Back HOME

Hello to everybody. I presume it's time to let you know we are still alive, well and at home. And that is great as always. The mechanical department on board is in overdrive with the maintenance and new projects on Mylady. And the supporting crew is on red alert standby. The steamlight on the mast was UV-ed to dust over thirty years. Eelco replaced it for less than a fraction of a new. Of course we are chuffed and happy about it. It is winter in southern Africa. And along the coast - cold, misty and wet. Talk to you later !

Atlantic Ocean - mv UAL Texas

PIRACY AND CORRUPTION

Maffia - corruption - piracy - all bad words and unfortunately all applicable to Nigeria. If they're willing to pay the price, cargo vessels can be escorted fore and aft by gunboats. Piracy is an age-old trade and gunning them down, part of daily life it seems. Normal protection is just one highspeed vessel to accompany the convoy of cargo vessels in and out of the seaport Onne, which is just south of  Port Harcourt in Nigeria. There is a certain area in the delta where no police or navy control is done. Therefore the area is used for pirate-trade.  Eelco's ship left Nigerian waters again under surveilance. It is though on the high seas out of the high risk area (and protection), that the pirates are active.  Pirates are one thing, but it's the corruption applied in maffia manner by the officials on all levels which leaves the bitter taste. 

UAL TEXAS underway to Ghana

Skipper is on his way with the mv UAL TEXAS to Takoradi in Ghana, West Africa. The trip started in Houston Texas and they battled heavy seas and large swell crossing the Atlantic. Now in the lee of the African continent, they can pick-up speed again. I can follow him on marinetraffic.com

Freedom chips

Yes it's that time again. m/v UALTexas is providing the opportunity to collect the much needed freedom chips. Eelco joined ship in Brazilia and is now underway to Mexico and the USA, and from there to west Africa. Crew is multi national. 

   gold and silver not, but aluminium

2016 update

2016 has been an interesting year. No, we didn't sail even one mile...... sad but true. Mylady arrived December 2015 in South Africa. We rested in Knysna over Christmas and then sped around the Cape of Good Hope to Port Owen on the southwest coast of South Africa. Here in the marina which is quite a distance upriver on the great Berg River, Mylady is safe from any heavy seas or swell. Yet close enough to sea, to freeze (not truly - just very cold) when the wind turns and comes onshore across the cold Benguala of the Atlantic.

Therefore we're not complaining. We have cold, cool, warm, hot, mist weather, all in the span of one week, and then over again.  Sea is half hour walk from the boat. We go there often.

            We have been hard at work - travelling. Eelco earned some freedom chips for us around western Europe. Mi-sA-le joined him for a few weeks. We alse spent time with mom in Netherland and explored some of Holland. Mi-sA-le then went to visit her son in Texas USA and also her son in Cape Town. The time back on Mylady we enjoyed and happily groomed the boat, ticking-off the jobs to-do list which only grows.

             We went on a flower safari for a month in Namaqua land. It was beautiful, stormy, wet, cold, interesting. We made a roadtrip through the southwest part of Namibia. It took us two months. The land and desert were as always, soul-charge beautiful and amazing. When out on the water I colour in my mind the blue around me with browns, beige and greens - then I have the Namib right there at sea. While travelling through the Namib, I coloured in my head the black and browns of the landscape with hues of blue - and it is truelly just asif we're at sea. Mind boggling. Even Eelco agreed. The roadtrip was hot and dusty. Birdlife quantity and variety was astounding. Game sighting along the roads were plentiful. But I dare say not 10% of the dust kicking cars flying by saw the well camo-ed animals.

             At the moment we are spending time in Jonkershoek Nature reserve area between the massive peaks and cliffs of the ... mountains. (Have you watched my JONKERSHOEK movie yet?) Then its off to Cape Town for some visa paperwork. Then on toward Pretoria for Christmas with the family and in the New Year we start with freedom chips and overseas trips again. As you can tell - we are well. 

              Wishing you all the best and hope to hear from you soon. 

   Eelco  and Mi-sá-lê -  blessed & happy  

Road trip Namibia

After the haulout, we scurried with half of everthing inside Mylady, to the old VWJetta and started our selfdrive road trip to Namibia, camping along the way. We had detailed, good info from the stgcnam consultant in the planning stage and  underway.
          Ai-Ais hotspring to which I was so looking forward to, was a very big disappointment. A troop of baboons reigned and spread disaster. Some of the facilities were noticeably improved outside but the inside was unkept, dirty and worn. Even in the spa the tiles were broken off, the water temperature either boiling or cold, and the massage jets not working.
The viewpoint of the Fishriver Canyon at Hobas was fantastic. As was the camping facilities. Very dusty powder soil though.
Gravel ROADS in Namibia is a disaster for any sedan car. All the roads servicing the tourist destinations are over-used and the roadbed destroyed by corrigation, making grating it not very helpful.
Luderits was very enjoyable. We had perfect weather. Stayed at the oldest building -signal tower. And enjoyed a marvellous trip out to the islands with Zeepaard Boat tours. 
Aubures - west of Helmeringshausen was very good. We were guided to ancient Bushmen rock paintings - fascinating! The view accross the valley refreshed the soul everytime you laid eyes on it. Hot - dry - rocky - yet grippingly beautiful.
We enjoyed the immense beauty along the C27 road passed Wolwedans. On the spur of the moment we bypassed Sesriem with its maze of accommodation and stopped at Weltevrede. 
From there we made speed to Windhoek, bundu bashing over the D1261, Remshoogte pass.
         Windhoek Mediclinic operates like Africa - spent two nights there.
Urban camp.net was a super great experience. Very central to downtown Windhoek and five minutes walk to Joe's Beer House. The staff at Urban were very helpful, friendly and accommodating.
Next stop was Spitzkoppe. An impressive place with its overpowering boulders and curios rock rabbits. 
We had lunch in Hentiesbay and stayed in Swakopmund. The dunes gave us an excellent and exhausting experience.  It was freezing cold, windy and wet ! And we chose to return to the blazing hot Spitzkoppe. 
In Gross Barmen we relaxed. The hot inside pool was not clean, the floortiles in all the pools were dangerously slippery. To top it all - around twelve noon all electricity went off! In pitch dark we had to find our way with hands and the occasional faintest of cellphone light back to our clothes. And no discount was offered for this inconvenience. Daan Viljoen Game Reserve just outside Windhoek on the other hand was a super experience.
From there it was south again. We slept between the quiver trees 20km north of Keetmanshoop at /Garas. And continued to Amanzi at the Orange River. Amanzi was good, but for us very unpleasant when students noised loudly through the night, making sleep a disaster. We cancelled the rest of our booking and left.
The last stop of this trip was Modderfontein 8km west of Springbok in South Africa where we also started this trip. First time round our air mattrass failed. Second time round we brought back the borrowed matras.
Back home on sailboat Mylady here in Port Owen, it is suprisingly
windy and cold. With time I will update this post with a lot of links.  

HAULOUT Port Owen - South Africa

A shocking, anti-climax to 'normally'.

Sailing vessel Mylady has been quietly at rest in Port Owen Marina for the last few months. But now it was time to haulout at Port Owen Boatyard. On our way to the boatyard we ploughed half a keel deep through the mud, but eventually we got there.
          Mylady looked very good since her last haulout two and a half years ago. 
    Here at the boatyard the atmosphere is relaxed and the services effecient. 
     As always, there are more to do than 'just a scrub and paint'. Whilst we continue life on the hard and climbing high ladders, we'll keep on dreaming.

Why the "shocking, anti-climax to 'normally'"?
Because it is so relaxed.
How come?
Because the boatyard closed for a couple weeks holiday and we are all alone fiddling with dear old Mylady while we watch the thousands and thousands of cormorants flying to the fishing grounds every morning and returning every evening above the meandering river.

m/v Gitana - freedom chips

To fill up our freedom chips kitty, Eelco took a short relieve job on m.v Gitana in the Mediterranean Sea.   When he departed he       received a wonderful greeting card from the crew.  
We do value this tremendously. 

South Africa - KLEIN KAROO

We rented a car and travelled the Klein Karoo in South Africa. It was more than beautiful and truely a place where there is space for the mind. Please come along on our ride through the KLEIN KAROO.

m/v Panda

We were just properly settled at our new address on the west coast of South Africa when the question came from Total Crew (Dutch agency) - 'Are you available? Urgent relieve was needed on mv Panda.' Since we needed some freedom-chips, Eelco made the jump in one week's time from the Southern hemisphere to mv Panda in the northern hemisphere and relieved owner-skipper Henk Held. Onboard the Panda is good working conditions. The crew are returning crew. Therefore familiar with the boat and modes operandie - and with one another. Mv Panda ship handles like a dream. Her full electronic bridge, willing bow thruster, and effecient equipment, not to forget the touch screen stove, internet and other conveniences, make for many smiles. In a time when shipping is having it tough and many out of work, during Eelco's time onboard as skipper, the  charterer - Amadeus (German company) - kept mv Panda full time loaded and underway. Hats off to Brigitte at Amadeus. Mv Panda is 88.95m long and 12.5m wide. She runs on diesel. Dries out in the mud if shallow river ports require and doesn't want to stop when she's loaded. The engineer juggles the pumps and balast while chief mate exercise precision loading, everybody is tired but smiles when mv Panda pulls out of harbour and sails with a song.

SAILING THE AFRICAN COAST

Summarizing SAILING THE AFRICAN COAST with sv MYLADY.
Mozambique - we knew of sailboats doing the same crossing however, did not see any. Couple of fishing boats. Couple of big ships. Short cycled heavy cold fronts continuously. Real bad anchoring experience in changing for worse conditions with no good alternatives. Skipper got his finger chopped in the gypsy.
Richards Bay area - a couple of big ships going Indonesia direction.
Durban - Killer gale.
Between Durban and East Londen lots of big ship traffic both ways.
Agulhas current - formidable - running east to west. Close to coast was counter current and Bird Island took forever to get passed in the light winds. few whales. lots of comfort containers motoring past in lovely sailing weather. Plenty Cape Gannets around.
PE permission from harbour master to enter. Big entrance. Unfamiliar with clearing customs for pleasure craft. Visiting cruise ships. Bulk carriers loading magnesium oar (black dust covers everything). According local info the industrial harbour activities will be moved to the east side of Algoa Bay a good distance away, projected time 10 years. Plenty fishing boat activity close to PE. 'flight plan' an issue on leaving. Flight plan non-existing in Knysna or Port Owen.
Knysna - thick fog. tricky entrance. Keep to the leading line (very close to the westerly head.) Strong current in channel. Good holding in sandy-mud. VERY healthy water. Growth on the anchor chain, almost impossible to remove, after only two weeks on anchor. Play garden of all speed boats that do not keep to their designated area. Many regularly zig-zag full power between the yachts on anchor. Out going tide makes big breakers on both inner and outer bank at the heads.
Cape Agulhas - 5 knts E. big ship traffic (5 ships in 24 hrs) 2 heading for Mosselbay. Visibility on water clear. Coastline hazy. Good internet reception 12 miles off coast (vodacom). Fascinating beautiful sea-glow at night caused by plenty fish activity in fhosphorus water.
False Bay - fog clouds and veldfire smoke covered the mountains and shoreline. We passed in light winds.
Cape Point / Cape of good hope - 25 knots southerly. Hefty seas (for us from behind). Good going. Many shore lights and beacons. Had a near hit/mis with unlit sailboat.
Cape Town - Many big ship traffic
Atlantic ocean - plenty whales, solitary and moving, also group activity. Cold Benguela current. Thick and heavy, blinding fog. Shocking cold. Lots of seals.
St. Helena Bay - Stompneus Bay lovely to rest. Anchor stuck behind rocks. Millions of black cormarants parading the horizon just above the waves.
Port Owen - Plenty real big fishing boats alongside Laaiplek in the river. We were piloted up-river by marina manager. Quiet secure waters in Port Owen Marina. Tidal river flood banks teaming with birdlife. Relaxed atmosphere. Lively Port Owen Yacht Club organizing sailing races and activities and weekly suppers and social. A great place to rest for a while.

SOUTH AFRICA Knysna

We approached Knysna on the Garden Route at the south coast of South Africa in thick fog, the first week in December. It lifted and densified alternately. We were waiting for the tide to rise and therefore at peace standing off and lining up with the leading lights from a way-out distance. A local adventure ridged inflatable came to us on their way back to Knysna with, "Welcome to Knysna. It's your first time here? The heads are calm today, you don't have to wait for the high tide." He greeted goodbye and disappeared between the waves and swell at the heads. I swallowed. We concentrated hard. The front white light of the leading lights were difficult to keep and eye on between all the other buildings. The rocks of the western head were too close for comfort and the waves and swell teamed up to pull and push us out of the line of safe entry. And the known troublesome rock in the middle of the entrance was submerged and unmarked, with different identifications from different sources. By all qualifications not an easy-on-my-heart entry. As always the relieve comes sudden when one realizes the major obstacles are passed.

Not being able to see good colour of the shallow water, we pottered in one bend when a local dinghy came to us pointing where the deeper water channel runs and we finally spotted a buoy for direction. After half an hour motoring and almost running aground on the sandbank close to the yacht club, a local boatowner led the way in his dinghy to a safe anchoring spot. We put the anchor down and didn't move it again. The current is strong in the main channel and Mylady, one of only three deep keel monohulls in catamaran valley, swung all over the place. During springtide low it was a bit shocking to see how big and close the sand islands then exposed, were.
The yacht club people were friendly and helpful. Anchoring is free. Temporary membership at the yacht club was R110- a week for a couple. The showers tall enough for Eelco and lovely hot. After New Zealand where one has to pay extra to use the showers this is nice to may use enough water for an enjoyable shower.
Knysna town is beautiful as seen from the water. There are three big shopping malls and all other shops and services one may require, available. Restaurants galore. The Timber Village has beautiful wood carved statues on display at the waterfront. And even more fascinating things and furniture at their village. We met Bryan who makes kites at Knysna Kites and we enjoyed exotic and exquisite tastes from That Platter Guy at the Friday afternoon market of the Montosouri school where local Knysna comes out for a good eat and social. We still savoured some of his salmon pate, gorgonzola, and ginger with peppadew cream cheese as we sailed passed Cape Agulhas. It was time for us to leave Knysna Lagoon with all the speedboats chasing around so inconsiderate of the anchored yachts.

South Africa - MEIRINGSPOORT

Come on a ride with us through the impressive MEIRINGSPOORT in the Klein Karoo in the Cape.

South Africa - BUTTERFLY WORLD

Just outside Paarl, in the Cape, is the Butterfly World. Which is also a sanctuary to many other creatures. Share with me the beauty and joy I experienced. Thanks.

South Africa - JONKERSHOEK

Share with us the wonderful JONKERSHOEK nature reserve. 

Thanks for visiting

We appreciate everyone visiting us so regularly. Your contact is valued. Keep well.

PORT ELIZABETH

Port Elizabeth, about halfway between Cape Town and Durban on the south coast of Africa: a friendly people.

They were right there on the jetty to take our lines and welcomed us. Our every wish was no problem. Facilities at the marina and yacht club were clean and good. The yacht club restaurant was packed every day. It was clear that foreigh yachts don't make landfall in Port Elizabeth. Customs were initially confused but we did get our stamps eventually. PE is big and the yacht club far from town. King Cab Taxis were the best. Good rates, good cars, good

service. Waiting times were correct and their drivers knowledgable and helpful. With such a King Cab Taxi we made a tour through the old and new Port Elizabeth and learned a lot. We spent lots of time and money running around to refill the cooking gas. 

And then the wind turned Southeast. Twentyfours hours later we discovered with shock and dismay a fine oily black dust covering the whole boat inside out. Where one touched or walked you left a track. The walls, ropes, inside drawers, under the spreaders and solars, up one's nostrils - absolutely everything was dusted black. Big bulk carriers were loading magnesium oar in the southeast corner of the harbour. Needless to say, we left PE that evening. 

This report was written a month later (and published even yet a month later) and even though we have been springcleaning the boat ever since and in a thorough way never done or needed before, we are still discovering black magnesium dust every day.  

Voyage of s/v MYLADY 2015

KEEPING WATCH on an OCEAN not big enough.

One thinks you're alone out on the ocean when things go wrong – and you are.

Originally the wind was confused and we just put the anchor down in the ocean and waited. Ocean it was but still on the shelf of twenty meter in the northwest corner of Madagascar. A romantic just for two sunset sky coloured our world beautiful. We enjoyed it as such. On the deck we raised a glass to good health and a wonderful life.    

         Just as we settled on our watch routine, things started happening. From all places in the world a once-a-month-ferry happened to do its run and aimed directly for us. Immediate concern was high on Mylady. Not about this or that but one tends to not notice the normal stuff next to the road one drives to work everyday. Would the ferry have a proper lookout on a route they take every month year in and year out, in a country with very little nightime traffic? We feared the answer was 'no'. If they did, would they demand right of way?

As the very big ferry roared closer – thank goodness it had navigation lights on – we tried everything to draw its attention. Our anchor light was on but we also flashed the decklights on and off. Blew the foghorn. Kept the bright lights going. When skipper threw the spotlight on the ferry, another boat, not far from the bow of Mylady, flashed us back.

         Oh dear – a big fishing boat was pottering about on a one cylinder which laboured loud but even, between the ferry and us. With no lights on! What made it worse was the engulfing pitch dark of no moon.

         Finally the ferry changed course making its intention clear to pass us safely. What a relieve it was to see both the unlit fishing boat and the ferry noticed us.

When one wants to be alone out on the ocean and relax, there always seems to be a traffic jam with yourself in the midst. A no-watch system always have a 100% chance of disaster. Shortly after, a good breeze started. We heaved anchor and sailed away. 

Christmas 2015

We get small gifts along the way in life, which do not cost a lot of money. We are honoured to receive from our extended circles, such gifts. We wish for you, who are visiting here right now, love-a-plenty and lots of good health.

The GIFT of Knysna

We are resting in Knysna on the south coast of South Africa. We had a lovely tour through the Little Karoo (writing coming later) and are now having a stall in 

the GIFT OF KNYSNA 
event in Knysna on 

the Garden Route of South Africa. We will take part till 23 December from 9h00-18h00. Meeting all the local artists is a delight. And our story intrigues many.

SAMMNET

With a firm, clear and caring voice Sam gave us weather info for our specific situation. It was re-assuring at the times we were in for some bad weather. And it was most valuable during the times we could not get proper connections to Sailmail for our own weather info.
Send an email to zs1sammnet@worldonline.co.za with your position, boat speed and course.
Our information was registered at the South African Maritime Net for in case of emergencies. During the transmission we could not call in since we are not a Ham station, but Sam would call us and then give weather.
SAMMNET on 14316 USB at 06:30 UTC
From Simonstown the South African Maritime Mobile Net operates on Ham radio frequencies twice daily, 7 days a week and 365 days a year and provides weather reports from around the South African coast and the deep-sea areas from Brazil and Argentina in the west and to Australia in the east and into the Mozambique channel, the Seychelles and Maldives area.
We are grateful for his concerned help during our voyage from Madagascar to South Africa.

From Madagascar to Mozambique Channel on to South-Africa

We have left Madagascar and are aiming for South-Africa. The Mozambique Channel is an interesting piece of water to sail. There are so many different influences. The many different currents and counter currents are the most noticeable. If we're not pushed the wrong direction under full sail forward, then we're flying at danger speed the good direction. Gales and squalls are common. Mylady had her fair share of bad weather but is handling it well. At the moment of writing we are cruising along with one knot and no wind. bird problems..

Madagascar

We surfed to the north cape of Madagscar with 35kn. The counter current on the west side of Madagascar immediately introduced itself. Our average speed of 5 - 6 knots declined in ten counts to 2 knots. It is the oddest feeling to come to such a quick 'stand stil' after 24 days of full-on sailing. The Southeaster peaked at 45kn and helped us on beams-end over white waters to Nose Hara. Finally – rest. Nose Hara is a fascinating island with very interesting rock formations and landscape. It is very impressive and we enjoyed our rest there where we could air out the boat after the long ocean voyage.
         On towards Nosy Mitsio and we got acquited with the tremendous variable currents and wind directions in the space of one day. It must have been the most frustrating day skipper has yet experienced.

We arrived in Hellville, Nose Be, mid morning. And were almost immediately greeted and welcomed by Kool, who in partnership with Jimmy, take care of the dinghies for a fee. The quay has no facilities for dinghies and the port is over crowded with local boats and ferries all day long. Thus, it was real handy to have Kool and Jimmy there for help. Jimmy speaks English and went with us for the clearing in procedures, for a fee. If you speak french, you might be able to have the bribes pass you by. If you don't, like we, you're bound to pay all the bribes. Which ofcourse you expect at the time, but are unable to voice a stand-off.

Nosi Mamoko was our first experience of village life. The lady chief (who arrived long after us) was a proper b...t.. Honestly the worst experience of 'local' we have yet had in any country. Our initial good feelings she wiped clean with her unfriendly, demanding, un-accommodating attitude. We had no reason to stay in her village where filth abound and lemurs are sick looking, therefore left.

Russian Bay was super good. Andre's Restaurant was a delight.

Value for money. Hearty meals (ordered before). Good tasting Madagascar beer -  English style - and locally produced good rice wine and all kinds of interesting things, like good and happy looking lemurs. Fresh baked bread can be ordered – which we did more than once. Andreas is actually a wealth of information. We made a tour with Paul over the mountains and were very happy with the care he took and the local knowledge he could share with us in English. Again – value for money. Watch out for Polene(sp?). Confirm with Andre's who's the good and who's the bad guys. One day and night a tent safari pitched camp under the palms on the beach front. The tour guide, Ravo, made a good impression when we met on shore. It reminded me of catered safaris we did in Namibia. We sailed twice to Russian Bay and

stayed fourteen days total even though we only planned two days. Snorkeling was good. Schools of fish stayed happily around our boat. Russian Bay was good.

The Honey River had no honey but the school was very happy with the English / Malagasy dictionary we gave them. No-where did we had security issues yet, but everywhere alertness is high. The people in general are friendly. 

SAILMAIL FAILED

We were 18 days on Indian Ocean passage without contact to weather info or any other people. 

World wide coverage by Sailmail is not true. 

There is just one Africa station and it does not function properly.  

INDIAN OCEAN CROSSING 2015

From Cocos Keeling to north Madagascar was a hard, looooooong sail. Uncomfortable. Heavy, huge seas and swell which ran in no co-herent fashion - all the time. 30-40 kn winds were a constant. Two days - out of the twenty four days - were ideal blue water sailing. The windvane steering sometimes could not keep up with the repetitive onslaught of the seas. In due course the steering line snapped. Eelco dressed up in his safety harness and clipped himself to the pushpit then clambered over board down the stern while the liquid mountains charged onto us. He retrieved the broken line and strung the replacement line successfully. I was so uptight and worried, I forgot to take pictures. The heavy seas took its toll on the steering gear too. A couple of times there were a big 'bang!'. One of the 'bangs' was the starboard main stay snapped off a 12mm rod. We also discovered with dismay that the weight of the danbuoy has rusted off. Hooray for life on the saltwater.... Two good things about the Indian Ocean. 1) The current is a true plus. 2) The weather was mostly sunny, warm and dry. 

Cocos Keeling

An Oasis in the Indian Ocean. Be sure to stop there if you go direction West. Al you need is an Australian visa. The local police are the best ambassadors Australia could wish for. 
Around the boat fish, squid, turtles, dolphins, and sharks abound. Crystal clear water present the coral frightning close - even though it is deep. All the variations of turquoise colour are spread out in the panorama and in the 'RIB' dance plenty green parrot fish close to the rocky edge. 
Regularly many kite surfers glide across the big beautiful lagoon. Anchor holding is rock solid in pure white sand. 
Directions Island has a rich history and the hermit crab population florishes. Lots of signatures are left by visiting yachts. 
On the day of our departure, an out-of-this-world big cutoms ship filled the entrance to the bay. They checked us out and kindly wished us a good voyage. MORE..

knock down

We are seven days west of Cocos Keeling and had four knock downs (tipped over on the side with water running over the winches) the last three days. The seas are so very big and confused. Wind is only 25-30kn SE but we're on the smallest of storm sails. Mylady and crew are apart from brined inside out, well. sea-people life ...

DARWIN

Fanny Bay anchorage in front of the sailing club of Darwin, is big. Boats anchoring way out in the distance because of the big tides. Making going ashore a big schlep (trouble). But being considerate the club has fat wheel trolleys the boaties may use to get dinghies out of and into the low water. Very handy, we agree. On the other side of the bay two war ships and two marine supply vessels and a customs boat were on anchor. We felt safe. We liked Darwin. And it sunsets...

TIMOR SEA

The Timor Sea might be in the Indian Ocean, but none of the Indian Ocean mean characteristics apply. We expected strong trade-winds, but barely got any. Flat seas lump and slither. Night time the thought of wind there was during the day, goes sleep. So do we. Sails down. Anchor light up. Mylady drifting in zig-sag circles with the tide. (Yes, it's a sea snake in the pic. There were plenty.)

Australia, cruise 2015

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in Australia. Wonderful people.  Departing Darwin heading west for Madagascar. 
The croc story ...

LONESOME cruising

Off the beaten track? No. Just going around the northern point of Australia, westward. Just a route. 
Dangerous? Not any more than the normal. 

Weather's absolutely perfect - warm days, cool evenings, wind and seas from behind. 
How many marina's or ports for convenience are there from Cooktown in the northeast to Darwin in the north? 
None. 
How many other cruising boats did we see over this 1100 nautical mile distance? 
Three. 
It is just a surprise for us both to experience so few cruising boats. Somehow I thought being in a developed country with such a big yachting industry, and the Indonesian cruising grounds just above Australia in a hop, skip and jump distance, that one would see a yacht from time to time. Clearly we were completely wrong.
    Fortunately we are a happy two-some that don't mind our lonesome (note: not lonely) exploring of new shores and its secrets and showcases. We always enjoy the natural life. Sometimes we even feel special apart from privileged - being at, or part of, creation's beauty and wonders. Every day there is something new to learn.  And we have not even been at five percent of the possible anchorages. Yet there were many places I wished to stay longer. A place worth returning to - the north coast of Australia. Mi sa le (I shall return). Read more...

CRUISING wEATHER along the sunshine Queensland coast.

The High pressure systems rolling across Australia to the east are regular and we get the associated SE tradewinds with it. The perfect direction to take us to the north of OZ. In general we have 3 or 4 or 5 days strong south easterlies then two days of light winds. Our cruising schedule is thus accordingly. A few days sailing from break-of-day till the next overnight spot (sometimes short-, other times long hops). Then a couple of days resting and catching up with home chores and exploring. We've had fair weather mostly. Not enough rain to catch water but getting miserably wet seems to be a constant. The 'Sunshine Coast' we've only occationally experienced with glimpses. It is warm temperatures and that we like. The sun shone, the trades blew, and the current raged as we rounded the top of Australia leaving the Pacific Ocean after eleven years. Read more

CRUISING SECURITY ALERT for Australia, Queensland.

The following I presume could be encountered anywhere where there are plenty yachts. But this happened to us on the Queensland coast.
* aggresive yacht attack on Mylady sailboat.
* un-manned yachts under full sail and motor.
The alarm went at 5:30am and the anchor was on deck at 6:00am. While skipper was still securing the anchor, I steered Mylady out to sea. We noticed the only other yacht in the bay at North Palm Island, at the far opposite side, who came in late afternoon the previous day, also have navigation lights on. We were moving opposite directions. I turned back to the bay to pass them red to red. But they turned also inside. I turned more to not be misunderstood, but so did they. Deciding if they want to pass us on the shore side I'll go to sea. Making an almost 90 degree I headed out to sea. But they turned with us. Confused I asked skipper am I reading the lights right? He turned around and ordered 'Give gas!' The lights (boat) was concerningly close. We sped away. But they followed at high speed. Skipper took the wheel and after a short full rev run, stopped the boat. The aggresive yacht who reved up with us, made a sharp turn to the south and passed our stern at arms length. 'IDIOTS! skipper shouted'. The yacht motored away as the day was breaking. 
The unmanned yacht we encountered earlier going to Airlie Beach. We were sailing on a strong southeasterly, hard to windward, the last leg to Airlie Beach. A big yacht under full sail came out from Airlie Beach heading our way. Since we were on a concerned course, we kept a close eye on it. We soon realized he was motoring but not a person in sight. In all the time that we passed him and afterwards till he was out of sight, no human was visible. It left an eerie feeling to know at full speed in very changeable weather, their are yachts with NO LOOKOUT.
Read about other travellers...

STUCK IN UPSTART BAY

We woke after midnight from the scream of our wind generator. A windgust from a southerly shore wind shifted us into another direction. Steadily the squealling of the anchor bunner started to increase and the anchorchain grinding on the bow. With the arrival of daylight we started to hieve anchor. Our suspicions grounded to a halt with the anchor. Stuck. 
First we tried the gentle way. Skipper on the bow trying to follow the chain around the corners it took to wrap itself around the rocks, while I do my best to steer the boat the intended way. Still stuck.
Then the tough way. With brute force and maximum revs on the engine, the braking strength of the anchor, the chain, the boat deck as well as the nerves of the crew are tested to the limit. Still stuck.
Finally the smart way. Remembering the triumph card of sv Mylady with her super good back-off ability, skipper took the wheel and motored around our anchor and then reversed full force the other way. 
The tension loaded anchorchain gave a jump and fell slack. Did the chain break? I couldn't tell and feared the answer. I winched the chain back into the anchorlocker while skipper kept motoring fast backwards. We both were immensely relieved to see the anchor coming above water. 
"Do you dive?" a local fisherman and his wife asked when we went ashore.
"No. Why?"
"There's a pot of gold down there where you were stuck. You're not the first one. We've seen lots of chain and anchor go down there, never to come up again."
'This is James Morill country.'

Waypoint sailors

Nowadays hordes of new generation cruisers jump on the bandwagon of sailing around the world. The initial passion of discovering and experiencing the unknown had to make way for the number factor. Today the reason is "to be counted".  To be able to say you've done it. Or perhaps to say 'could afford it', since everthing cruising has become so ridiculously expensive. Therefore the today cruiser crosses the oceans with blind trust in human developements like gps, sattelite and insurance. 
The time when a certain amount of skill and interest were required to be able to navigate. Or finding a good star and horison at exactly the good time of morning or evening to take a bearing of and work out with lots of maths and tables and what have you's, where on earth (actually on the ocean) are you in order to ensure you continue in the good direction, are all things and facts which fill history books now. 
In an idyllic anchorage up in a sheltered creek in Savusavu Bay one day, motored True Blue Ozzie yacht passed us on their way out. They made a confusing zig-zag-turn between empty moorings. We thought they were busy with other things and not on attention. A short while later, the South-African catamaran Impi also passed us on their way out. She up on the bow keeping a lookout. He charging at too high speed as was his habit, between the yachts. At exactly the same place between the empty moorings, Impi made the exact same confusing and unnessary (in fact a more risky maneuver towards the coral edge, than safe) zig-zag-turn between the empty moorings. It instantly struck us clear as lightning - waypoint sailors. Not allowing themselves to trust their own observations and logics. Yet, Impi advertises his waypoints on his blog, for other insecure cruisers to follow?
From time to time we also wish for waypoints...

MYLADY in the Whitsundays

We are spending some time in the Whitsundays off the Queensland coast in Australia. It is beautiful when its not raining. The Southeaster tradewinds helped us along all the time and the very strong tidal currents play havoc with our plans. It is a total delight to see schools of fish jump and run as they avoid being next on the menu. Birds chatter and twitter as I think they only do in OZ. Fish eagles glided over us a few times. Lots of local tourists everywhere - snorkling. And what do we do? Take pictures of the colourful rocks. The Whitsundays is a very nice cruising ground. Here one can spend time....  Also please read the turquoise sea. 

MYLADY VOYAGE from Fiji to Australia

Monday is not a good time to clear suctoms first thing in the morning. We finally departed at noon. The ocean state was not bad and winds just enough. We went south around Fiji. Two days later though, the seasickness held the triumph card. Sailing was good in general. Seas mostly from behind. A phantom storm which had no reason or explanation had us running for our lives with 50kn chasers. Fortunately it was a one night event. 
Some days were diamonds.
Other days were filled with crashers onboard.
Some days were gold.
Other days we dropped sails at night, anchorlight on and went to bed with the sleeping tradewinds.
More than 50% of the time we had glorious, fantastic, awesome sunrises and sunsets.  Asif we were starving, we ate and ate as much we could of our dried and special products to avoid OZ quarantine taking it off. Birdlife was sadly limited to the count of ten. None fish caught. Saw some flyingfish. 

Ended the voyage with a two day gale which was forcasted to be 20-30kn. However, we got the also forcasted 'could be 40% stronger' at 40-50kns. The very steep, high, furious and sickening seas, tried to pluck the mast off deck and in the process ripped the starboard front stay out from deck. We made landfall in Mackay, OZ, safely. 
(The repaired stay bolt) Please read the emotional experience of the voyage also. 

Auction of original painting

"Support a good cause, half of the price, min costs, will be gifted to your yacht club or good cause." the artist.
Feel free to use this for fundraising of your good cause. Contact me for more information and encourage your members, friends and family to support the good cause of the auction of this painting.

shake-down cruise

Out and about cruising. We went for a shakedown sail to test everything on sailboat Mylady after her long cyclone laid-up. I was testing the extremes of seasickness in no time at all and skipper turned the boat around to be kind to me. We will sail many miles this year. Comfortably we tucked in a big bay just a stones throw from smoke covered Savusavu and its stinking creek. Fortunately that anchorage is tooooo far for the international yachts to cruise to.

We enjoyed the plenty-plenty fish, birds singing and fishing canoes on the reefs who always greet 'Bula!' And on shore we were treated as specialty. 
After a few days, the wind turned favourable and we sailed out again. This time to the Namena Reef. And with good strong wind and choppy seas, we continued to Nairai the next day. Our return to Nairai was greeted with great excitement and tears. Nobody ever returns... We gifted plenty good books, some supplied by Curly in Savusavu, to the chief and Ana and we shared the Balolo Rising in the school and village. Even thouh the reefworm is something from here, it is not experienced by many. Everybody appreciated and enjoyed. 
Our sail back was a perfect trail of what the Indian Ocean will be. The conclusion of our shakedown cruise - sailboat Mylady is a worthy ocean going craft. As soon as the visa is in, we'll set sail.

ANCHORING DISASTER

Appearance can be extremely misleading. The ever present rust hides, spreads and creeps into everything on a boat and then devours all in its path. Sometimes with frightening speed. The

shackle of this hook used on the anchor chain looked fair. It would not budge when pounded with a hammer. This year with the wonder of TIME skipper who returned early to Mylady, could with a lot of TLC, get the pin out. Horror struck. 
We hung onto that?

the STORM

Captain washed overboard...
What now?

We survived.

Share with us a mighty experience of awe and grace.

Available at Amazon

BAD experience in Savusavu, Fiji

My time here in Savusavu marina, Fiji has been shockingly bad. In 6 months, 9 boat breakins (2 of my neighbours). Filthy verbal abuse by disrespectful young fishermen diving at the boats made me fear rape. No support from the hierarchy. The wife of the local expat vet who seems to be running this marina, openly accused the yachts of being the problem. Yet, we learned this marina never did the goodwill thing with the local chiefs. And yes, not they or the police did anything about the burglary cases. It is a behind the hand bad mouthing case if you are in a click or not. And since I am a strong individual and seemingly the only one who will open my mouth (or rather put pen to paper to whom it may concern) regarding my rights of respect and services , I have been the target of no good. Therefore - my time here was spend alone and productively on Mylady. There is one expat here - Curly, from NZ ( http://curlycarswell.blogspot.com  please check out his site ), who is a big exception to the rule. And in his grey old age, he keeps soldiering on. He was, and still is, my reason for not running away from this unsafe, disgraceful place called Savusavu. A FALSE paradise, with rats, spiders, and mina bird infestation where you swim in your own sweat. Had we known, we would not have been here. Had we only known.

You will do other cruisers a favour if you spread the word about this or hang a print out on your notice board.  I'm now ten years on the water, but this time spent in Savusavu Marina has destroyed the beauty that was part of cruising. Nakama Creek from top to bottom is regularly a stinking, soiled with waste - disgrace. If not oil and diesel, then from household and farming. Not to mention the black snow that creeps into, and covers, everything.

Husband is back. I am so glad. He has a Pacific Ulcer which shocked the living daylights out of us. The private docter here is good and affordable. The wound which went down to the bone, is under control. We are working full speed to get MYLADY ready for leaving the South Pacific. 
The picture:  Sad but true - terror and suicide in paradise.

Storm with mv TEXEL

We all have chosen our jobs. Therefore no complaining. It is just that some jobs are very much influenced by the weather. Therefore gives an extra dimension to the job. How does the big ships handle the bigger seas? Motor vessel Texel from Kustvaart Harlingen, where Eelco currently earns our freedom chips, seems to handle it well.

SECURITY ISSUES in Savusavu and Marina

We've been here in Savusavu many times before. Liked the place so much and decided to stay the hurricane season on a mooring at Savusavu Marina. Our experience so far?

- 5 yacht burglaries - no cases resolved (one wrecked inside)
- indecent verbal assaults by disrespectful youths.
- aggressive black bird invasion
- all flour products have extra live material 
- rats
- local youths fiddling with the moorings
- discharge of pigs and human waste directly into creek
- some do-good people and others acting like  shareholders accuse yachts of being 'out of line'
- filth and empties passing regular from the shore to the sea.

I am completely disappointed, and feel very unsafe. 
Curly from Curly marina and a 'local' since 40 odd years, is the only one I've experienced that is horrified by this all.

mv Texel

  Freight arrived neatly packed. Both cranes of the ship needed to lift and move the parcel, With 3 of these valuable parcels mv Texel (Onego Merchant) set sail from USA to France. Since it's the holiday season they can go slow enough to miss the storms around them. 

Xmas 2014

MYLADY and crew are in SavuSavu, Fiji. Skipper is away skippering big ships. Seawife is tending to home chores. No not scrubbing the waterline, but chasing birds and rolling thumbs... (Really?). 
We wish for you a wonderful festive season. Thanks for visiting us from time to time. We do appreciate. My gift to you is the OCEAN SONG. Your gift to me is watching/listening it. Thanks. Be blessed.

NAIRAI and OVALAU in Fiji

Where on earth is NAIRAI ISLAND?  Well we didn't know until now. It happens to be in the vicinity of Koro Island, in Fiji. One can see the lights of Suva from there. Yet only one ferry in the month services the island and pretty expensive to ride. When the ferry arrives, the people of Tovulailai village jump in their longboats and take merchandise for transport to Suva and bring back shop supplies. We had a great time at Tovulailai. The dolphins guided us into the good sheltered bay. And the flying stingrays, slapped the water in a special welcome. I spread my maternal wings around Ana and in the process got skipper involved to do magic. Making one working sewing machine out of two old,

broken and useless machines.  I gave her a crash course on sewing and she's full of smiles. More machines appeared from no-where, asking some attention please.  We'll return to Tovulailai frequently in our memories.


OVALAU
We finally made it to Ovalau Island during our fourth visit to Fiji and thoroughly enjoyed the island and its people. The first capital of Fiji - Levuka - is now a world heritage site. The wind caught us

on the wrong side of the fish factory and made our first day a memorable stinking one. Apart from that the few old shops give an interesting atmosphere to the town. There is only a handful of people yet the town has a distinctive buzz. 

KORO ISLAND in FIJI

Hans and Dory

KORO Island is big and high and dominates the Koro Sea in the middle of Fiji. We had an interesting sail to there. Leaving Nasasobu Bay where we visited some local friends was perfect. Weather was calm. It was early in the morning and the forecast for 15knots easterlies. Just what we needed for our sail to Koro which was 48 miles away. Dolphins guided us through the pass and I made a very good movie of them. Soon out of the reef, the wind died away. Horrible seas and swell played havoc with us. I surrendered to seasickness and feeling bad while skipper was the top of madness which the seamans vocab couldn't make better. And then it happened. A gale of a blow. (the terrible swell and sea must have had a reason). 25-30 knots, with the wind abeam, with full sails, and with me down and out - not to interfere, skipper was gaining what time and speed we had lost earlier. An hour before sunset, skipper tacked her into the northwest bay of Koro Island. Another Pacific paradise - where we walked under the fern tree where snakes crawled over each other. We moved with haste away from danger. And everybody we show the film to, is in disbelief.

RABI ISLAND FIJI CIRCUMNAVIGATION

RABI ISLAND FIJI CIRCUMNAVIGATION

We visited the new Banaban Virgin Coconut Oil Factory at Nuku and found it very interesting. Spent a week in Elizabeth Cove where the king tides and coral reef made going ashore not at convenient hours. However, Ketike showed us the spring and that in itself was a safari to remember. At Fatima we attended the Roman Catholic song and dance contest which was absolutely wonderful. And then spent a night at Tabiang anchorage,which was good. The bio-fuel plant was not open when we wanted to visit it. This morning we left with moist air (drizzle) but had a great sail - full on - through the pass and back to Catherine Bay. Our circumnavigation of Ra[m]bi Island has been completed.