As a point of clarification concerning tying up to the dock I wrote about yesterday, I said we'd used 11 dock lines to secure our boat to the dock here at the Simon's Town Marina. Now normally, eleven lines is no big deal. What I didn't write was that all eleven lines are on one side of the boat, not both sides. We even have one of our big snubber lines with the rubber snubber attached at the bow. It's been blowing here for the last week and isn't expected to die off any time soon. We've seen it hit 70 knots in here with sustained winds of over 50 so having eleven lines just seemed like a smart idea with lines from 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch. We also have five fenders to go along with it to keep us off the dock if the wind shifts but since it hitting us pretty much on the bow, we bounce and stretch all day and night. Listening to the dock lines stretch as they hold us to the dock and the fenders creak as rubbing against the hull and the dock when Zephyr springs back. Add in that the wind will make us heel over even tied to the marina and it's just a dandy place to be. At least we know we are safe in here and no other boats are beside us nor coming in that could hit us.

We just got back from visiting the "Cape of Good Hope" about 20 miles south of here. Much easier taking a car than a boat in this weather. The winds are still blowing with a top speed so far of 56 knots or 64.5mph here at the marina and steady winds in the mid 30 knots. It's supposed to get stronger as the week goes by. At least that is what the weather forecasters say and we all know what that is worth, don't we.

We took off this morning to visit the "Cape of Good Hope"and see all the windswept beaches and rocky shores along the coast. People settled there back in the 1850s and they must have been hardy souls. While we were there, just to go up to the point or stand along the beach, you had to brace yourself against the winds or it would knock you down. Being a Sunday, there were lots of tourists and locals along the road with us but no traffic jams. It was nice to pull over from time to time and look down to see the surf crashing against the rocky shores. Maybe tomorrow, we will head for Cape Agulhas, the most southern point in Africa. I'd always been told it was the "Cape of Good Hope" but someone got it wrong. It's about a three hour drive so it will be an all day event. We'll see how tomorrow is. Meanwhile, we've repositioned the fenders(all five of them)a bit higher on the side to better protect the hull. When a big gust of wind hits us, poor Zephyr heels over a good 15 degrees with the mast swinging back and forth. With us being so heavy(about 22 tons), we're amazed it's rocking so bad.