Year 3 -15 August 2026 -Cape Town-South Africa

It was another grey day when we woke and I felt pretty good and the cold was declining. John was also a lot better. I made smashed avocado on toast with bacon and poached eggs which all seemed to enjoy.

The man came to look at the hatch over the navigation station and took it apart and removed the glass and reassembled the whole thing and resealed the hatch completely. This should mean it should not leak, which would be great.

We tidied up and then deflated all the life jackets and put them away and various AIS/PLB devices were added. I issued each person their own life jacket and lifeline.

I then started to go through the inside of the boat with everyone. I then went through some of the things in the cockpit and our man overboard procedures. We also checked the emergency steering pole which worked well. This took us almost until about 12.30pm. I had suggested we go off to Mariner’s Wharf for lunch. The sun was beginning to come out and the cloud and mist was clearing. John did not feel up to it so he stayed and Julian decided to travel on his Harley Davidson to the restaurant and he would meet us there.

The remaining 4 of us got in an Uber and drove over by Tavel Mountain and down the other side to Haut Bay.

As we descended the cloud and mist returned on this side of Table Mountain.

We found the restaurant the Wheelhouse Restaurant which was the one with the lovely old ship memorabilia in it and we have a good meal having a pint of Ye Olde Sea Dog which was apt. The guys enjoyed the décor and the ambiance and the food.

Once we had lunch the sun was burning off the cloud and mist and it became warm and sunny. We walked around and along the quay passing all the fishing boats moored some looking worse than others and one had completely sunk and was being taken over by the sea. We also went into the fish market although it was not that busy.

We got back in an Uber and returned to Stormbird to find John had bashed his head quite badly on the Doghouse and had quite a gash in his head. After some consultation Paul thought he ought to be seen by a Dr and so Julian got on the phone and we found a clinic who he spoke to who suggested he go to a medical centre. Paul and John therefore went off to this centre to be seen. They returned 2 hours later with John having had some staples put into his wound. They will need to be removed in about 14 days.

I had heard from Chris that they had finished the mast and boom and we were ready to lift the mast on Monday which was good news.

We had cheese and biscuits and milk tart with custard for supper. It had been a good and productive day except for John’s head wound but he will live and was very positive despite this.

 The picture of the day is of Haut Bay looking toward Chapman’s Peak.

 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