Saying good-bye

It has been quite an effort, but have tried to get to see all my closest friends before I leave. If I didn’t get to you, I’m sorry. We can catch up when I get back.

I have been spending a lot of time with my mom, as I have been staying with her during the “last prep days”. Its been nice having my mom look after me :)

 

 

 

 

I went for supper with my dad, Betsie & Anya (my sister) last night.

 

 

 

 

Last good bye’s said, I say good-bye to South Africa….for now.

D-day has arrived

The day has arrived when this last year’s part-time planning, scheming & dreaming is to become a reality as I depart on a yacht bound for Rio. It hasn’t yet sunk in, what I am about to do. In my mind, my adventure is currently only to the harbour. I’m sure the reality will sink in as soon as Table mountain disappears beyond the horizon.

So, as promised, the link to follow our progress during the race is http://xtra-track.com/admin/home/dashboard.asp or http://capetorio.heineken.com/templates/ctr/form.php. I will be sailing on Xtra-Link Ocean Cruiser.

Unfortunately I won’t update my blog until we arrive in Rio, but the boat’s blog will be updated regularly during the crossing. Read all about it at http://xtra-linkcapetoriorace.blogspot.com/

Bye for now…

Packing my life into bags

This is the last week before we depart for Rio. I have been frantically getting myself ready for departure, but it hasn’t been easy. I have had to buy lots of gear, mostly aimed at the Atlantic crossing. Fortunately this gear will also be handy when travelling.

Thanks to some generous Christmas gifts (in the form of gift vouchers or cash) I have been able to buy all the gear I have been piecing together in my mind for the last month or two. This has meant that I have crammed what I can only assume usually takes approximately a month’s worth of part time shopping into three days. I am not one that usually enjoys shopping, but this was fun. Partly because it am excited about all the cool stuff I have been buying :) These include: Backpack, tent, sleeping bag, hammock, warm jacket, wick-dry shirts, wick-dry shorts, medical supplies, chargers, camera and a book.

Here is a layout of all the stuff that I am taking along. I have not separated the sailing & touring gear.

  

Rio prep

The preparation for the Cape to Rio race is drawing to a close. All the food has been packed (tinned & dry) the boat is pretty much sailing ready (bar a couple of small things). Now we wait for the start… We start on Saturday 15 January at 12:00 South African time, or 10:00 GMT.

  Xtra-link Ocean Cruiser….Ready for action!

The 5th member of our team, Hans, arrived today. We had dinner as a team at RCYC. At dinner I realised that I am part of a lekker team.

The team (from left): Me, Hans, Ian, Leroy & Dale

Now all I need to do is finalise my personal admin…after packing (I’m typing this while waiting for my laundry to finish).

Good bye Tikkie

As I have mentioned before, I have been systematically selling my vehicles. I happy to report that I have managed to sell my KLR 650, after having to do some work to the engine (which I was not happy about). The upside is, I got a better price and Sean (a guy I know from VYC who bought it) now has a bike with all the problems sorted out. At least someone is getting a good deal.

I have been very hesitant about selling Tikkie (my 1966 Fiat 850). The main reason for this, is that for me there is a lot of sentimental value to the car. Tikkie has been around for quite a while, starting off as a post-school project of mine. I wanted to rebuild my first car, and that is exactly what I did. At some point my mother’s car was giving issues, so she drove Tikkie. And while overseas, my dad drove Tikkie and later used Tikkie as his wedding car. So you can see that this car made quite an impression on our family. For this reason, I wanted Tikkie to go to a family that will appreciate the car they have and is willing & able to properly take care of it.

Johan, a colleague at Stellenbosch University has been eying Tikkie for about 4 years and lately has been asking to buy Tikkie. For obvious reasons I gave my dad first option, as he had expressed the desire to rebuild Tikkie. Unfortunately the deck is stacked against my dad as work and family commitments made it clear that he won’t have the time to complete this project. So yesterday, Johan became the new owner of Tikkie.

Letting go of an old companion was difficult, but it is something that I have to learn. Selling of my Daihatsu and KLR prepared me in a weird sort of way.

The silence before the storm

Hi all. I have to apologise for not writing anything in a while. My life has been a bit crazy lately. Lots has happened since I wrote last. For starters, I’ve sold my car. It the old story, you don’t know what you had until it is gone. My little Daihatsu has given my GREAT service over the last 4 years and I am missing it. Interesting what a comfort it is to go outside and to walk up to a car without wondering if it is stolen, broken into, will it start today and will it get me where I’m going. I’ve had to revert to driving my 1st car, “Tikkie” (named after the smallest coin in the currency my father grew up with). Tikkie is a 1966, Fiat 850 which I rebuild after school. Unfortunately she is in dire need of TLC, which I can’t provide right now. So the other day the brakes failed :) Fortunately while driving slowly in a parking lot. While I’m seeing to the problem, my father had lent me his “loaner” called “Ou Poot” (yes all our 2nd hand cars have names, only fitting since they all have a personality of their own). So travel arrangements are going to be interesting until I leave. Which brings me to my latest travel plans…

I have been going through to Royal Cape Yacht Club for the past couple of Wednesday evenings after work. This to get some time on yachts and hopefully secure a crewing position on a boat taking part in the Cape to Rio Yacht Race. I’m not sure if this is going to fly, since I’ve left it a bit late. I’ve sent my sailing CV out, I can only hope. The other option that I’m exploring is doing a yacht delivery. Sarel, a friend from Vogelvlei YC, works for a yacht building company and most of the yachts they build get delivered to the Caribbean (I think). So I spoken to him about doing a delivery and it sounds like it could pan out.

In the mean time I’ve been offered a position on a private yacht (sorry, but I’m not divulging details yet), which sounds MOERSE LEKKER! I will get to see places I probably won’t be able to see normally, spend some time exploring new cultures (even if only for a short while) and I will get paid! This will allow me to do my tour properly…Oh yes, I’ll have to work quite hard too since these boats typically get washed once week. A small draw back I recon. But before I can commit, I have to sort out my sailing plans (Rio or Delivery) and I need to get hold of Amy Smith. I can’t remember if I mentioned this, but I emailed her a while back to offer my services and got a quick (and positive) reply. Unfortunately she was in the field so couldn’t give me particulars on when or where they would be going in 2011. So, with all the options unfolding I need to get hold of her to arrange my plans. I’m REALLY keen to go help her with field trials so I’m hoping it won’t clash with the private yacht offer.

In between all of this, I still need to organise inoculations, travel insurance, sort out my medical aid and other insurance at home. I’m thinking of sorting it all out once I finish work (beginning of January). On top of all that, I need to be out of my flat at the end of this month :( So this week I’m packing every day after work. Fortunately I’m loaning most of my furniture to family so I don’t need to sell it all. I’ve got to have most of my stuff packed by Saturday, since Saturday is moving day.