First Leg at Sea – South Africa to Saint Helena...

We immediately got into the rhythm our new life, which consisted of shifts.  We do 4 hourly shifts during the day from 0600 and 3 hourly shifts at night beginning at 1800.

First day out, we caught our first fish – a tuna – delicious Sashimi!

The weather to begin was lovely, turning to rain and thunder on the morning of day 3.  We were cruising along nicely.

http://youtu.be/5n0BI2WGcI4

Day 4, I was on midnight to 0300am shift, we were on a beam reach and the wind was getting up to 30 (ish) knots, we were sailing along beautifully.  About 2 hours into the shift, there was a big “bang” noise, I came inside to try and see what it was, and Mark came up from his cabin and he was drenched – the large Port Aft window has cracked – it had completely opened up, let in a huge amount of water and then closed up again.  This was incredibly scary!  

We had to make immediate repairs, Mark and Richard used epoxy, glue, putty (everything we had available) to try to close up and secure the window.  

The decision now was, what to do???  We were so close to the gentle trade winds – do we carry on, or do we turn around and try to head for Namibia for repairs.  We had been sailing away and north when we left SA, therefore we would experience the seas again associated with leaving a coastal region.  We ended up deciding the safest was to continue to the trade winds.

Friday 05/04, first time change – clocks back 1 hour.

Monday 08/04, stopped in the Atlantic for a swim – AWESOME!

Tuesday 09/04, Eleven and a half days after leaving South Africa we arrived at Saint Helena

Our Rose Blessing...

Finally the time was right to “Bless” Our Rose.  It is our second to last night (Tues 26^th March at 18.30 at Mykenos in South Africa), before leaving on our passage.

We had asked our Darling Friend Chris from New Zealand to write some words for us, which we added/changed.  We had a bottle of our favourite champagne and with Hannah Robinson in our minds and hearts, we share our blessing with you.

TANGAROA, God of the Sea, We ask your blessing upon this gift to us, Our Rose.

We give thanks for her, for her beauty and for the joy she will bring to all who sail with her

Protect her, as she sails forth from here in to excitement, adventure and the unknown.

Watch over those who will be cradled in her arms, surround them with your protection and safe guard them on their journeys.

AMEN

Clearing Out...

After a massive week of having all of the final things fixed on Our Rose, Provisioning for two months or more, saying goodbyes, we finally had come to the day where we would be “Clearing Out”.   Our goal was to be heading away by mid/late morning.  We walked to V & A Waterfront Marina Office, where we needed a letter confirming we were paid up and leaving the marina (which is required by customs), we then walked 10 minutes to port area to Immigration, we filled in forms and they finally stamped our passports.  It was then off to Customs a walk of 15 minutes into city centre.  We queued and when our turn came we thought we had all the documents, however we had not been told we would require a “Export” document, a document that needed to be supplied from Rudi (boatbuilder), via a Clearing Agent – OH NO.  So, on the phone to Rudi – to cut a very long story short, urgency was put onto this piece of paper and we finally received it at 4.00PM.  We speed walked back to V & A Waterfront, onto Our Rose and we were finally ready to leave…

Alan the newest Nexus owner, and Roger of Nexus Catamarans came to :”Throw off the bowlines" – so that we could "sail away from the safe harbour, catch the trade winds in our sails”… and they waved us off…

We sailed overnight and arrived at Langebaan at 03:00am where we stayed for two nights, doing final provisioning. 

We finally left South Africa, Six Months after arriving on Thursday 28 March, at 17:00, the wind was forecast for a southerly to help push us away from the coast – here begins our First Crossing…

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You...

Our time here in Cape Town has given us have the opportunity to have some people come into our lives that we will always be grateful to - they have made our time here a wonderful part of our journey...

Phil Southwell - firstly, thank you for designing such a beautiful boat that we are now so fortunate to call our home... secondly, thank you for all your wonderful support, suggestions, downloads and genuine friendship - we can't wait until you join us somewhere in the world!

Paul Rackshaw - a Maverick owner who has given us so many suggestions and helped us with decisions along the way.

Francois from Raymarine - you have given us so much help in your own time - thank you

Joe & Tariq - Jo Fensham Yacht Upholstery - you have done a stunning job of our upholstery and you have made us feel like friends, not clients

Heinz - Multi Marine - you have given us so much of your time outside of business hours - you have been a true help and we hope you and your family will also come join us!

Neil - the man who can "do it all" for Maverick.  Neil, you have been the answer to making our beautiful boat the boat she is - you have helped us so far beyond what is expected of you from Maverick and we will always be grateful for your help and support - again we hope we never loose touch and see you somewhere again on our journey.

Jonathan from Ysterplaat Medical - the time you gave me was something I will always be grateful for.  My regret is that we didn't end up having time for you to come to our boat before we left Cape Town, please keep in contact and hopefully we will see you in the Caribbean.

Alan Harrington - a new Nexus owner - thank you for your suggestions, thank you for the red wine and thank you for wanting to help keep us safe on our crossing across to the Caribbean - we look forward to seeing you again - the Fruit Cake challenge is on!

Roger and Andrea - Nexus Catamarans - where do I begin - you have been so much fun, and help along our journey.  We will truly miss you both and again, look forward to seeing you when you come to see us in the Caribbean.

Claire - We met you after being in South Africa only one month and you have been a wonderful friend to us both. We know that we will all see each other again - we believe in everything you are and everything you wish to do in your life

Mark Wannenburg - our skipper - already so much time has been give to us by Mark - he is a wonderfully knowledgeable Skipper who has become a wonderful friend in such a short time.

Come And Have A Look Around...

 Welcome to our home... please excuse some of the photos as we are still unpacking - however here we are...

Our Scullery and Galley .  Below the third planter box in the fold down cupboard is my dishwasher.  The picture beneath is our Saloon.  The table has three heights and folds out to a full dining table

Guest Cabin... we have put in a TV, DVD and Fusion Docking Station with Surround Sound, so you can have time out from us when you come and stay...

This is your bathroom.  It has a seperate shower, you can just see the door into it.

 This is the third Cabin, sorry about the mess, but we are still unpacking.  Underneath all the bags is a lovely seat, which is also a single bed, however it can fold out to be a double bed.  In the cupboard, which is out of the photo as the near end of the seat/bed, as shown is my washing machine.

 Forward of this, behind the closed door is my dry store area, as shown below.  Then looking back toward the Guest Cabin is our Chart Storage

This is the Nav Station 

Our Cabin, again with Fusion Surround Sound and Air Conditioning.  Four Wardrobes

Our Office - sorry about the mess, still unpacking

Our Bathroom, doesnt show the toilet, but we have one on our side too.  Note the size of the shower, it is actually a bath too.  We had our first bath on Friday after arriving back from testing the sails.  We were very wet and very cold.  We decided we would run only hot water to see when we would run out.  Well, we didn't!  We had to turn off the hot to add cold.  Behind the door at the end of the shower is our generator and behind the shower nozzle is our watermaker.  We can make over 144 litres an hour

Our Darling Friends from New Zealand, whom we miss so very much, gave us this lovely plaque just before we left.  It has pride of place in our Saloon so that we can see it every day

Thank you for coming to visit our home - please, please please come and see us soon!!!

Tulbagh and Jens Garden...

While Our Rose was out of the water we took the opportunity to go to the charming historical town of Talbagh, in the winelands of the Boland about 120km from Cape Town.  The valley was first discovered by European settlers in 1658 - with beautiful Cape Dutch architecture.  The is a place we went to for wine tasting, it also has the most beautiful church on the property, set amongst the vines

We stayed at a lovely place called "Vindoux" Tree Houses.  We had a lovely "Braii (BBQ) one night, which was given to us in this lovely hamper  - heres the master at work, along with the very friendly little doggie, who we found was very receptive to cupboard love (left overs!)

 On our way back to Our Rose, we went and collected our plants from Bridget whom I had hunted down www.herb-nursery.co.za  She is such a ball of energy and was so helpful (also introducing us to some great comedy!)  She will definatly visit for a wine or two before we leave and maybe somewhere in the world also...
So, when we arrived back to Our Rose, who was waiting for us back at the V & A Waterfront, with her bottom all fresh and fixed, it was time to start planting.  We had just unloaded the plants onto the dock (with quite a few un-usual glances from people), when a couple came up to us, and in the most unmistakable "Kiwi" accent said "so where in NZ are you from" - lovely to meet others from home.  Brian and Jill have been cruising for 7 years or so.  Needless to say, we offered them a wine (or two) and I proceeded to start gardening...

We had a lovely time chatting and drinking while I kept getting the hands into the soil and planting - It felt fantastic!
The next day, Friday, Rudi arrived - our watermaker was commissioned, it is producing more than 144 litres an hour - yahooooooo.  Joe from North Sails arrived, along with Mark, Neil, Rudi and ourselves, went out to test the sails - from full sail, reducing gradually to third reef.  Perfect day to be doing this as it was blowing, and pouring with rain!
Then, when we arrived back, Rudi's son Chris met us at the dock and he had the Pajero loaded with our things we had sent from New Zealand.  The plastic has come off the upholstery and we are now unpacking, surrounding ourselves with "home"...

The next update will have the interior photos!

What Next???

Saturday was the anniversary of our Hannah Robinson leaving us... we bought these roses for her...

We finally received our "Screecher" on Friday, with the beautiful rose on it.

Rudi had asked us if we would take Deslynn, Himself and Phil Southwell (the Maverick designer) out for an afternoon on Our Rose, so we also asked Mark (our delivery captain) to join us, along with Francois from Raymarine.

 Building Our Rose has been a real journey.  It has had a lot of happenings, with the latest being that our Anti-Fouling, after only three weeks is coming off.  We could not believe our eyes!  Rudi had used International as the base, however had been approached about using another product for the top coat - he had been told that it was the "best" thing, however it was overlooked that there needed to be another bonding agent used.  Long and short of this, Our Rose, after less than a month is now out of the water.

We have moved off her (we didn't think we would be doing that for a long time) and have gone away for 3 nights whilst this recent event is being rectified and Our Rose is being completed - she is still not yet finished, however we are hoping that all will be finished by the end of the week.  We are trying to stay positive, after so many issues.

Our Very First Sail!!!!!

Since Our Rose was launched, she has been crawling with Contractors, we have been wondering if we would ever go for the "First" sail?

Yesterday, Mark, (the Captain who has agreed to join us for our crossing from South Africa to the Caribbean) offered to come and sail with us for the first time - what a wonderful day we had...

We still have no helm seat (who needs a seat to sail!), we still have no pots, no bbq, finishing inside yet to be completed, watermaker yet to be installed, systems yet to be learned and tested, BUT, that still didn't stop us from taking Our Rose for the "First" sail... and she performed beautifully for us.  We only had about 12 knots of wind and we were getting along at 7 to 8.5 knots (not bad for her first run out!).  She was also pointing higher than the mono-hulls out there (we didn't tell her that was unusual)...

Shacks...

We have been asked a few times if there is poverty in New Zealand...

You can imagine our answer to this when you think of what it is like here in South Africa - the unemployment rate here is over 50%, there are no social benefits and these photos show how many people live.  These "shacks" as they are known here, go on for miles and miles, as far as the eye can see...

These photos I took as we were driving on a freeway here in Cape Town

A Lovely Afternoon...

Last Sunday our friend Claire asked if we would like to go to Hout Bay and listen to a band, we decided to make the most of the afternoon and went wine tasting at two vineyards on our way there...

We had a really lovely afternoon, ending up at "The Lookout" at Hout Bay the view straight out the window is lovely...

The band were great, playing all the oldies that we know - and danced to - yes, a few wines were had by all!