Sick Days

When I met Brenda at the airport 4 weeks ago I was nursing a bad back which I've come to associate more with a 'flu than with muscle strain.  Thereafter it was a bit of a health roller coaster ride with some days better than others.

 Last Sunday was brilliant and sunny with little wind so we decided to take a cab to Table Mountain.  Unfortunately the waiting line to board the cable car was impossibly long - at least one hour in the hot sun - so we decided to enjoy the excellent view from that staging area then walk down the mountain into town to find transportation back to the marina.

View of Cape Town and Table Bay from Table Mountain staging area

We both enjoyed the walk which gave us a chance to experience the habitat up close and at leisure, but by the time we got down onto the flat we were both struggling.  Fortunately we found a quaint cafe and had lunch and refreshments before pushing on to "The Garden Centre" mall where we took a cab back to the marina.

The excursion had taken it toll on both of us and we had a quiet day on Monday in order to be fit enough for the visit to the Inverdoorn Game Reserve spanning 3 days beginning on Tuesday morning.

Brenda and I enjoyed Inverdoorn very much but during "off time" I would take to bed and rest while Brenda was usually out with her binoculars searching for bird life.

Only part of waiting line for the cable cars

We got back from Inverdoorn on Thursday morning then both got sick big time.  Brenda had such a bad day on Friday that the only reason why she didn't cancel her appointment for the second root canal visit on Saturday was that she was too weak to send the email.  And just as well, too, because on Saturday morning she was well enough to make the appointment.  The cab was waiting for her at 8.30 AM, waited for her during her visit, then brought her back to the club.

Wildflower on side of Table Mountain

But Saturday was my bad day, even though Friday had been bad enough.  I figure that I spent 20 of the 24 hours of that day in bed, getting up for only short spells.   I seemed to have every problem at once: headache, earache, burning throat, coughing up copious amounts of phlegm, and a touch of diarrhea.  The worst was the extreme lethargy.  I found being that weak a bit scary.  On Saturday afternoon I had begun taking the last suitable antibiotic that I had on the boat, Augmentin Forte, and I was hoping to feel the effects of that soon.

I woke up this Sunday morning feeling better, but not well enough to venture far from the boat.  When I visited the club house this morning Diane was at the desk and asked how I was, so I told her about our last few days.  Diane told me that there is indeed a very nasty bug going around that has put people in the hospital.

Dinner Aboard GLENN IV

Last Thursday evening Brenda and I had dinner with Francois and his crew aboard his boat Glenn IV berthed at the VandA marina.

GLENN IV

One of the crew had already departed for Europe but we were able to meet Luke, Philippe, and Henri.  Brenda and I had a wonderful evening in the company of these accomplished, sophisticated, but very down to earth men.  Among the group were two vignerons, a retired doctor, and a physiotherapist.

Before dinner and over drinks I spent a bit of time with Francois discussing some aspects of the Marine Plotter software which he thinks is great and used a lot on the passage from Brazil. We were told of their 2-day stopover at Tristan da Cunha and Henri showed us his photos of the island. It became clear that TdC was not a suitable stopover for a solo sailor as the anchorage is neither sheltered nor secure - they had two people on the boat at all times. Then Philippe presented a perfectly cooked dinner of steak and mushroom risotto accompanied by South African wine which was of course outstanding.  The conversation was lively and a lot of French was spoken which Brenda enjoyed very much. Two of our hosts spoke English very well.

Afterwards we were given a tour of the boat which is about 53 ft long from memory, and which I would place in the "luxury" class.  Aft of the spacious and comfortable crew's bunks I asked if that was a clothes washer.  No, it was the dryer.  The washer was around the corner.  At the spacious galley we marveled at the bread maker, microwave oven, and dish washer.  Below the surfaces were two freezers.

The aft Captain's cabin was a true cabin, with a large island bed with access from 3 sides, storage space all around, an en suite with shower, and a flat screen TV monitor.

After the tour I congratulated Francois on his outstanding boat.

Philippe, Robert, Brenda, Francois, Henri

We said Goodbye to Luke then Francois and Philippe were kind enough to drive us back to the marina, which dispelled a concern about finding a taxi cab to get us safely back in the dark. 

By now all four of these fine men are on their way back to Europe.  Glenn IV will remain at VandA under the watchful eye of Manuel until it is time for their next passage toward the Mediterranean.

New Sail Cover

Steve from North Sails brought the new sail cover yesterday.

Reinforced where covering mast steps

It has features that make it superior to the covers made for me in Fremantle.    The sail can be drawn tight above the headboard and at the end of the boom using drawstrings, and the front of the sail cover is zippered shut.  These measures eliminate past problems where the ends of the sail were at times exposed to the destructive UV rays of sunlight.

Easy and fast closing along bottom of the sail cover

Stern Sheets

Steve also brought the two sheets to be fitted along the sides of the cockpit frame.  They represent a low-cost "proof of concept" experiment to see if they will allow the boat to point better when hove to in a gale.  

Visit to Game Reserve

Brenda and I are booked for a 2-night visit to the Inveroorn Game Reserve about  a 2.5 hour drive from Cape Town.  To quote the brochure: "Our 10,000 hectares dedicated to conservation contains over 1200 wild animals representing 28 different species."  The following is a section of our confirmation message, which includes pickup and return to the RCYC.

It is with great pleasure that I can herewith confirm the reservation which you have made to overnight with us on the 19^th and the 20^th of February, the first night in our comfortable guesthouse accommodation, the second in our superior Ambassador Suite.  Please see below the itinerary for your visit.

OVERNIGHT SAFARI

Day1: (Subject to change)

- Pick up from the Royal Cape Yacht Club at 09H15

- Arrival at the lodge at 12H00

- Lunch outside under the trees starting between 13H00 - 13H30

   Buffet 5 starters, 2 main courses and 2 desserts

- Safari in open 4X4 with a professional guide at 16H30

- Aperitif and dinner in the boma under the stars at 20H00

- Overnight in our comfortable Guesthouse

Day2:

- Early morning safari with the sunrise 06H30

- English Breakfast at 09H00

- Lunch outside under the trees starting between 13H00 - 13H30

   Buffet 5 starters, 2 main courses and 2 desserts

- Safari in open 4X4 with a professional guide at 16H30

- Aperitif and dinner in the boma under the stars at 20H00

- Overnight in our superior Ambassador Suite

Day3:

- Early morning safari with the sunrise 06H30

- English Breakfast at 09H00

- Check out around 10H30

- 1 Hour Cheetah Interaction (subject to suitable weather)

PRICE WITH TRANSFERS: Round trip (CPT/INV – INV/CPT)

R7370.00 per person sharing

Inclusive of 6 meals, 4 safaris, 2 nights’ accommodation + Transfers

Exclusive of drinks

(Vat incl)

Tooth and Mainsail

Brenda arrived in Cape Town thinking that she was past the complication of a tooth extraction that had left fragments of loose bone in her jaw.  Last Saturday the pain returned and after a bad night we made the decision on Sunday morning to seek emergency treatment.  I got on the internet and soon found a dental practice with 24 hour emergency service, Kromboom Dental Centre, in Rondebosch East, about 15 km from the marina.  I made the call at 8.30 AM and our appointment was for 9.30 AM, no later, which meant that we had to hustle in preparing ourselves and finding our way to the practice.

Just before 9 AM we had the marina call the cab driver who seems to service RCYC, and just after 9  AM we were on our way.  Fortunately the driver knew where we had to go, drove fast, and got us there at 9.25 AM.

Dr Khan attended to Brenda, and impressed her with her skill and state of the art digital equipment that she had not seen in Australia.  Bone fragments were not the problem, and that area was healing well.  The problem was an infection underneath the tooth next to the one that had been extracted.  Brenda was given a choice between extraction or a root canal.  It turned out that a root canal would be much cheaper here in Cape Town than in Australia and on Monday Brenda made an appointment next Saturday for the first visit of a root canal procedure.  Some if not all of the treatment should be recoverable from Brenda's travel insurance.

The cab driver had stood by waiting for us and after the emergency treatment drove us to the V&A where Brenda obtained prescriptions for two different antibiotics.   He then drove us back to the marina an we were back on the boat before 11 AM.  The cost of the cab service was R350, about $35, which I considered to be a bargain.  After a bad day yesterday (Tuesday) the antibiotics have kicked in and the pain has finally stopped.

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Since Saturday we have confined ourselves to the marina but fortunately for me the wind died down to practically nothing at times, which enabled me to do some work on the boat.  Better yet, Steve delivered the mainsail, its cover, and the "heave to" sheets for the cockpit frame on Monday afternoon.  There was a screw up with the measurement for the cover and there were grommets missing on the two sheets so those two items went back for modification.  However, Steve left the mainsail and yesterday I was able to take advantage of the calm conditions to set it up and try it out.

New Main Halyard Jam Cleat

Third Reef

Shock Cord for Binding Excess Sail

I hoisted the mainsail all of the way to the top by jumping the halyard at the mast  with amazing ease.  The enclosed photo will show the new third reef.  The three sets of cringles (grommets) running horizontally denote the reef lines.  The new 3rd reef at the top has two cringles.

Another photo shows the use of black shock cord for holding the excess sail to the boom with the first reef.  This will prevent accidental ripping of the sail if I forget to free the cringles before shaking out the reef.  I found that the second reef did not need the shock cord treatment because the excess sail seemed to ride nicely on top of the 1st reef, but I decided to tie it down anyway to deal with high winds. 

I had decided to try Steve's idea of using the first reef line at the leech (back of the boom) also for the 3rd reef.  This was because there are only three sheaves at the back of the boom, two dedicated to reefing lines and the middle one for the outhaul.

I tied a loop of strong cord from the 2nd to the 3rd reef cringle, leaving a tail of loose cord at the bottom of the loop.  When I went from the 1st to the 2nd reef I freed the 1st reef line from the sail then tied its end to the tail at the bottom of the loop of cord.  I then used the cord to pull the 1st reef line up through the 3rd reef cringle then back down to my eager hands.  I then secure the line around the boom and was now ready for the 3rd reef.  It all worked very well.

Buoyed by this success I decided to implement an idea that I had run past Steve who pronounced it to be a good one.  When jumping the main halyard at the mast I have had the problem of how to hold the sail up while I rush to the cockpit to take up the slack at the winch.  I had been forced to wind the halyard around a bollard which meant that when I loosened the halyard from the bollard I would lose a precious 18" or so of sail height.

I found a jam cleat that I had been carrying from Fremantle and thru-bolted it to a flat surface at the tabernacle.  This will enable me to cleat off the halyard then take up the slack at the winch without losing any sail height.  I'll then be able to free the halyard from the jam cleat then return to the winch at the cabin top and finish the raising of the sail.

There were two potential problem areas.  There was the question of whether my Bosch portable drill was up to the job of drilling through the 12mm thick aluminum plate.  I fully charged both of its batteries and was hoping for the best.  The other question was whether I could manage to position the lower nut in the extremely narrow space between the tabernacle and the mast.

Fortunately the Bosch did a sterling job on just one battery.  I used a center punch in the center of the circle that I had traced with a pencil then drilled slowly using a small bit, watching the continuous spiral of aluminum working its way out.  I then used the same slow drill technique with the full sized bit.  For the nut problem I used a thin screw driver to slide the nut over the hole and managed to get the bolt thread started.  Once the lower bolt was snug I punched at the center of the upper aperture of the jam cleat and finished the job with no major drama.

I then went to the boat shop at the end of the jetty and purchased 14 meters of 10mm line to replace the 12.8 meter 1st reef line which was just barely adequate for the new 3rd reef role and might cause me trouble in rough weather.

The photo shows the black jam cleat at the center, slightly angled to match the angle of the halyard.  the halyard is hanging naturally to it left, which means that the jam cleat will present no problem when I drop the mainsail.

Overnight Visit to Simonstown

On the way to Simonstown

Approaching Simonstown

Brenda and I caught one of the frequent trains to Simonstown on Thursday morning.  It was an interesting ride, particularly during the second half where the track was impossibly close to the water's edge, giving us wonderful views of the coastline.  The one hour ride was a bargain at an amazingly cheap R14 (about $1.40).

We spent about 2.5 hours exploring the town from the train station at the northern end of the town to the Cheriton Guest House  at the southern end, where we had a booking.  The town lived up to its reputation of being quaint, old world, and very very British, with names like the "The British Hotel" and "Captain Cook Cellars", and there were splendid views of the marina and naval base.  Along one of the brick walls were plaques denoting famous visitors to the town, including Captain Cook and Rudyard Kipling (who visited often).  One interesting plaque denoted the visit of the Confederate ship "Alabama" under Captain (later Admiral) Raphael Semmes in 1863.  Until then I had no idea that the US Civil War had been fought on a global scale. 

After a light lunch overlooking the harbour we made the walk past the naval base up the hill to the Cheriton.  We arrived hot, tired, and early, and were uncertain of the reception that we would get.  We need not have worried.  When Denise came to the door she knew who we were and welcomed us like old friends.  Soon we met her husband Dirk and were then introduced to Margaret, one of the employees, who showed us around.  Every room in the guest house was richly decorated with all sorts of interesting memorabilia, and the view from the upper floor was superb.  Down below the bar below was particularly interesting, and in an adjoining nook was an extensive collection of old cameras.  The selection of beers, wines and nibblies was run on an honor system.

"Protea" Room

Seaforth

Penguin Checking Out Seaforth Restaurant

Brenda Checking Out Desert

Simon's Town Main Drag

Margaret then took us to our room named "Protea" which I was to learn the next day at the naval museum was a survey ship that did 25 years of service in the SA navy.  It was an impeccably decorated room with a nautical theme, which suite my taste very well.  For Brenda there was the bonus of close proximity to the small but lush garden teeming with birds which were new to her.

Orange Breasted Sunbird

Cape Sugarbird

Orange Breasted Sunbird Munching on Australian Bottlebrush

Robert exploring old cemetery

View from Seaforth

FBYC and Naval Base

For dinner we took Margaret's advice and walked down the short hill and across the main road into Seaforth, which offered good coastal walks with plenty of penguins as well as a fine restaurant where we had a great meal overlooking False Bay.

In the morning we had "the works" for breakfast: and "entree" off yoghurt over a medley of fresh fruit followed by a "main course" of eggs, bacon, sausages, toast, juice, and coffee. 

At checkout time we visited Dirk in his office and got into a lively conversation where we described the sailing and the bus tour of Mexico.  I reminded Dirk that there was a bar tab to be paid but he said that it was such a small amount and he had enjoyed our travel tales so much that it was on the house.  Dirk offered to drive us into town but we insisted that we would be OK with the downhill walk.  The Cheriton Guest House more than lived up to its web site (http://www.cheriton.co.za/) and we highly recommend it to any prospective visitor to Simonstown.

And the walk was OK pleasant and interesting.  Brenda headed for the library and other places and I paid a visit to the False Bay Yacht Club where I met Pam who had sent me an email while I was still far out at sea on the way from Brazil.  We talked about the great confusion over the new Customs procedures that had started in November, and she understood why I had been forced to change my plans and go to Cape Town.  During the visit I made the long walk along the outer jetty to get a good look at the entrance, and everything was as I had picture it from the charts and Google maps.

I them met Brenda at noon next to the statue of the dog "Just Nuisance" (that's another story) and soon we were on the train back to Woodstock Station near the Royal Cape Yacht Club, and at 2 PM we were back on the boat, satisfied that we had gotten to know Simonstown reasonably well.

Visit to Robben Island

Yesterday Brenda and I did a tour of Robben Island (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robben_Island), where Nelson Mandela and other luminaries of the SA freedom movement were imprisoned.

I booked the tickets via the internet the night before and in the morning Diana at the office printed them out for us.  We then took the MiCiti bus to the VandA harbor and walked across the bridge to the Nelson Mandela Gateway where we were to catch the 11 AM ferry.

Glenn IV Making Her Entry

We arrived early and while we were waiting a large ketch waiting for the first bridge to open caught my eye.  It was flying the Q pratique flag and it did not take me long to conclude that just by chance we were within a few yards of Francois and his crew aboard his 54-ft ketch Glenn IV arriving from their passage from Brazil.  I knew that they had spent the previous night at anchor and now they were making their way into the VandA marina.  I hailed Glenn IV and soon Francois and I were exchanging greetings.

The ferry ride to the island took 30 minutes in a calm sea because the wind for once was calm.  As we approached the island Brenda and I wondered how the visit would be structured.  In fact it turned out to be tightly structured which is understandable given the need to manage the large crowds and protect the island's ecosystem.  Buses were waiting for us at the dock and soon we were on a bus tour of the island with a guide giving us a running description and history of the various structures, including the cemetery, leprosy hospital that had been staffed by Irish doctors and nurses (driven there by the Potato Famine), the cemetery,  some defunct military installations, etc.  One building that I took special interest in was the Governor's House, where visiting luminaries stayed after it became a World Heritage site, including, we were told, Barack Obama and his family before he became a U.S. Senator.

Brenda in Front of Robert Sobukwe's House

The guard dogs had better quarters than the prisoners.

Governor's House

Our ex-political prisoner guide

Cape Town from Robben Island

Prisoners slept on mats

Shore along Robben Island

Describing prisoner identity cards

Cell 7, block B - Nelson Mandela's cell for many years

In the prison yard

We the left the bus and were put in the hands of a tour guide who had served 7 years of a 15-Life sentence for "terrorism".  He took us on a tour of the prison giving us detailed account of what had gone on both within those walls and at the quarry where the prisoners spent day after day in mindless hard labor.

I won't go into any detail about what we saw and learned, but I will say that the harsh condition and gratuitous brutal treatment were far worse than I had imagined.  The history of Robben Island during its use as a prison that spanned centuries is a testimonial to man's stupidity.

Brenda with Friend

At 1.30 PM our terrorist tour guide showed us to the door and told us that we were free to go.  We thanked him and shook his hand, as did many others.

Glenn IV Safely in Marina

The ferry departed at 2 PM and at 2.30 PM we were back at the Gateway.  We then walked over to the marina and found Glenn IV at her slip, all in good order, and with no hint that she had just completed a long passage - other than the Q flag still flying, which told us that Francois and his crew were probably still in town going through the clearance formalities.