05/03/2009, Cape Town
Position on 5 March 2009 at 1500 UTC: 33 deg 45.1 S, 018 deg 08.2 E.
Die Suid-Oos het ons toe redelik goed karnuffel - met 3 reefs in die main en reef op jib het ons vir 36 uur teen hom gestoei. Die gevolg was dat hy ons meer as 100 see myl (180 km) noord van ons beplande posisie gestoot het tot regoor Saldanha baai. Vanoggend vroeg het hy sy greep verswak en op plat see seil ons nou teen die wind Suid na Kaapstad. Ons is tans 3 uur vanaf Kaapstad.
Gedurende die vorige nag het 'n brander met 'n paar ton water ons reg op die kant getref - die gevolg was dat die baie sterk klein porthole venster van Andre se cabin in sy toe-poesisie,die metal ramwerk gebuig het en water ingestroom het. Nood reparasies (die opsny van n bad kamermatjie) kon die meeste water vir die res van die nag buite gehou word. Vanoggend het ons die water uitgepomp wat deur die nag ingekom het.
Wat betref die Matroos soek 'n vrou-kompetisie, het die be-oordelaars na vele oorweging van die 100de inskrywings om 'n wenner aan te wys. Die be-oordelaars se beslissing is finaal en geen korrespondensie sal toegelaat word nie. Die wenner is: Die aanvallige Amanda werksaam by SANLAM. Amanda, Andre sal jou binnekort kontak en reel vir n aand uit waar hy met strikdassie geklee sal wees en jy jou heel mooiste klere sal aanhe. Baie geluk en hou die organiseerders op hoogte van verwikkelinge.
Groete en liefde aan almal wat ons vaart gevolg het.
Pierre.
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Bom dia!
After two heavy days with rough seas and strong winds I awoke this morning to a perfect day. The sun was rising in a cloudless sky and the swell much flatter. The south easter is still blowing so we are motoring into the harbour. We will round Robben Island and then head south to the yacht club. There is a bit of a haze, but we can already see Table Mountain and the Twelve Apostles. Probably another three hours before landfall. I have mixed emotions at the moment, split between very happy being back in the Cape and also sad to be ending this wonderful journey.This will probably be this last "daily email" so I will chat to you soon!
Tchau.
Andre.
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The joy of a day time landfall improved by the welcome beckoning of our beloved Table Mountain. Thanks guys for a wonderful voyage and the contributions to a life of happy memories.
Cheers.
Tom.
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Just spoke to Tom on the cell phone. I can confirm they are back on Terra Firma. They will be having a wee dram followed by the final Crew Dinner before heading home.
Welcome Back Lads.
Shaun
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Comments [1]
04/03/2009, Atlantic
Position on 4 March 2009 at 1430 UTC: 33 deg 55.1 S, 015 deg 47.8 E.
Die Suid Oos doen sy werk, ons seil met 2 reefs in die main, twee rolle op die jib en stamp soos in n was masjien, in 25 tot 30 knope wind, ons word verder noord gedruk as wat ons wou wees, sal probeer regmaak as dieSuid Oos bedaar.
Die see is kwaad.
Groete.
Pierre.
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Poor signals on both SSB radios today. A hooligan south easter to welcome us to Cape waters.
Cheers.
Tom
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yeee haaaa royal wet-and-wild cape welcome for us; a rough sea, a big swell/waves and a 25 knot South Easter!
Andre
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Hi Everyone,
This story is drawing to a close. If you enjoyed the despatches from Tom and the rest aboard Myrtle then you are in luck. They will be in Port soon but John - ZS1JNT, another Radio Ham is still out there en-route to Brazil.
You can check on John's progress at:
www.sailblogs.com/member/deliveries
Regards
Shaun - Blogmaster
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03/03/2009, Atlantic
Position on 3 March 2009 at 1400 UTC: 34 deg 23.4 S, 013 deg 06.8 E.
Dit wil lyk na Donderdag aand in Kaapstad, maar iemand se dat dit is nog nie verby "untill the fat lady sings". Vir ons hang dit af hoe hard die suid oos ons more gaan karnuffel.
Kommentaar oor visvangs was voorheen maar skraps aangesien dit n teer saak was. In kort het ons omtrent al 7spinners verloor (tot die laaste een ook) en John, die Valie, maak toe maar n Vaaldam-spinner met die stukkies wat oor is, en ja, wonder werke gebeur nog elke dag, en daar vang hy n tunatjie gister wat vanmiddag te heerlik voorgesit is met smash.
Groete.
Pierre.
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Hello!
For lunch we had our first fresh fish of the trip, fried with a crumbed layer by our chef Pierre - wonderful! Wanted to try sushi, but gave that a skip. I'm on the watch at the moment and then I thought either the chartplotter is going crazy or I am. It showed the boat doing 360s at a speed of 16 knots! Maybe my head was just spinning. But the sun is still behind us so we must be heading in a easterly direction.
It looks like we will be making landfall on Friday the latest or maybe even Thursday if everything goes well... wait... another fish is being pulled in...
Andre.
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Okay so no one wants to mention it so I will..Yep fish has been caught. The first fish on the trip. By the Vaallie from Jhb .When all had given up any hope, the Vaallie riggered up a lure and brought one home. So there. It took a Vaaalie from JHB to show the Capetonians how to catch a fish.OHH Damm I hear the words "Keel haul" from the fore deck. :-)
Regards to all. Bye-Bye.
John
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02/03/2009, Atlantic
Position on 2 March 2009 at 1400 UTC: 34 deg 26.8 S, 010 deg 50.2 E.
Pic: Pierre, with the spinnaker in the background.
Ola amigos!
Yesterday we had a great evening. We toasted champagne to a special young lady that goes by the name of Jodie and we then chatted away to the music of James Blunt and Roxette in the background.
The wind picked up before my 2300 shift and we hoisted the BIG RED spinnaker by 2315. From then until 1315 today we ran 99 nautical miles with the wind which equates to an average of just over 7 knots an hour. The sky is virtually cloudless currently and with the wind and the swell from behind the sailing is very pleasant.
We are ready to beat into the south easter which is expected on Wednesday. Andre Looking like the Michelin man with 4 layers of clothes on my night watch we sailed out of the cold and into the sunshine. Beautiful down-windsailing at it's best.
Cheers.
Tom
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Ons vorder fluks rigting Kaapstad. Wind van agter maar n moontlike sterksuid-ooster le vir ons en wag Woensdag.
Alles is wel, geen klagtes.
Groete.
Pierre.
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01/03/2009, Atlantic
Position on 1 March 2009 at 1430 UTC: 34 deg 15.4 S, 008 deg 01.2 E.
Nadat ons laas nag nog taamblik rond geskommel is in 'n omgekrapte see, is ons vanoggend begroet vir die eerste keer in 'n hele paar dae met sonskyn en spinaker weer. Ons seil rustig op die Sondag middag met die wind vanagter teen 5 knope.
Groete.
Pierre.
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Hi,
The first three words from one of the Gorillaz's songs are, "I see sunshine...". That's how I felt this morning yawning and stretching walking onto the aft deck. What a nice feeling.
Otherwise we are sailing along nicely with the spinnaker flying bright and red. Looking forward to a taste of Pierre's pepperoni pizza that is in the oven at the moment.
That's it for this Sunday.
Andre
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28/02/2009, Atlantic
Position on 28 Feb 2009 at 1400 UTC: 33 deg 42.2 S, 005 deg 03.4 E.
Our voyage is now three weeks under way in which we have covered 2845 nautical miles. This gives an average of 135 miles per day. Considering that a considerable amount of the distance has been covered with the wind from ahead this is not too bad a performance. Another catamaran that left at the same time is about 3 days behind and slightly more to the south.
On Thursday when we crossed the 0 meridian we officially entered the Cape West high seas weather forecast area. Not much seemed to change. But now, three days later, things are a little different. Several cold fronts have passed fortunately without much unpleasantness. Although today has been very cold and grey with rain all day. Constant watch is kept on the weather and much time spent in obtaining updated weather data.
The infamous Cape of Storms lies ahead as our destination. From our present position we still need to sail more to the south to achieve a suitable approach to Cape Town. A cold front near Tristan da Cunha may have the key. Get it right with some north west wind and it could be perfect. Get it wrong and we may arrive in Saldanha or Agulhas. Ahh that's sailing.
Cheers.
Tom
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Ons is vandag 3 weke op see. Ons hoop daar is nog net een week oor. Verlede nag het ons teen n sterk suid ooste wind ingeseil in die reen. Vanoggend is die reen weg, maar steeds bewolk. Ons seil nou in teen 'n matige oostewind.
Alles is wel en ek begin nou al die dae aftel. Baie geluk aan Nelia met die slaag van haar finale CA-eksamen!!!
Liefde en groete.
Pierre.
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Ola!
3 weeks at sea today! From yesterday's daily email, the wind has changed direction a few times and we also had rain, something that Cape Town wants I hear. No rain now, but still overcast. The going is a bit bumpy, but at least we're heading east towards Cape Town.
Hope to see you all soon.
Andre
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27/02/2009, Atlantic
Position on 27 Feb 2009 at 1400 UTC: 33 deg 59.7 S, 002 deg 45.0 E.
Ons het baie ligte wind laas nag gehad tot nou toe. So pas het die wind op gekom na 12 knope uit die Suid Ooste en ons spinaker trek weer lekker vol en ons beweeg darem nou weer teen 6 knope waar ons 3 knope deur die nag behaal het.
Alles is wel.
Groete.
Pierre.
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Hello,
After little and almost no wind during the last twelve hours we are sailing again at a gentle 6 knots. For Privateer, you asked for poetry and this is the only rhyme/riddle I could find on this boat. Not much, but I don't know where Pierre is hiding his Yeats, Langenhoven and other poetry books. It is from the classic book, Competent Crew; Red sky at night sailors' delight, Red sky in the morning sailors' warning.
Hope it helps.
To all, I wish you a wonderful weekend! We will be"working hard" to maintain our heading to Cape Town.
Andre
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26/02/2009, Atlantic
Position on 26 Feb 2009 at 1400 UTC: 34 deg 05.0 S, 000 deg 37.3 E.
Ons het n paar uur gelede oor die Nul grade lengte-lyn geseil - Die Greenich Meridian. Ons het amptelik van Wes na Oos beweeg. Suid Afrika is dus in die ooste - ek het altyd gedink ons is deel van die weste. Dit gaan goed met almal. Ons seil in ligte wind met spinaker teen 5 tot 6 knope, rigting Kaapstad.
My tweede pot Black Bean sop kook nou. Hierdie keer is hy gelaai met n sakkie droe ertjies ook.............
Groete
Pierre.
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Ola!
Everything is going well with the crew and with Myrtle. The sailing is very enjoyable with the BIG RED (spinnaker) standing us in good stead.
We are all looking forward to Pierre's special dish tonight, called "double compression"! I will look for some poetry that I can share with Privateer (another catamaran sailing back from Salvador) since they are not enjoying the weather reports they are receiving.
Andre.
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Old Dog...New Tricks Ahhg. It is one of those days. And like on so many of these out here my mind drifted to thinking of My Old Man sitting reading his junk mail in the front of the work shop, religiously I can tell you every Thursday. Now consider him for a moment. Over 60 years old, been in the diesel trade since the age of +/- 17. Well known and well respected in the South African diesel trade, people from all over the country phone him for advice and answers regarding diesel pumps.
Now I think of times I seen him cursing at a pump in front of him on the test bench that won't calibrate to spec. If somebody makes a suggestion,he considers it . Then will comment on what he thinks...then tries it any way. No matter how ridiculous the suggestion.
Don't ever change Old Man. I hope if I get to your age one day I can be half the man you are.
Good times Spinikar flying Wind on our backs good company What more could a sailing man want for I ask you...
John
ByeBye
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Crossed Greenwich and sailed into our half of the world this morning. Now also less than 1000 miles to go.
The pain over Camilla is easing, probably why we have a pot of Brazilian breans gently stewing for supper tonight.
Cheers.
Tom
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