CAPE TOWN!!!!!

We are in Cape Town!!!!

Russ and Jannie left Knysna last thursday on a very dicey forecast and foggy afternoon but relatively calm Heads. They had a pretty good trip, which had all the typical elements of sailing in South Africa: motoring for hours, then light breezes with swell, then very strong winds (no more than 35 according to Russ) with rain and cold between Cape Agulhas and Cape Point which was expected, and flat calm seas with a fabulous sunrise arriving in Cape Town on saturday. What a trip...

Myself, Cristina and Brisa drove down, which had it's shares of adventures, staying a night in Stillbaai, being hosted by Fishy and Sonja friends of Jannie and Cris and then in Cape Town by Gerbs and Tami in Durbanville. What a lovely spot that is! The boys joined us on their first night in town, where they could scrub up and enjoy a nice braai. Next day we all came back to the boat and went for a cruise around the harbor, so we could all admire the incredible view of the city from the water. We anchored off Clifton for a little while then returning for some curry onboard.

Our marina is right in town, as I write I can see the stadium and the Table Mountain behind... absolutely unreal.

The plans are still in the air, public holiday today so not much opened so can't really start organizing anything but no hurry yet. Apparently there is a window coming on thursday so the boys may take that one. I haven't booked my flight yet, but all seems to be falling into place nicely.

View from the waterfront in Table Bay. Our marina is just behind the stone wall you can see to the left. Check the new stadium!

Russ and Brisa enjoying the view... priceless moments...

I just can't believe we are about to take Moonwalker across the Atlantic... well Russ is... it's all SOOO exciting... BRAZIL HERE WE COME!!! Brisa and I just have to deal with not having Russ around for a month... sniff...

Back in the water in Knysna

Moonwalker is back in the water, set to go, wind looking good to the next week but the swell is massive out there… we can’t even leave the Knysna Lagoon if we wanted! The Head are totally closed.

So we are making the most of it! Sally and Peter from Witblits let us use their super duper BMW to go for a drive on the weekend so we went to the Birds of Eden and Monkeyland, a bird and monkey sanctuary close by. The aviary is the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere I hear… it was amazing!!!

As a sanctuary quite a few birds where in captivity before meaning they are quite fond of humans, or not as some loved peeking at Brisa’s toes which she didn’t appreciate at all…

Well, meanwhile swell may drop a bit on Thursday so we will try to sail out of the lagoon and onto Cape Town then. Will keep you all posted. Leave you with some recent photos

Training goes on for the little sailor

The peek from the parakeet

This Macaw was keeping an eye on Brisa's food...

This is what I call: "giving the evil eye"

We didn't see a lemur like this in Madagascar!!!

As zen as they come... ring tail Lemur or the King from Madagascar movie

On The hard in Knysna

We have been on the hard here in Knysna since last Wednesday afternoon and are slowly getting things done. It’s a bit hard as Russ seem to have to answer the endless questions of yachties as well as the general public that crowds the waterfront area. Moonwalker is quite the attraction here. Brisa comes a close second as people simply cannot believe we are sailing with such a young one. Brisa pleases everyone by screaming in delight at all the attention and by poking her little hands through the draining holes on the deck or peeping through the escape hatch on the hulls to check everyone out and get attention.

Knysna is a lovely place with wonderful people and the yacht club here is one of these rare places where you feel right at home being a sailor or not. Very friendly and helpful to all.

The only problem here is the heads… the entrance to Knysna lagoon is scary at best of times. Russ had no wind or swell but loads of fog which is the very first time we have encountered, ever. Since we have watched the fog engulf the heads and the mountains around it many times bringing that lovely air conditioning feeling to the place. Quite impressive. 

We got a photo of Moonwalker arriving in the Lagoon from Shambala I (Jeff and Christie)

The Carlyons pose for a photo like the many tourists at the port.

Captain and crew. She understands "hold on" and "be careful" and both languages no problem.

Moonwalker at the yard in Knysna at the waterfront area, Russ actually missed the waterfront area on the photo so next one I will get it.

In Knysna with Google dramas

We've been in Knysna for the last week doing all sorts of jobs and getting all ready for our haul out which should be happening either today or tomorrow. All going well but got the fright of our lives when my goggle account (GMAIL) got canceled meaning our email, webalbum, blog got all disabled as well!!! We totally freaked as this is like our diary! I emailed them and got it all sorted, they even SMSed me with a verification code, I was impressed on how quickly they got it all back but not impressed with their total disregard at simply cancelling it out rather than emailing the person first... I am now thinking about different ways of publishing my blog so we don't pass through this again.

Back to what we are here for...: The sail from Cape St Francis to Knysna was quite uneventful for the boys, apart from a plan that decided to do a fly over at mast height to wave to the crew!!! Russ Terry, Jannie and Break (our boat keeper while away in NZ) onboard. He needed all the extra eyes as they has heavy fog as they approached Knysna. It was mostly a motor trip as the wind totally died. We were shocked at how wrong the weather forecast was. Anyhow, better no wind than too much or from the totally wrong direction! They had fun, Moonwalker got into the lovely Knysna Lagoon without problems and we are happily enjoying the lovely town and hospitable yacht club.

Brisa is loving living onboard and all the dinghy trips ashore. She enjoys crawling around the yacht club and up strangers legs while mum and dad have a beer! She is loud and manages to take loads of space eventhough she is only 70cm! Everyone gives her as much space as she wants and she is melting some old crusty and salty sea dogs' hearts around!!! They don't even complain or look annoyed with her endless delighted screams around the bar. She is already having driving lessons on the dinghy by the way.

Other good news is that Brisa and I will fly to Brazil! Jannie will sail with Russell to Brazil and I am hoping he will allow Cristina to fly and join me on their arrival there. I am feeling a bit torn apart I confess. It was very strange seeing Moonwalker sail down the coast without me on board but I am not ready for such a long crossing with Brisa. I am sure it would be just fine but why take the chance now? So I am giving my nerves this chance to relax and slowly we will build up my confidence in myself and on Brisa. We will sail to Cape Town from Knysna though! It should be a 3 day sail at the most and we have quite a few hiding spots with the South Westerlies come strong.

Moonwalker sailing in the background without the first mate!

Brisa's first outboard driving lesson... we all got dizzy from going around in circles...

From left: Terry (boat builder in Cape St Francis), Jannie (Cristina's husband and Russ' crew to Brazil) & Break (our boat keeper and Russ' colleague at Cape St Francis Resort)

A friendly but a bit scary visit from the skies while Moonwalker sailed along the coast!

All going well Russ should be ready to sail in the next 2-3 weeks. Will keep you all posted