Year 3 -12 July 2026 -On Route for Cape Town -South Africa

We continued to sail under staysail only toward the waypoint off Cape Agulhas and this worked well. Robin and I had the 2.00am to 5.00am watch which was quiet as we were out of the shipping lanes and we could see on the plotter the ships all passing North and South some 10-15 nm to the North of us. The wind was early to mid 20’s kts mostly and the staysail handled it well.

Our course meant we were paralleling the coast but not going direct to Cape Agulhas but going out at a bit of an angle. The reason for this was so that when we gybed we had a good angle to head for Cape Point some 75nm to the North. Whilst it was a good course we had the swell on our aft quarter which meant that we rolled a bit and it was a little uncomfortable.

I went to bed after our shift and found it difficult to sleep. I got up and prepared breakfast and Keith and I agreed we would gybe about 8.00am when it was light, although it was not properly light until 7.15am.

We gybed at 8.00am and were able to make a good course to our next waypoint some 75nm away. We were generally making 7 kts an hour under staysail alone and the swell was now behind us and giving us a little push from time to time.

It was actually quite a nice day and the sun came out. I emailed Des our position and he replied; 

Dear Nick & co

Thanks for latest 0700UTC 12\7 at 35 18S 19 46E - Cape Pt 85nm\312T - Cape Town 122nm. The gribs show wind E21 gusts 29 - swell E2.78m@8seconds - cloud - no sat image - f\cast shows substantially clear - maybe light rain from E - current W0.8kts. Sundown wind E17 gusts 22 - swell S2.2m@8seconds - cloud f\cast clear -current NW0.7kts. Have a safe run in. Best wishes Des

We sailed through the morning under staysail and had gusts of up to 31 kts and Stormbird took it well. She really is fantastic in these slightly rough windy conditions and she feels very safe and solid. We were making 7-8 kts despite the tricky conditions.

Robin and I came on at 12.00noon and as I had been watching the conditions I thought now with our angle, that we could put out some main which we did with 3 reefs. We put the main out wide using our preventor. This increased our speed a bit and we continued to have 20-26 kts. We made good progress and then later in our shift we replaced the staysail with reefed genoa. Stormbird took it all and we were soon doing 8-10kts and she was enjoying herself particularly because the swell had begun to decline.

We had lots of shipping to contend with and must have contacted at least 5 ships to ask whether they had seen us and can we maintain our course and speed. They all adjusted course for us which was good. The afternoon wore on and we did 157nm in the 12.00noon to 12.00noon run. We then had lunch and continued to speed toward Cape Point.

We were some way out from the coast but as we closed in we saw the mountainous coastline of the South of Africa and its beauty particularly as the sun began to go down shinning on it. Just before sunset Keith and I took the mainsail in and we just sailed under genoa alone otherwise we would not be able to make the waypoint off Cape Point. We began to see the lighthouse lights.

I cooked salmon with sweet potato mash with green beans and carrots. There were no complaints.

We continued on and saw the lights all along the shore. We approached Cape Point and the sea was still 2-3 meters and the wind was 20-25 kts. I had kept an eye on the weather and the wind was supposed to die shortly after we had passed Cape Point. We came to our waypoint and passed Cape Point and sailed on. Jenny and John took over from Keith and Mark and they continued the course although I was around. It is about 30-35 miles from Cape Point so about 5-6 hours motoring.

We sailed on for another 2 hours until the wind began to die and we then started to motor. We needed to remain some 3 miles plus off the coast as the fishermen put out their nets and pots. Robin and I took over and we motored on seeing a number of fishing boats. We continued toward the edge of the TSS which we intended to go along to the port entrance. As we were motoring toward it the fog came down and we could not see more than a boat length ahead of us. There was a fishing boat coming out called Abraham T toward us and it seemed to be heading straight toward us. I called the boat up on the VHR radio and it was a fishing vessel going out. He could not see us on VHF and agreed to keep to our port. We had the radar on and he passed us some half a mile to our starboard but we could not see or hear him. I think his AIS sensor is faulty as all the other ships have seen us.

We continued on with 3 lookouts but I thought we would be pretty safe by the TSS as all the larger boats have AIS and there were none evident.  We came to the TSS and continued on and luckily the fog cleared and we could see some the city to the right of us but not the centre of Cape Town as it was hidden behind one of the peaks.  

We must have called Port Control 10 times but they did not answer so we carried on. It was bitterly cold and that sort of cold with the fog that gets into your bones it if you do not dress properly. All I wanted to do was to go to bed to sleep. We came to the end of the TSS so I tried again and finally they answered and gave us permission to enter the port. We came to the first set of marker buoys and came round the green starboard marker and then headed into the channel and through the next set of lights. Coming into a strange port at night can be a challenge and with the bright lights of the city it can sometimes be difficult to make out the marker buoys. We continued down the channel and had to bear right once round the second set of buoys to enter a large basin. This the led to another basin. As I was motoring the crew were putting on lines and fenders to be prepared not only for a port side to mooring (which I had planned for ) but also to cover off what we could potentially come alongside on the starboard side if we had to go alongside somewhere.    

We came into the next basin and then we had to go through 2 more basins with swing bridges. I was dreading noone being awake but they received my messages on ch 71 and agreed to open both swing bridges. The first was covered in blue lights and we went through the channel seeing various restaurants and boats around us and then through the second swing bridge which then led us into the marina basin. We were the in the heart of the V&A Waterfront complex and marina.

It was dark although we had the town lights. I had been sent the photo of the marina and where our berth was and I could recognise where we were and where our berth was. We motored forward slowly and reversed and then came forward on to our mooring B1. It was on the hammerhead of B Pontoon. The pontoon was covered in bird shit!. We moored up and sorted our lines and put on the electrics.

We had arrived which was great and a relief as this is a most notorious part of the coast and we had arrived safely and in one piece. Even though we had relatively calm conditions they were quite tough and it is a difficult coastline with few places to hide. We had covered 468 nm from Port Elzabeth and arrived at 2.40am in the morning.

We had to celebrate so we had some beer and nuts with a smile on our faces. It had been an adventure for us all. Thanks to Des and our own cautious efforts we had made it.    

The picture of the day is of the view at night looking toward Cape Town.

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. 

I am now in need of 1 additional crew from Cape Town to the Azores. The new crew member would need to be onboard by 10 August and it is likely we would get to the Azores by late September or early October. If at all interested in joining me please contact me on my email below or WhatsApp +44 7931360372.

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