Active Light tours Indonesia

After over three months in the Seychelles Islands and a trip to the USA for Nancy, the season for moving on to South Africa was getting very late. We re-provisioned Active Light and slipped our mooring at 1430 hours on Tuesday, October 3, 2006. Our destination was directly to Richard's Bay, South Africa, bypassing Madagascar because of our late start. The skies were overcast as we said goodbye to the lovely Seychelles and looked forward to new places and experiences.
Our last look at the harbor at Port Victoria, Seychelles Islands.	Neil with a Seychellois moth riding his right ear!
The passage to the top of Madagascar proved to be rougher than expected. Winds stayed between 25 and 35 knots most of the way with the higher winds speeds at night. The seas were short and lumpy making the ride uncomfortable. We looked forward to sailing into the lee of Madagascar where we were told we would be complaining about too little wind. Sometime in the early morning of October 6, the stainless steel weldment that holds the air paddle on our Monitor wind vane sheared away taking the paddle with it. Our self steering was disabled with no way of fixing it at sea. The seas were too choppy and confused to use our electronic steering so we had some days of hand steering to look forward to. Quelle domage!!! Water from waves washing over the deck revealed leaks we didn't know we had, particularly at the mast boot. We hastily moved the TV screen and all other items on the starboard side shelving into the port side bunk and covered them with a protective blanket. At this point we were sleeping on the more comfortable cabin sole anyway. We settled in a routine trying to get as much rest as we could and taking our turns at the tiller hoping for calmer seas where we could use the electronic steering. Non-sailors may not appreciate the onerous task of having to hand steer the boat 24-7 for days at a time in rough seas. We did learn a lot about our boat. She almost sails herself up wind, but downwind and on a reach we learned to rig a series of blocks and lines to help keep our course and minimize the physically wearing job of constantly pushing/pulling the tiller. In late afternoon of October 9, we came under the lee of the northern tip of Madagascar and the winds dropped to ten knots and seas were calm. What a relief! It was short lived however, as by 0900 hours the next morning we were back to 30 plus knots. At one point in the night, we took all sails down and ran under bare mast and rigging, still doing 6 knots over the ground. What a night! We decided to look for a nice bay and stop for a day or two for some much-needed rest. Winds calmed as we neared Baly Bay on Madagascar's west coast, we sailed in and dropped the anchor.
Coming into Baly Bay, Madagascar after some rough sailing.	A Madagascar fisherman dropped by for a visit.

Unfurling his sail, . . .

. . . he heads for home after a long day on the water.

Baly Bay boats sailed by, but did not stop unless invited.

Another of the interesting boats in Baly Bay.

Nancy bakes up a batch of yeast rolls for the next part of the passage.

Baly Bay is a large bay open to the southwest, where we hoped for good weather long enough for us to make some repairs, get some rest and get ourselves organized for the Mozambique Channel crossing. We were anchored farther off the beach than we liked as the bay shallows up quite far from shore. We had not checked into Madagascar, even though we had a valid visa, and so did not plan on going ashore here, only accomplish our goals and then start the crossing to the Mozambique side. The weather was cooperative and we were able to wash up the saltwater mess down below. Neil recaulked around the mast boot and applied several coats of varnish to the Sunbrella mast boot cover to stop up the leaks around the mast. We were able to make permanent repairs to the other small leaks, but the wind vane would have to wait for parts sent in to Richard's Bay. We rested and enjoyed watching the local fishing boats and occasional dolphins at play.

One of the few calm times in this passage.	By Friday, October 13, (Yikes!) we were ready to leave Baly Bay and start a south westerly course for Richard's Bay, South Africa. Fred on PeriPeri radio weather net told us to expect light variable winds and that is what we got. We sailed, motor-sailed, motored and cursed the wind directly on the nose at times. A loud thump in the middle of one night announced the shackle on the boom brake had failed. The shackle is an odd size and we had no spare. The gooseneck at the boom connection was also malfunctioning. Neil was able to jury rig safe alternatives that would get us into port, but we checked both repairs often to make sure they were holding. During the crossing, we saw pods of whales and dolphins, stopping by to play in our bow wave.	Reefing the sail in a 40 knot southwester.
One day north of Richard's Bay, we learned from Fred that the southwester expected two days hence was making an early appearance. The Agulhas Current along the South African coast runs at a speed of anywhere from 1 to 6 knots in a southerly direction. The southwestern winds, besides being directly on the nose, blow against the current and cause very rough conditions and can spawn abnormal waves. These waves can be quite large and have been known to damage or sink even large ocean transports. It is not a good idea to be out in one of these storms! Fred, our weather guru, suggested that we should get ourselves inshore of the 200 meter depth line, out of the current where the effects of the wind against current are minimized. At that time we were 37 nm off the African coast. We turned and made straight for the coast, but were caught out in the gale. When we reached the 200 meter line, we found it much too close to the beach for comfort and with night approaching, we decided to tack the boat away from the shore and heave to for the night. It was a good choice. We had a comfortable night keeping our alternate watches and waiting for the southwester to pass.

We encountered one of the famous southwesters as we neared Richard's Bay. Heaving to saved us a lot of trouble.

Pictures don't begin to do justice to the turbulence of the sea!!

Hove to with tiller lashed to leeward, African coast in the background.

By morning the seas were still choppy, but the wind had dropped down to a light southerly. Nothing broke or was lost overboard in the night. We unlashed the tiller and turned Active Light down the coast, enjoying the 8 to 9 knot progress, a gift of the Agulhas Current. We hoped to reach Richard's Bay before dark. We spotted several pods of large whales feeding during the day and were treated to the sight of huge flukes against the horizon as the whales dived. Late in the afternoon, the current deserted us and we knew we would not be making port until after dark.
Approaching Richard's Bay at dusk, we could see anchored transport ships lined up like lighted beads on a string outside the harbor entrance. Port Control helped us in with directions. Along with our charts and guide books, we had a straight forward entrance. Friends, Bert and Gre on Ciris, were at the wharf to help with lines. After 21 days at sea, we were here at last!

South African shore just a day out of Richard's Bay.

Main buildings and small craft harbor at Richard's Bay.

Tuzi Gazi Marina, our home for three months in Richard's Bay.

We spent several days tied up at the International wharf. Immigration and customs officials didn't appear at the boat to check us in until late in the afternoon the day after our arrival. Finally checked into South Africa, we celebrated with a wonderful steak dinner at Maritoni's Restaurant, a few steps from our spot on "The Wall", as the international wharf is known. That evening another southwester blew up and we were thankful to be tied up listening to the wind howl over us. The space next to the Wall becomes a packed parking lot tailgate party on weekends. People park their cars, pull out their BBQ's, chairs and boom boxes and have a picnic right over our heads. Fishing lines snake into the water at both our bow and stern. Nobody bothered us, but it was a new experience.

Neil finishes a successful splice on one of our new running rigging.

Hooray!! New paint on the boom and the fittings back in place.

Tuzi Gazi Marina was quite full and it was four days before they were able to arrange a place for us. By Saturday, we were in a berth and had found some old friends as well as met some new ones. We got right to work repairing and replacing broken and worn gear on Active Light. New Monitor vane parts we re ordered for our wind vane and we began measuring for all new running rigging. Neil had to teach himself to do eye splices with new high tech parallel-core line. He got pretty good by the time all the new lines were ready. The boom came off the boat for repainting and repairs on the gooseneck and the fitting at the aft end. A very interesting and charismatic fellow named Frank helped us by rewelding and fortifying the boom gooseneck and end fitting, then re-anodizing them both. We removed the Monitor from the transom and took it completely apart. Gideon, owner of a welding shop across the street from the marina, went over the entire frame and did an excellent job of grinding out and repairing places where the stainless had begun to fail. He designed and fabricated several connecting fittings for our boom brake and tiller pilot. We highly recommend him to anyone needing metal work done. The wood yoke under the mast boot was pulled up and replaced with a larger teak one. A new mast boot solved the leaking problem that we had on the crossing. Varnishing, running light repairs, new engine glow plugs and many other smaller jobs kept us busy. We went over all systems on the boat and checked everything carefully.

We worked hard, but left some time for sightseeing. There are a number of game parks within several hour's drive of Richard's Bay. We set aside nine days at the end of November to visit Imfolozi Game Park. Several cruiser friends before us had visited and said they had seen many animals and that the accommodations were good. Nancy made all the arrangements over the phone and we were set to see some wild animals.

Female impala with babies.

The Warthog Family.

We arrived in the late afternoon and had barely cleared the gate before we saw zebra, impala and water buck grazing in the tall grass beside the road. Our little red rental car took us over the Black Imfolozi River on a paved road to Mpila Camp where we checked into our "hut", home for the first five days of our stay. It had a refrigerator and all bedding and kitchen needs supplied. We brought our own food as there are no shops or restaurants in this park. The communal kitchen and ablution block can be seen behind our hut. The huts are clean and well furnished. We were warned to keep doors and windows in our units and the kitchens and bathrooms closed at all times as the vervet monkeys take every opportunity to come inside. They will destroy or carry off anything that is not behind locked doors.

Our first accommodation at Mpila Camp, Imfolozi Game Park

Male nyala, a large antelope.

Where does one giraffe end and the next start?

By the time we had unpacked and had a look around the grounds, it was dusk and too late to start out looking for game. Not to worry. As we sat with a glass of wine and gazed out over the valley, a small herd of zebra stopped by to graze on the front lawn. They were joined by a number of impala and a flock of guinea fowl. The birds were hilarious to watch chasing one another around and around. Nancy was thrilled to sit on the grass and shoot picture after picture of the animals with our new digital SLR camera. We cooked our dinner and poured over the booklet of maps showing all the possible roads through the park planning our route for the next morning

A mighty grumpy looking Chakma baboon.

The Cape buffalo are enormous, unpredictable, and cranky creatures.

We backed down the road to avoid this bull elephant.

Each day, we made a morning drive on a different one of the game loops through the park and were amazed at the numbers of animals we saw. The most numerous were impala. If there was nothing else, there were always impala. We think they stand by the road and wait to pose for the tourists. They seem to know how pretty and graceful they are. The roads are gravel and are advertised as all weather. All of them are bumpy and some have ruts that could swallow a small car, but we drove slowly and our little rental managed them well. The park officials and the literature warn visitors not to get too close to elephants and Cape buffalo. Both have been known to overturn and/or damage vehicles that did not heed the warning. On our first day out, we met a car coming the opposite way. It turned out to be fellow cruisers on Motion. They told us there was a herd of elephant around the bend. We crept forward and pulled to a stop about 150 feet from the herd. We watched them feed and then moved forward after it seemed they had passed. Suddenly a large female flapped her ears and charged toward us. Neil backed hurriedly back the way we had come. We were too close! She gave up the chase before we were in the ditch. Good driving, Neil!

Two "pretty boys" in a herd of male impala.

The park has rangers on duty who provide guided game drives both day and night and early morning walks through the bush. All visitors are required to stay in their cars except for two hikes up mountains that can be done unguided. We were not comfortable with that and took the guided walk. Zwasi took us down into the gullies along stream banks and up to the hilltops with expansive views. The country is beautiful. He carried a big rifle and a belt full of ammunition. He said he has had to shoot an animal only once, a Cape buffalo that was surprise sleeping in a mud hole. We got our first look at a rhinoceros on this walk. It started to charge us, but Zwasi turned it away with a thrown rock.

Neil with our guide, Zwasi.

Our animal count was impressive and the chips on the digital camera were filling up. We decided to visit the craft shop one afternoon for a change of pace. Soon after arrival, the attendant told us she was closing early. Nancy grumbled and grouched as we started back toward our camp. Returning to camp, we came around the bend leading to the bridge over the Black Imfolozi River and nearly ran down a large female elephant. Neil couldn't stop in time and zipped around her onto the bridge. There we saw around fifty elephants of all sizes crossing the river. They stopped to drink and then moved on. As soon as one group passed, another came out of the tall grass and into the water. We watched elephants for an hour crossing that river. Our count is around 200 beasts. We continued across the bridge and up the hill on the other side where we could see the opposite side of the river bank covered with feeding elephants. If not for the early closure of the craft market, we would have missed this amazing sight.

Part of a herd of elephants crossing the Black Imfolozi River.

Everyone stops for a drink.

Young elephants playing in the river.

Not all the animals we saw were large.

The Burchell's zebra were striking against the green grass.

The zebra allowed us to come amazingly close to them.

The safari tent was our second home during our stay at Mpila Camp.

Landscape in Hluhluwe Park.

Blue wildebeest in Imfolozi Park.

Neil looks out over the Black Imfolozi River at Sontuli Picnic Area.

On our last day in the park, we had worked our way north to one of the more remote drives paralleling the Imfolozi River, when we spotted a mother and baby white rhino grazing near the road off to the right hand side of the car. As is the recommended practice, we pulled slowly and quietly forward until we were just past the pair, so that in case of a charge, we could get away forward. We felt comfortable with this viewing, so after about ten minutes of snapping away, we turned off the engine of our car and continued to watch this pastoral pair grazing peacefully. After a bit, we heard a slight crackling in the brush off to the left side of the car, looked over and here was the gigantic father of the group, head poking through the flimsy brush not five (5) yards away, staring at us placidly. That was too close! We held our breaths, waited until he resumed grazing, started the car and gratefully moved away.

One of the seldom seen wild dogs.

This white rhinoceros was too close for comfort.

It was nearing the end of the week and we still had not seen any of the big cats. We moved down the hill to the safari tents for our last few nights. The tents were more private. We had our own kitchen and a private bath. The water pressure in the camp system was low and at high use times, no water reached the units at the top. Down on the hillside we could shower or cook at any time and be confident of having water. We took a drive up to the connecting park, Hluhluwe, and enjoyed a more hilly terrain and more open grasslands. The resort at Hilltop was very posh and boasted a restaurant for those who want a more catered stay. Too soon, our week was over. We had seen so many beautiful creatures and marveled at a land so different than anything we had ever seen. Our only look at a cat was a glimpse of two lion backs racing through the grass. Still the experience was one we will never forget. We find that zoos are no longer as enjoyable as they once were after seeing these creatures in the wild.

We enjoyed watching these silly helmeted guinea fowl.

Female white rhino with three young ones.

: This young male nyala appeared to be giving us a piece of his mind. He was actually chewing a mouthful of grass just a few feet in front of Nancy. He was content to munch and be photographed.	One of the few waterbuck we saw during our visit.
Back in Richard's Bay, we tackled the rebuild of the Monitor wind vane, more coats of varnish, Christmas shopping and other smaller jobs to get us ready for the trip down the coast and around to Cape Town at the first of the year. We planned to travel to Addis Ababa again this year to spend the holidays with Joe, Shawna, Anna and our new grandson, Baby Burton. The rebuild that Gideon did on the frame for the self-steering vane was first rate. It took several days to put all the moving parts back, replacing those that were worn with new ones. At last it was ready. With Neil and the vane in a borrowed dinghy and Nancy hanging over the stern, it was hoisted into place and bolted on. That afternoon, we boarded a small commuter plane in Richard's Bay and began a long 36 hour trip to Ethiopia. There were hassles with yellow fever vaccination papers (we had to get a new ones) and long waits at Nairobi, but at last we were in Addis Ababa where Shawna and the kids were waiting for us. We were so glad to see them and were looking forward to two weeks of getting to know our grandchildren again. Back at the house we were greeted with hugs from household staff Aeskala and Kinnoni and a handshake from Awoke, the gardener. They were glad to see us again.
Grandpa Neil spent a lot of time constructing cages for Anna and Burton's new bunnies. Building materials are scarce and expensive in Addis Ababa, so he used panels from packing crates for the job.	Anna loved riding Freddy at the golf club on Sunday afternoons.
Our first few days there, we went to a weekend craft bazaar at one of the local churches and came home with three little bunnies. They were in a cardboard box and needed a home right away. Neil took on the challenging job of constructing bunny cages. He was frustrated by the lack of materials, too much advice from the men who were working at the house, and poor tools. As usual, his perseverance and ingenuity won out and he came up with three homes for Anna and Burton's new pets, appropriately nominated as "Anna's Bunny House", "Burton's Bunny Bungalow", and "Hirsch's Hare Hotel".

Anna and Burton visit Santa at the US Embassy children's party.

Daddy Joe and Anna light the Hanukkah candles.

Anna and Burton on Christmas Eve.

The holiday season was a whirlwind as it is everywhere. There were parties at the homes of Joe and Shawna's colleagues and friends. The US Embassy Children's Party was held on the lawn at the Embassy. Santa was there for the little ones. Anna thought Santa was a bit scary and didn't want to have much to do with him. Burton didn't mind who held him. Hanukkah traditions also were happily observed, Anna thinking every gift was for her. Holiday meals were planned and shopping done. Through all of this, there was concern about the situation building between Ethiopia and Somalia. US families working in Ethiopia were on alert for evacuation at an hour's notice in case of terrorist activity in Addis. We were all worried.

Aeskala with her new shawl and earrings.

Nana Nancy and Baby Burton

The Christmas tree at the house had an amazing mound of gifts under it. The kids have so many relatives back in the USA remembering them on special days. Shawna and Joe decided to open a few at a time over several days rather than do it all at once. It was a good choice as each gift was opened and enjoyed before going on to the next. We thawed a turkey from the freezer and made Joe's carrot stuffing and a batch of Shawna's traditional bread stuffing for Christmas dinner. Shawna joined the ranks of great pie makers in our family with an apple pie to end the holiday meal. Soon it was time to say goodbye to family and start back to Richard's Bay. We had lots to do before starting for Cape Town.

Mama Shawna and Baby Burton

Cruising boats are beginning to leave Richard's Bay for Cape Town.

Back in Richard's Bay, we got down to serious preparations for heading south. Nancy canned 40 pints of meat for the Atlantic crossing as well as provisioning all of the canned goods needed for that passage. It seemed best to do it in a place where we knew where to find things rather do it in an unfamiliar town. The tides were right and we were lucky to get a day scheduled to put the boat up on the slipway tidal grid for a bottom inspection, cleaning, new bottom paint, and zincs. That was a day of hard work and a race to get it all done ahead of the incoming tide. Along with boat work, Neil was spending time putting together a web page for Rob and Alison Hughes, the new owners of the marina. Last minute items were added to the work list and ticked off as they were finished. Other boats were completing their preparations also and every week we had to say goodbye to someone else as boats began leaving on their journeys south.

Gideon in his metal working shop close to Tuzi Gazi Marina.

Nancy re-sews the sacrificial leech on the headsail.

S/v Hunda in the slipway at Tuzi Gazi Marina.

Along with all the boat work to be done, there were the weekly braais (barbeques) and other social occasions at the marina. Lots of laughs and good times were had at those get-togethers. Local live-aboards and land dwellers shared their knowledge and help with all of us. Des and Nell of s/v Gambit were wonderful new friends. They hauled us all around in the "Red Devil" and were always available to answer a question or give good advice to anyone who needed it. We miss their company. One of the best things about cruising is meeting new people and the hardest is saying goodbye when paths diverge. Active Light was ready to go and weather looked good for a January 21 sailing for Durban.

Neil and Dorothy from s/v Hunda perform some sort of exotic dance involving toilet paper and dinner plates.

Dear friends, Pat, Des and Nell at our farewell braii.

Nell in the Red Devil.

We left Tuzi Gazi in a light south west wind, motoring until the expected shift to the east. It didn't come as predicted. By 0930, we had SSW wind at 20 knots. By afternoon the winds was up to 25 to 30 knots and we were having a bumpy ride on short choppy seas. All of the new gear and modifications were performing well as expected. This was our shakedown cruise after many changes aboard and everything was going well. The ride wasn't the most comfortable, but Active Light was taking good care of her passengers. We reached Durban Harbor at 2130 hours on January 23. Again, we would enter the harbor at night. This one was easier than Richard's Bay. The entrance is narrow and we shared it with an outward bound small transport. The hard part was finding the International Dock for visiting vessels near the City Marina. Cat's Whiskers, a local catamaran, showed us the way in and we were tied up by 2300 hours, looking forward to a good night's sleep.

Neil with Peri Peri Fred, our weather guru and his wife, Eva.

Cruisers aboard Active Light seeking weather advice from the guru Fred.

Here began a two week stay in Durban, waiting for a weather window for the 240 mile passage to East London, the next place to duck in out of a SW wind. Other boats arrived, several each day, and soon there were ten vessels waiting to move on down the coast. We were happy to at last meet Fred, the man who had been giving us weather over the SSB since the Seychelles passage. He and his wife Eva, came down to the marina to meet us and all the other cruisers Fred had been talking with. There are no nicer or more helpful people anywhere! They took all of us shopping a number of times and to braais at several area yacht clubs. Sometimes it took three cars to get everyone in. They arranged everything. Each day, we would listen to Fred's broadcast and hope for a weather window. After two weeks it looked like we would have enough days of favorable conditions to get on to East London. The day we were to leave, Fred and Eva came down to the docks, loaded us all in their Land Rover and took us around to all the officials needed for check out. Eva also had a gift for each of us to remember them by. What wonderful people they are. We will always remember them as one of the best things about our stay in South Africa.

At the home of Sharyl and Nick, owners of Seaport Supply in Durban.

Off for a ride on Royal Enfield bikes!

Neil and Nancy at the edge of Kloof Gorge, Durban.

View of Valley of 1,000 Hills from Pot and Kettle Restaurant.

Neil with his Royal Enfield for the day.

We met Nick and Sharyl, owners of the chandlery Seapot Supply near the marina. We learned that Nick was an enthusiast for Royal Enfield motorcycles. We were invited along on a Sunday morning ride and Neil was even provided with one of the bikes. We had seen them in India, the only place they are still made, and he loves the sound of these charismatic one-lungers. They clocked about 200 km of South African countryside on a gorgeous sunny day, stopping for breakfast with the ladies tagging along in a pickup truck, called a bucky in South Africa. Sure enough, one of the bikes dislocated a valve push rod, so we loaded it into the bucky and continued back to Nick and Sharyl's lovely home, where we had drinks and were awarded a Royal Enfield hat and black tee shirt. (Nick's tee shirt reads "Fat Bikers Bounce Better!). On the way back to the marina, we stopped off for a beer at the Point Yacht Club beach facility to watch all the bathers and boaters loading their Hobie 16 catamarans into the surf. It was a beautiful setting.

Back at the marina, life fell into the "waiting for a weather window" pattern that was to dominate our lives all the way to Cape Town. The weather along this coast is so changeable and can be quite dangerous. Sailors live by the weather reports. We waited a total of two weeks in Durban for a safe window to hop the 240 nm to East London, then we were bound in that lovely harbor for another ten days. After only a couple of days in Port Elizabeth, we were able to press on the Mossel Bay, the loveliest of settings, where we would have liked to stay longer, but our buddy, Fred, announced a two-day window of fresh southeast winds which carried us quickly and safely on around the Cape of Good Hope to Cape Town. Cruising along this coast is all a matter of timing and weather windows.

Everywhere we stopped on this South African coast we were received with the most generous and warm welcome of anywhere in our (almost) seven years of cruising. We were honored with free temporary memberships in all local yacht clubs and given access to the club restaurants, bars, showers, even free internet use. In East London, everyday a local police officer named Harry would show up on the docks in uniform with a police van and we would all load ourselves into the van and he would ask, "Where to today?". He took us around to all the supermarkets, butcher shops, and hardware stores, drop us off and ask us what time we all wanted to be picked up again for return to the marina. What a nice fellow, but typical of South African hospitality!

Loading one of the bikes in the back of the bucky.

Cane fields and farms outside Durban, South Africa.

Nancy with the Valley of a Thousand Hills in the background.

This lovely beach facility belongs to the Point Yacht Club in Durban.

Odd leaf-like moth found on Motion's deck in East London.

Active Light rafted third boat out at East London's crowded marina.

Lovely, quiet anchorage off the yacht club at beautiful Mossel Bay.	Cape Agulhas from five miles out at sea.
It was a really special moment for us when we rounded the Cape of Good Hope. There are five "Great Capes" on this watery planet Earth, Cape Hope, Cape Horn off South America, and the three southern capes of Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. Not only was this our first great cape rounding, but Active Light's also. Previously owner Dick McCurdy (perhaps wisely) chose to voyage up the Red Sea during Active Light's first circumnavigation, so when our rounding came, it was really special for us. We passed from the Indian Ocean into the cold South Atlantic just at dusk, 1948 hours on February 23rd, 2007. Our log reads: 34^o 27.6' S, 018^o 32.2' E Running with stays'l alone. Cape of Good Course: 291^o True Speed: 7 knots Hope (locally Cape Point) off the starb'd Wind: 25 - 30 knots Seas: 3+ meters beam 5 nm. A great moment for us Baro: 1008 hPa steady Skies: Clear blue! and a brave little ship, Active Light. We are now in the South Atlantic Ocean! Even under staysail alone, we were moving too fast and would arrive at Cape Town in the dark hours of early morning. Neil over- trimmed the sail and slowed us down enough to make a daylight arrival. We ran into thin fog just as Nancy took over the midnight watch. At dawn, we sailed into Table Bay. We could barely see the outline of Table Mountain. Soon sunrise sent golden light flowing down the buildings ashore. The wind dropped and we motored into the harbor proper and tied up in the visitor's berth at the Royal Cape Yacht Club. We could hardly believe we were here!
A big moment for us all, rounding the Cape of Good Hope at five miles off.	Sunrise at Cape Town.
Entering Table Bay with the famous Table Mountain in the background.	Tied up in Royal Cape Yacht Club, Active Light, jib up, second on the left.
Happy Neil washes down our staysail after some wet sailing.	This transport vessel will take your boat home if you've had enough.
Pat and David aboard Motion were tied up near us. The rest of our group had gone into Simon's Town. Both boats checked in with the yacht club and were given temporary memberships for our stay. Like all of the yacht clubs on our way down the coast, Royal Cape Yacht Club was very welcoming and opened their facilities to us. The hot showers were heavenly! The marina manager assigned us a permanent berth and by dusk we were moved and settled. We had been told that Cape Town is beautiful and it is! Table Mountain and Lion's Head are the backdrop for a clean, busy city with much to see and do. Pat and David rented a car and invited us to spend two days with them touring a local winery, a botanical garden, and a drive to Cape Point to see the Cape of Good Hope from the land side. We had a wonderful time getting to know Pat and David better and seeing more of the gorgeous countryside at the Cape.	Vineyards and view at Groot Constantia Winery.
The old manor house and sales room is now the winery museum.	Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens boast gorgeous views.
The Groot Constantia is a lovely old winery founded in 1685. It still produces fine wines from acres of vines surrounding the old Dutch buildings. It is a national monument as well as a fully operational farm. We enjoyed a delicious lunch complete with a rich dessert and a bottle of Groot Constantia pinotage. It was served in an open air setting under the trees. A short and firm statement, South African wines are wonderful and inexpensive! After such a memorable lunch, it was hard to stir ourselves, but we moved on to the Kirstenbasch Botanical Gardens. They are very large and we had time to see only a few of the many plant collections. We walked up to the protea garden and learned there are many more varieties of protea native to South Africa than we imagined. This garden was at the top edge of the park and we had amazing views out over Cape Town and Table Bay along with the lovely flowers. We also enjoyed the cycads and useful plants displays. It would take days to see everything here.
The gardens contain many varieties of protea.	Close-up of a pink protea flower.
Our second day with the nice folks on Motion was a loop drive down the Atlantic Ocean side of the Cape Peninsula to Cape of Good Hope and back to Cape Town on the Indian Ocean side of the peninsula. The day was a glorious sunny one. Our route passed through Hout Bay and Simon's Town where other cruisers were moored so we made several stops to say hello to friends as well as to see the towns. Rounding every corner brought a picture postcard view, white sand beaches with blue water and high headlands. We stopped at a Pick 'n Pay en route and purchased food for a picnic later in the day.
Looking north back into Hout Bay.	Neil and Nancy with the Hout Bay headland in the background.
Cape of Good Hope from Cape Point.	Cape Point Lighthouse from land!
We reached the Cape of Good Hope around noon. Just as we entered the parking lot, the car engine began steaming and died. We pushed it into a parking space. Neil and David decided to let it cool down before checking it out. We went off to see the point we had sailed around only days before. The day was calm and the winds light. Fishing boats of all sizes were out. This cape can be very rough and dangerous, but you would not know it by today's view. We made the long climb up to the lighthouse, but were stopped from going to the top as someone had become ill after making the climb and the officials were waiting for medical help and transport. It was enough to be there and to see this place close up in daylight.
Looking south at the very southernmost tip of Africa, Cape Point!	Neil and Nancy with the old Cape Point Light house in the background.
Neil wants to go back east to Thailand, Nancy wants west and home!	Looking north at two oceans, Atlantic on the left, Indian Ocean the right.
Back in the parking lot, Neil and David found that the car had no water in the radiator. David and Pat had doubts about it when they rented it, but it was all that was available. The guys filled it up with water and it started right up and gave us no more problems the rest of the day. We went back the way we had come, looking for a nice place to spread out our lunch. We found a lovely deserted beach only a few miles down the road. We shared the beach with a large flock of ostrich, maybe fifteen birds.
Lunch on a gorgeous beach with Cape of Good Hope in the distance.	A flock of ostriches wandered by as we ate our lunch.
After lunch, we drove back along the Indian Ocean side of the Cape and enjoyed more stunning views. Bolder Beach near Simon's Town, is a beautiful spot with little beaches among the giant rocks. It is a "pay to swim" beach with resort hotels lining the shore above. The beach is also home to a colony of South African penguins. These are the first we had seen in the wild, although they seemed pretty tame. A sign in the parking lot admonished visitors to "Check under your car for penguins!" before driving away. Our last stop of the day was pretty Simon's Town, a resort community on False Bay. We visited with friends from our group who had chosen moorage here rather than Cape Town. It was probably the last time we would see some of these friends. There were some tearful partings as we left for the drive across the hills to Cape Town.
Baby and adult African Penguins near Simon's Town.	Lovely Boulder Beach just outside Simon's Town.
We have no more photos of South Africa to show you. After replacing a failing VHF radio, the entire ships battery bank, and failing to get our radar repaired, we loaded many kilos of food stores aboard in preparation for the more than 6000 nm crossing to the Dutch island of Curacao. We have a slip reserved for us there. The ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao) lie just north of Venezuela. This crossing will take more than six weeks. Except for the missing radar, Active Light has never been in better condition for an ocean crossing. Strong, strong, strong is the word to describe her, in every system. Neil likes the long, open-ocean passages while Nancy does not, preferring the shopping and sightseeing ashore on the far end of the journey. This will be our longest single ocean passage yet, and we will be writing you via email every day to let you know we are safe and how we are progressing. We will talk to you all again soon from Curacao. Nancy and Neil s/v Active Light Royal Cape Yacht Club, slip B-30 Cape Town, South Africa