Year 3 -11 August 2026 -Cape Town-South Africa
It was quite cold but a lovely blue sky day when we woke. However, until the sun is on you it does not really warm up. I did not feel well but made breakfast for Paul, Mark and John – bacon eggs and avocado on toast. David then joined us from his apartment.
I made contact with the riggers early as although Monday was a bank holiday I had hoped some progress will have been made. Warren said that apparently Chris spent hours getting the spreader work done and that the plates are off to be anodised together with the new boom sheaves and they are hopeful to have them back on Thursday to fit. Chris will finalise the rods tomorrow and start installing the replacement halyards and runners. They had paid and cleared the FedEx passage from Selden (which means it has arrived here) and they hope to have that shortly. The vang, backstay ram, boom outhaul ram assembly at the office and they are ready to be fitted. The hydraulic service is being done today and the new outhaul is made with a replacement block. This meant that we had made good progress and they were talking of fitting the mast on Friday. Well that will be great if it happens but let’s see.
I had prepared a list of jobs that needed doing onboard and so we set about those jobs. Mark whipped a rope which needed doing and also helped change the old mooring lines to new ones – a present for Stormbird. He also polished the rubbish bin which had gone a bit rusty. It still shows the dent of the person who fell on it!!
Dave and I took off the emergency plate for the steering to check it came off and we greased it together with the outboard screws. John put the names on the cup holders so we know which slot is whose which is useful when we are under way and can reuse the cups without risk of germs spreading. Dave and I changed the mooring lines and with Mark we put on the new rubber snubbers. John and Paul set about taking off the rubber seal of the small hatch in the bunk room which needed doing and once dry it did not leak which was good.
Dave and Mark set about beginning to prepare a provisioning list.
This took most of the morning and so I made some lunch on board which we eat in the sun. By now the sun was well out and it was lovely and hot and we were all in tee shirts and shorts -our usual dress.
I then thought I should show them round the V&A and in particular the two supermarkets choices -Woolworths and Pick & Pay (what an exciting life we lead!). It was interesting as we decided meat and fresh vegetables we would buy at Woolworths and the rest from Pick & Pay.
We walked around and saw the mast in its usual place and they had a tour of the area. We returned to Stormbird and rested and Julian Ghinn then arrived so we are now 6. He has an office in Cape Town and will probably continue working this week whilst we are delayed. We had a beer and then we went to Karibu-an African restaurant we had been to before. I was not very hungry but the guys seemed to enjoy the food.
Mark and I returned to Stormbird and I went to bed straight away as I need to shake off this blasted cold.
The picture of the day is 6 of us - the motley crew having dinner for the first time.
Need/Opportunity Year Three
I am now on the way to Durban and will then head for Cape Town and then on to St Helena, Azores and back to the UK.
The blog will continue as we continue the journey. If you have any comments or suggestions about the blog then do email me on hine.nick9@gmail.com