Sailing a calm sport?

We spent the last 2 weeks waiting for the moment we could get back to the boat for the weekend. Amazing how time stands sill when you are in a hurry, I guess a watched pot never does boil! It finally began boiling at 12 o’clock on Friday. The boys were finishing school early so we were able to leave earlier than expected and arrived at the boat before 2pm.

During the previous 2 weeks we had purchased a 5kg Danforth anchor, 3m chain and 50m nylon braided rope. We had high hopes of anchoring out but these were soon to be dismissed as you will see.

We had also mounted our World and Africa maps on our dining room wall to keep the motivation alive. It seems to dwindle when things don’t move as fast as we would like them too. We now spend every meal talking about places we want to see, distances we will travel and people we will meet. Our new book “Still Cruising” arrived in the post, the sequel to the book we just completed “Just Cruising” by Liza Copeland. Fantastic reading for us as it tells the tale of a family with 3 small boys travelling around the world on their yacht. This new instalment completes the circumnavigation.



On arrival on Friday, the weather seems good – a few rain clouds in the distance, but we would surely be back before them if we went for a little sail. Perhaps we would be anchored before they hit and we could enjoy the rain from our new vantage point? We were high spirited by this prospect and we stowed our supplies below deck, started the motor at 14h40 and pulled out of the marina. We headed south, with the wind from behind hoping to anchor close to Vaal Marina near the Pennant Nine Yacht Club. We were just past Misty bay when the wind died completely and it started to drizzle. Barry and I donned our rain jackets and were just discussing if we should anchor in the little bay ahead (we could easily motor there) when we saw the wind coming along the water from the south. We waited, it caught the sails and we were off. That’s when the problems started….

We picked up speed, reading 5.4knots on the GPS (our highest speed yet) when a huge gust of wind from the north (wrong direction) hit us, spun the boat around, we had all sails up and it started to pour. I quickly moved the electronic equipment below. The boat started to heel, further and further as the wind built steadily, not giving us a seconds gap to get the head sail in. Barry pulled hard on the tiller shouting to me to get the headsail in, to no avail, I just could not get it in with the force of the wind on the sails. Looking back I should have let it fly (lesson learned).

He dropped the boom, hoping to get some of the pressure off the sails before we tipped completely. The boom swung towards the water, dunking under and swinging the boat around. With the main sail partially under water at this point and spinning ever closer to the water, I felt complete panic. What if we capsized? How would I get the life jackets out of the lazarette whose side I was standing on? Would I be able to get the kids out of the boat in time? Kyle can’t swim and I could hear his panic and shouting above the howling wind. Barry pulled on the main sheet and brought the boom back in, righting the boat slightly. He told me to hold it and the tiller as he attempted to roll in the genoa. Finally we had a little success. We had less sail out and the boat came closer to a normal heel.

At this point our adrenaline had pumped through us so fast and so much we were both weak and shaking. Kyle was crying and Rauen was laughing. We could not face the prospect of anchoring now and turned towards the marina, travelling with only the main sail we had far better control. As we entered the bay outside our marina I climbed up to the mast dropped the main, flaking it would have to be done later, and we motored back into the marina at 16H32. It had been just under 2 hours since we left the marina but it felt like days. It was truly the first time I have felt we could not handle the sailing trip we were planning. Barry was saying – he now believes the boat will never capsize and we can handle anything – he can speak for himself, Kyle and I just wanted to stay on land at that point.

We left the boys to play computer in the marina and took a walk to Axel and Peta down the road, stopping at the bottle store on the way, and having a few “stiff ones” when we got there. We walked back to the marina after dark and had a few more drinks with Clint and Michelle on their catamaran Oyster Thief, getting up to mischief and discussing the storm from earlier that day.

On Saturday morning, Kira and Brendon came over to the boat. Brendon is a diesel mechanic and had come to take a look at our motor, see what spares were needed to
do a service, change the impeller and set the valves. He will return in two weeks time to service the motor, but it is already a lot improved with the replacement impeller. It had not been pumping water since we bought her and now was, much to Barry’s excitement.

At 12h36 we again headed out of the marina to find an anchor spot for the night. This time there were no ominous clouds on the horizon as we thought we were safe….

We hoisted both the sails and had a great sail getting up to 4.5knots. The clouds were slowly building on the horizon behind us but were headed the other direction down wind and expected to reach out chosen anchor spot in Cruisers Cove before the clouds and rain. As we reached fool’s point, just 0.5nm from our anchorage, the wind changed direction. (We now know that this means trouble on the dam – minutes after a direction change the full fury of the wind unleashes) We were about to be in trouble once again. We were now at the point in the dam where the two rivers feeding the dam, the Vaal and the Wilge meet. We were open to the weather on 3 sides, after a sudden wind direction change it’s not the place I want to be.

Barry spotted the wind on the water, bringing white caps, rough water and steadily increasing gusting wind. We immediately dropped the Genoa, not wanting a repeat of yesterday. We were however, both a little on edge and decided we would rather return to the marina and anchor when the weather is calmer, perhaps closer to our marina to start. October is the windiest month on the dam and we are not the most experienced sailors, especially with our confidence shattered.

On our way back to the marina, we passed through the confluence and the wind speed increased further. We made the decision to start the motor and go bare poles. I climbed up and dropped the main, again planning on flaking it at the marina and place the sail cover over it to avoid it dropping into the water. We reached the marina just in time, as we secured the last mooring line, the cloud burst and we were forced to wait downstairs, reading, until it eased up an hour later.

At around 4pm Greg, the previous harbour master, called Barry. Barry had left a message for him the previous week, hoping to find out if he had any second hand dinghies for sale. He immediately said he did have one. Fully rigid at a bargain price and since it is my birthday soon, we decided an early birthday present would go down well, took the plunge and bought it. We went into town to draw money and finally got the dinghy with trailer at the launching area by 7pm.

We woke up early Sunday morning, had a quick cereal breakfast, took some cloths, a bucket and some dishwashing liquid and headed up to the dinghy. Barry and I started washing while Rauen and Kyle started removing the stickers with the previous boat name on. Rauen and I swopped places because he has no nails. Soon all was done. Rauen walked back to the boat, dropped of the cleaning items and collected a life jacket for Kyle. Barry and I launched the dinghy, deciding to row over to Axel to wish Peta a happy birthday.

After putting a life jacket on Kyle we all climbed into the dinghy, which is very unstable and since we have never been on a dinghy before, a little apprehension was felt by all. Except Kyle, who once again felt complete terror. He kept saying we are going to sink, we are going to die, we are going to drown etc until I actually had to tell him enough was enough and he needs to stop crying and relax, we have everything under control. We pulled the dinghy up onto the “beach” and walked over to their unit, wished Peta a Happy Birthday and returned to row back to the marina.

Quite a bit of exercise there. For me way more than Barry, as he only had to paddle once for every 10 stokes of mine. I basically rowed all the way there and back, with him making sure we did not turn by doing one stroke when necessary. Oh to be strong and powerful! Rauen also gave it a whirl but found we were not even moving. After complaining he had not realised it was so hard to do, he gave it back to me to complete the job.

We decided we would not yet try and get from the dinghy to the jetty in water of more than 20m deep so returned to the launching area and took her completely out of the water. Max (our new harbour master) had kindly offered us place to store her and the trailer in a garage at the marina. Safe and out of the weather, all we could ever ask for.

Back at the boat, we were busy with lunch when we had a few visitors. Kira and Brendon had walked round to visit. We were discussing boats, and our sailing plans and we took a walk to the end of the dock where the catamarans are parked in the wider berths. We met Kevin, the owner of an Ocean Spirit 34’ (the boat we like from Coplan – see out boat page) which he is building himself. We asked if we could come aboard and have a look. He showed us around and I had an in depth conversation with him regarding how much work there still was to be done, how he had taken delivery, how the boat sailed, what his plans were when it was finished and how long he expected it to take to complete building. He liked that he could enjoy sailing her while at the same time do all the finishing himself allowing him to know exactly how to fix everything. We left and walked back to our yacht after watching Clint catch a catfish on the marina.

A few minutes later Axel arrived by boat. We chatted for a few minutes and Kira and Brendon climbed aboard his boat and left. After eating lunch we packed up and headed home, arriving at around 4pm.

What an adrenaline pumping weekend. I thought sailing was a calm sport or hobby. Boy was I mistaken!