Leaving Cape Town

RCYC Cape Town, SA

All formalities completed. Final computer glitches repaired and it looks like we can shove of within the hour. Let the fun begin!

V and A waterfront marina, Cape Town SA

Alas, the Admiral left for London on Tuesday and I am busy getting the boat ready to leave at the end of the month. I installed anew 26" TV in the aft cabin and on Wednesday numerous contractors showed up. The guy from Climma brought over a new PCB for the salon air conditioner which was burned up in the voltage spike last week. It was easily fitted and the A/C now is working  well. I decided to get the fuel tank cleaned and all the fuel polished and it was just as well I did as the fuel at the bottom of the tank was contaminated with water and algae growth and this treatment was long overdue. The process took most of the day and I would strongly recommend Western Cape Diesel Technology and Cedric Cooper very strongly. Last but by no means least the riggers came by to do a free mast and standing rigging check prior to departure. All was well with the rig except for the block on one of the external halyards on the mizzen that was easily replaced. The down side was that they managed to damage my starboard electric primary winch by getting an override and destroying the self tailer. Of course no parts are available in SA, but fortunately Ian has sourced and purchased them in the UK and will bring them out at the weekend.

Also, one of the freezers is not working well. A refer tech came by yesterday and spent an hour or so yesterday but did not resolve the problem and returned today and spent 5 hours and hopefully it's fixed. Time will tell. So it's been been 3 steps forwards and 2 steps back but i'm sure all will resolve itself by next week. 

before photo of rudder. Heavy growth and  not much anode left. No blisters though

prop was in sorry shape. much better now

sample of fuel from the bottom of the tank

under surface of the keel. All growth was removed and the keel ground down to bare metal and then primed and epoxied prior to bottom paint

crud at the bottom of the tank. Problem waiting to happen

more crud. All clean now

V and A Waterfront Marina

After seeing nobody here in Cape Town for months we have been suddenly inundated with visitors, My friend Len and Kathy's son David came by on Sunday and my Brother and girlfriend Sharon came to stay in Capetown on Saturday and crew Ron arrived this morning. It going to be non stop work with getting the boat ready to leave next week.

David and the Admiral and I

Haulout

on the slipway

Autoprop overhauled with all new bearings, propspeed and new anode

coming out on the slipway

busy making pre-made meals

Royal Cape Yacht Club, Cape Town, SA

Lots has happened since my last post. Some good and some not so much. The good includes the return of the Admiral last week for a brief sojourn until we leave South Africa. We have now both completed our dental programs and all went well.
The not so good occurred last week when there was a 380 Volt spike from the shore power through the boat. We have had damage to both battery chargers, the lap top charger and one of the printed circuit boards on the main air conditioner. This sort of thing always happens when we are getting ready to leave causing a mad scramble to get everything sorted before we go.
There are no 24V battery chargers in stock in SA so fortunately, Ron will bring them out next week when he leaves from the US.
Callisto has been on the hard since Monday. The crane in the yard was deemed too small to lift Callisto so we were hauled out on a slipway. All went well but since the boat is sitting on her keel it will be difficult to get at the bottom of the keel to prep and paint it. We will try to do some of it and then place blocks on the prepped part and do the rest then.
The autoprop has been serviced and the poles and black trim have been repainted and the topsides buffed out. Hopefully all will be completed for a splashdown on Friday afternoon and then back to the V and A.
Ron arrives next week, as does my brother and girlfriend so it should be non stop until our departure at the end of the month.
Photos to follow.

V and A Waterfront Marina, Capetown, SA

I have been very lazy since my last post but will try to make up for some lost time here. We were unable to renew our South African visas when we came back from Namibia so we decided to go back to England on February 12^th to celebrate my brother's 60^th birthday and also to see the new baby. We could have gone back to Namibia but that would not have guaranteed us a full 90 days.

I had also intended to go back to the US for two days to get my annual stamp on my passport.

Well, the visit was very good. Even the weather wasn't too bad. We went to north London and I left all my travel documents at some US dollars at my brother's flat in a suitcase in a closet where I thought they would be safe and off we went to the New Forest for his birthday.

We had an excellent time with family and on Sunday we went to see the new baby. All well until a phone call on Sunday night informed us that my brother's flat had been burgled and all my travel documents were stolen. The Admiral had put hers in a jacket pocket and fortunately, these had been overlooked by the thieves.

So much for my plans to go to the US. I had to cancel that and spent my time getting a new passport in London and once obtained I went back to Capetown on the February 19^th. The Admiral will stay until March 12 and help me to get ready for the Atlantic run back to the UK.

I have been a dental tourist and had some crowns made here in Capetown and have been doing boat chores, the weather has been mostly excellent.

I also spent some time with the Kilkea's who were busy getting their boat ready to leave for the West Indies with their crew, Ray and Brenda.

My old medical school friend, Martin and his wife Guida came to visit from London for a few days and we did the usual touristy things, Cape Point, Stellenbosch, Franschoek etc. again.

We had a very good time and I've been spending my days wandering about and binge watching Breaking Bad and not really doing much at all.

That is until on Sunday night, I had a major power surge on the dock and I'm having trouble with some of the AC systems on the boat. One of the air conditioners won't work and the watermaker is also not right. So no more lazy days until I get them fixed.

All the dental work is now completed and I am eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Admiral on Thursday. Callisto is getting hauled out next week to have her bum painted and some other maintenance work done.

here is a photo of Sydney and new baby Genevieve

V and A Waterfront Marina, Capetown

Stellar Stellenbosch

Massive sea lions on my neighbor's boat

Marion and the Admiral in Stellenbosch

picnic SA style

Ernie Ells Winery, Stellenbosch

The new Chardonnay harvest

Proteas, SA national flower