Year 3 -14 August 2026 -Cape Town-South Africa

It was a rather grey day when we woke and I felt so much better for having had a good night’s sleep. My stomach felt better and my cold felt more on the way out. We had our usual breakfast. John was still feeling lousy and spent most of the day in bed and did not come out for supper.

Julian had worked late and slept in the office overnight. Dave joined from his apartment and Paul, Mark, Dave and I headed over to the mast to view progress.

The mast had spreaders and they were all on. They had the plates on either side and it all looked very neat. Chris said this will make them very strong and last for many years. The rods were all on as was the new sheaves, shackles, blocks and the new base. The boom had been rebuilt and things were going well. They will continue to work late and tomorrow to make sure everything is finalised so we can put the rig on Monday morning at 9.00am. We need to bring Stormbird round there for about 8.30am. We had checked the tides and High Water is 6.03am so that should be fine.

Chris said we need to have the sails ready and we will put them there and then if we can but if the wind is wrong we may have to come back to the marina and do it there. The electrician is on standby so he can come to connect everything up and we could do a test sail Monday pm or Tuesday. I therefore rang Eric to ensure the sails were going to be ready.

The man came to look at the hatch by the Navigation Station and said we need to get 295 Sikaflex and he will come tomorrow as the window needs to be taken out and reset into the frame and the rubber seal redone.

I therefore ordered from Eric some more 295, a head torch for Mark and some Maclube which is the best spray for sheaves and blocks. He said he would get them later and would put them on board which he did.

The hydraulic man had been to fit the motor with new seals on the starboard front winch and the winch on the port side of the mast had been replaced. Therefore all the winches should be good to go.

Dave and Mark went off to the supermarket and bought what they needed to pre make some meals and headed off to Dave’s apartment. They prepared 6 meals for us during the day and returned about 5.00pm so that was a great job done.

Paul and I changed the two freshwater filters and then the three water maker filters. We then put some acid down the toilets and into the tanks to ensure that the tanks were clear.

I then set about going through the life jackets and changed some cylinders and arming devices. The best way to check life jackets is to inflate them for 24 hours and see if they leak. This should not be done by blowing it up yourself as you then get moisture in them. We therefore used the electric pump and blew up all 6.

Julian arrived from the office and by this time it was 6.00pm so we felt we deserved a beer and Paul made little nibbles of cheese on biscuits.

I had booked a table at Den Anker and we headed off and had a very enjoyable meal. It felt a positive day and we were making good progress.     

 The picture of the day is of one of the spreaders with the supporting plates. There is a plate each side.

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