Immigration

We pulled into Cape Town with every intention of getting our visas extended..and of course fixing the steering cable on the boat, and the head and the bicolor light. We did get everythin fixed but were not able to get our visas done. We showed up pretty early. Waited two hours for them to finally tell us what all we needed. We need our passports, bank statement, means of exiting the country and two copies of all that stuff. We had to leave and go to the post office to get copies made and print bank statements. We go back and she tells us no I need a copy of the stamped page in ur passport. Not the photo page. We also told we will be exiting by boat once we finish class and showed her the letter from the school but she was not impressed or amused...we are still in class and don't have a delivery scheduled yet so we cannot produce boat papers or anything like that. Instead of wasting money on a plane ticket that we will never use...we decided to take a little road trip!;) we are going to Namibia for a couple days and then just re-enter the country;) so we get to see Namibia on a road trip with JJ and he gets to surf so fun for everyone;)

We celebrated our first holiday outside the US! St pattys day was a blast at the waterfront!! Not real sure we ever went to an Irish bar tho. I think they were all Scottish. Lol. It was still a blast!!

Right now we have NO wind ... Again... So we are motoring our way back to Mykonos from Cape Town. New cable is working out perfectly!

The calm after the storm

Sitting here eating breakfast in Cape Town. I don't think i will ever get used to this beautiful view! We wake up get dressed walk off the boat and boom there is Table Mountain in your face! It is so gorgeous here and it is a great feeling to walk up to the marina restaurant and drink coffee and eat breakfast just overlooking all the boats. We did see one from Kemah last time we were here! That was exciting but we never did get a chance to speak to the owner.

We came in to the marina blind yesterday. The fog was so dense you could barely see 3 meters in front of the boat! We motored in with JJ at the helm and Tyrone navigating with the GPS. Everyone was on deck and I was on the horn to blow one long blast every few minutes to let everyone know we were making way through the fog into the marina. It was really cool and very nerve racking.

We went out for a bit last night and everyone passed out around midnight here. I could not sleep of course so I stayed up and made some phone calls. Got to talk to my pops mamma and Roberto! It is always good to hear a familiar voice:) Miss everyone and wish you all could come here and see this place!

Well happy St Pattys day to you! We are about to on a quest for some green beer and see what kind of trouble we can get into heehee....dont worry we will be safe...mom...

2 am

Log: 14 March 2013 0430 hrs
Leaving Mosselbaai heading to The Cape of Storms

It was a cold and windy night and Scotty and I were on watch. Well Scott was at the helm and I was on watch...I was hesitantly biting my nails and counting down the minutes till it was my turn to take the helm. The 50 meter swells were massive and overpowering and the gale force winds were relentless and showed no mercy to my nervous soul. The second hand falls on 2am and Scotty over ecstatically handed over the helm and slipped off to bed as I took over. JJ was on watch with me and Tyrone decided to come up on deck as well. Sleep does not come easy when pounding through waves this tall. Not two minutes later after my hands touched the helm for the first time in 6 hours I felt the Star Spirit lose all steering ability! Twenty meter tentacles rose up on our sides! Starboard first then port side and over the bow!! We were lifted off the ocean and tossed around by this massive prehistoric killer squid from the deepest caverns of the ocean! You know the ones that can eat a full grown blue whale in one swift breath!!! I was thrown onto the starboard lazarette and as the helm slipped out of my hands I felt the steering cable snap all hope draining from my soul. Tyrone and JJ retreat below deck for cover and I thought it was over. Then I heard something else from below deck and I see our salvation! Tyrone and JJ fly up on two thunderbolts of lightning with a spear in one hand and a magical phosphorescent sword in the other!! They bring in the cavalry yelling ALL HANDS ON DECK and then I see Morgan, Scotty, Otto and even Christo awakens from his slumber and they are coming to join the battle of the beast from below!!! Otto was snatched up almost immediately from the companionway with a 20 meter tentacle. We could see the pain and anguish on his face as he was pierced with a razor sharp thorn on the suction cup of the tentacle. He was injected with a paralyzing serum as his body went limp. We fought with all of our power and ability to bring the massive tentacle down on the deck. We freed him from the clutches of the suction cup and quickly brought him below deck. I was able to find an antiserum in the first aid kit and injected him with it just before the damage was irreversible. We have him covered in blanket and are waiting for the fever to break. Back up on deck Spears are flying and swords are slicing through tentacles everywhere. As we slice through the beast you can see the green glow of the magical phosphorescence bursting and twinkling through the pitch black night sky. You can hear the shrieking of the beast and we know we are winning the battle. We fight until every last tentacle has left our beautiful boat and the beast retreats finally. We are Relieved but still aware that we are not out of harms way yet, the beast could attack again at any moment...we assess our damages and drop the main sail and set out the drogues Our steering is lost but our spirits are lifted once we locate the emergency tiller! We have found our salvation and the beast will not win this war!!! Tyrone and JJ attach the tiller with lightning speed so fast you know they must be part human part gods. No man could ever move with such stealth and grace in a situation like this unless they were blessed with a certain power. The gods are smiling upon us. We decide not to push our luck and raise the main sail but we have enough power with the head sail to quickly escape to safer waters. As we look at each other realizing we just narrowly escaped death we all burst into uncontrollable laughter. What else can you do when you know you have just evaded the clutches of certain death?...I think I know why they call it the Cape of Good Hope...You can only hope to make it there alive.

still 7 crew on board.

Whale watching

We finally made it out of St Francis!!! We really needed to leave yesterday but the wind was so strong and the swell was too big with breaking waves right at the mouth of the marina. There was concern of being pushed onto the rocks and we decided It was too risky for us to leave...this was definitely not the best marina to be stuck at considering there was a locked door at the end of the dock. Christo is from here so we were able to use his keys but the showers and stuff are only open on the weekend...we hung around to go to town Monday to get our visas extended only find out they can't do that there...extremely disappointing but we are on our way back to Cape Town now so we can get that taken Care of. We decided not to continue to Durban because it would be too much of a fight to get up that way with the wind direction and all. So we are making our way backup Cape Town and should be there hopefully by Friday but probably Saturday realistically. We'll hang out til Monday again and go downtown and finally get our extension. Then back up to Langebaan ...or maybe stop off in Cape Town, go back to langebaan and then head back to Cape Town for another and final mileage trip. Who knows. Plans change so quickly on a boat.

We did go out for a bit Saturday night. I saw an Irish clock for the first time lol it moves backwards....We walked or hiked actually along the beach a few miles which was so pretty!!! There is a walking trail and it leads through brush and along the beach and over some rocks. It was a really nice trail and fun to finally get out and get a little exercise. We hung out at the pool too since the water was a little chilly and rough. Watched the boys do some flips and maybe a face flop or two while I tried to even out these ridiculous tan lines lol!! One day ill be back to normal;) ...

I went up the mast!! For no other reason than I am terrified of heights and agreed to it after a few courage inducing drinks the night before. And they promised not to drop me;)

We did get to see some whales close up tho!!!! It was SO AWESOME!!! This whale just pulled up right next to us!!! They stayed with us for a while but in the distance. There was just one who came up two or three times just a couple meters off our starboard side. I was in so much shock I didn't have time to take a close up photo but I did get a couple in the distance.

Morgan is cooking yet another delicious smelling meal at the moment and I go back on watch in about 30 minutes. We have no wind and we are motor sailing now:(....looks like we won't have wind til tomorrow evening or so...

Oh what I wouldn't give for a mani/pedi/ haircut right now.!!!...(I would settle for a shower;)....)

St Francis

Leaving Cape Town was fun! You can see in the pic below how we had the toe rail in the water! We had some good goose wingin on the way to st Francis when the wind was behind us. We caught a couple of yellow fin tunas and I had the freshest sushi of my life!!! It was better seared in the pan but at least I can say I've had fresh tuna;) JJ caught his hand on the hook pulling in the second one...but hea alive and well now...we pulled into st Francis last night; had to stop be because we pretty much ran out of everything! Water, fuel almost, propane and we needed to do some major cleaning up and fixing odds and ends.

I started on my sextant sights for the examiner also! We had a small window where we were not heeling over like crazy and the swell wasn't 100 meters high...;)
Watched a couple of nice sunrises and a few sunsets. It's so freakin pretty!!!

You can tell we are getting further up because the temp is rising. The boys went for a swim as soon as the wind died enough it was so hot out! I couldn't bring myself to jump in because all I can think of is how they drag fake seals behind the boats on shark week to get great whites to come up! Lol....that's what the boys looked like being dragged but all is well and they felt much much better after the swim. Recorded it on Ottos gopro too!! We have to get one of those! The pic quality is so good and it's perfect underwater as well! AHEM! Gopro for my bday *cough cough*

So we found this amazing French restaurant for breakfast this morning here in the marina! The French toast with caramelized banana and cinnamon was amaziiiiing!!! We are staying here until Monday so that Ty, Irish and myself can get our visas extended. It's Nice to be in port for a couple day honestly. Showers and a clean clean boat and a braai later here at the pub....mmmm...nice.

When we were pulling in it was so windy and the waves were crazy! Had a controlled textbook gybe and our traveler snapped reLeasing our main sail!!! There was a moment of silence and then a lot of sailor talk LOL!!! If it can go wrong it has on this crazy trip! But like my pops said its better for shit to hit the fan while we are in school instead of out there on our own. We learn how to handle everything that can Go wrong. I can tell you this...when it does go wrong it happens in a fraction of a second. Gotta be prepared for anything and everything and have backup plans for all of it! And I learned to prep better before going out for so long lol. It's been quite an experience so far and look forward to next week for our trip up to Durban!

They have a cute shell shop here where I added another anklet to my collection. Also saw a ladybug wind chime that reminded me of Bella! I totally would have gotten it if there was a way to get it to her in one piece!! Also wandered into some place that had a paper mâché shark.

4 weeks at sea!

So the plan is to sail up to Durban and back for our mileage trip. Currently we are leaving Cape Town. We just pulled in for about 2 hours to fix our wind hawk or wind vein. (It's the little arrow on top of the mast that indicates where the wind is coming from) we got some new fenders for the boat as well so we are nice and pretty now! ;) we left at about 6:30 last night and I was on the helm first so I had to pull the boat out of the slip and sail for the first 3 hours. We had the thickest fog I've ever seen all night long!! It was so creepy I was waiting for pirates of the Caribbean ghost ship to show up any minute. We had no wind so we motored the whole way from Mykonos to Cape Town. Today we are gonna have too much wind. We are rounding cape point today with 30-40 knots of wind I think. Should be quite fun! ;)