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.

  

The Major’s Dinner

The City of Cape Town has sponsored two teams to take part in the Cape to Rio Yacht race. The major held a dinner for all the participants in the race in support of their teams. It was a fairly quick event, lasting about 2.5 hours.

 

The hall, sponsor & our team

Hans, Ian & Dale

  

The food

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).