Year 3 -16 August 2026 -Cape Town-South Africa

It was a grey day when we woke but it was John’s birthday and we sang happy birthday to him. He was feeling better with his head which was good. Mark went early to get a hire car as he and John were going to go to Hermanus and had booked a whale watching tour.

We all had breakfast and then Mark and John went off on their tour.

Paul sorted out the safety ring on the Starboard side and made sure it was secure. I did the same with the Port safety ring. Dave brought some of the pre-cooked meals which he had frozen in his apartment.

Dave and I then went off to Pick & Pay to do the dry provisioning and things we can buy now leaving all the fresh stuff, fruit and veg etc. to get at the last minute. This took us a long time – say 2 hours and we then had Julian join us to help and by the end we had 3 full trolleys and once we had paid we set off through the V&A with all our trolleys to the marina office. We then transferred what was in the trolleys to the marina trolleys which we could then wheel to the boat. We then unloaded the trolleys and put everything inside. The challenge then is to pack it all away again. Once we had done all this we went off for a late lunch to the café in the Watershed. This was delicious.

After lunch Julian, Paul and Dave went off to Long Street to go on a walking tour. I went back to the boat to do some planning and sorting out what we need to do to check out of South Africa. I also had a bit of a rest and it was nice to have a moment to myself.

The guys returned from their history walk which they enjoyed and found very informative. Mark and John arrived back from their day out to Hermanus. They had had a great drive to Hermanus and back but the whale tour had been cancelled when they got there which was very frustrating.

We had a beer and then went out to a birthday supper for John and his birthday although Dave did not come as he was speaking to his family. We had a very enjoyable meal.

We are now ready for the riggers tomorrow and will move Stormbird round to East Quay early when we will hopefully fit the mast and sails. I cannot wait.

 The picture of the day is of the mast ready to fit.

 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