Logged 214 Nautical Miles – 41 Hours

20.25 Sailing 20.75 Motoring

December 8, 2018 to January 9, 2019

Mossel Bay to Cape Town

The third and final leg around the South African Coast included some of the most outstanding features, Cape Aguhlas and the Cape of Good Hope…it was the shortest and easiest leg. The 214 nautical mile trip took just less than two days, with light wind to start we motored the first half then sailed the second half. It was clear sunny and cold with a sea temperature of just 66 degrees and the air temp of low 60’s at night. We left at dinner time and at 06:00 the next morning Dan tried to help another World ARC boat “PretAixte” who had engine troubles. I didn’t like the feeling of him being in just a dinghy on the ocean or of being left with only Alicia and I on board but it was not a problem. Unfortunately he was not able to help them. That afternoon we saluted Poseidon by pouring a shot of rum overboard as we sailed past Cape Aguhlas. Cape Aguhlas is the southernmost tip of Africa and the meeting point of the Indian and Atlantic Oceans. Next we were delightfully greeted with hundreds of dolphin that came alongside Smoke and Roses. Rounding Cape Point, we sailed past the Cape of Good Hope. It is situated at the junction of two major ocean currents, the cold Benguelas along the west coast and the warm Aguhlas on the east coast. By early morning we could see the Twelve Apostle Mountain Peaks and the sprawl of the city of Cape Town dominated by Table Mountain. Passing under a swing bridge from Granger Bay we entered the Victoria and Alfred water basin, a protected harbor situated at the foot of Table Mountain in South Africa’s iconic waterfront.

A region of spectacular scenery, Western Cape has much to offer. In addition to having a metropolitan city at our doorstep, within a few hours of Cape Town are lush vineyards, mountain hiking trails, sandy beaches scenic drives, game reserves, historic tours, rich floral kingdoms and more. Around the area are millionaire homes in some wealthy suburbs and only a short distance away are tin shanties in over crowed settlements (squatter camps). Extremes of wealth and poverty, the apartheid era not long ago and the government threat to return land to the natives, made for underlying tension.

While some World ARC boats arrived in Cape Town well ahead of us and then left for the Holidays, we took our time getting there and stayed a full month over Christmas and New Year’s. We had our daughter Alicia with us and Jessica a friend of hers came to visit for two weeks. The waterfront was a festive holiday destination with a tall Christmas tree in front of a large modern shopping mall. There were local musicians performing in several street locations, a Ferris wheel, numerous fine restaurants as well as the V & A food market filled with food vendors at very inexpensive prices, the Watershed which had all locally produced South African goods, a variety of bars and tour operators and a wooden platform for the entertaining Cape Fur Seals. Every day, a noon day cannon was fired which echoed through the marina from the slopes of signal hill, a historic time signal in Cape Town since 1806.

Our first week in Cape Town we tried to get most of our boat chores and errands completed as many business and services closed from mid-December until January 7. After several days of numerous emails and phone calls to a shipping company, customs office and supplier, Dan finally got his hands on our new replacement inverter which we had rerouted from Reunion Island six weeks ago. The new solar is working great with the inverter which means we are using the generator a lot less. Dan also got the water pump on the new engine replaced which was a warrantee item and he replaced some of the running rigging. I worked on securing a Brazil visa; this was a challenge for all US boats. Some were able to complete it online with less documentation and at a fraction of the cost that we had in going to the Brazil consulate in Cape Town .Alicia and I used uber to go down town one afternoon to check on getting my underwater camera repaired and to have the diamond reset in my wedding ring. The camera could not be fixed but Prins and Prins, a jeweler recommended by Galen form World ARC provided awesome service and a great price to fix my ring. In addition to our work that first week we did some adventurous hiking and took the Hop On Hop Off City Bus Tour stopping for lunch and wine tasting at Groot Constantia, South Africa’s oldest wine estate.

A couple prominent things come to mind when I think about the hikes in Western Cape. Many of the hikes are so popular that you would think anyone and everyone can do them. There were times we questioned our sanity; when scaling rocks on a cliffs edge or trekking very steep inclines for several hours in the hot sun. Sometimes we met people along the way where someone was struggling and the rest of their party was convincing them to continue. Another time an elderly man was sitting alone and he asked if we had any snacks, I gave him a big handful of trail mix. Another prominent feature was the fynbos of the Cape Floral Kingdom. Fynbos is the vegetation of the mountains and coastal plains of South West Cape. Fynbos means small or fine bush, many fynbos plants have small leaves or flowers. The Cape Floral Kingdom is the smallest of the world’s six floral kingdoms and is the only one within a single country. Some 8500 species of plants occur in South Africa’s fynbos for which 60% are endemic, meaning that in nature they are found nowhere else in the world. I was awed on every hike with the amazingly rich fynbos as well as the indigenous Afromontane Forest vegetation with trees of all shapes and size…it was stunning. I can hardly imagine the flowers during a season with more rainfall. A third feature was the changing weather within a single hike, on Table Mountain for example a hot sunny day can suddenly turn cold, windy and misty wet.

Some of the hikes we did included: Lion’s Head, the most challenging and dangerous with the trail on narrow steep cliffs, it was also interesting as we climbed in circles to the top with great views. Table Mountain, the most unique with its flat top and aerial cableway. Lighthouse Point, the most fascinating with its history of 15th century explorers. Hermanus Cliff Path, most popular for whale watching. Hermanus Fernkloof, easy hike with most stunning vegetation from fynbos to forest. Kirstenbosch, most diverse with its botanical gardens, canopy walkway and nature trails. Last was Devils Peak, the most spectacular views and less crowded. We did half our hikes with Hal and Marcia from “Cayuse”, we always enjoy their company. Every hike had great views and gave us some good exercise.

My favorite excursion was an overnight trip to explore Cape Peninsula and fortunately we went before Christmas with little traffic. Entering the Table Mountain National Park our first stop was Cape Point. We walked cliffs towering 200 meters above the sea to the new Cape Point Lighthouse which is the most powerful on South Africa’s coast. Next was the Cape of Good Hope, The most south westerly point of the African continent. We made stops at the Dias and DaGama Crosses, representing the Portuguese explorer that pioneered the trade route between Europe and the East. At Buffels Bay we had views of the Black Rock Peaks and to our surprise there were families of baboon in the picnic area, they are great characters and very amusing to watch. One infant was so young it hardly had any hair, another baboon climbed over the roof of our car. Leaving the park we noticed vast areas of the fynbos landscape change color from oranges, brown, green and white. It was so different from anything I’ve seen and very beautiful. We spent the night in Simon’s Town, a charming little coastal town with historic buildings and cobbled lanes. Just two miles away was Boulders Beach, home of the African Penguin. We were fortunate to have arrived while they were nesting and watched a breeding colony laying eggs. The African Penguin is an endangered bird; we observed them at close range as they wandered freely in a protected environment. Before taking a scenic drive back, we stopped at two spacious beaches, Scarborough and Noordhoek. Alicia got swamped with a wave while lying on the beach, she saved all the belongings but everything was covered in sand. Chapman’s Peak on the Atlantic side of the peninsula is one of the most spectacular marine drives in the world. We enjoyed views of magnificent mountains plunging into crystal seas, just a short distance from Cape Town.

While the crews form the World ARC Fleet that remained in Cape Town over Christmas, celebrated with a pontoon party and wine country tour, Alicia and her friend Jessica treated us to a safari. With its spa, bar, curio shop and generous buffet meals, the Aquilla Game Reserve, just two hours form Cape Town, was a totally different experience from our private bush camp safari one month ago. Although it was evident the big animals were in a confined space to be showcased, it was cool to see them during the game drives. Some of the animals we saw were elephants, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, waterbuck, giraffe, zebra and something we had not seen before, lions. It was very cool to watch the lions affectionately grooming each other, at such close range.

No visit to South Africa would be complete without spending some time in the magnificent wine country. With countless wineries to choose from, we visited three with wine tastings in both the historic Franschhoek and scenic Stellenbosch regions. We had preordered a picnic lunch at one winery that we enjoyed on the lawn, the food was good, the wines were intoxicating and the scenery was awesome.

For New Year’s Eve there was a pot luck pontoon party complete with lots of champagne and fireworks. It was good to reunite with some of the returning fleet. Our daughter and her friend left right after New Year’s. It was great to share part of this journey with Alicia and we hope she can return.

With just a week to departure on a long leg of 1700 nautical miles and business reopening, all of the fleet is busy working on their boats. Most everyone had their boat bottoms cleaned and purchased new rigging and sails, as did we. North sails fixed the clew on our main sail and shortened the foot. With downwind sailing typical on the next long legs we checked with North sails for a used spinnaker. They did not have one that fit our boat, but offered to build a new gennaker for a little more than we expected to pay for used. It was delivered the afternoon before departure with a brief demonstration. With just the two of us onboard, it will be a little more challenging to learn how to fly the new sail but we should have plenty of time to do so. Happy 2019!