Friday, November 15, 2013

Back in South Africa

I arrived Durban the evening of November 6 and joined SV Imvubu at Bluff Yacht Club. It took me a bit under 9 months to sail Twister from Durban to Bergen, via Brazil and Florida (blue line on map). It took ca 18 hours (flying time) to do it by airplane via a more direct route (red line).
sailing vs flying

SV Honeybadger Imvubu
Imvubu looked sharp after a year of refitting which included new sails, new engine, a new galley, and much more. I spent two days in Durban as we put the finishing touches on Imvubu's refit and provisioned for the shakedown cruise to Cape Town. We (Ralf, Jenny, and I) departed Durban the morning of November 9 and motored, sailed, and motor-sailed the 811 nautical miles to Cape Town. The weather was uncharacteristically mild (for the South African coast) the entire passage (I don't think the wind was over 20 knots), and we arrived Cape Town late on Wednesday the 13th (4.5 days). Coming down the east coast, the amount of wildlife increased noticeably after we passed East London. We saw hundreds of Humpback Whales, many of them giving us impressive breaching displays. One appeared to get totally airborne. Also in attendance were Cape Gannets, albatrosses, seals, and a few Jackass Penguins.

We will spend a few days here in Cape Town fixing a few small issues that revealed themselves on the passage as well as provisioning for the South Atlantic crossing. We plan to depart Monday the 18th of November. Where we make landfall on the South American continent depends on the winds. 

3 comments:

  1. Hei, og har du det bra? :)
    Jeg har vanskelig for å henge med i engelsken din da min forståelse av engelsk er begrenset, spesiellt når det gjelder skrivespråket, og du virker til å bruke et rikt og avansert språk! Det er jo flott at du er så flink, bortsett fra at jeg ikke helt vet om jeg har forstått deg rett... :)
    Forstår jeg deg rett når jeg tror at du har tatt flyet ner til Durban for å seile med en annen båt denne gangen, og at du straks er i Cape Town? Er Twister i Norge?
    Vär velsignet på dine reiser, hvor enn vinden förer deg!
    Klem!

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  2. Hei Grete,
    Ja, det stemmer og du forsto perfekt--jeg fløy til Durban fra Bergen (via Speyer, Tyskland) for å seile på en annen båt. Vi seite fra Durban til Cape Town og i morgen seiler vi videre til Sør Amerika. Twister sitter på land utenfor Bergen i vinter. Hils Angel.

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  3. Hej
    Kul att du är på väg igen, synd oxå att du inte är kvar i Norge, det kändes bra att ha dig i närheten.
    Jag är så avundsjuk att du är på väg till Antarktis och Mark skulle nog kunna döda för att ta din plats.
    Glöm inte bara att du måste vara i skandinavien i Augusti.
    Massa kramar Maria
    Segla lugnt.

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