that he was, pulling a diving knife out and a spear gun, he tried to send me to my demise because he imagined that I looked a bit German. I tried to tell him that I only had one or two German friends in my life but have never actually been to Germany. This made him even more mad and he accused me of being part of the Gestapo. A spy sent by the Russian army in a South African disguise with an English accent to kill him. But before killing him my mission was to befriend him and find out how deep the allies were digging their trenches. This was when I grabbed the steps from the walk on and smashed them into his head.



Anyway to finish off the true fact story. The black Ethiopian starving kid survived and I sent him back to Ethiopia with a single egg. He will probably grow up to be the bill gates of Ethiopia, providing he didn’t eat the egg on his way home, and used it to start a chicken farm instead. The old guy, well he just didn’t make it.

M'toro raising their new main sail

The Kids visit

05 Jul. 12


Our decision to come back to Richards bay has been hounding my mind. I feel a bit disappointed that we didn’t just continue on down the coast. Sitting here waiting for summer has made me restless and Lola and I have discussed the option of not going on this trip more than once. We discussed our future and thought about different ideas to make money or restart our careers down here. Having to much idle time hasn’t helped and the doubts have festered in our minds. Doubts as to whether or not we should continue, and doubts as to what we would do once we get to New Zealand. What if we cannot get work there or they don’t accept our application for permanent residency. I believe once winter is over and we have the option to go again that we will leave but the waiting isn’t good for our morale.

Amy and Dean arrived yesterday afternoon after their long drive down from Joeys and will be staying for about a week or so. So now we have all our kids on board. We have a few interesting events planned for the time that they are here and hope they enjoy their visit as much as we will enjoy seeing them. When they left in January I thought I would never see them again and was quite distraught. Since then I have managed to see all of them twice already so feel a bit foolish about being so upset when they left. I struggle with goodbyes especially when it pertains to my kids. When the time comes for them to leave this time, I hope to cope a bit better.

11 Jul. 12

Wednesday again and my time with the kids is running out faster and faster. Last night we loaned a pot and made a delicious potjie so the night just flew by in a blur. This morning we took the dingy and macski down to the foreshore but the south westerly wind was cold and blew the fun out of the beech. This afternoon we will just stay onboard and watch some movies. Sometimes I think it is better to just sit in the cockpit in silence so that we become bored. That way the time will slow down and even though it isn’t any fun, it will last longer. I woke up at four thirty this morning and woke Keagan, instantly I informed him he has to come and sit outside with me and wait for the sun to wake up and show its face. Even though it was quite cold I am still glad we did it. Now I still have to steal some time with Amy somehow. I just wish they could stay longer.

16 Jul. 12

And just like that, they were gone. The kids left on Sunday morning at about seven and I even managed to say goodbye without suffering a complete breakdown this time. Goodbyes are never easy and we have spent the last two days just moping about on the boat without any real direction. The last three weeks just flew by leaving a lot of happy memories to carry us through till the next time we get together.

Regatta Time

27 Jun. 12


Keagan, Lola and I took the dingy and the Macski down to the beach for a test. Lola had done some rowing when she was still at school so didn’t have much trouble paddling around. Both her and Keagan paddled out and around the yachts anchored near the beach. When it was my turn to paddle out past the anchored yachts my water phobia kicked in and I only managed to paddle around one of the chain moorings. I managed to paddle along quite happily until the bottom suddenly drops away and I can no longer see the ground. Then my mind tells my body that the thing is going to capsize and I feel my lungs collapse and struggle to find air. I cant understand this since I could easily swim to the shore and in fact would only have to swim for about ten metres before I could see the bottom again. I am just going to keep trying until this phobia disappears.

02 Jul. 12

We volunteered to be one of the rescue boats in a sailing regatta. Fortunately we didn’t have to rescue anyone and just spent our time sailing around near the race course. We are still trying to master the art of sailing so the practice was required. The first day we motored out the harbour and parked behind Nomad that was acting as the bridge boat. The wind was extremely light at about six knots and the sea was almost completely flat. Eventually we got bored with just bobbing around behind the bridge boat and rolled out our furler sail. Even in these light winds we managed to sail at two knots. Because the sea was so flat and calm Lola and I sat on the bow most of the time and Yrumoar steered herself in a straight line without an autopilot. The conditions were so perfect that it reminded us why we are on a sailing boat in the first place. To complete a perfect days sailing the dolphins were playing in the harbour mouth as we were entering. We have never seen dolphins do summersaults before except at the aquarium, but they gave us quite a spectacular show without any trainer instructing them what to do next. We eventually got back into the harbour just as the sun was setting. The pleasant day sailing motivated us for the next day and it wasn’t difficult for us to go out again in the morning.

Regatta boats

Sailing along under reefed main sail

This time we decided to sail with one reef in the main and a full furler. In the morning the conditions were excellent and the sail combination worked well. We sailed up and down on different tacks and managed to obtain a top speed of six and a half knots. Our wind instruments don’t work so I had to judge the wind speed by the sea conditions. At this point I believe the wind speed to be have been somewhere between ten and fifteen knots. In the afternoon the wind picked up and changed direction from north easterly to easterly and the sea became more and more short and choppy. At this point we tried to tack but ended up with back winded sails instead. I started the motors and tried to swing Yrumoar so that we could carry on sailing but she just refused to turn. So we decided to roll in the furler and motor back into the harbour. I am still not quite sure what we did wrong but believe that perhaps we need to try again and use different sail combinations next time. So obviously we are still a bunch of amateurs.

Rauen and Leo from yacht M'toro

Yesterdays conditions made all of us pretty tired and the constant wind gave me earache. I knew I would get an earache long before it actually started but took to long to decide to protect my ears and thus suffered the consequence of my procrastination last night. This morning we decided not to go out for a third day in a row unless we were desperately required to allow everybody some recovery time.