Day 38 - Right Desert, Wrong Tent

In the afternoon I had a deluxe cockpit bath in preparation for my arrival.

My hopes of sailing through the night, even if only at 2.5 kts, were dashed when the southerly wind dropped to below 10 kts. At 8 PM I hailed a ship and explained that he would be passing me within a half mile on his starboard side. Instead of turning to port he turned to starboard and was headed directly for me. Outside I could clearly see his leading lights so I turned on the engine and altered course 90 degrees to starboard to pass astern of him. Once I had set the new course I called the ship and informed them of the situation.

Once the engine was on I left it on because I calculated that I would need a speed of about 4 kts in order to make the 45 miles to Cape Town in the early morning. I made the decision to stay up all night to watch the autopilot and for the shipping traffic that was around me. I must say that the conditions topside were superb. The sea was calm, the air gentle and cool, and overhead was the canopy of stars with Orion almost directly overhead and the Southern Cross low to the south.

The radar went on the fritz again. I tried to turn it on but nothing happened, even when I recycled the chart plotter itself. It's likely to be a problem where the cable was patched and is one more item for the Raymarine man. It was a shame because I could have used it this night.

At 11.30 PM the wind built up and was good enough for sailing so I rolled out the jib and switched off the engine. We were probably averaging 4 kts from the varying strength of the wind. There were quite a few ships about but they did not bother me as much as several brightly lit boats on the move. They had no AIS and their navigation lights were drowned out by the other bright lights on the boats so that I could easily determine their direction of travel. It was actually very enjoyable and exhilarating sailing because of the conditions, excellent visibility, and the many lights to keep track of.

The wind started to die and at 1 AM I went back to the engine for the rest of the journey. When the mist dissipated after the sun rose I had good vies of the coastline which was only 4 or 5 miles away. I saw mountains but wasn't sure which was the famous Table Mountain. At about 8 miles before the turn into the harbor I took advantage of the calm waters to prepare the boat for the entry. I put up the quarantine and courtesy flags, boat fenders on both sides, and mooring ropes fore and aft.

The 6.35 SAMMNet session came just before I made my turn into the harbor and I shut down the engine and let the boat drift during the session. They were pleased that had made it safely and a few words were said about them supporting me during my passage to Australia. Once I made that turn I saw it and had no doubt that it was Table Mountain that I was looking at. I took a few photos of Cape Town's spectacular setting.

The Noonsite web site states that the RCYC must be contacted on VHF 16 when approaching by boat. I kept calling them with no response and finally some good soul suggested that I try VHF 77, but I didn't get a response from that channel either. I would have to go into the marina unannounced and on my own. I worked my way to the corner where the yacht club was sited. Marine Plotter was particularly useful for this because the close up "roadmap" image showed the individual jetties. I had been expecting to see two guest berths at the end of the first jetty and in fact I saw a "T" section at the end of the first jetty that was clear and had bollards for tying up. I was making my way toward that when a man in a passing boat told me that the guest berths were up the first fairway that I had just passed. To my great regret I took the man's advice, turned Pachuca 180 degrees in the narrow fairway, then proceeded up this aquatic alley with boats on the left, rocks on the right, then a few Moorings charter boats on the right at the end of the rock wall. I got to the end of the fairway, looked to my left, and saw nothing suitable. However, dead ahead was a pontoon that was free so I tied to that.

It was only after I changed clothes and spruced myself up to make contact with the club that I noticed the sign as I walked off the boat that illegal parking of boats was forbidden. No problem: I would walk to the club house and get instructions on where to go. But that was not so simple. Although the charts and Google images suggest that the RCYC occupies this entire area, in fact a small part of it is occupied by the police service. Getting off the boat only put me in a large compound with scores of police cars and other equipment that was totally locked up. I walked around trying to find someone to speak to but there was nobody, undoubtedly because it was Sunday. So I was unable to find out where to take the boat and in any case the wind had kicked up making movement of the boat a big hazard.

Although Pachuca is tied up and we are safe, I am basically trapped until tomorrow (Monday) morning. I'll explain myself to the police and ask permission to visit the club so that I cab learn where to take the boat. If the police give me a hard time I'll ask them to cut me some slack since I had just arrived from a solo passage from Brazil and had not gotten a wink of sleep the night before. As for RCYC, I find great fault in their lack of good signs and clarity on where visitors should go. Also, not monitoring VHF 16 is a problem, even though it is Sunday. If it is all a Sunday problem then Noonsite should be advised of the actual working policy that is being used.

Finally, my first impression of RCYC is not good. It is tucked deep in the bowels of a heavy industrial zone. Even in Pachuca there is enough vibration coming through the hull to make me think that my engine is running.

I am indeed worn out. The best thing that I can do is to go to bed early (It's only 10 AM but it feels like 10 PM) and wake up refreshed to face the coming day. If the wind is calm in the early morning I will move the boat before anyone even notices that I was here.

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com