Hout Bay

Hout Bay is being very good to us, no bad weather so far and lots of opportunities to work on the boat and do some sightseeing. We have sent some photos to facebook and hope to send more soon. We wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

Andy, Clemencia and Rolf Olsson (from Tidaholm)

Home for a month

We arrived in a calm at 1.30 this morning. We woke late to brilliant sunshine, green mountains all around and a harbour full of playful seals.

We plan to stop here until New Year with some time for working on board and plenty of sightseeing.

Cape Town here we come

Tonight we hope to be in Hout Bay on the outskirts of Cape Town. This will be our base for the next month. Just now it is calm, hot and sunny and we are passing Cape Agulhas, the true southern tip of Africa. This evening we should pass the Cape of Good Hope.

Mosselbaai

We are about to arrive after a pleasant 2 day trip. The weather has changed from Durban, no more rain and thunderstorms, but we still need to watch out for the wind.

Lot's of birds at sea, mainly shearwaters and gannets but the occasional albatross as well.

Good sailing

We have a spell of fair winds and are making good progress on a broad reach towards Mossel Bay. Hopefully after a couple of days rest we can continue towards Hout Bay (Cape Town).

East London

We have left Durban after nearly 3 weeks. It is a good city to visit and treated us well. We had a wonderful safari at iMfolozi 3 hours to the north.

Our sail here was hurried, in order to try and make the most of fair winds which can be as little as 24 hours. It was rough and uncomfortable but we arrived without any probelms.

Next stop will probably be Port Elizabeth or Mosselbai.

Almost as soon as we arrived in Durban we hired a car and set off to see the wild animals at Imfolozi/Hluhluwe Park and at the wetlands at Santa Lucia.  Most of the photos need no caption but I have added notes on some.

 This is the Impala, they seemed to be very common.

A Greater Kudu

These parks are famous for bringing the White Rhino back from the border of extinction.

A sea eagle

Weaver bird in the wetlands.

The weavers nest

A spotted hyena, we were lucky to see this, it made getting up before 5am worthwhile

We saw the lion quite close by, it was up a tree, which is very unusual.  The camera shutter stuck so you just have to believe us!  Then it spent the rest of the day with its pack under the tree in the distance.  You can just see the back of its head at the bottom of the trunk.

Arrived

Safe and sound in Durban Champagne is opem

Nearly there

We should be in Durban this evening, then we will be busy with the beaurocrats and organising a bit of sightseeing.

We had a nice breeze last night but now it is calm again and we are back to the motor.

Tiempo Loco

The weather is crazy. We have had many thunderstorms and at night the whole sky is lit up with lightning. The rain pours down and we have to close all the hatches, it stops and we have to open to dry out. The wind constantly changes direction and speed so Andy is up and down like a yoyo. A strong blow comes and he struggles for 30 minutes to get the sails down. Just when everything is neat and tidy the wind drops again. Up with the sails and then it changes direction!

We have used a lot of motor but progress is slow as even with the motor the irregular sea slows us. We should be in port in about 2 days.

The good news is that Clemencia has her sea legs and the motion hardly bothers her and that Andy i becoming slim.

Calm

Last night the wind came up a little and we sailed through the night. But it has dropped away again and we probably need to start the motor soon. Still, no hurry and all is well. After 6 days we have eaten all our fish so maybe today we will put out the line again.

Calm

It ha been completely windless now for 16 hours so we are motoring.

There is only a long easy swell so almost no movement and Clemencia is completely at home.

Only 3-4 days to go, though it looks as though we may have some uncomfortable weather for the last day.

Calm

The gale has passed and we are left with big swells and calms. Motoring along nicely and getting down to shipboard tasks like baking bread.

It is hard to believe we are near Africa, it is pleasantly cool for me - that means freezing for Clemencia.

Fast sailing

We have had a light gale for 36 hours but have been sailing very fast all along so are making excellent progress. Clemencia is like a seasoned sailor and busy knitting and cooking.

Albatross

We had a wind shift today and the weather has become cooler. With this we saw our first albatross (grey neck) of the trip. On course and making good progress towards South Africa. Playing Rummy Q it is so smooth!!!!

Dorado

Just after dinner last night we caught a big dorado, about 6-7kg. It was the first fish we have caught since leaving Bali!!! The joke was that I had changed the fancy expensive lure to a piece of tattered rag that Magnus had made. Maybe it was so tattered because it has caught so many fish.

Wind is changing but continues to be fair and we are making excellent progress. Despite sailing south it is not any cooler - well we are heading for Africa.

Dorado

Just after dinner last night we caught a big dorado, about 6-7kg. It was the first fish we have caught since leaving Bali!!! The joke was that I had changed the fancy expensive lure to a piece of tattered rag that Magnus had made. Maybe it was so tattered because it has caught so many fish.

Wind is changing but continues to be fair and we are making excellent progress. Despite sailing south it is not any cooler - well we are heading for Africa.

Dorado

Just after dinner last night we caught a big dorado, about 6-7kg. It was the first fish we have caught since leaving Bali!!! The joke was that I had changed the fancy expensive lure to a piece of tattered rag that Magnus had made. Maybe it was so tattered because it has caught so many fish.

Wind is changing but continues to be fair and we are making excellent progress. Despite sailing south it is not any cooler - well we are heading for Africa.

Day 2

We are not making fast progress but it is warm and sunny and not at all uncomfortable.

Farewell Reunion

We have left after 2 1/2 weeks lovely visit to a perfect tropical isle.

We have light fari winds and are sailing to pass south of Madagascar before heading towards Durban.
Hot and sunny.

Visiting La Reunion

We hired a car and travelled around this wonderful tropical island. It is a Department of France and so part of the EU. All the best of French culture and infrastructure combined with tropical heat and vegetation and spectacular mountains.

La Reunion

Here we are, in the EU! Reunion is a department of France so we feel
just as though we were in Europe, the Mediterranean perhaps. It looks
like a very spectacular island with high mountains and steep valleys.
So far we have not got further than the Marina but will soon start to
explore.

More recent photos

We left a momento of our visit to Cocos Keeling - one side 2016 and the other side our last stop in 1992

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Two shots of life at sea

Street life in Rodrigues - chicken was the favourite item on the menu at the restaurants.

Clemencia with giant Aldara tortoises at Rodrigues

Clemencia enjoying the lovely beaches on the east side of Rodrigues

Gentle sailing to Mauritius but a few squalls about nonetheless

Port Louis, Mauritius by day and night

We have moved up to Grande Bay in the north of Mauritius, more relaxed than the big town but still lots of houses, hotels and people.  We are hoping for some sunny days on the beach, though it is relatively cool at present.

Mauritius

Here we are in the biggest town since Bali and all the trappings of
civilisation. Culture shock but very nice for Clemencia.

Karsten flies home tonight to Norway and Clemencia and I will stay a
few weeks here. So more photos later - from the beach.

Nice weather

On the trip towards Mauritius we are having the best weather since leaving Bali. Lighter winds and seas and warm sunshine without it being too hot. We feel as though we deserve this! All ewe need now is to catch a fish!

More Rodrigues

Rodrigues