Cape Town to St Helena Journal

We departed Cape Town on Wednesday 5 May 1999 at 10h30.

The family and our good friend Brenda came to see us off, Poppers, streamers and balloons were evident, and made for a jolly send off.

We motored out on a course for StHelena but soon decided to go into Saldanha bay as the autopilot compass had not yet been swung (aligned) and the sea was too rough to do it out there.

We arrived in Saldanha accompanied by luminescent green dolphins that glowed in the phosphorescence in the water, an eerie and awsome sight.

Thursday 6 May, a lovely day in Saldanha and Liz had fun buzzing around in the rubber ducky and "her" 5 hp motor.

Friday 7 May wind from the north heading 336m speed 6 kts. 

Sat 8 May found southerly wind put up two Genoas speed 7 kts.
Wind speed up at 22h00 downed second genoa, and reefed first one to about 1/4 on a pole for stiffness, sea rough bumpy and noisy.

Sun 9 May wind S/E 25 kts Found out on the SSB radio about other boats en route to StHelena Tyche, Kinsa, Friendly Rival and Centime.
Position 30d 31m S 15d 37mE
Carol, My sister is picking up the radio Scheds on 6224 Mhz at 17h00Z

Mon 10 May, Nearly lost dinghy overboard with boarding waves, went up on deck (wearing harness) and added some lashings, now nothing left to do but hold on tight down below. Watches now 2hrs on 2 hrs off, hand steering all the way, totally exhausting and completely shattered after the concentration of holding course and pointing the boat the right way for the mountainous seas not to crash on deck sideways. 
Spilled 2.5kg of sugar onto cabin sole. Assaulted by the entire contents of the fridge while in galley, shit!
Jack has not pee'd or poo'd yet, getting worried. Maybe I should not have pee'd on the stanchions myself, trying to set an example, he might have interpreted that as "Piss off dog this is my turf" hmmm.
Liz is fantastic, handling this as if its a game. what a wonderful child. Friendly Rival reports bottle of olive oil smashed in her galley, think we call her oily rival from now on, or "whasamatter pete, get up too oily this morning" funny how bad jokes get when the going gets rough.

Tues 11 May Pos 28 13 S 11 48 E
Change course to 300 wind S/W 15, Sea still confused with "X" shaped swell pattern Fantastic thunderstorm, Switched off all the electronics and went to hand steer by compass.
Watches now one hour very tired, decided to put fred on (autopilot) and be damned with it, even if it blows up from overwork, we need the rest first.

JACK POO'D And the sounds of the Hallelujia Chorus rang out across the Seas!!! ( and what a pile it was )


Wed 12 May Pos 27 34 S 10 27 E
Course 329 wind s/w 8-12 kts , much better, 

Thurs 13 May Pos 26 23 S 09 00 E
Course 329 wind S 15 kts Set Autopilot Rudder Gain to 2 from 6 fantastic improvement "Like WoW man this thing actually works!!)

Fri 14 May Pos 25 33 S 07 41 E
Put up second genoa speed 7 kts halfway mark coming up.

Sat 15 May Pos 24 15 S 05 40 E
NFTR (nothing further to report)

Sun 16 May Pos 22 52 S 03 41 E
Wind shift to east, flukey and weak, sails slatting and hanging.

Mon 17 May Pos 21 54 S 02 22 E
Flat calm sea, no wind, motored for a few hours, saw a ship, called him up it was "Infanta" a Safmarine vessel en route to New York

Tues 18 May Pos 20 39 S 00 56 E
Tried 2 genoas and a mizzen staysail, what a good combination stable and fast. Crossed Greenwich Meridian at 11h37 am, was going to throw the guns away here, but too busy, will have to throw them overboard at a later date ( Can't sell them 2nd hand in SA, can't hand them in at Police because it wont be long and they're in use by the criminals, best thing is to throw them away in 4000 metres of ocean this way we wont have the problem, and there will be two less firearms in circulation in South Africa)

Wed 19 May Pos 19 23 S 00 53 W
Lumpy Sea Rolly Polly, Generator Stop Solenoid blew up in a cloud of acrid smoke, have to shut down by hand now, and genset running without any safety devices, no good but vital to keep the freezer going.

Thurs 20 May Pos 18 20 S 02 26 W
Slow going but wind picking up maybe better tomorrrow hmmmmm.

Friday 21 May 0001 hrs Pos 16 58 S 04 16 W 
102 miles to go.
17h30 Anchor in St Helena YAY! 1692 miles from Cape Town
Strange place this, Like a bit of Karroo in the middle of the South Atlantic. The people are extremely warm and friendly, and helpful. Everybody greets everybody, nothing much in the shops, a bit of old world where you stand behind the counter and the shopkeeper serves you from shelves along a back wall. There are three or four computers here too. They belong to the government mainly. Bombed out cars, like Zephyr Fours etc. The water is 24.5 Deg C and extremely clear, you can see your anchor in 40 ft of water. 
All busy right now getting ready for the next leg to Salvador in Bahia Brazil. 1900 miles, by the last experience we will budget on 19 days, filling with water here could be a problem. Liz is having a ball snorkelling and driving her ducky around, She made freinds with the cats at Anne's Place, a kind of yachty tevern, Nobody in church on Sunday but the priest was cracking a few jars at Anne's. The ferry service, Customs immigration and harbour fees are all mentioned in passing but "you can pay when you go, just keep a tally friend" is all they say, sheesh relaxed people indeed, mind you there is not much going on here, just enough to keep it British. We are going to hire a car on Tuesday and go and see Napoleons house and his tortoise. (Hire, well, borrow actually for ten pounds sterling) 
We had a great time looking around St Helena. We hired a car, well, an old banger really. We got it from Annes Place for ten Pounds per day. It only took half a day to go around the island to the important places. Our Digital camera started playing up on that trip and only a few photos were saved. The car was a 1977 cortina Mk2 and its shockabsorbers were....well, they weren't.

The Fishing here is unbeleivably good, a naked hook is all you will need. the variety of species and sizes are quite astounding. The diving is also world class, visibility of 160 feet is common and the water temperature is almost a constant 26 deg C. If ever there is a diving destination this has to be a strong contender for the top ten. The tourism infrastructure is however undeveloped. There is no airfield on the island.

We went to the house where Napoleon was incarcerated, We didn't know that he actually had a whole mini French Court as well. The St Helena Governor's house is now the home of the Tortoises that Napoleon kept. Its quite amazing to meet these animals and think of the fashions that must have come and gone, the people that must have been seen through those expressionless weeping eyes, almost as if to say "Theres nothing you can teach me, I've been here for nearly three hundred years mate"

We Decided to leave St Helena on Saturday the 29 May 1999. Our friend and Ham Radio buddy Bruce Salt was incredible, He had arranged about 270 feet of hosepipe from all his friends and neighbours, linked them all together and offered to help fill the water tanks. Bruce and his family run a clothing and footwear shop on the island his callsign is ZD7VC if you want to give him a shout, most evenings at 17h00Z (GMT) on 14283 Mhz.

At 08h00 local time Bruce called on the radio to say he was waiting with his pipeline. The tanks on Gilana are too big to fill by bucket. We needed 1300 litres. I went across to fetch Bruce in Tassies (the Inflatable tender) we then weighed anchor and motored across to the landing point where the tap is. Now, you have to understand that Gilana is a 50 ft boat weighing in at about 25 tons. The place where we had to go is about as big as twice our length, the anchor holding is about as good as anchoring on a billiard table. Add to this the catabatic wind effects whistling down the cliffs and a 2 metre surge. In all of this Gilana with her left-handed propeller, which kicks her beautiful but to the right in reverse, well we had fun. On the second attempt we managed to get a line ashore from the stern, Laura and Liz in Tassies did a sterling job stretching the rope to reach the cleat and there we were, anchored in 10 metres of water with about 60 metres of chain out and a line ashore. We kept the motor running, just in case. It took 2.5 hours of running water to fill the tanks. Bruce was really helpful and it seemed as though he has been boating for years, even though he swore he hadn't.

We shouted ashore to some children who are always playing at the ferry station to haul in the hose and let go the rope. We motored slowly forward while weiging anchor for the third time this day. Bruce then helped us repack the forepeak and sail locker, after arranging the chain in its "crossing place" which is as far aft as possible in its locker. I took Bruce ashore and bid him a fond farewell and regards to his wife Charmaine and daughter Sheraton and dog Louie. We will Miss them.

To be continued from Salvador.....