Murph - the other one - and the Examiner

Serves me right on 2 counts - one, for feeding the old bearded bastard with the trident a drink through the cockpit drain - no doubt he was miffed and two, for not following my own rule and testing everything before going to sea on one of these gigs.

Udo fixed the very nearly dead electric autopilot and gave it new innards but as he had already tested it, I assumed it would work when we plugged it into the boat. Murphy and the Examiner contrived to jam it and as we were still so close to CT it would have been very silly old fart behaviour to keep going without it. Kevvo does not work when we are motoring unless there is a significant apparent wind not created solely by our movement through the water so having no electric thingy would mean hours - maybe days of hand steering, especially if other things had already assumed pearshapedness.

Udo has now taken it away for surgery - I hope not autopsy - and he will do his best to get us away again tomorrow. We will also set up the toy version of the autopilot that I have as backup so that it will work rather more easily than it is set up to do now (now needs alligator clips on to the battery - instead of the much easier cigarette lighter plug).

All I can say is watch this space. I will try to get copies of pics of 0500 departure for later blog if we are still here tonight.

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Seals and dolphins

Quickie to say that we left the Royal Cape YC at 0510 this morning and we're heading down towards the Cape of Good Hope. So far so good and if this goes too, then all systems including AIS seem to be working. Keep em crossed!

Seals and dolphins in cavort mode as we left the harbour. Noice. And I spilt half my first Consultative medicament on to the cockpit floor - unintentionally - so I'm living with the consequences of that woolly sock moment and I hope the Bearded One with trident is feeling libated even though it was processed via the cockpit drain.

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Quick, mini update -

Massive couple of days packing the boat and absolutely knackered! Silly old fart. We are planning to leave tomorrow at 0500ish UTC. Wish us luck and happy christmas to all y'all out there. We will hang out the decorations and Consult briefly - of course - with the reindeer and the other old fart.

I hope the next one will be from the boat.

Love yez all!

View from the top

Macca late last night - I had difficulty saying anything interesting. Hope we weren't too boring. Then we climbed Table Mountain this morning, early before the crowds, on the first really sparkling day since we arrived here. It's a steep, rocky climb from about 300 metres at the start up to about 1100 at the top. I was reminded forcefully of how the old corpse has atrophied since I last tried any serious running - a climb that would once have been a breeze was not easy. Pete carried the backpack most of the way. Wonderful view all the way to the Cape of Good Hope from the top, and around to Cape Town and Table Bay.  At the top there's a very swish restaurant and fast food and trinket establishment - odd really - just like being in any airport terminal rather than the top of such a spectacular mountain. We required rehydration - of course - and worked our way through a couple of doses of Grolsch - third best eer in the world after Coopers and Carlsberg Elephant. Then down by the cable car - fast and disconcerting as the interior rotates and if you are leaning aginst the side trying to take photos, your feet go one way and the camera the other.

The photos are here - 100 downloads or 7 days, as usual. I used two cameras but try as I might I could not get the folder to zip them in the correct order - all the ones beginning with PC21...should be first. K, the view when your call came through was PC210001 - noice, and even noicer to talk to you. Photos 2362 & 3 have the COGH almost dead centre though it is really hard to see.
http://www.yousendit.com/download/MVNma3NaTlFveE9Ga1E9PQ

Then we refuelled the boat and started to try to get the insides in order to start packing it...now it's time for Dr Gordon in stiffish mood for two thoroughly knackered old farts.

AIS rocks!

AIS - Automatic Identification of Ships - gizmology with attitude and relevance. Big ships (>300 DWT for the techies) are required to transmit AIS data on VHF radio (Ship's GPS position, likelihood of collision, name, MMSI, course, speed, destination.....lots more) and carry expensive equipment that reads, integrates and plots the data from other ships using GPS so everyone has a position for everyone else, plus a lot of other information. Us little boats can clock in with the right gizmological goodies and use the data and it's brilliant. If it's working! Berri's AIS black box died somewhere between Lisbon and here but we now have a better and, I hope, more durable one courtesy of Udo. Pics are of Udo installing the box and two screen dumps of the data - first one shows the list of ships whose data we were receiving plus the specific data from one ship, in the right hand column. Second one has the plot of the Cape Town harbour with the ships we were receiving in their correct positions.

And Pete, fixing the leak over my feet at the same time.

Happening part 2

A day of things happening - rain early calling for classic Eeyore, but cleared just as we were called in to the crane. Berri strapped, hoisted, dangled and turned while the old farts and Manuel did the paperhanger trick with pressure spray, scrapers and allen key - all the while being urged to get a move on because there was a queue for the crane. All done in about 40 minutes. Ferals galore - goose barnacles? - all happily living on the antifouling. Not any more. And I made a truly agricultural adjustment of the pitch on all three prop blades, made harder because I forgot to leave the engine in gear but a good approximation of fully available pitch tweaked into the old Kiwi and did it ever make a difference!  First thing I noticed when we were backing out of the crane berth was the prop walk in forward gear, then the speed with the engine idling. Noice!

Back on the berth and into the other stuff - Pete making a folding seat to go in front of the galley, me setting up the gizmology for Udo, packing the forepeak and trying to get my head around where we will put everything for the southern ocean. I had intended to ship all the arctic gear back to Oz but turned out to be too difficult so it's coming with us.

Then Udo arrived and we have AIS! - see next post. And more wind and grit. And the sailmaker arrived with re-inforced mainsail and little red sail with hanks - I fitted the old outer forestay a couple of days ago and we'll go with the hybrid Berri - hanks on the outer, furler on the main forestay set for twin poling all the way home...

Time for a cold Con in the bar with Pete and I'll do the AIS post later.

A day of things happening

More pics to follow

Romance behind the bog

Imagine!  you spend a good chunk of your life conscious of the history and the romance and the sheer emotional grip of the Great Capes and one day you drive to the Cape of Good Hope - second only to the Horn as a place of fear and pilgrimage and you see it out there off the road and you ask where the path is to get to it - 'Walk or car, sir? Walk. OK sir -there's a path over there behind the toilets...
So you set off from behind the toilets to walk to one of the great corners of the world...

The COGH is almost at  the southern end of the peninsula but but quite - Cape Point, .much bigger. higher and more impressive. is the real southernmost point  before Caper Agulhas, the real corner and the divide between the two oceans, 100 miles or so further east.

There's a zipped folder of photos from the day here
https://download.yousendit.com/Z01NeFlUMGM4Q1RIRGc9PQ
It will last for seven days and/or 100 downloads - I don't have time to do the picasa thing. 

True grit

What a place - of confronting contrasts, of fierce winds, of the Mountain dominating everything, of friendly people, of security everywhere.

We've been full time busy fixing Berri in the gaps between the easterlies - the top gust a couple of days ago here in the marina was 79 knots and mostly over 60 - worse in Hout Bay further south where 3 boats sank. The wind carries with it tons of 200 grit sand - black dusty sharp sand that blasts away gel coat, anodising, paintwork - everything. It gets into mast tracks, bearings, lines and sheets. Don't none of you Sydneysiders ever complain about the wind and weather - you ain't seen nothing!

Progress - the HF radio is back and working - was a faulty relay in the on/off switch but the relay is on a PCB inside the transceiver...Oh for the days of simple lever switches! Thanks to Udo - contact details available if anyone is coming this way.
The laptop also had problems, as I knew, and Raashid is coming down this morning to re-install it and test everything - Raashid details also available  for anyone needing a nerd in CT. A couple of great guys who really know their stuff.

Apart from that, we have had a mini glimpse of the place but hope to get the boat sorted and spend a couple of days driving around before we leave. Complicated by Christmas and the usual pressures on tradies to get stuff done. Berri gets lifted and hung in the straps on Friday fr barnacle scrape, prop pitch adjust, anode check and quick inspection of rudder bearing and general bottomy things.

Raashid arriving - must go. Will post more photos later. I understand there may be another Macca session this sunday, if they can reach us.

A bit further from the bar

Manuel Mendes - the bearded one - boatbuilder, fixer, sailor extraordinaire - is looking after us in royal fashion. He was up at 0330 this morning sending Groupama off into the 25 's knot SEasterly that is blowing now and funnelling down the mountain past Manuel's house at 50 - 60 knots. The cloud rolls down the side of the mountain in huge swathes and as it cools here, it will start to drizzle.
Fixes all under way but nothing resolved yet.
We had a supporting breakfast Con on Friday as the sun went down at RANSA and Bill W did his thing for us. Thanks everyone!
And thanks too for all your messages - rather too long a list for this note.

Doug - fascinating stuff - and there's a book, now out of print by Raymond Rallier du Baty called Aventure aux Kerguelens which you might enjoy. He has the SWestern peninsula named after him. Malcom, thanks for red circles around the mines. I'll bear them in mind!

More birds

I've been playing inexpertly with the images - might not work but don't know how to check until I see them on the blog. El PinkbokkerZeb having a ride in the sun.

Radio has gone off to Icom looking very much the worse for wear - rusty, corroded case, even though it lives in the driest part of the boat. Udo has condemned the AIS gizmo - a dead parrot - so have to decide whether to buy a new one - slightly better but seems much more expensive that the original. Pete off saying goodbye to old friend who is off to UK tomorrow and I'm contemplating the prospect of a cold beer after I have been out to Berri to bring in the washing.

When the south easter blows here it has attitude - nearly 50 knots around the mountain yesterday. We visited Groupama - amazing machine! 30 metres by about 23, weighs 18 tons fully crewed, one winch of the many worth more than Berri - pete has photos and I'll post some when he gets back. The crew anxious to get away - Manuel, our host here responsible for getting the new generator shipped out to them and it arrived as we were there and the crew were all over it in an instant, unpacking, adjusting - they plan to leave tomorrow if all goes well. Nice, laid back guys, despite their awesome toy and happy to talk to the dinosaurs.

Packages received from Malcom, IGgle, Sue and Doug M - thanks everyone - will try to write separately soonish.

More photos

Basically - going down the Tagus leavint Lisbon - Prince Henry monument on the right, then close up of monument and Himself with two seagulls providing appropriate comment, then Spectacled Petrel and Atlantic Yellow Nosed Albatross but they are all ou of order  sorry!

Some photos

Trying to get organised - being looked after ratehr well but it takes time to get it all working in a strange city...The photos never seem to load in the same order I want them so I'll put headers with the next send

Safe Arrival

At 13.30 UK time we received a call from Alex who was in the bar with
Pete at the Royal Cape Town Yacht Club, medical refreshment firmly in
hand. He won't be able to get to a computer until tomorrow and asked
that we confirm their safe arrival.
Posted by I & G in the UK, together with the images below. We don't
really know where Berri is moored at the Royal Cape Town Yacht Club:
we've just guessed that they'll be as near the bar as possible.

Cape Town At Last!

Latest Position

Posted by I & G in the UK. Nearly there!

The last two cans

Perfectly rationed dosage of Dr Murphy's throat clearing elixir - we have 5 miles to go and we are about to open the last two (of 144, over 69 days). I'll do another post tomorrow with the stats and other news and will keep them going while we are here.

Small glow of happiness.

Love yez all and thanks for being out there.

In sight of the lighthouse

Or we would be if it wasn't hidden in the haze. It seems that I must have forgotten to send a position report yesterday.

Position 0630/9th 3356 01755, trip 148/48 DMG 138 Capetown now 25 miles to harbour entrance.

Crystal dawn - glassy water, reflections of the moon, the sky, pinkish cloud - and Table Mountain. Almost windless - just enough to move us. Basking seal waved his flipper at us.

Doug - we will send Susan's tribute on its way when I have sent this.

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The barn door beckons

But we are not there yet. 56 miles to go, dying wind, massive knock from the current. Next time, I'd do it differently.

For the sailors: things that work:
Berrimilla's propeller, a Kiwi Feather Prop - elegant bit of kit, like Kevvo, also living down at the back. Simple, really easy to adjust and fix, pitch adjust can be done with an allen key under water. Replacement blades are easy to fit and the whole caboodle is very efficient at moving the old barge through the water. What's more, there's a really good manual that comes with it and the guys in NZ are responsive and helpful. Berri has had hers since 2003 - one of the early ones - and it has worked perfectly for nearly two circumnavigations plus all the Sydney-Hobarts and Lord Howe races in the meantime. This has included some very rough treatment at times. We have to adjust the pitch in CT after test running it for 100 hours or so with the new engine and it will be a simple matter of turning an allen key on each blade and then squirting grease into it.

48 miles to go - metre by metre - almost no wind.
44 miles to go and I think I can see the loom of the lights of the big city. Woohoo - small one in case I'm wrong. Amazing night - not a cloud anywhere except tiny one reflecting the lights - oily calm so all the stars reflected too off the water surface - which way is up? And the filmy phosphorescence that comes from algal blooms or so I understand. But the most vivid and wonderful night I can remember - no moon yet and each star and all the gas clouds and nebulae piercingly bright.

We are burning the last of our carefully conserved diesel - there's just enough to get us there with a pooptillionth to spare as long as it stays calm. If we start rolling too much, the fuel uptake tube in the tank will get bubbles in it and life will become tedious. The lighthouse has a range of 25 miles so not just yet but it's close and then we will send Susan Knight her little tribute, 155 years too late but in memory of all those people who died on the way. Just a few jelly babies and some M&Ms tied up in a handkerchief with a bit of green ribbon from the shrouds.

24 miles to go - engine stopped, mirror calm, brilliant moonlight, the sea reflecting the universe and the gentlest of caressing zephyrs as Berrimilla ghosts into an African dawn in her own rippled image. This is one of the great corners on Earth - a part of the ocean where ships and people have converged for at least 600 years - imagine! Of the Europeans, Bartholomeu Dias was probably the first, almost by mistake and he's still here somewhere with his crew in the remains of their little ship. Slavers, colonisers, gold diggers of every kind, the greedy and the godly, the cruel and the saintly, all with their dreams and their convictions have sought this corner. And the ships - rugged little Portuguese caravels, possibly Arab dhows, even Cheng Ho with his junks may have reached this place - a bit of sea unmarked, insignificant, unremarkable except for the effort, the resources, the desperation perhaps that has been thrown into getting here. And today, almost no-one passes this way - technology has made it almost irrelevant.

But here we are, in tiny Berrimilla, our own hopes and dreams drifting into the history of this place.

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Pete

Pete writes

We're soft pedaling downwind towards Cape Town at about 2kts, the main is down, two headsails are up and poled out. I've just come up on watch, the breeze is soft and perhaps a little crisp for this time of year. The sky is completely clear down to the horizon except for a low patch of cloud out over the port quarter, the moon is not up yet so the stars are brilliant. Orion is about 40 degs high on the port beam and the Southern Cross has not long risen off the starboard bow, we now have a little over 100 mls to the Cape.
Sitting in the cockpit just now I realized there are very few of the stars up there that I could name now. When Jeanne and I sailed across the Atlantic and Pacific about 30 years ago, I would have known a lot of stars, as navigation was by sextant. The stars I knew then were those 1st magnitude stars which would be visible with the horizon at dawn and dusk, in the area we were sailing. I knew nothing of their history or which constellation they belonged to. To me then they were just a signpost, something I used daily to work out the boat's position, handy but of no real interest.
Recently, as I had run out of good books Alex gave me one of his secreted specials to read. Its called "Fabric of the Cosmos" by Brian Greene. The author is Prof of Physics and Mathematics at Columbia University but don't let that put you off, he talks in easy to read layman's language using metaphors we can relate to. His book is a history and explanation of the universe from the early thinkers, Galileo, Descartes, Newton to Einstein and on to the present day. It's brilliant stuff and as much of it is about philosophy as physics. I'm about half way through the book now but I've left it alone for the last week as you need to devote time to get your head around the concepts of space and time especially when he is moving onto the idea of a 10 dimensional space/time i.e. something can be located with its time in a 9 dimensional space and I'm just lost for time with all the hand steering we're doing at the moment...still I look up at the stars now and wonder.
Now onto the literary segment. Our HF radio has died so no BBC World Service, I left home without my cds so none of my favorite music or world news. Good books preserve sanity and give an escape at this stage.
A couple of the books I really appreciated were, The Kite Flyer by Khaled Hosseni about Afghanistan under the Taliban; Havana Bay by Martin Cruz Smith a well told spy thriller and Woodlands by Thomas Hardy an excellent novel of English country life written in the 1880's.
The woodlanders was a step back in time, how's this for the beginning of chapt.4.
"There was now a distinct manifestation of morning in the air, and presently the bleared white visage of a sunless winter day emerged like a dead-born child." The weather hasn't changed but I don't think you could use a metaphor like that now, they were obviously more used to early childhood deaths at that time. Here's another little gem, a young girl has returned to her parent's house in a small village after several years at an elite boarding school, she has just finished a walk around the house and grounds that she grew up in. "Having concluded her perambulation of this now uselessly commodious edifice, Grace began to feel that she had come a long journey since the morning; and when her father had been up himself, as well as his wife, to see that her room was comfortable and the fire burning, she prepared to retire for the night."
They don't write them like that any more. Try teaching this book to second form English Lit. Cheers Pete.

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