The delivery

And so, after countless hours of boat work, preparation and admin, on the 23rd of November at around 9 pm Ciao Bella left Durban harbour for PE. Finally, the six of us were together on the ocean, doing what we love. We started out close-hauled on a beat around the bluff moving almost parallel to the shore.

It was amazing to feel the tension and stress of everyone easing up with every mile we moved further offshore. As cell phone reception became scarce we settled into our watches and sailed off into the night…

Emma and I were lucky enough to have the sunrise shift the next morning but unfortunately with all the cloud cover it was a grey and subdued affair. Nevertheless, we enjoyed some hot coffee and continued beating down the coast. We'd made good progress during the night but unfortunately the wind had now swung and was coming directly from where we wanted to go. This meant tacking every few hours and staying far offshore in the Agulhas current.

The day wore on without incident with everyone settling down for life on-board. Seasickness was a general problem for all except Tawanda (who is the least experienced among us and, to all our jealousy, is somehow immune to the effects of Ciao Bella’s perpetual motion). Ryan, who is probably the most seasoned was rather badly influenced and could be heard offering encouragement to T (his watch partner) in between bouts of retching.

The next day we were well and truly off the Wild Coast; there were few lights to be seen along the shore at night and we had frequent visits from bird and sea life. As we approached PE the wind dropped off abruptly so Hearn switched on the donkey (he has nicknamed her - the engine - Christel and has threatened us all with various unsavoury consequences if we dare touch her). We set about bringing everything that had gotten damp over the previous few days up on deck to dry. As we motored straight for the harbour under the setting sun we watched cormorants gorging themselves on the sardines, disturbing the wind-still water. We reflected on the delivery so far and looked forward to a night in dry beds that hopefully wouldn’t abruptly change angle during the night.

For the next half of this blog we’ll treat you to an extract from ‘The Boson’s Log’ by Hearn Johnson.

“ 30 November – This morning I took some painkillers for brekkie, two pink and two white with a side of dry rice cake complemented by some droe-wors. As I came onto watch, Button (Michaela) said, “Lookout for the whales in the sea”. We’re passing Betty’s Bay position 34° 29’S 19° 4’E; we’ve found ourselves 30.68 nautical miles from Cape Point aka. witches peak/Cape of Storms, a name change that is used to promote sailing – and it’s working.

Uncle Derek, Mike Robinson’s older brother, sent word of an Easterly – exciting stuff! When it comes through it means a run straight to CT. I say ‘when’ cause from what I’m told when Uncle Derek makes a prediction, even the wind is too scared to argue.

Cape of Good Hope comes into view and it’s breath-taking as ever – the small white lighthouse clings to the rock face with a bold sea bashing and spraying down below. I like to think that we share the same kind of stuff that those determined builders must have needed to forge this lighthouse all those years ago.

It’s been a long, tiring and soul testing 7 days of upwind sailing through swell and storms but we’ve made it to the Cape.

The last stretch feels like a reward for all our efforts down the coast, we have won that messy divorce, stuck it to the man and mustered enough grit to make it safely to Cape Town. To the Wild Coast I say Good Day!”