Year 3 -4 August 2026 -Cape Town-South Africa
The alarm woke me at 7.30am as the hot water tank engineer said he would come between 8-8.30am. The water maker man was also supposed to come this morning and once the hot water tank engineer had finished then the engine and generator service people were to come too.
I had no luck with Selden and nor did the riggers so it was over to plan B to put plates on the spreaders to strengthen them which would make them very strong and I assumed they were getting on with everything else.
The hot water guys came about 9.00am and refitted the bracket but this meant that an adjustment would have to be made to the cradle that had been built. They needed to let the bracket dry in any event (as it was screwed and epoxied in place) and set so he said he will come back tomorrow to fit the tank and hopefully I will have water again. He did get some stoppers so that he could block the hot water pipe from the engine and generator so we could start them without water going everywhere.
The water maker man came with the new membranes and it did not take him long to fit. However, he suggested leaving it to test to a few days before we leave so we do not leave them sitting for a week/10days in the harbour water. He suggested he came back on the morning of the 12th to test. At last I could put back all the parts etc which have been lying around the saloon for about 2 weeks and I can start toi make her look a tidy boat again.
The engine and generator service people came and we started up the engine to warm it up before they could drain the oil. They checked everything including the temperature and oil sensors and all was good. The impeller was going a little hard which can indicate that it is starting to get brittle and may start to break apart so of course it was changed. We then started the engine again and all was good.
They then moved on to the generator and they went through the same process of changing filters, impeller etc.
This meant that I now have a fully serviced engine and generator for the journey home. I could have done what they have done but for peace of mind I thought it good to get the Volvo engineers to check everything.
I had been invited for a braai by the people Alex and I met at Babylonstoren namely Howard and Christine Fyvie who lived in Brooklyn about 10 minutes away subject to traffic. I had a shower first and then got an uber to their house which was behind a big protected sliding gate. They were very hospitable and I met their 3 children, Darryl an ex sailor and Adam and Elie, their neighbours. We had a great braai in front of the fire.
In South Africa, Fyvie Films and creative projects are centred around Cape Town based filmmaker and content creator Howard James Fyvie, known for Indie feature films, social commentary shorts and children’s television production. His film Last One Out (2015) was widely recognised as South Africa’s first indie zombie apocolypse feature fil and was selected for the Cannes Film festival South Africa Showcase. He is currently filming the South Africa rugby team in this series of games here and in America.
It was very kind of them to invite me and I had a great time. They will come and see Stormbird on Thursday. I got an uber back to the marina and had an early night with more jobs to do tomorrow. Apart from the mast we are now beginning to get on top of things. Crew start to arrive from Saturday.
As I took no pictures the picture of the day is of another view of 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.
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