Sage on sail

Meanwhile back at the Marina

April 22, 2016

Umm, the first major winter season storm. We clocking winds at upwards of 53 knots from the north-west. The outer docking is at a 25 degree list to leeward, boats are rocking around, some boats are chewing away at the docks while others are struggling with lines to limit damage.

It’s all a bit wild. Sage lies in the inner sections of the harbour and is well protected from the brunt of the storm yet fine tuning is needed to keep her well positioned. In a few hours we should see the maximum winds abate and the wind turn more to the west which means williwas screaming down from the 500m cliffs above us. However the seas should abate a little as they move to come off the land. Apparently seas offshore are to rich as high as 15m! No place to be in a small boat so hope everyone is safely in harbour.

The video below is not great but I have saved you from a long viewing keeping it to about 20 seconds!

Dodger – Part 6

April 21, 2016

Just to make things even more exciting (!!!!) here is a short video

Dodger – Part 5

April 19, 2016

More pics

I know lots of boring pictures but I am excited. At least the two below show some good progress. All the glueing/epoxying is mostly done and the fairing compounds are going on. Unfortunately today and tomorrow we are in the midst of a storm with rain and 55 knot winds so work has come to a halt.

Dodger – Part 4

April 19, 2016

Moving along and looking good.

Have to go to town today to choose paint colour. Seems things are all on schedule which is great.

Dodger Part 3

April 17, 2016

The dodger is assembled in layers buildi g up in most areas to a thickness of 9mm. Each layer is epoxy saturated and eventually one has the basic unit without windows and othe fittings.

Here are a few more pictures:

Dodger – Part 2

April 15, 2016

Okay, the materials and cut files were handed over the the CnC cutter late Tuesday. By late Thursday the puzzle pieces were cut and roughly assembled. Here are some photos.

Okay, next steps….

What are we doing?

April 13, 2016

tags: dodger, dog house

As mentioned previously we are doing a lot of work on preparing Sage for wherever we end up going in the Atlantic Ocean. We are also enjoying the wine, the food, the hikes, the sea and whatever special events are on offer.

The biggest task though is getting Sage spruced up after a number of years of hard use. One of the projects has me very excited as, for me, it’s a new way in which boats, or boat parts, are constructed.

We are working with a CAD expert and designer here on making a new dodger for Sage. The old dodger is showing its age by leaking in the rain, zippers giving out due to sun damage, staining and wearing of the material and just general wear and tear.

The design process is interesting. It all starts with making very precise measurements and using a Computer Assisted Drawing (CAD) program all the information is put into a computer. From there the design down to the finest detail is worked out. We are able to see the design in all its dimensions and in the finest detail.

The design is finalized with signatures and the cut files then sent to the cutter. We went to purchase the materials yesterday and took the pieces of wood and the plexiglass to the person with the laser cutter. Once the files are put into the laser cutter’s computer and the button pushed that’s it.

The dodger is now ready to assemble.It’s very exciting to see this working and we hope we are very happy with the end result.

Here is the signed off drawing as it went to laser cutter. Note the embedded solar panel under which lies the water collection trough. Not shown is the opening centre window which folds up into the inside.

CAD of Sage’s new dodger

The Ludic Behaviour Of Sage and Her Crew

March 28, 2016

tags: fynbos, protea, Simons Town

Protea

The ludic behaviour of Sage and her crew is coming to and end for a period of time. We have wandered through the Indian Ocean for the last year having visited some amazing places, met wonderful people and eating lots of tropical delights. No matter how wonderful it all looks and sounds we are quite tired.

We need a break from the constant moving, the worries of maintaining a boat in good nick in remote locations and if truth be told the southern Indian Ocean has thrown us for a loop with the constant weather concerns related to making safe passages along a coastline with few natural harbours. The old adage of it being safer far out to sea could not be more applicable to the South African coastline. I would much rather be 500 miles out at sea than to have the constant worry of how far it is to the next safe port.

So, we are setting the anchor down for a while to spend some time on bolstering Sage’s seaworthiness and taking a break from thinking where the next anchorage will be. We are looking forward to taking in more land based adventures be it walking through the fynbos of Table Mountain or perhaps a trip to the theatre or enjoying the Cape Town jazz festival.

We celebrated our arrival in the Atlantic Ocean with Lop To and Strider along with several bottles of champagne. We are all looking forward to one of the most classic sailing passages i.e. The South Atlantic passage from Cape Town to St. Helena, Ascencion and beyond. It’s a hurricane free zone and reading the blogs of the numerous 2016 Indian Ocean crossing alumni it looks pretty nice. However, our crossing is not going to take place for a while.

We have new sails to purchase. One has been waiting here in Simon’s Town since December, another has been ordered and is due to arrive late next week and another, the genoa, is to be measured up sometime soon. There is to be a new dodger and a new dinghy. All this takes time and so we are doing lots of small jobs between now and departure such as repairing the windlass, painting out the galley and cockpit, repairing the broken electronic steering, getting replacement parts for the wind-driven self steering and replacing all sorts of lines.

The electronic self steering which broke at the same time as the wind-driven self steering

There was only one way to fix this offshore – duct tape. What a marvelous invention.

One more thing to fix – we lost the boom vang and here we are in Simon’s Town taking it up to the shop for repair

We hope that by the time we leave Sage will feel like a new ship that’s ready to put on a few miles and we will have had a relaxing break and an improved attitude to putting many miles under the keel as we make our way north through the South Atlantic. We have many options as to places to go be it Brazil, the Caribbean, the Azores, Cape Horn or…Our imaginations run wild with possibilities and already we are thinking of exotic and far away places to anchor and explore.

Prolific Proteas

Stay tuned for a few land travel stories and then a foray into the South Atlantic.

Our hometown for a while – Simons Town

Beyond Durban

March 14, 2016

tags: Algoa Bay Yacht Club, Cape Recife, East London, Port Elizabeth

We had a rip roaring sail along the coast between Durban and East London. With the coastal current running at upwards of 4 knots we were making 10 knots over the ground at times. We managed to cover the 255 miles in 36 hours. A record time for that distance. Yes, it was jumpy at times, wet at times but we were making miles which when one only has small weather windows to make a jump then it’s most important to try and make miles while one can.

Pulling into East London is simple. As for clearance from East London Harbour control on VHF Channel 12 then motor in a few miles along the channel to the anchorage off the East London Yacht Club. The club is open Wednesdays and Friday to Sunday. We arrived on Tuesday, anchored off the club and sat down to wait out the weather.

Here is East London:

: On the derelict/condemned wharf on the opposite side of the river from the yacht club

: Looking across the river to the derelict dock

: East London Yacht Club docks

There aren’t many photos of East London for good reason. It was one of the most disappointing places we have been to in South Africa. The anchorage was safe and secure which is very important but there was little to be said positive about the town. The downtown area is very run down, it feels and looks unsafe, the waterfront was rocky and rough and the food shopping was dismal. On the positive side the yacht club was a pleasure. It was welcoming and they had showers and water on the docks. What else is to be expected.

We were glad a weather window opened up and we spent only 3 days there before heading on to Port Elizabeth. It’s only 120 miles between East London and Port Elizabeth with again a strong current in our favour giving us 7-8 knots for about 12 hours. The wind then started to die and from 0300hrs to 0900hrs we motored the remainder of the way.

There is another yacht club called the Algoa Bay Yacht Club, welcoming and space available. We tied up and tried to recover from a sleepless night and didn’t start exploring until the following day. To our surprise this has turned out to be a wonderful spot. There are marine stores close by, another friendly yacht club with a pleasant restaurant, a braii, a bar and best of all hot showers. We settled in seeing as the weather window wasn’t available to continue the trip.

Here’s Port Elizabeth: