Warren and Lindie are expected before nightfall, they couldn’t get here fast enough as they carry our spare set of car keys!
Tammy and Jason arrived at 1pm on Sunday, they came up to the boat with their 5 children. After a whirlwind tour of the yacht, a quick lunch of sandwiches and an explanation of "toilet operation and usage" we headed out.
Last time we went out we had tied up next to another yacht and had not had our own mooring slip, this time we had to avoid both our neighbours yacht and the slip and Barry performed the manoeuvre like a pro. Tammy commented that inside the marina it is like parking a bus (at 6,5m wide this is true)…. the thought of how small we were once out in the open water was not lost on me.
We took a slow motor out, turning to port in the channel and calling port control for permission to leave the harbour just before entering the channel. Once granted we headed for open water, we hoisted the filthy roller furling headsail (we have yet to have the time or opportunity to take this down), passed through the breakwater markers and we officially in the ocean for the first time!
Even though we were unable to set up the main sail or the head sail correctly, in the light breezes she managed a comfortable 4 knots and we decided to turn off the motors. We all sat up at the fore deck as the smooth ocean passed by and enjoyed the sheer relaxation that is sailing.
We came back in just before sunset and took a walk up to the yacht club to start a braai and feed the 8 children we had between us. Jason had parked his car, with an England flag over the back window, just outside the yacht club. Someone had set fire to the flag, burning it and the rear of his new Pathfinder in the process.
There had been a Regatta that morning and they were preparing a braai for 50 people. We chatted and enjoyed the company, sending the kids up to the boat once fed, we went upstairs to the bar and watched the Germany – America soccer game (which Germany won 4-0) while partying up a storm.
The following morning we decided to head up to Jack’s corner and enjoy a breakfast in the restaurant that enjoys a 180° views of the harbour, making breakfast for 12 was not on the agenda….
We all climbed off the boat, and Barry accidentally dropped our car keys into the water...we are still without a car, luckily we had provisioned for the period and were not desperate to leave, however, the plan had been to get bread and milk later that day….
Jason tried diving, but at 5metres and without vision, finding a single key a the bottom of a marina is near impossible.
We all managed to squeeze into the Pathfinder (which has burnt plastic stuck from the rear windshield to the bumper) and head out for breakfast. Jack’s corner is a pleasant restaurant with a great atmosphere. We always seem to experience slow service in restaurants down here, but I guess it is the Natal vs Johannesburg comparison that makes things seem so slow down here, imagine how slow New Yorkers would feel. I guess I’ll know once we visit, I can’t wait for the statue of Liberty to be viewed through the rigging as we sail up the Hudson.
Tammy and Jason left after the kids had a quick swim and we went back to the yacht. We spent the rest of the day recovering from the night before and did not manage to get any boat work done apart from the normal household chore of washing the dishes. Later in the afternoon, it dawned on me that the salary slips were in the car, tomorrow was salary day and we had no car keys. Barry phoned Warren, cat burglar that he is, and told him to break–in to our house (with our help as there is only one way in and you still need a correctly coded remote, a screw driver and a bit of imagination) and fetch the spare keys. He called at 11am on Tuesday to say he was in, and our keys will be here this evening. Good thing our cat burglar locks up after himself!
Tuesday morning saw me writing out the salary amount of each individual onto the sheet of paper and using that as my reference to pay the salaries via the internet. It also saw Kyle waking up with German measles, picked up from Jessica, Tammy and Jason’s youngest. Luckily he has been coping well and is using an anti-itch cream to stop himself from scratching. It’s a good thing my kids are tough, travelling to strange lands illness is bound to be a problem and the good antibodies and resilient bodies they have will definitely come in handy!
Having run out of bread, and with a limited supply of milk, I had to find inventive ways of making food without it, for breakfast I made a packet of Smash and fried it into Hash browns to have with our eggs, for lunch we had Tortilla wraps and supper was a good old pasta with mince.
The wind picked up today, it was howling through the rigging, travelling at over 30 knots for most of the day, cloud cover moved in and the temperature plummeted. It was an indoor day! During Monday night Barry and I had gone up to the deck to tie down the main halyard that was slamming against the mast, and tie down all the loose ropes as it picked up and roared through the trees and rigging of the yachts. I spent most of the day, when not inventing meals, under our duvet on the bed, reading a novel Maiden Voyage (about Tania Aebi, the first American woman to solo circumnavigate the globe) that we found in the Navigation table out loud to Barry.
The kids spent their day playing computer games, listening to music on their iPods and speaking on Mxit…the age of technology!
We started a list of items we need on yacht today...items range from cheese graters, potato peelers and plastic containers to the kids log books to a chess set and books to read…this list will grow as the days pass and when we return on the 2nd we will definitely have more of the “need/want” items in hand.
Time to make more Hash Browns and continue the clean up – Rauen and our bathrooms are on the list today – before Warren and Lindie arrive this afternoon.
