Around Agulhas

 

 

Early in June 2015, I received a Facebook message from Vince Fundaro, an old friend who runs Global Yacht Delivery Services,  asking me if I would be available to crew for him from Richards Bay to Cape Town. The owner of the yacht Wasabi needed to be in Cape Town on the 18th and would not be able to accompany him around the Cape on the way back home after their 3 month voyage to Mozambique. I initially agreed, looking forward to rounding the Cape for the first time, but was concerned about my sons as we had recently relocated and I wondered whether we would be settled in enough for me to leave them on their own for a while. Not having done the Cape Town trip myself and being involved in two Maritime Radio nets I knew that some boats took up to three weeks rounding the Cape, although that would generally be due to the sailors being on holiday and enjoying the sights. The weather plays a role in the time it takes to get around and I felt that, at the time of the year, it would do more so than in summer when record times for rounding the Cape were recorded.

 

At a point I felt that the boys would be OK.  I asked Vince if his offer was still available. Yes, the owner would cover my expenses. This meant that I could save on some of my regular expenses. Things were tight and I needed to know if there was work available for me as a delivery skipper. As it turns out it seems that Leopard are delivering their new boats by ship reducing the available work for skippers. I also discovered that I was not as fit for the job as I had been. Some effort will be required to get me up to standard as a professional skipper.

 

When the time came I took a bus to Durban where I was welcomed by Vince to Wasabi flying a  Jolly Roger on the topping lift. Taking command of a vessel at sea is a difficult matter as one is not always blessed with oratory skills as on may find in a court of law. Being blessed with the ability to be a pirate succeeds understanding. By enforcing empirical standards as have evolved at sea and commonly accepted as acceptable demeanour all that remains is to enforce application. Traditional standards favour lashings which in the modern sense have been reduced to tongue lashings later supported by enquiries and possibly hearings. The Jolly Roger flown for fun is a reminder of ancient methods of enforcement such as the cat o nine tails, walking the plank or keel hauling. The flag  serves to enforce the rule of discipline rather than an air of thievery with which it is sometimes better associated.

 

The other crew member, Willem Pretorius from Richards Bay, was living in the Cape and had travelled to Durban by bus. Willem was yet another young and able man at a loss for a career and interested in sailing around the world with a keen knowledge of fish and fishing. The boat was being valeted so we spent some time at the Point Yacht Club and were taken to lunch at the Point Beach Facility at the end of Point Road. That was Friday 31 July 2015.

 

After lunch Vince walked down to the Port Offices to submit our flight plan. An interesting thing is that after all the rhetoric concerning the submission of papers it would seem that the old rubber stamp was no longer necessary.  Vince submitted the Flight plan to the Point Yacht Club offices where these were faxed to the control tower. The control tower checked these on our departure.

 

Early the next morning we set off. Vince being his usual friendly, slightly petulant self was confident of reaching our destination before Mikel’s birthday on the 12th. Mikel would be turning 21 and had asked me to be back then. Mikel doesn’t ask for much. I felt particularly moved that he thought enough of me to want me back for his birthday.

 

Skippers tend to be quite irritable at the best of times. When setting sail this escalates to verbal violence which reaches a peak during offshore activities involving actions which could compromise the safety of the vessel and crew. This is particularly so in the life of a delivery skipper who is sailing a vessel which is hitherto unknown and with inexperienced crew. I am blessed with the ability to absorb abuse and am able to respond in a calm and effective manner thus contributing to a positive learning curve in an expedient  manner. While the crew are being beaten into shape I attempt to direct these efforts in a constructive manner. I am not always successful as it takes some precognitive effort to regulate a fiery temper. Knowing Vince made this easy. Vince is an understanding person. When all has been said and done it is still possible for him to relax with the crew after a hard days work.

 

Before we reached the Harbour mouth Vince had identified a rumble which suggested that we had a bag around the propeller. He asked me if I would dive to clear the prop. It was obviously not all that serious as we did not dive at that stage. We left the harbour at about 05:00, setting out into what was still a southerly breeze, the seas still slightly turbulent after the strong South Wester we had experienced the previous day. Time was of the essence. Vince had been watching the wind and would have liked to have left at about midnight. After calling some friends down the coast he had decided to leave a little later as the report on the weather had not been favourable for the earlier departure. The motors were running and would have to run as long as we were off the shore power due to a load of Calamari in the freezer. The

Early in June 2015, I received a Facebook message from Vince Fundaro, an old friend who runs Global Yacht Delivery Services,  asking me if I would be available to crew for him from Richards Bay to Cape Town. The owner of the yacht Wasabi needed to be in Cape Town on the 18th and would not be able to accompany him around the Cape on the way back home after their 3 month voyage to Mozambique. I initially agreed, looking forward to rounding the Cape for the first time, but was concerned about my sons as we had recently relocated and I wondered whether we would be settled in enough for me to leave them on their own for a while. Not having done the Cape Town trip myself and being involved in two Maritime Radio nets I knew that some boats took up to three weeks rounding the Cape, although that would generally be due to the sailors being on holiday and enjoying the sights. The weather plays a role in the time it takes to get around and I felt that, at the time of the year, it would do more so than in summer when record times for rounding the Cape were recorded.

 

By about lunch time Vince had the sails up. Motor sailing introduced an element of stability in the motion of the craft. By mid afternoon the wind had backed sufficiently to fly the spinnaker which gave us a great ride for a few hours after which we went back to the genoa and ultimately had to furl it too. We motored through the night unfurling the genoa whenever it was possible. My first night at sea for a while was difficult. My body wasn’t used to the rigorous movement. Although I had done some sailing on Andrea Helena in April I hadn’t been involved in working the sails and the vessel was certainly considerably more stable. Wassabi is a lot lighter and the seas were more turbulent so my body got a real workout.

 

Sunday saw us catching two fish after losing a big one. These were duly skinned and filleted by Willem, a keen fisherman. The fillets were packed in the freezer. We had one as a meal in the afternoon.

 

Vince was keeping a close watch on the weather with his Ipad. He saw that we would not make Port Elizabeth before the next strong South Wester arrived and being prudent decided to check in to East London.  We arrived at East London  in light westerlies which were not uncomfortably cold. As we closed with the coast the temperature dropped considerably. We were soon complaining about the icy temperature and numbness in the limbs. In the early hours of Monday morning it was still quite dark. The light from the Buffalo River Yacht Club helped Vince to expertly maneuver  Wassabi up to a moored boat which we subsequently moved to locate Wassabi directly on the floating dock. We were home until the weather had cleared so that we could proceed on our voyage.

 

A busy delivery skipper evidently becomes quite well known. Vince had grown up at East London and was quite familiar with the area and some of the people there. While at the yacht club Vince talked us into fitting three lights under the veranda roof. This included buying enough wire and accessories to get the job  done. Altogether a con vincing effort which won us three meals.

 

By the time we left I had explored West  Bank, East Bank and had taken many pictures. The yard at the dry dock in the East Bank is still used to haul out the larger boats. One of these was an ex Richards Bay boat, Adios a Fast 42, which Vince knew well. A quick look at her in process of being renovated brought back many memories. The rail bridge over the Buffalo river runs under the road bridge, these being part of the same structure. Both bridges have pedestrian access although the lower railway bridge’s walkway is does not permit general access. The rails are laid on transverse beams, the space between which is open and therefore dangerous to general pedestrian traffic. Walking over these rails the wind was strong enough to tip me over and into a void which fortunately did not happen.

  

The night before our departure was particularly cold. As it was a Wednesday and the club had a special on at its restaurant the place was teeming with people. Load Shedding saw a large bonfire being lit in the braai area which hosts a pizza oven and two other fire places. The warmth of the fire in one of the fire places and friendly conversation lasted well into the night. By 01:00 am we were ready to go and bid our friends adieu.

 

Motoring out of the harbour found a lumpy sea but not uncomfortably so. We soon had the lines out again headed for Mossel Bay. Vince warned us to be on the lookout for Chokka boats which we first encountered off Port Elizabeth. The bright lights were a little confusing being close to shore but they stood out from the lights on land.

 

Around 75% of all commercial fishing in South Africa takes place along the Western Cape's coastline. The provinces rich cold water fishing grounds are abundant in marine life. Marine life such as Spiny Lobster (locally known as Crayfish), abalone, snoek , squid, octopus, oysters  and mussels  are extensively fished. The fishing of Spiny lobster and abalone is heavily regulated due to their high value and dwindling population due to extensive poaching. [Wikipedia]

 

The South African squid is an important predator of small fishes. It forms dense breeding aggregations in bays between Cape Point and Port Elizabeth in summer, laying sausage-shaped bunches of egg bundles on the sea floor. The young are transported west by the Agulhas Current and mature on the Agulhas Bank. They then migrate eastwards as adults back to their spawning grounds. [Wikipedia]

 

 The voyage to Mossel Bay was uneventful. Bathing was  done on the stern boarding platform which also served as a toilet.  We had to be quite careful to hold on to the stainless steel framework in the rougher weather.

 

Approaching Mossel Bay I was not sure if we were going to stop off at Plettenberg Bay. It was very dark due to the overcast conditions. Being unfamiliar with the place I thought I saw dolosse in a square formation but I was obviously mistaken. As it was we headed on by and onwards to Mossels. At some time during the early morning we passed Knysna. The wind we were beating in to was gradually subsiding and we managed to get the genoa unfurled but no spinnaker. We saw a few whales along the way. Vince was expecting a strong blow from the West and wanted to sit it  out.

 

We arrived at Mossel Bay at about 10 am and racing some trawlers in tied up alongside Lady Amber at the end of the Vintcent Jetty. Vince was still pretty stressed. By the time we got to Cape Town he was more relaxed but is usually quite hyper as one would expect from someone who deals with high risk applications like sailing for high powered people like boat owners !

 

We were welcomed by seals feeding off the waste of the trawlers. The crew were pulling the nets off the trawler onto the jetty, picking out fish which had remained caught in the nets as the catch was emptied into the holds. My first job was to take a dump. The ablution block near the gate luxuriously provided the seat I had been missing  at sea. Then refill the gut with breakfast which we shared with Div, short for de Villiers, Vince’s connection from the past who gives him weather when he’s available. I am always intrigued by the way people in the Cape speak and Div spoke with an excellent examples of the Cape accent.  I must be losing it because Div set me off in no time, talking as though I was a local. As a child I encountered Cape coloureds when a removal van came to town. They must have impressed me because, although I do the Indian accent, the Cape accent or manner of speech holds precedence. I could hardly contain myself but brought myself to a standstill  when it was time to leave. After Div left I decided to do a little walk about and explored the harbour area on foot. The others had agreed to meet Div at a local watering hole in the evening. I stayed behind and cooked the supper, a rather humble offering of grated cheese on mince and potatoes.

 

Access to the Vintcent Jetty is controlled by a tall galvanised steel palisade fence and entry facilitated through a revolving security gate activated by a guard. On re-entry one is required to pass a breath analyser test. On the way back I found out that cameras aren’t allowed in the harbour area. I took many pictures along this walk which ranged from the restaurants and charter offices along the Waterfront to the Mossel Bay Yacht Club which has it’s own slip.

 

 I asked a Scottish couple who were catering for a function upstairs if they minded my taking pictures when they heartily offered to take a picture of me tending the roasts on the spit. Despite being caught by surprise I gave them my camera and I was instructed to take a carving knife to the roasts. The fire was quite hot and the roasts, four legs of lamb and 3 racks of lamb already grilled to a golden crisp, were quite inviting. My mouth still waters at the thought of what I could have done to at least one of those offerings !

 

Another  interesting place was a restaurant where one buys one’s meat then cook it yourself over the open fires provided. The setting was quite rustic with an old dinghy, various potted plants, antique garden furniture and maritime oddments dotted around on the sandy floor with a bonfire burning in the opening in the roofing  over the tables overlooking the bay. There were some very tame egyptian geese waddling around, evidently fed by the staff. Willem met me on my way back from the yacht club and we went back into this restaurant for another look.

 

The first gate to the harbour is a controlled vehicle entrance which has a revolving gate similar to the one guarding  Vintcent  Jetty. It was at this point that I found out about the camera as I was trying to photograph the sign  denoting Vintcent Jetty. The guards’ response seemed quite nervous but they did not proceed against me. They warned me that cameras were not allowed. The rest of the day was fairly uneventful and I managed to load my latest photographs into my laptop.

 

After their night out, Vince and Willem came home fairly early amidst realms of laughter.  They had evidently had quite a lot to drink and decided to avoid the security gate and it’s breath analyser by climbing over the steel fence. There was a chair handy and Willem helped Vince over. When they reached the Vintcent Jetty gate they had no other option but to call the guard to let them in. Both passed the breath analyser. It is suspected that the machine does not work or was switched off.

 

The next morning it was breakfast time again. Div came down to see us and took us up to his factory shop where he and his assistant make custom made footwear. Willem was interested in a pair and I tried on a pair of slops which were deliciously comfortable, L’Attitude have a wide range of materials available in many colours to make thongs to knee high boots.

 

After Div dropped us off in his Custom V8 5liter Chevy with front wheel drive we bade him goodbye. Div would be taking his custom scooter to Struisbaai from where he would get a lift to Langebaan from where he would deliver a yacht  to Struisbaai over the next few days. I wonder how it went. Strong North Westerlies were forecast which would make it a difficult passage. Vince submitted a flight plan for the next leg of our voyage and we left without further ado.

The sea was relatively calm as we left. A whale was breaching in the bay while a rescue ship exercised its water pump. A few seals came to see us off.  About five miles off a seal passed us in a rather huffy hurry, as if to say, “Where are you going?”. On the way back he was licking his chops in the way seals do suggesting that he had had a meal and was on his way home. We did not follow.

 

Vince pointed out some of the features of Mossel Bay from the sea. There are many bathing beaches. The swell does not reach the beach as much as it does along the KZN coast. The Southern Cape coast features protected bays, Mossel Bay being one of them. Facilities for tourism are popular all year long despite the colder weather in winter.

 

We encountered a few more fishing boats on the way to Cape Town, The overcast weather provided interesting effects in the cloud over Struisbaai. As the weather cleared the wind backed to the south and we could eventually get the spinnaker up again. This unfortunately didn’t last and we motored into the night. When I woke up for a watch, as so often had happened, I found the genoa unfurled and the main up. This never lasted and I rolled it up to prevent it from backing as it seemed to give us some forward way. When Vince came up later the main came down again.

 

We had encountered kelp earlier on. A large stem had caught on the rudder and was slowing us down. Willem and Vince managed to cut it free but we were on the alert for more through out the night . We did encounter these again but they were quickly dispensed with by the more agile crew. I live in the hope of getting back into a routine of regular exercise in 2009 I had actively decided to stop exercising because I was feeling tired and felt that exercise was an unnecessary strain on my routine. I still walk and swim but not as much as I was used to  which included a daily run of at least 10 km, a rigorous workout in a gym and as much swimming as I could fit in if I wasn’t surfing or diving. This all came to an end while we were living on our yacht. I was taken by the environment and wanted to source my exercise in my new routine which involved boat maintenance and socialising in and around the Yacht Club. My children were becoming more demanding with my having to pick them up and drop them off at school, at the movies or at friends’ homes. After losing the mast and finding myself stuck in a situation which had me driving 350km daily I simply didn’t have it in me to exercise. A few years ago I found myself going through some sort of aging process. I found things kicking in almost automatically.  While I was in the military we ran on the spot attempting to raise the knees to chest level. I used to do this quite rigourously and was warned that it may have detrimental effects. In about 2009 while strolling along at the beachfront I felt a sudden urge to run on the spot as I had in 1974. This got quite bad and had me thinking I was some sort of a machine with legs whizzing to and fro in a most animated fashion. These happened a few times and I started to feel that my upper thigh muscles were failing. After a year of severe agony these started rebuilding again. My son, Dylan had bought some high protein drink which I enjoyed. This helped a to rebuild the muscles which are still recovering. This trip helped me to loosen up. My muscles had reached a stage of stiffness I have not encountered before. This reinforced the well known observation  that it is important to keep exercising as we become older. A lack of exercise can kill us.

 

Cape Agulhas came up in the early evening. The coast there seems to be littered with small towns, the lights sparkling against the dark backdrop of hills or mountains. At one stage I was sitting behind the wheel overlooking the water what looked like a pair of light coloured  porpoise swam past hurriedly. They could have been seals but looked more like porpoise in the dark. Like the former seal they swam past then back again doing cartwheels in the water. The street lights along the coast from Danger Point to Cape Hangklip were quite strong. I followed them and imagined I was seeing into False Bay in the distance but could have been wrong. We were about 6 Nm off Hermanus. Not being familiar with the area it was difficult to work out what I was seeing in the dark.

 

When I got up after a sleep I found that I had missed Cape Point. It had been dark and there wasn’t much to see. Vince had had an encounter with a fishing boat between an outlying rock and the point itself on a previous occasion. For safety he went around the  rock to be safe.

 

We were approaching Hout Bay where Vince signalled two fishing vessels going South with his powerful torch as their intentions were unclear. The sea had us swinging quite a lot which made it difficult to set a definitive course but we managed to pass safely.

 

Sunrise over the Cape Penisula was an event. As the sky lightened light cloud was backlit in the backdrop to the mountains This gradually became stronger turning from gold to red and eventually to yellow. In the early morning the Slangkop Lighthouse at Kommetjie was flashing out its warning. Vince pointed out the various features. I was familiar with the area from the land side as a result of many visits there in the past but was quite lost seeing it from the sea. The plan view of a map becomes severely distorted when looking at the terrain of the coastline from the side. It will be easier now.  We motored past dungeons.

 

Approaching Cape Town presents many views of that famous Table Mountain. In anticipation of staying over in CapeTown as opposed to continuing to Wasabi’s home port at Club Mykonos. Vince had us scrubbing the decks and tidying up When we finally arrived Peter, the owner was waiting for us at the refuelling dock. We refuelled and proceeded to a dock at the Royal Cape Yacht Club where we made final arrangements to disembark. Vince’s daughter Gemma arrived to transport us; me to the railway station where I caught a Greyhound bus and Vince home where his sweetheart was patiently waiting for the gentle brute !

 

A point to note is that Vince warned me of the thieves in the Cape and ensured that I took his advice to make things difficult for would be thieves. Don’t walk around with a wallet in your hands, make sure zippered pockets are turned away from passers-by and don’t stop to talk to anyone. As it was a ‘vendor’ tried to sell me a watch for R1400. As if I had that sort of money! I was too tired to talk, shook my head and walked on hurriedly. After some trouble finding the ticket office I had a three hour wait before I could board the bus. I bought some samoosas for my lunch, thinking about the interesting one pot meals Vince had provided. While I ate my samoosas I chatted with a gentleman in transit who had been to a local hospital for a check-up of a problem he was having in the bones of his face. A large amount of his lower jaw and some of his upper jaw had been infected by an unknown virus which was a mortal threat to him. He was having his lunch and eating with extreme difficulty. He left some food when he left. A young beggar collected it and took it away, presumably for his family, friends, or as a meal for himself later on. One hopes that the infection would not be transmitted by this action.

 

 Later on a cup of coffee helped me to take two of my 500g Glucophage XR which I use to combat the ill effects of diabetes. I had taken some oranges from the boat and enjoyed two there while I waited. Not long after a little guy, very animated, came around selling earphones. They looked nice and I had been using some to listen to the radio in my phone. He wanted R20 for a pair. As I only had a R50 note he said he would get change. There was a look of shock on the faces of people sitting around me when I gave him the fifty to get change elsewhere. He put his bag of things on my table and disappeared into the crowd. I watched him whisking through the pedestrians. It wasn’t long and he reappeared with my change.

 

I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. Over the years I am seeing a pattern but still can’t say who can and who can’t be trusted. Sometimes the most people let you down, and at others they will surprise you. For the price of a R10 set of earphones, R20, I rewarded a man for his efforts, was entertained by him and have a rather nice set of purple earphones which I sometimes use when I’m watching movies on my laptop.

 

I won’t go into detail about my journey. I met a few people and enjoyed their company, bought some quick meals along the way and arrived safely at Port Shepstone where Ruan and Charlotte collected me in the Tazz.

 

It was all over too soon. I lost the stiffness after three days. Relaxing at home I experienced some complications when I experienced severe discomfort and pain when lying down. Getting up again helped to resolve the problem while I wandered around like a zombie for an hour or two. I stopped getting the pains after two days.

 

I am as far back to normal as I can expect to be and looking forward to another delivery or getting my own boat ready for a charter. How about it? Join me on SV Charlotte for the time of your life.

 

Price on application !