Afternoon All,
Well last night there was a full moon and so many stars to see. The winds were a gentle 10 knots and there was very little swell owing to a lovely night for motor sailing. I didn’t however manage much sleep. My amazing shore crew Jeff and the lovely Sue were very helpful in emailing me the lat and long positions of nearby ship,s so in between dodging tankers I did manage to get snatches of sleep between 20 min and 1 hour. Eventually I sail/motored above 35 South and encountered the main shipping lane under South Africa. I went from not seeing a ship on the AIS since the fuel transfer days ago to all of a sudden having 7 container ships heading towards me... After a nervous hour, I was again in the clear and able to sneak in another nap. All in all I think that I managed 3-4 hours’ sleep but I was just too wired to sleep once the sun was up.
After dawn I still couldn’t see land but I was still encountering the odd container ship so I needed to be watchful especially after I popped my head up on deck and saw a fishing buoy about 50 meters from the boat. Two seconds later another one and finally I noticed a long line of fishing net that I somehow just avoided as it ran parallel to my boat... I altered course away from it quick smart. I spent most of the remaining morning on the phone to Australia again trying to make as many arrangements before my arrival as possible and by lunch time I realised that I still hadn’t eaten breakfast... I was in a really excited mood as I was so close to arriving on land and I had been watching the coastline of South Africa pass me by so I decided to celebrate and make some pancakes... Yumm. So, there I was making my pancakes and all of a sudden there was this loud roar of an engine.
I bolted on deck and was greeted with the welcome surprise of a SA Navy helicopter hovering near by and the crew giving me a big wave. Well hello folks. It was all very exciting as they did some circles around me and would run off only to come back for another fly over. I was waving like a mad women and enjoying the welcome to Cape Town.
I also had another visit from some whales, again not a type I am familiar with but lovely to see and how I am less than 10 nm from reaching port. Once I knew that the fuel was okay for the engine I increased my revs so that I would have the shot at arriving to Cape Town before sunset today and as it turns out I should arrive just on 5pm a perfect time to arrive ready to enjoy that extra cold beer and those hot chips I have been dreaming about. Well for now I will leave you and try to write another blog tomorrow night and share my arrival with you all. Thanks again to everyone for all your support. And so after 81 days at sea I am about to land... My journey has just begun so keep following.
Almost there!
