can we help
+44(0)1983 296060
+1 757-788-8872
tell me moreJoin a rally

Menu

Voyageur - Log day 200 - A 'dreich' day in Hout bay! ('Dreich', pronounced 'dreech' is the Scottish word for damp, wet and downright miserable!)



21 November 2010

David described it like a damp Sunday in Oban. It was very near to the truth. A thick grey mist hung over the mountains which were the backdrop to this bay. Then it started to drizzle. It was so cold and damp we turned on the central heating. Well, it was high time we checked it anyway. The manual tells us we should run the system at least once every four months so now was the perfect excuse. Needless to say we all slept soundly for nine hours. There was really no need to wash the boat. The rain did that for us anyway. By early afternoon Sue had arrived having picked up our hire car and driven up from her hotel in Cape Town. We cracked open a bottle of bubbly, again, toasting our landfall, toasting our rounding of one of the great capes, toasting the dogged determination of the engine which powered us through the roughest of seas for no less than 30 hours, toasted the ruggedness of the autopilot, but most of all toasting Sue's safe arrival. Then we went to the yacht club for lunch. They were not serving food until 3pm but the form is that you can step across the road to Monica's Munchies, a takeaway specialising in freshly caught seafood. You can place your order and she will bring it over to the club while you are seated on the balcony sipping an ice cold beer. Our first impression of this place was what a dump. But you know it kind of grows on you and I think we will like it here. The pontoons are not the best, but we have had worse. The people here are very helpful and friendly, but we were ever so careful not to say too much about the fact that Scotland beat South Africa in the rugby at Murrayfield in Edinburgh! There are some good restaurants mere minutes from the boat, the prices amazingly reasonable. There is a good shopping centre within walking distance and two excellent supermarkets. The yacht club has internet access. Sue and Donald stayed with us long enough for sundowners along with everyone from Basia who are berthed next to us, then left for their hotel in Cape Town. Jannes and Cat are leaving for home. Cat to Houston, Texas, Jannes for Poland. Not feeling particularly hungry David and I had cheese on toast for supper and settled down to watch a movie, the first time this whole trip. Outside it was pouring with rain and it was just like the old days when we would hunker down aboard Stella in her berth at Croabh Haven, Argyll, snug and secure while a gale would be howling around us from the south west.

It absolutely poured with rain all night long. Hey, what is this? We are supposed to be in a South African summer. I had done five machine loads of laundry and now it was lying in a soggy pile. There was not even an hour or two when I could hang it out to dry. Sue and Donald carted it all back to their hotel where they dried it all in the tumble driers for just 80 rand, about £8. With the wind now blowing out of the south east we moved from our temporary berth to a more permanent one and tied ourselves very securely with our heavy duty dock lines. We will be leaving Voyageur for two weeks to go travelling and want to make sure she is as secure as she can be. Donald and David tightened the main hatch so we are now watertight once more. To our amazement and delight there was not one drop of water in the bilges. It is always a concern that in rough seas we may have water ingress through the bow thruster seal. One less job to do when we are lifted out here in three weeks time. The propeller will however have to be removed once more. With two incidences of rope caught around the prop the oil has emulsified. I cannot tell you how happy we are to be here. I was rather dreading this part of the trip, I suspect like many others, and the relief that the dangers that arise from the Agulhas Current is now over for us is overwhelming. Now I can truly relax and look forward to our two week holiday with Sue and Donald exploring this most amazing new continent......

Susan Mackay


Previous | Next