Hi All.
Good News--Our young man --T-Y, is on the mend.
Thanks' Isabel for your advise on what to use from the First Aid Kit.
Last night wasn't as fast as we would have liked--averaged about 6 knots.
Thankfully that changed as the sun rose this morning.
We did our first major course change this morning since leaving Rio--did a Gibe and now running on Starboard Tack.
The wind during the day has been around 15 knots, and we have averaged around 9 to 10 knots---lovely sailing.
Some statistics:--
Dist traveled from Rio as at end of Day 4 = 722 nm
Trip Distance traveled on Day 4 = 180 nm
Dist. to Tristan da Cunha = 1091 nm.
We e mailed the Tourism office at Tristan da Cunha and requested permission to visit the island with our Multi-national crew ( Scottish , German, Swedish, Japanese and South African.)
The Harbour is too small to accommodate our Yacht, so will have to Anchor.
Hopefully we can get someone from the island to stay on board while the yacht is at Anchor--this will allow us all to visit the island as a group.
Last night was too hot on board--so most of us didn't get a good night's sleep.
Today again was a scorcher of a Day--cabin far too hot to consider a sleep during the day.
Mike LePlastrier( one of the crew members who sailed to Rio ) suggested we give some of our bottles of Captain Morgan that we have on board to the Islanders on Tristan.
Not a bad idea--we will see how they treat us first!!
Just got to make sure the Islander that looks after the boat while at Anchor doesn't treat himself to the Captain Morgan while we are ashore!
That's it for now.
Rex on behalf of the Crew on Rocket
Monday, February 10, 2014
Sailing back to SA - day 4
All is just about well on board Rocket.
T-Y unfortunately is not feeling in the best of health.
He started becoming not well on the first day--and yesterday and last night was not felling at all well--hit a real low.
He has a nasty, chesty cough, infected/soar ear, and a running nose.
However i think today things look like they are on the mend.
I have asked Johan Brink to advise us what to use from our Medical Kit
He thinks he got an infection when he jumped into the Water in the Rio Marina.
This was on Wednesday Morning.
We went into the pier to fill up with diesel.
We did this at 0630 am, as this was high tide.
After filling both diesel and Water tanks, we left the pier on falling tide---never a good idea.
Well we got temporally stuck on the bottom, and our hero T-Y grabbed a rope and dived into the water and swam to the side.
By the time he got there we had managed to get ourselves off the bank under our own engines.
As our Rio team know--the water around the Marina is Ugly !!!
This is day 4 and sailing has been great.
We recorded a Trip Distance of 187 nm for day 3.
In the 3 days we have been sailing we have covered 553 nm as the crow flies from Rio Marina.
Last night was beautiful sailing----smooth, near full moon, beautiful sky filled with stars shining down on us offering us a good journey, and warm--no need for Wet Weather gear.
Our average speed was between 7 and 8 knots.
Today wind is around 14 knots.
We have Main Sail up, Genoa on pole ( Flying Gull Wing ) and the Stay sail up ( T-Y's idea).
This gives us a speed of around 8 to 10 knots, and easy sailing-lovely.
We now have a herb garden on Board.
Shin bought some Basil Herbs( this is what he says and who are we to doubt him !!) in Rio, and these plants are now growing nicely under the Spray Dodger.
When eventually these herbs hit our food plates i will let you know what effect it had on either the food or us crew members.
Our fishing attempts have still shown no sushi.
We have dragged the fishing line some 4600 miles--and not a fish story to be told
This morning Shin caught a piece of Plastic !!
We then had a discussion on the negative effects of Plastic on our oceans.
It is a major problem.
We are all looking forward to going to Tristan da Cunha.
We have some 1260 nm to go
An island of 12 km in dia, and a population of 264 .
It is a Volcanic cone that starts some 3500 m below sea level and rises to 2000 m above sea level.
They had a volcanic eruption in 1961.
Luckily it did not destroy the village.
They have only 7 family surnames residing on the island.
We intend to visit the mouth of the volcanic crater, St Mary's School ( worlds most isolated school ), The Albatross Bar and take a long walk through the village center.
We should get there early Sat morning.
Only hope the weather is good as we have to Anchor.
Today has been the most relaxing day so far.
We are either listening to Music, reading or sleeping.
In retrospect--i am glad that our Auto-Pilot is out of action--it's a pleasure to helm Rocket-and the vast emptiness of the Atlantic Ocean is quite mind-blowing--it is soooooo----- beautiful---and ever changing.
That's it from a relaxed Rocket Crew
Regards
Rex
T-Y unfortunately is not feeling in the best of health.
He started becoming not well on the first day--and yesterday and last night was not felling at all well--hit a real low.
He has a nasty, chesty cough, infected/soar ear, and a running nose.
However i think today things look like they are on the mend.
I have asked Johan Brink to advise us what to use from our Medical Kit
He thinks he got an infection when he jumped into the Water in the Rio Marina.
This was on Wednesday Morning.
We went into the pier to fill up with diesel.
We did this at 0630 am, as this was high tide.
After filling both diesel and Water tanks, we left the pier on falling tide---never a good idea.
Well we got temporally stuck on the bottom, and our hero T-Y grabbed a rope and dived into the water and swam to the side.
By the time he got there we had managed to get ourselves off the bank under our own engines.
As our Rio team know--the water around the Marina is Ugly !!!
This is day 4 and sailing has been great.
We recorded a Trip Distance of 187 nm for day 3.
In the 3 days we have been sailing we have covered 553 nm as the crow flies from Rio Marina.
Last night was beautiful sailing----smooth, near full moon, beautiful sky filled with stars shining down on us offering us a good journey, and warm--no need for Wet Weather gear.
Our average speed was between 7 and 8 knots.
Today wind is around 14 knots.
We have Main Sail up, Genoa on pole ( Flying Gull Wing ) and the Stay sail up ( T-Y's idea).
This gives us a speed of around 8 to 10 knots, and easy sailing-lovely.
We now have a herb garden on Board.
Shin bought some Basil Herbs( this is what he says and who are we to doubt him !!) in Rio, and these plants are now growing nicely under the Spray Dodger.
When eventually these herbs hit our food plates i will let you know what effect it had on either the food or us crew members.
Our fishing attempts have still shown no sushi.
We have dragged the fishing line some 4600 miles--and not a fish story to be told
This morning Shin caught a piece of Plastic !!
We then had a discussion on the negative effects of Plastic on our oceans.
It is a major problem.
We are all looking forward to going to Tristan da Cunha.
We have some 1260 nm to go
An island of 12 km in dia, and a population of 264 .
It is a Volcanic cone that starts some 3500 m below sea level and rises to 2000 m above sea level.
They had a volcanic eruption in 1961.
Luckily it did not destroy the village.
They have only 7 family surnames residing on the island.
We intend to visit the mouth of the volcanic crater, St Mary's School ( worlds most isolated school ), The Albatross Bar and take a long walk through the village center.
We should get there early Sat morning.
Only hope the weather is good as we have to Anchor.
Today has been the most relaxing day so far.
We are either listening to Music, reading or sleeping.
In retrospect--i am glad that our Auto-Pilot is out of action--it's a pleasure to helm Rocket-and the vast emptiness of the Atlantic Ocean is quite mind-blowing--it is soooooo----- beautiful---and ever changing.
That's it from a relaxed Rocket Crew
Regards
Rex
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Sailing back to SA - day 3
We have another glorious day—and i am sure it is going to be as hot as hell.
Had another lovely sailing day and night.
Last night changed to a 3 hour watch—everyone felt that 2 hours sleep was insufficient
Thankfully all the evenings have been clear with a near full moon and a sky full of stars..
Very beautiful.
And to be on watch as the sun rises is very special.
It’s so tranquil—everyone is asleep and there is just the noise of the yacht going through the water, the motion of this vast empty see, and the bright colours associated with a sun-rise.
Interestingly, i think i am enjoying this return trip more—maybe because there is no pressure to push the yacht to the limit, or because there are fewer of us on board, or because we are taking responsibility for our sailing decisions.---maybe all of these factors.
This morning saw a tanker go past us in the opposite direction—Volker made contact with them on VHF radio.
We are all very keen to go to Tristan da Cunha.
We should arrive there early Sat morning.
Intend to spend the day there.
Must walk up to the mouth of the Volcanic Crater, walk around the town, have a beer in the local pub---
Just hope the weather is good that we can anchor off the harbour---we cannot get into the harbour as we draw too much water.
Yesterday had a nice discussion with Shin and what he want to do once we arrive in CT
He really wants to stay in CT and open a Japanese Food Take away small kiosk.
It would be a 1 man operation.
All food would be prepared in front of the customer—on a gas fired Wok.
Customers will have option of :--
Rice, noodles, variety of fresh vegetables, chicken, meat or pork, and a range of sauce.
All food would be done on the Wok.
He says he saw this being done in Amsterdam—and it was extremely popular.
This was backed up by Amina—who said she regularly got food from these kiosks.
It is amazing how much travelling Shin, Volker and Amina have done.
They have all visited at least 80 countries around the world.
Shin says the most beautiful place he has seen is CT---hence his reason for wanting to stay there.
Volker only leaves for Germany at the end of March.
It is a real pleasure to have The Maxsea program on board,
We download the weather every day—and the Maxsea program calculates and shows us the optimum route to take, taking into account any restrictions we have placed.
Our restriction are a Max wind speed of 30 Knots, and a max wave height of 8 meters.
Need to go and do some Helming work.
Rex.
Sailing back to SA - Day 2
Hi.
All is well on Yacht Rocket.
Today was a really hot and sticky day--worse than normal. Any physical work including breathing bring on a massive sweat attack.
Lots of Suntan lotion is a must.
Last night and this morning we had really nice sailing conditions.
Today we flew the code zero.
We were sailing really nicely doing 10 to 11 knots.
Unfortunately the wind rose during mid-afternoon and we had to revert to Genoa and 1 st reef.
The wind has now reduced to around 10 knots and coming from about 110 degrees.
We are doing around 7 / 8 knots, and the boat is riding smoothly--what a nice change from the bumpy ride we have had since leaving Rio.
So far the sailing has been really nice.
Today we changed the filter on the water maker--the filter was very dirty and the water that was being made was not so nice--had a Rio Harbour Taste !!
Yesterday on several occasions we lost SOG ( Speed over ground ) reading. Not sure why but this will also effect out Total Trip measurement.
As such, the trip indicated we only did 171 n. miles yesterday ( day 2 )
In reality, i am sure we did over 200 miles.
At 1600 hrs today we were 421 miles from Rio ( as the crow flies )
That's all from us on Rocket.
Regards
Rex
All is well on Yacht Rocket.
Today was a really hot and sticky day--worse than normal. Any physical work including breathing bring on a massive sweat attack.
Lots of Suntan lotion is a must.
Last night and this morning we had really nice sailing conditions.
Today we flew the code zero.
We were sailing really nicely doing 10 to 11 knots.
Unfortunately the wind rose during mid-afternoon and we had to revert to Genoa and 1 st reef.
The wind has now reduced to around 10 knots and coming from about 110 degrees.
We are doing around 7 / 8 knots, and the boat is riding smoothly--what a nice change from the bumpy ride we have had since leaving Rio.
So far the sailing has been really nice.
Today we changed the filter on the water maker--the filter was very dirty and the water that was being made was not so nice--had a Rio Harbour Taste !!
Yesterday on several occasions we lost SOG ( Speed over ground ) reading. Not sure why but this will also effect out Total Trip measurement.
As such, the trip indicated we only did 171 n. miles yesterday ( day 2 )
In reality, i am sure we did over 200 miles.
At 1600 hrs today we were 421 miles from Rio ( as the crow flies )
That's all from us on Rocket.
Regards
Rex
Monday, January 27, 2014
We've arrived!
View all 42 photos of our arrival in Rio here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/+TrevorWilkins/albums/5972846285796030017
https://plus.google.com/photos/+TrevorWilkins/albums/5972846285796030017
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Day 22 on Rocket / Stop Rhino Poaching
Dear Family and Friends
With just a few km to the finish of the Cape2Rio 2014 yacht race, I am happy to report that all is well, in fact all is fantastic, aboard Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching.
Last night we literally flew through the night. The winds were gusting over 50kph and we had to even reduce sail – there was little sleep and much excitement – we could taste Rio.
Early this morning the wind died to a dribble – and our last 55km has been at less than 10kph. Frustrating to say the least – but at least we can see our end goal.
This will be the last posting of our adventure – thanks to ALL of you who have shared this journey with us. It’s been really fun knowing that we have some avid readers of our passage.
For the experienced sailors on our boat, this has been another transatlantic crossing – another notch in the belt. For us newbies this is the completion of a truly unique lifetime experience.
My impression is that our emotions have been thrown into a Laundromat and violently turned and tossed around. We have experienced close to absolute desperation during those initial seasick days. We have had variations of anguish, fear or panic (depending if you were simply thrown out of bed during a two-step broach or if you were the cause of this particularly inelegant dance). And of course we are now experiencing elation at the final completion and achievement if this goal. Our initial goal was just to safely complete the journey. The fact that we have fared so well is quite remarkable and of course gratifying to all of us.
This yacht Rocket was acquired in November 2013. It is testament to the fantastic effort from Gerrie, Herbert, Amanda and Rex that the boat actually was ready to sail across the Atlantic on time (only just!). Both Shin and Volker spent many days in Cape Town assisting with the preparation for the journey. A special thanks goes to these people for making this adventure happen.
A very special thanks to our wives/partners and families who have allowed us out on a boys adventure. This is highly appreciated (but please give us a much sterner warning next time).
The blast from the committee boat has indicated that we have crossed the line! We have officially completed the Cape2Rio 2014 yacht race on Saturday 25 Jan at 10:55a Brazil time (3:55 pm SA time) after 21 days and 1 hours and 55 minutes.
I now need to go on deck to join the champagne celebrations!
Lots of love to all at home and to all our friends.
Regards and THANK YOU!
Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
With just a few km to the finish of the Cape2Rio 2014 yacht race, I am happy to report that all is well, in fact all is fantastic, aboard Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching.
Last night we literally flew through the night. The winds were gusting over 50kph and we had to even reduce sail – there was little sleep and much excitement – we could taste Rio.
Early this morning the wind died to a dribble – and our last 55km has been at less than 10kph. Frustrating to say the least – but at least we can see our end goal.
This will be the last posting of our adventure – thanks to ALL of you who have shared this journey with us. It’s been really fun knowing that we have some avid readers of our passage.
For the experienced sailors on our boat, this has been another transatlantic crossing – another notch in the belt. For us newbies this is the completion of a truly unique lifetime experience.
My impression is that our emotions have been thrown into a Laundromat and violently turned and tossed around. We have experienced close to absolute desperation during those initial seasick days. We have had variations of anguish, fear or panic (depending if you were simply thrown out of bed during a two-step broach or if you were the cause of this particularly inelegant dance). And of course we are now experiencing elation at the final completion and achievement if this goal. Our initial goal was just to safely complete the journey. The fact that we have fared so well is quite remarkable and of course gratifying to all of us.
This yacht Rocket was acquired in November 2013. It is testament to the fantastic effort from Gerrie, Herbert, Amanda and Rex that the boat actually was ready to sail across the Atlantic on time (only just!). Both Shin and Volker spent many days in Cape Town assisting with the preparation for the journey. A special thanks goes to these people for making this adventure happen.
A very special thanks to our wives/partners and families who have allowed us out on a boys adventure. This is highly appreciated (but please give us a much sterner warning next time).
The blast from the committee boat has indicated that we have crossed the line! We have officially completed the Cape2Rio 2014 yacht race on Saturday 25 Jan at 10:55a Brazil time (3:55 pm SA time) after 21 days and 1 hours and 55 minutes.
I now need to go on deck to join the champagne celebrations!
Lots of love to all at home and to all our friends.
Regards and THANK YOU!
Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
 |
| We flew through the night at great speed determined to have bacon eggs coffee (with sugar) and shower at Rio Yacht Club early this morning. However the wind dissappeared with 30Nm to go. At 8a Brazil time, we still have 20 Nm (36km) to go - but we are only moving at 5kph! At least the end is in sight |
Friday, January 24, 2014
Day 21 on Rocket / Stop Rhino Poaching
Dear Family and Friends
As I post this note we have only 180 nautical miles (350km) to go - the end is almost in sight. What IS in sight are the oil rigs off the Brazilian coast line - so we have visual proof that progress is now real and quite rapid. If all goes well, we could end up in Rio about 4pm SA time tomorrow.
The winds built up rapidly last night to the point where we had to bid a respectful farewell to Sir Spinnaker and revert back to flying our genoa out on the spinnaker pole. With winds gusting regularly at 20knots (35kph), this is OK with us Newbies. As a result of this wind, we are flying on our way to Rio.
It is another roasting day out at sea with significant lethargy leaping spritely across the yacht affecting each and every one. It was a busy night with sail changes and rough seas (part of the deal... big wind = rough seas). The idea should be to catch up on sleep during the day but the heat together with 21 days of salt and sweat encrusted sheets makes sleep a touch testy :. As a result RR has been set aside for all but emergencies (and happily there are none of those at time of posting) and has been replaced by R&R (Rest & Relaxation).
A very special hello to those that are gathered at Stonehaven this evening. Thanks for making the time and effort to celebrate our pending arrival in Rio. The support and feedback from all our family and our friends has been fantastic and highly appreciated. We hope to be able to speak to you on Sat Phone at 6pm tonight SA time. We also hope to have a very short video ready for download for this gathering.
The timing is ideal - we need to arrive in Rio this weekend for numerous logistic reasons... Our milk is done - breakfast cereal with cool water is yummy...not. Cooking on a belching diesel fire is testing the humour of Shin & firemaker Gareth. Fortunately all essentials such as water and basic food is still plentiful. Dare I mention that toilet paper is finito :
We suspect we have broken a world record for trawling a line without catching anything. Shin has had a line out since day three and a desperate second line for the last ten days. We did lose one lure - but we believe it was just a big wave. So this makes a combined 10 000km of line trawling without joy. My son Ryan knows my fishing skills are zero - this appears to have spread across to Shin as well. We have been truly hoping for some Sushi a la Shin - but no such luck.
Lots of love and best wishes to all our family and friends from all of us just a few hundred km left of this 9 000km journey.
Regards
Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
As I post this note we have only 180 nautical miles (350km) to go - the end is almost in sight. What IS in sight are the oil rigs off the Brazilian coast line - so we have visual proof that progress is now real and quite rapid. If all goes well, we could end up in Rio about 4pm SA time tomorrow.
The winds built up rapidly last night to the point where we had to bid a respectful farewell to Sir Spinnaker and revert back to flying our genoa out on the spinnaker pole. With winds gusting regularly at 20knots (35kph), this is OK with us Newbies. As a result of this wind, we are flying on our way to Rio.
It is another roasting day out at sea with significant lethargy leaping spritely across the yacht affecting each and every one. It was a busy night with sail changes and rough seas (part of the deal... big wind = rough seas). The idea should be to catch up on sleep during the day but the heat together with 21 days of salt and sweat encrusted sheets makes sleep a touch testy :. As a result RR has been set aside for all but emergencies (and happily there are none of those at time of posting) and has been replaced by R&R (Rest & Relaxation).
A very special hello to those that are gathered at Stonehaven this evening. Thanks for making the time and effort to celebrate our pending arrival in Rio. The support and feedback from all our family and our friends has been fantastic and highly appreciated. We hope to be able to speak to you on Sat Phone at 6pm tonight SA time. We also hope to have a very short video ready for download for this gathering.
The timing is ideal - we need to arrive in Rio this weekend for numerous logistic reasons... Our milk is done - breakfast cereal with cool water is yummy...not. Cooking on a belching diesel fire is testing the humour of Shin & firemaker Gareth. Fortunately all essentials such as water and basic food is still plentiful. Dare I mention that toilet paper is finito :
We suspect we have broken a world record for trawling a line without catching anything. Shin has had a line out since day three and a desperate second line for the last ten days. We did lose one lure - but we believe it was just a big wave. So this makes a combined 10 000km of line trawling without joy. My son Ryan knows my fishing skills are zero - this appears to have spread across to Shin as well. We have been truly hoping for some Sushi a la Shin - but no such luck.
Lots of love and best wishes to all our family and friends from all of us just a few hundred km left of this 9 000km journey.
Regards
Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Day 20 on Rocket / Stop Rhino Poaching
Dear Family and Friends
Happy birthday Gareth. Sorry no sleep in, no bacon & eggs, no 5l can of beer - wait for Rio . At least there was no mast duty or underwater duty - small mercies...
All is well aboard Rocket / Stop Rhino Poaching with expectations rising daily. We have now seen two planes and a large container ship - all bound for Europe and indication that we are nearing the Brazilian coastline.
We do have some minor issues to report. One of our crew (he wishes to remain anonymous) complained bitterly of constipation. This immediately evoked endless remedies from this very sympathetic male crew. The constipatee decided he would need to try deep breathing exercises during his visit to the heads. Our renowned medical officer (Johan) immediately noted that this was a stool which needed delivering - not a baby! Rather than take this matter further let me rather just confirm that a robust boy was delivered late at night after a 34 minute heads visit. The crew applauded with great gusto and enthusiasm.
Yesterday I made a potential disparaging remark about spinnakers. Just to reaffirm that they monitor this post each and every day, Sir Spinnaker once again vented his fury by dropping a shackle (this connects the Spinnaker to the back of the boat) - of course during pitch black night shift . He huffed and puffed and swirled himself around with gusto and fury before calming down and allowing us to apologise and fix his loose rope. Sorry Sir Spinnaker - no more side swipes at your might and glory!
You have heard me discuss the delights of our sleeping accommodation. It's worth a little elaboration.
Rocket / Stop Rhino Poaching is a delightful long, slim yacht - which means that there can be (and is) significant rocking and rolling movement from side to side (sounds like a scene from a Rio nightclub).
All the sleeping accommodation is designed with double beds facing in the direction of the boat. This makes great sense from a design viewpoint but is a disaster from a sleep viewpoint. Inevitably the boat is leaning predominantly one way or the other for hours on end. So the person on the low side of the lean potentially gets a good rest wedged up against a side wall. The other person spends the night trying not to roll over and spoon his bed buddy. Of course the occasional side to side roll (on top of the lean) adds a further complication to the sleep manipulation. Rex has managed to find a couch which goes at right angles to the direction of the boat. This does require a wedge position between backrest and dinner table - this can be a great antiroll assistant.
Thanks again for all the feedback and comments - it's appreciated by all on board.
Lots of love and best wishes to all our family and friends
Regards
Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
Happy birthday Gareth. Sorry no sleep in, no bacon & eggs, no 5l can of beer - wait for Rio . At least there was no mast duty or underwater duty - small mercies...
All is well aboard Rocket / Stop Rhino Poaching with expectations rising daily. We have now seen two planes and a large container ship - all bound for Europe and indication that we are nearing the Brazilian coastline.
We do have some minor issues to report. One of our crew (he wishes to remain anonymous) complained bitterly of constipation. This immediately evoked endless remedies from this very sympathetic male crew. The constipatee decided he would need to try deep breathing exercises during his visit to the heads. Our renowned medical officer (Johan) immediately noted that this was a stool which needed delivering - not a baby! Rather than take this matter further let me rather just confirm that a robust boy was delivered late at night after a 34 minute heads visit. The crew applauded with great gusto and enthusiasm.
Yesterday I made a potential disparaging remark about spinnakers. Just to reaffirm that they monitor this post each and every day, Sir Spinnaker once again vented his fury by dropping a shackle (this connects the Spinnaker to the back of the boat) - of course during pitch black night shift . He huffed and puffed and swirled himself around with gusto and fury before calming down and allowing us to apologise and fix his loose rope. Sorry Sir Spinnaker - no more side swipes at your might and glory!
You have heard me discuss the delights of our sleeping accommodation. It's worth a little elaboration.
Rocket / Stop Rhino Poaching is a delightful long, slim yacht - which means that there can be (and is) significant rocking and rolling movement from side to side (sounds like a scene from a Rio nightclub).
All the sleeping accommodation is designed with double beds facing in the direction of the boat. This makes great sense from a design viewpoint but is a disaster from a sleep viewpoint. Inevitably the boat is leaning predominantly one way or the other for hours on end. So the person on the low side of the lean potentially gets a good rest wedged up against a side wall. The other person spends the night trying not to roll over and spoon his bed buddy. Of course the occasional side to side roll (on top of the lean) adds a further complication to the sleep manipulation. Rex has managed to find a couch which goes at right angles to the direction of the boat. This does require a wedge position between backrest and dinner table - this can be a great antiroll assistant.
Thanks again for all the feedback and comments - it's appreciated by all on board.
Lots of love and best wishes to all our family and friends
Regards
Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Day 19 on Rocket / Stop Rhino Poaching
Dear Family and Friends
This is a birthday boat - and all is well! We heard today that Shin's birthday was on Monday 20 Jan. So we are developing a punishment to be taken out on him (in Rio) for hiding this important day. Tomorrow Thursday is Gareth's birthday - we were hoping to celebrate in Rio but this will have to be postponed briefly. He says he has no fear of Rio
I would like to describe the night time driving of this huge surfboard. Picture yourself on a freeway, in the fast lane in pitch dark, no headlights, no streetlights and no lights on any oncoming cars. The road bends and curves every now and then and all you have to give you any sense of the road is a readout in your car which says you must travel in a certain direction (depicted as a number from 0 to 360). Sounds easy?
Through my secret wormhole back to Johburg I can hear you sniggering and saying this guy has been out at sea too long - or maybe Shin has included some special happy juice into the latest meal. Not really. We are trying to race this 14 ton beast with a 15- 20 knot (35-45kph) wind apparently coming directly at my right shoulder (not much is real in sailing - apparent is good enough). Of course we are making full use of Sir Spinnaker - all handsome and powerful - and extremely full of ....trouble. Now if I steer a little to the left, I move into a slower lane - not too much of a problem. However if I steer a little too much to the right, BIG problem - I drive directly into unknown, unseen, oncoming traffic. The wind whips me around rapidly into a broach two step (ie the sail takes a big dip into the water - scary stuff).
So just stay in the slow lane I hear you say. Skipper Gerrie will have none of this. Speed, speed, speed is the word x3 (similar to sheet, sheet, sheet).To make matters worse, there are no signs warning of a bend in the road (increase or movement in the wind), pitch black waves and swells knock you from side to side and it is sometimes (for us Newbies) impossible to make out anything at all to aim at - so pitch dark is the night. Lets also add to the equation that this little sucker does not respond to steering with any sense of real urgency. It decides to complete whatever wave action, wind movement or any other 14 ton momentum movement it had already embarked upon before it responds to your urgent plea to change direction. So we look at this little dial with numbers telling us wind angles, wind speed, boat direction and boat speed - and try our best to avoid the unseen upcoming traffic - in a vast, empty Royal Blue ocean.
We limit Newbie driving spells at night to 30 min each every two hours - thank goodness for everyone!
Going to get dressed now for Shin's party - we shall try to get a pic on Facebook.
Lots of love and best wishes to all our family and friends
Regards
Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
This is a birthday boat - and all is well! We heard today that Shin's birthday was on Monday 20 Jan. So we are developing a punishment to be taken out on him (in Rio) for hiding this important day. Tomorrow Thursday is Gareth's birthday - we were hoping to celebrate in Rio but this will have to be postponed briefly. He says he has no fear of Rio
I would like to describe the night time driving of this huge surfboard. Picture yourself on a freeway, in the fast lane in pitch dark, no headlights, no streetlights and no lights on any oncoming cars. The road bends and curves every now and then and all you have to give you any sense of the road is a readout in your car which says you must travel in a certain direction (depicted as a number from 0 to 360). Sounds easy?
Through my secret wormhole back to Johburg I can hear you sniggering and saying this guy has been out at sea too long - or maybe Shin has included some special happy juice into the latest meal. Not really. We are trying to race this 14 ton beast with a 15- 20 knot (35-45kph) wind apparently coming directly at my right shoulder (not much is real in sailing - apparent is good enough). Of course we are making full use of Sir Spinnaker - all handsome and powerful - and extremely full of ....trouble. Now if I steer a little to the left, I move into a slower lane - not too much of a problem. However if I steer a little too much to the right, BIG problem - I drive directly into unknown, unseen, oncoming traffic. The wind whips me around rapidly into a broach two step (ie the sail takes a big dip into the water - scary stuff).
So just stay in the slow lane I hear you say. Skipper Gerrie will have none of this. Speed, speed, speed is the word x3 (similar to sheet, sheet, sheet).To make matters worse, there are no signs warning of a bend in the road (increase or movement in the wind), pitch black waves and swells knock you from side to side and it is sometimes (for us Newbies) impossible to make out anything at all to aim at - so pitch dark is the night. Lets also add to the equation that this little sucker does not respond to steering with any sense of real urgency. It decides to complete whatever wave action, wind movement or any other 14 ton momentum movement it had already embarked upon before it responds to your urgent plea to change direction. So we look at this little dial with numbers telling us wind angles, wind speed, boat direction and boat speed - and try our best to avoid the unseen upcoming traffic - in a vast, empty Royal Blue ocean.
We limit Newbie driving spells at night to 30 min each every two hours - thank goodness for everyone!
Going to get dressed now for Shin's party - we shall try to get a pic on Facebook.
Lots of love and best wishes to all our family and friends
Regards
Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
Tuesday, January 21, 2014
Day 18 on Rocket / Stop Rhino Poaching
Dear Family and Friends,
All well on board Rocket / Stop Rhino Poaching. I feel I always need to start off with this statement just to allay fears before the rest of the note :).
Today we past the 30deg W mark so ship time has now moved an hour and is now four hours behind SA. Our next move will be to Rio time!! Somehow it does not make us feel we are going to get there an hour earlier...
At times one may want to compare sailing on the Atlantic to driving in the Karoo. Big mistake. There is absolutely nothing here that tells you if you are progressing or not. No mountain or tree to measure by - just waves which have a disturbing tendency to all look the same. So if there was no GPS, one would be very hard pressed to be convinced that any movement has been made.
There is apparent movement (as there is apparent wind speed and apparent wind angle). We are looking forward to a definitive item on the horizon which helps us be sure that movement is absolute.
We can also confirm that trade between the South America and Africa in general is non existent. We have seen no planes, no trains, no cars, no ships (just one apparent ship light early one morning). (BTW we aren't really looking for trains and cars...)
Today was boy scout day - and we thank them most sincerely. Gareth remembered from his boy scout days how to develop a makeshift stove with a sardine can, cardboard box and wax (we used diesel). We developed three such burners before lighting them all to cook up a pasta storm. Three were too many. We found this out very rapidly with safety officer Johan flying around the deck with the fire extinguisher (just in case). We managed to control the blaze with wet rags and tinfoil - our fire extinguisher is still intact.
With renewed gusto we now boiled the pasta using just one such black belching stove. It worked so well that the pasta was overcooked (again) and developed into a mushy glue (again)which stuck fast to the teeth (again) and threatened to clog up the throat on its way down to the stomach. We are of
course advised that the goodness is still there. This is getting a little thin - but we certainly are not :).
The days are roasting hot - we suspect close on 40 deg C. Inside the cabin is a sauna. And if one is truly in dogbox, then you are sent to put water from the water maker into bottles. This procedure is based in a dungeon like hellhole called the laziruth. This cave-room is based at the back of the boat and is accessible via two trapdoors from the deck and with zero air supply. Inside is the full array of breakable steering assembly, 5000 beers (we have hardly touched our supply), ropes, more ropes, exhaust gas piping from the motor, every sail which has not already made it to the front sail room (ex bedroom), vacuum cleaner and 87 other "things" which we may or may not require and which are all strapped down in this sweat room. Water duty does not attract too many volunteers.
Progress has varied from excellent to stagnant at various times of the day and night. The two bad night watches remain the midnight and 4 am shifts. Sleep is rather scarce at night and in the day it's just too hot. So the crew may look a little bedraggled at times. But of course we all comment on how good the new watch looks when they come on - just in case they say they feel so bad they need to go back to "bed" (of course you know by now there are not too many true beds).
Lots of love and best wishes to all our family and friends
Regards
Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
-------------------------------------------------
Today we past the 30deg W mark so ship time has now moved an hour and is now four hours behind SA. Our next move will be to Rio time!! Somehow it does not make us feel we are going to get there an hour earlier...
At times one may want to compare sailing on the Atlantic to driving in the Karoo. Big mistake. There is absolutely nothing here that tells you if you are progressing or not. No mountain or tree to measure by - just waves which have a disturbing tendency to all look the same. So if there was no GPS, one would be very hard pressed to be convinced that any movement has been made.
There is apparent movement (as there is apparent wind speed and apparent wind angle). We are looking forward to a definitive item on the horizon which helps us be sure that movement is absolute.
We can also confirm that trade between the South America and Africa in general is non existent. We have seen no planes, no trains, no cars, no ships (just one apparent ship light early one morning). (BTW we aren't really looking for trains and cars...)
Today was boy scout day - and we thank them most sincerely. Gareth remembered from his boy scout days how to develop a makeshift stove with a sardine can, cardboard box and wax (we used diesel). We developed three such burners before lighting them all to cook up a pasta storm. Three were too many. We found this out very rapidly with safety officer Johan flying around the deck with the fire extinguisher (just in case). We managed to control the blaze with wet rags and tinfoil - our fire extinguisher is still intact.
With renewed gusto we now boiled the pasta using just one such black belching stove. It worked so well that the pasta was overcooked (again) and developed into a mushy glue (again)which stuck fast to the teeth (again) and threatened to clog up the throat on its way down to the stomach. We are of
course advised that the goodness is still there. This is getting a little thin - but we certainly are not :).
The days are roasting hot - we suspect close on 40 deg C. Inside the cabin is a sauna. And if one is truly in dogbox, then you are sent to put water from the water maker into bottles. This procedure is based in a dungeon like hellhole called the laziruth. This cave-room is based at the back of the boat and is accessible via two trapdoors from the deck and with zero air supply. Inside is the full array of breakable steering assembly, 5000 beers (we have hardly touched our supply), ropes, more ropes, exhaust gas piping from the motor, every sail which has not already made it to the front sail room (ex bedroom), vacuum cleaner and 87 other "things" which we may or may not require and which are all strapped down in this sweat room. Water duty does not attract too many volunteers.
Progress has varied from excellent to stagnant at various times of the day and night. The two bad night watches remain the midnight and 4 am shifts. Sleep is rather scarce at night and in the day it's just too hot. So the crew may look a little bedraggled at times. But of course we all comment on how good the new watch looks when they come on - just in case they say they feel so bad they need to go back to "bed" (of course you know by now there are not too many true beds).
Lots of love and best wishes to all our family and friends
Regards
Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
-------------------------------------------------
Sunday, January 19, 2014
Day 16 on Rocket / Stop Rhino Poaching
Dear Family and Friends
We are still surviving without gas - but with lots of ingenuity. We have cooked on the engine, in the braai and in a silver foil oven. However this shall have to be a story for another day (not many left!) as the Hats need to be completed. This evening we celebrated Happy Hour with a toast to less than 1000 nautical miles to go (less than 1800km) - and we have now entered the Brazil Basin
Regular followers (thank you very much - highly appreciated) will know that we acquired "status hats" at Gerrie's birthday dinner a few nights ago. The following few hats need some explaining.
Skipper: Gerrie has been the mastermind behind this whole adventure as well as the overall organiser and "make it happener" (together with Amanda and Herbert). He is always the person called to deck in tough situations and defines the daily strategy - and how we are going to make it to Rio as safely and quickly as possible. We test him on a regular basis with a complete lack of response to an urgent call "lazy guy in quickly" (initially we took this personally :)- and he still appears to maintain his sanity and humour.
Water Maker: I have noted previously that Rex is in Fixit heaven. However this water maker even tested Rex to his limits. Sarah-Stone you know how your dad can fix anything and never gives up. Well this system kept Rex busy for close on 10 days. By this time every single part (moving or not) had been inspected, tested and molested. However triumph he did. Water maker king was an absolutely automatic name for Rex (although every day he sniffs around the whole boat with his little black book looking for other Fixit stuff). By the way, the water maker was stripped AGAIN today - and is working again :
Footloose Steering mechanic: For five days Bushy walked around the boat with just one shoe - the other had disappeared into the depths of this tiny yacht. So while footloose is apt, his mechanic name is even more appropriate. Bushy fixes steering (many times), he fixes cracks, he finds alternative ways of resolving impossible mechanical problems - he even found a mechanical solution to the wandering toilet seat! He is a core member of the foredeck team with Pieter and Johan headed up by Gareth. He is a great cook and is inevitably in the galley with Shin giving assistance or masterminding his own menu.
Masterchef: This is a significant understatement for this humble man. Of course he truly is a masterchef producing works of art in a tiny workspace with NO surface which stays either still or flat. However he is equally at home sweating a halyard with Pieter, always in the depths of the boat fixing steering with Bushy and ever ready to take the helm. I'm sure he does sleep - but I'm not too sure when this happens. Shin has sailed all over the world and one can see why he would be a sought after member of any sailing team.
Scribe: OK so this is me. Hopefully all the team is having as much fun in their respective roles as I am having. While completely unplanned when we started this, it has proved to be a fun way to share the happening of this team with our family and friends. Amazingly many of the team are complete strangers prior to this escapade so reporting on the progress of this fantastic team has been both fun and actually quite easy
Lots of love and best wishes to all our family and friends
Regards
Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
We are still surviving without gas - but with lots of ingenuity. We have cooked on the engine, in the braai and in a silver foil oven. However this shall have to be a story for another day (not many left!) as the Hats need to be completed. This evening we celebrated Happy Hour with a toast to less than 1000 nautical miles to go (less than 1800km) - and we have now entered the Brazil Basin
Regular followers (thank you very much - highly appreciated) will know that we acquired "status hats" at Gerrie's birthday dinner a few nights ago. The following few hats need some explaining.
Skipper: Gerrie has been the mastermind behind this whole adventure as well as the overall organiser and "make it happener" (together with Amanda and Herbert). He is always the person called to deck in tough situations and defines the daily strategy - and how we are going to make it to Rio as safely and quickly as possible. We test him on a regular basis with a complete lack of response to an urgent call "lazy guy in quickly" (initially we took this personally :)- and he still appears to maintain his sanity and humour.
Water Maker: I have noted previously that Rex is in Fixit heaven. However this water maker even tested Rex to his limits. Sarah-Stone you know how your dad can fix anything and never gives up. Well this system kept Rex busy for close on 10 days. By this time every single part (moving or not) had been inspected, tested and molested. However triumph he did. Water maker king was an absolutely automatic name for Rex (although every day he sniffs around the whole boat with his little black book looking for other Fixit stuff). By the way, the water maker was stripped AGAIN today - and is working again :
Footloose Steering mechanic: For five days Bushy walked around the boat with just one shoe - the other had disappeared into the depths of this tiny yacht. So while footloose is apt, his mechanic name is even more appropriate. Bushy fixes steering (many times), he fixes cracks, he finds alternative ways of resolving impossible mechanical problems - he even found a mechanical solution to the wandering toilet seat! He is a core member of the foredeck team with Pieter and Johan headed up by Gareth. He is a great cook and is inevitably in the galley with Shin giving assistance or masterminding his own menu.
Masterchef: This is a significant understatement for this humble man. Of course he truly is a masterchef producing works of art in a tiny workspace with NO surface which stays either still or flat. However he is equally at home sweating a halyard with Pieter, always in the depths of the boat fixing steering with Bushy and ever ready to take the helm. I'm sure he does sleep - but I'm not too sure when this happens. Shin has sailed all over the world and one can see why he would be a sought after member of any sailing team.
Scribe: OK so this is me. Hopefully all the team is having as much fun in their respective roles as I am having. While completely unplanned when we started this, it has proved to be a fun way to share the happening of this team with our family and friends. Amazingly many of the team are complete strangers prior to this escapade so reporting on the progress of this fantastic team has been both fun and actually quite easy
Lots of love and best wishes to all our family and friends
Regards
Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
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Saturday, January 18, 2014
Day 15 on Rocket / Stop Rhino Poaching
Dear Family and Friends
In theory all is well on board Rocket / Stop Rhino Poaching - however a catastrophe looms - sort of. Yesterday we ran out of gas for the stove (we only found the leak too late :(). Now supposedly this is not serious as we have copious amounts of braai meat (which uses separate gas canisters) and tinned stuff - however we have got so used to Masterchef Shin's daily delights that we are currently all in mourning. RR is working furiously to figure out how to develop a makeshift oven (daily temperatures are in the high 30's) - check out the Facebook pic. Of course, being an all male yacht, we have had plenty of proposals for methane manufacture - but all have been rejected out of hand.
I know I have not finished the hat descriptors - we have many more days of stories so stick around ...please (we really do love having you there!).
Rather I would like to discuss some nautical stuff for our non sailing family and friends (ie the vast majority). Let me start off with the concept of a rope - a simple rope. However on board the yacht all ropes have different names. Fortunately the ropes have different colours - I suspect this is to ensure that the chaos is kept down to reasonable, semi controllable levels.
Sticking with sailing terminology we have halyards, sheets, lazy sheets, guys, lazy guys and fast girls. We also have pole ups and pole downs - the list is endless. The ropes which go UP - they go to the top of the mast - these are called Halyards and they normally require significant effort to pull up (hence Pieter sweating the halyard). The sheets are ropes which typically pull the sail towards the back of the boat. The guys (in my mind) are ropes which typically connect to the spinnaker - I am sure there are
plenty of other guy reasons. As I write, it has been noted to me that the fast girl ropes are not on board - they are only to be found in Rio :). (PS - this is a joke!!)
Now all this may sound cool and OK - until times are tight. Try to picture the scenario. The wind is idling along at say 12 knots (about 20 kph) - we are minding our own business and sort of relaxing or busy with RR. Suddenly the wind gusts up to 20 knots. The helm shouts out "Sheet, Sheet, Sheet!"
(Note sailors are obliged to repeat three times such as Mayday, Mayday, Mayday). Getting back to Sheet, Sheet ,Sheet, as a newbie you have a number of alternatives to consider. Did the driver stub his toe and he is merely swearing with a slight Mexican accent? Or which of the three Sheets must you
pull in. Or should you in fact let one of them out? If you do the wrong thing, this yacht can and does very rapidly enter into the sailing broach two step dance - which the skipper (and everyone else) does not truly appreciate.
As we hopefully drift past the 2/3 mark we have been immersed in a high speed learning curve of these ropes and sailing in general. Us Newbies certainly do not consider ourselves as sailors - but rapid learning has been a requisite.
Winds have been a little friskier and we expect them to pick up further within the next day so progress is certainly improving. Let's just hope our make-shift oven gives us some hot food!
Lots of love and best wishes to all our family and friends
Regards
Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
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Pics - onboard Yacht Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
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| Mike, Pieter and Johan on 18 Jan - still smiling! |
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| Rex, Bushy & Shin today 18 Jan 2014. Shin mourning the loss of gas - as we all are... |
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Rex and Pieter smile for the camera in big sea - 6 Jan
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| Fortunately the food has been 5 star! |
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| The main cabin gets real crowded when RR has to repair 40m of spinnaker. Shin, Johan, Pieter & Gerrie 10 Jan 2014 |
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Unfortunately we resolved our gas leak too late - no more gas!
RR now has to develop a makeshift oven (Bushy & Pieter) 18 Jan 2014
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Underwater pic
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| Gareth "volunteered" to inspect that all was well under the boat. Slow wind conditions made this a great task. |
Friday, January 17, 2014
Day 14 on Rocket / Stop Rhino Poaching
Dear Family and Friends
Happy to report the crew is all well on board Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching. Also VERY happy to advise that RR managed to install our new sound system and we now have music on the boat! Another great note is that the Water maker is STILL working - Yaaaaaay :)
We posted a picture on Facebook yesterday showing us at Skipper Gerrie's birthday dinner. (Rex as lead technologist, offered to get the self timer on his camera to take the pic. Surprise, surprise - he did not make it into the pic :)
At the dinner we all received our official Cape2Rio hats. I need to explain the titles painted onto each hat.
Sweater: Pieter is a recent top athlete having won the initial Sani2Sea mountain bike race and competed internationally. He is our muscle man and he is inevitably assigned to "sweat" the halyards (the ropes which pull up the sails). Lots of power to spare combined with an undying sense of humour (even when "all hands" are called 20 min after he hits the sack) and an
encyclopaedic knowledge of music - he is our official sweater. No foredeck activity happens without Pieter up front!
Google. Johan truly is our local Google when we cannot get online - and he is a lot faster giving the most pertinent results. His general knowledge expands from stars to birds (even though he says he knows nothing) to science to arts. He too is assigned to the Front Deck with junior brother Pieter and its clear the whole family can pack immense power. Johan is our official medical officer and happily his general knowledge extends widely into this sphere. Always ready with a willing hand is Johan.
Long Street Cape Town. Volker has sailed everywhere - and sailed back there again. The stories which come out over night watch are inevitably hilarious. He has been arrested for not paying his bill in a downtown bar in Rio and delivered yachts to the rich and powerful. He says he is very much at home in Long Street - and we believe him. He has a wealth of sailing knowledge and always willing to share this knowledge. He is rock solid at the helm in touchy maneuvers.
Wiz Kid. Gareth lives up to the name fully. He is only 26 yet has immense sailing knowledge and experience. He is certainly the go to person that Gerrie debates strategy with. As a formidable sailor this must make him an all round Fixit man. He has found workarounds to repair our ripped apart spinnaker pole track. He installed the new sound system. He has been to the top of the pole and even under the boat. He does all the activities with huge energy, enthusiasm and professionalism - a fantastic find for this crew just one week prior to departure.
Skipper, Water Maker, Scribe, Footloose Steering mechanic, Masterchef - I suspect most of the family may know who these are - check out tomorrow's report.
Our winds vary from 5 knots (golf weather) to short periods of 15 knots (much more sailing friendly) with significant variations around rain squalls. We expect this to stay for another day or so which of course delays arrival in Rio at least by an extra day.
Lots of love and best wishes to all our family and friends
Regards
Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
-------------------------------------------------
Happy to report the crew is all well on board Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching. Also VERY happy to advise that RR managed to install our new sound system and we now have music on the boat! Another great note is that the Water maker is STILL working - Yaaaaaay :)
We posted a picture on Facebook yesterday showing us at Skipper Gerrie's birthday dinner. (Rex as lead technologist, offered to get the self timer on his camera to take the pic. Surprise, surprise - he did not make it into the pic :)
At the dinner we all received our official Cape2Rio hats. I need to explain the titles painted onto each hat.
Sweater: Pieter is a recent top athlete having won the initial Sani2Sea mountain bike race and competed internationally. He is our muscle man and he is inevitably assigned to "sweat" the halyards (the ropes which pull up the sails). Lots of power to spare combined with an undying sense of humour (even when "all hands" are called 20 min after he hits the sack) and an
encyclopaedic knowledge of music - he is our official sweater. No foredeck activity happens without Pieter up front!
Google. Johan truly is our local Google when we cannot get online - and he is a lot faster giving the most pertinent results. His general knowledge expands from stars to birds (even though he says he knows nothing) to science to arts. He too is assigned to the Front Deck with junior brother Pieter and its clear the whole family can pack immense power. Johan is our official medical officer and happily his general knowledge extends widely into this sphere. Always ready with a willing hand is Johan.
Long Street Cape Town. Volker has sailed everywhere - and sailed back there again. The stories which come out over night watch are inevitably hilarious. He has been arrested for not paying his bill in a downtown bar in Rio and delivered yachts to the rich and powerful. He says he is very much at home in Long Street - and we believe him. He has a wealth of sailing knowledge and always willing to share this knowledge. He is rock solid at the helm in touchy maneuvers.
Wiz Kid. Gareth lives up to the name fully. He is only 26 yet has immense sailing knowledge and experience. He is certainly the go to person that Gerrie debates strategy with. As a formidable sailor this must make him an all round Fixit man. He has found workarounds to repair our ripped apart spinnaker pole track. He installed the new sound system. He has been to the top of the pole and even under the boat. He does all the activities with huge energy, enthusiasm and professionalism - a fantastic find for this crew just one week prior to departure.
Skipper, Water Maker, Scribe, Footloose Steering mechanic, Masterchef - I suspect most of the family may know who these are - check out tomorrow's report.
Our winds vary from 5 knots (golf weather) to short periods of 15 knots (much more sailing friendly) with significant variations around rain squalls. We expect this to stay for another day or so which of course delays arrival in Rio at least by an extra day.
Lots of love and best wishes to all our family and friends
Regards
Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
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Team Rocket celebrating Skipper Gerrie birthday
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| Team Rocket celebrating Skipper Gerrie birthday - special hats for the occasion. Daily posts to explain further . Rex could not get his timer to work - so he missed the pic! |
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Day 13 on Rocket / Stop Rhino Poaching
Dear Family and Friends
All well on board a benign Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching.
Benign may well be the conditions of the wind but this was certainly not the expression on Bushy's face earlier on. His expression conjured up a mixture of both aggression and triumph. He was returning from The Heads with gaffer tape in hand and this mischievous grin on his face. He had triumphed over the Spirits of the Heads!
I understand that I may well have overplayed my Toilet Talk, but this does bear reporting back on. Bushy is not a small person - he is in fact a big strong person with a physique to match. So the Heads is not his natural friend. The Heads is designed for petit midgets - and these petit midgets have small rear ends. So for a larger person requiring to take a seat at The Heads in motion requires balance, skill and considerable aim. Unfortunately our forwards Heads (front toilet - let's be clear on this) gave Bushy some very anxious moments as the seat itself (already a micro target) was quite mobile. Unable to restrain himself any further, Bushy (who is incredibly mechanically minded with a great Mr Fixit attitude), finally gaffer taped the Heads seat to the basin with so many layers of gaffer tape that it is unlikely that a even considerable broach two step manoeuvre with a seated Bushy will that toilet seat ever move again. Bushy congratulations on this small but meaningful personal triumph.
Another triumph was experienced today - that of us human sailors over dastardly water maker pumps. RR (Running Repairs for those new friends to our column) showed up with full fury this morning. The pump itself was ripped apart to its brushes, commutator (this is a part of the motor - not a stowaway commentator on our boat) and other raw parts. They were found to be in a state of ill repute so were cleaned and revived. This pump now appears to be making clean, fresh, water with newfound gusto and enthusiasm.
RR also took on other numerous tasks around the boat (if you are not a Mr Fixit you are not a sailor - Rex is in Fixit Heaven) as the sailing conditions are still very quiet with mild wind. There is no doubt that this is delaying us (and much of the fleet) in our homeward stretch of this Cape2Rio adventure. Shin is still managing to wow us daily with his delights - so the journey may be a little longer but weight loss is unlikely.
Once again we hope tomorrow brings more wind which will allow us back into the race.
Lots of love and best wishes to all our family and friends
Regards
Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
All well on board a benign Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching.
Benign may well be the conditions of the wind but this was certainly not the expression on Bushy's face earlier on. His expression conjured up a mixture of both aggression and triumph. He was returning from The Heads with gaffer tape in hand and this mischievous grin on his face. He had triumphed over the Spirits of the Heads!
I understand that I may well have overplayed my Toilet Talk, but this does bear reporting back on. Bushy is not a small person - he is in fact a big strong person with a physique to match. So the Heads is not his natural friend. The Heads is designed for petit midgets - and these petit midgets have small rear ends. So for a larger person requiring to take a seat at The Heads in motion requires balance, skill and considerable aim. Unfortunately our forwards Heads (front toilet - let's be clear on this) gave Bushy some very anxious moments as the seat itself (already a micro target) was quite mobile. Unable to restrain himself any further, Bushy (who is incredibly mechanically minded with a great Mr Fixit attitude), finally gaffer taped the Heads seat to the basin with so many layers of gaffer tape that it is unlikely that a even considerable broach two step manoeuvre with a seated Bushy will that toilet seat ever move again. Bushy congratulations on this small but meaningful personal triumph.
Another triumph was experienced today - that of us human sailors over dastardly water maker pumps. RR (Running Repairs for those new friends to our column) showed up with full fury this morning. The pump itself was ripped apart to its brushes, commutator (this is a part of the motor - not a stowaway commentator on our boat) and other raw parts. They were found to be in a state of ill repute so were cleaned and revived. This pump now appears to be making clean, fresh, water with newfound gusto and enthusiasm.
RR also took on other numerous tasks around the boat (if you are not a Mr Fixit you are not a sailor - Rex is in Fixit Heaven) as the sailing conditions are still very quiet with mild wind. There is no doubt that this is delaying us (and much of the fleet) in our homeward stretch of this Cape2Rio adventure. Shin is still managing to wow us daily with his delights - so the journey may be a little longer but weight loss is unlikely.
Once again we hope tomorrow brings more wind which will allow us back into the race.
Lots of love and best wishes to all our family and friends
Regards
Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Day 12 on Rocket / Stop Rhino Poaching
Dear Family and Friends
Happy to report all well with crew Rocket / Stop Rhino Poaching - still!
A special celebratory birthday meal on deck last night with G&T all round (just one :)- it was a good evening.
As a result of the current windless environment we had a relatively calm night last night with no "all hands" - a cause for celebration. There are of course plenty of squalls running all around us so we have to keep a beady eye out for them. They skulk up on us, typically from behind like cowards, huff and puff and blow us all around and then depart as just as quickly causing action and adrenalin in their short stay with us.
Sailors are a suspicious lot - and we are starting to understand the reason why. The issue is of course the lack of an "off button". If Google could invent a sailing "off button", this would resolve a lot of issues. However this may possibly only come when the Star Wars technology evolves. Before we started this race, we knew we had to head north to avoid the dreaded "doldrums" - a place of no wind. However during the first few days of this race, every single Newbie was praying desperately for the doldrums. And now this dream has come true. Guess what - we no longer want it! The sails flap around and we go nowhere fast and now there is no button to turn these windless days off. Johan comments that we are like farmers and their relationship with rain - too much or too little - never just right. So now we are even suspicious of speculating on a Rio date!
Staying with suspicions, good friend Eric has asked if we know what a Dead Man's Roll is. Eric we are not even going to ask for risk of tempting fate. Having said that, I am convinced we had tried a huge number of dance steps on this ocean. I may not know the proper names but we are all very aware of the many and varied results that can be obtained from these different dance moves. Like all new dancers, many toes are being trodden. However in the Atlantic this results in water flying into the cabin.
Gareth volunteered : for a swim under the boat this afternoon - no Cathy we did not keelhaul him. We did tie a rope to him just in case. We also did check that our fishing line would not catch him. Secretly we were hoping he may attract some other large fish to our trailing line - no such luck - yet.
RR had a relatively quiet day - apart from our anti-water making machine. This nasty (??) pump gets fed cool salt water, bubble free, via an ingenious invention. It gets its full quota of 12V and a huge open pipe to deliver water. And it just sits there. Not making water! It has one day to work before we start feeding it diesel and watch it choke to death! (I am hoping that water makers can read as well as spinnakers and it will decide to work tomorrow...) Susan, Bushy says we do have enough drinking water (or beer)
Hopefully tomorrow brings more wind which will allow us back into the race.
Lots of love and best wishes to all our family and friends
Regards
Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
Happy to report all well with crew Rocket / Stop Rhino Poaching - still!
A special celebratory birthday meal on deck last night with G&T all round (just one :)- it was a good evening.
As a result of the current windless environment we had a relatively calm night last night with no "all hands" - a cause for celebration. There are of course plenty of squalls running all around us so we have to keep a beady eye out for them. They skulk up on us, typically from behind like cowards, huff and puff and blow us all around and then depart as just as quickly causing action and adrenalin in their short stay with us.
Sailors are a suspicious lot - and we are starting to understand the reason why. The issue is of course the lack of an "off button". If Google could invent a sailing "off button", this would resolve a lot of issues. However this may possibly only come when the Star Wars technology evolves. Before we started this race, we knew we had to head north to avoid the dreaded "doldrums" - a place of no wind. However during the first few days of this race, every single Newbie was praying desperately for the doldrums. And now this dream has come true. Guess what - we no longer want it! The sails flap around and we go nowhere fast and now there is no button to turn these windless days off. Johan comments that we are like farmers and their relationship with rain - too much or too little - never just right. So now we are even suspicious of speculating on a Rio date!
Staying with suspicions, good friend Eric has asked if we know what a Dead Man's Roll is. Eric we are not even going to ask for risk of tempting fate. Having said that, I am convinced we had tried a huge number of dance steps on this ocean. I may not know the proper names but we are all very aware of the many and varied results that can be obtained from these different dance moves. Like all new dancers, many toes are being trodden. However in the Atlantic this results in water flying into the cabin.
Gareth volunteered : for a swim under the boat this afternoon - no Cathy we did not keelhaul him. We did tie a rope to him just in case. We also did check that our fishing line would not catch him. Secretly we were hoping he may attract some other large fish to our trailing line - no such luck - yet.
RR had a relatively quiet day - apart from our anti-water making machine. This nasty (??) pump gets fed cool salt water, bubble free, via an ingenious invention. It gets its full quota of 12V and a huge open pipe to deliver water. And it just sits there. Not making water! It has one day to work before we start feeding it diesel and watch it choke to death! (I am hoping that water makers can read as well as spinnakers and it will decide to work tomorrow...) Susan, Bushy says we do have enough drinking water (or beer)
Hopefully tomorrow brings more wind which will allow us back into the race.
Lots of love and best wishes to all our family and friends
Regards
Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Day 11 on Rocket / Stop Rhino Poaching
Dear Family and Friends
Happy, happy birthday to Skipper Gerrie! From all of on board ship, we thank you for this opportunity and for your wisdom and experience allowing so many Newbies get half way across the Atlantic both safely an rapidly. We still need more of that for the remainder please...
It's good to report all well with the crew on Rocket as we like to think we are just about halfway - depending on weather routing of course.
It was a hectic night last night. Weather required us to jibe (change direction in a not so easy manner) around midnight Ship Time. Our jibe is rather more difficult as the main mast guide rail was destroyed in the initial Cape Storm. All went well with mild winds and clear sky. While the build up of clouds should be slow, they seem to develop with uncanny speed.
Our radar reported rain squalls all around and we certainly were battered around. Yet another "All hands" was required around 2am ship time. To date we have only had one night without an "all hands" call. Unfortunately for Gareth's watch of Bushy, Johan, Pieter and Volker, this has inevitably pulled them out of rest time (bed time or sleep time may be an overstatement). The front deck team of Pieter, Johan, Bushie and Gareth is a formidable team and Volker is rock solid on the helm. (Johan's vast general knowledge also allows us to use him as Google off-line).
The port side steering broke in the middle of the storm calling RR into instant action (at 2am). Spanners, screwdrivers, pulleys, underfloor hellholes - amidst a writhing boat. Of course the driver (and everyone else) hopes that the starboard steering now holds up. (There is also a manual tiller - this is always made ready just in case). Repaired in record time.
On behalf of all illustrious spinnakers, I am happy to report that RR finally repaired our initial ripped spinnaker and brought this poor, downtrodden specimen back to life. You may remember this is the sail which required around 50m of fine cross stitching. Gerrie and his master sail repair team managed to stitch/tape/sail-repair this magnificent beast back to life. We flew this repaired spinnaker earlier today with some trepidation - but it is still holding six hours later. Well done RR and Sir Spinnaker.
RR has had yet another busy day as can be seen from the above. We are all having real showers today to prepare for a huge birthday party :) - and of course the watermaker called in faulty again. RR is resolving this as we speak.
I have not forgotten that I said I would describe the daily schedule - in one of the next episodes :).
Lots of love and best wishes to all our family and friends
Regards
Mike and the Mechanics
Happy, happy birthday to Skipper Gerrie! From all of on board ship, we thank you for this opportunity and for your wisdom and experience allowing so many Newbies get half way across the Atlantic both safely an rapidly. We still need more of that for the remainder please...
It's good to report all well with the crew on Rocket as we like to think we are just about halfway - depending on weather routing of course.
It was a hectic night last night. Weather required us to jibe (change direction in a not so easy manner) around midnight Ship Time. Our jibe is rather more difficult as the main mast guide rail was destroyed in the initial Cape Storm. All went well with mild winds and clear sky. While the build up of clouds should be slow, they seem to develop with uncanny speed.
Our radar reported rain squalls all around and we certainly were battered around. Yet another "All hands" was required around 2am ship time. To date we have only had one night without an "all hands" call. Unfortunately for Gareth's watch of Bushy, Johan, Pieter and Volker, this has inevitably pulled them out of rest time (bed time or sleep time may be an overstatement). The front deck team of Pieter, Johan, Bushie and Gareth is a formidable team and Volker is rock solid on the helm. (Johan's vast general knowledge also allows us to use him as Google off-line).
The port side steering broke in the middle of the storm calling RR into instant action (at 2am). Spanners, screwdrivers, pulleys, underfloor hellholes - amidst a writhing boat. Of course the driver (and everyone else) hopes that the starboard steering now holds up. (There is also a manual tiller - this is always made ready just in case). Repaired in record time.
On behalf of all illustrious spinnakers, I am happy to report that RR finally repaired our initial ripped spinnaker and brought this poor, downtrodden specimen back to life. You may remember this is the sail which required around 50m of fine cross stitching. Gerrie and his master sail repair team managed to stitch/tape/sail-repair this magnificent beast back to life. We flew this repaired spinnaker earlier today with some trepidation - but it is still holding six hours later. Well done RR and Sir Spinnaker.
RR has had yet another busy day as can be seen from the above. We are all having real showers today to prepare for a huge birthday party :) - and of course the watermaker called in faulty again. RR is resolving this as we speak.
I have not forgotten that I said I would describe the daily schedule - in one of the next episodes :).
Lots of love and best wishes to all our family and friends
Regards
Mike and the Mechanics
The view from on top!
A special picture from Gareth from the top of yacht Rocket
Position S 22°32.178', W 009°33.366'
Position S 22°32.178', W 009°33.366'
Sunday, January 12, 2014
Day 9 on Rocket / Stop Rhino Poaching
Dear Family and Friends
I need to start off by abusing my scribe privileges and wishing my son, Ryan happy 21st birthday today! Congratulations and best wishes - I shall join you in celebrations shortly.
All is well aboard Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching - although we do seem to be approaching a shortage of spinnakers. These are fiendish and devilish sailing devices which make a huge show of themselves and then develop conniving ways of self destruction. You guessed it - we lost our third spinnaker early this morning causing an "all hands" around 4am under fairly benign conditions. We are now down to one remaining spinnaker with RR working hectically to make some sort of repair on the fractional spinnaker which was the first to tear.
Rex came close to having to walk the plank this morning - he was carrying around a truly rotten smell of fish! It turned out that during his watch last night, he was nodding off quietly at his station (fortunately not steering at the helm) when he felt a soft knock on his neck. He assumed it was the cap of his Oily and did nothing. The slapping on his neck persisted however so he eventually investigated further - only to find a flying fish has embedded itself under his Oily cap. By the time this was resolved. The fish was no longer wriggling around and it had descaled itself - leaving Rex aroma rich.
This morning Rex washed his Oily top - thank goodness. However I suspect that this would be good for all of us. Oilies are of course supposed to keep the cold and wet out - but they also keep more sweat in than is desirous. So slipping into our Oilies each evening becomes become quite literal. The inside and outside are similarly slippery - and don't make for hugely comfortable pyjamas.
Our watches are now set at 4 hours given the less turbulent weather conditions - with helmsman alternating every hour. However with only 3 cabins (one of which is given over to a spinnaker graveyard), all sleeping is done on a hot bunk principal. Note also there are nine males on board with lots and lots of big boots. So space is at a premium and items "put down" are often not retrieved again for days.
Early this morning (before dawn) we saw our first ship on the horizon - too early to celebrate the existence of other humans in the Atlantic. However it is amazing when the ONLY change on the horizon is a cloud or the rising or setting of the sun and moon. The feeling of empty space (and no traffic) is all embracing.
I had intended to talk about the daily schedule on board Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching - that will be another day.
Lots of love and best wishes to all our family and friends
Regards
Mike on behalf Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
I need to start off by abusing my scribe privileges and wishing my son, Ryan happy 21st birthday today! Congratulations and best wishes - I shall join you in celebrations shortly.
All is well aboard Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching - although we do seem to be approaching a shortage of spinnakers. These are fiendish and devilish sailing devices which make a huge show of themselves and then develop conniving ways of self destruction. You guessed it - we lost our third spinnaker early this morning causing an "all hands" around 4am under fairly benign conditions. We are now down to one remaining spinnaker with RR working hectically to make some sort of repair on the fractional spinnaker which was the first to tear.
Rex came close to having to walk the plank this morning - he was carrying around a truly rotten smell of fish! It turned out that during his watch last night, he was nodding off quietly at his station (fortunately not steering at the helm) when he felt a soft knock on his neck. He assumed it was the cap of his Oily and did nothing. The slapping on his neck persisted however so he eventually investigated further - only to find a flying fish has embedded itself under his Oily cap. By the time this was resolved. The fish was no longer wriggling around and it had descaled itself - leaving Rex aroma rich.
This morning Rex washed his Oily top - thank goodness. However I suspect that this would be good for all of us. Oilies are of course supposed to keep the cold and wet out - but they also keep more sweat in than is desirous. So slipping into our Oilies each evening becomes become quite literal. The inside and outside are similarly slippery - and don't make for hugely comfortable pyjamas.
Our watches are now set at 4 hours given the less turbulent weather conditions - with helmsman alternating every hour. However with only 3 cabins (one of which is given over to a spinnaker graveyard), all sleeping is done on a hot bunk principal. Note also there are nine males on board with lots and lots of big boots. So space is at a premium and items "put down" are often not retrieved again for days.
Early this morning (before dawn) we saw our first ship on the horizon - too early to celebrate the existence of other humans in the Atlantic. However it is amazing when the ONLY change on the horizon is a cloud or the rising or setting of the sun and moon. The feeling of empty space (and no traffic) is all embracing.
I had intended to talk about the daily schedule on board Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching - that will be another day.
Lots of love and best wishes to all our family and friends
Regards
Mike on behalf Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Day 8 news from Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
Dear Family and Friends
Today marks one full week of sailing and I am happy to report that all crew are still well and healthy - although our infamous friend RR (Running Repairs for those occasional followers) has caused us to take on some "different" new hobbies.
Last night the winds were quite mild so headway was slow. We had our full spinnaker flying all night - hard concentration for those on the helm (that's the driver of our yacht .
Early this morning we changed course and thus changed sails - however more changing winds took us back to our spinnaker. Somehow Poseidon did not take a liking to the brand of rum we toasted him with yesterday (maybe we should have used champagne) and he (she?) threw a brief tantrum around 9:30 this morning and ripped our largest spinnaker from top to tail. (So that now makes two spinnakers out of action) Two sets of sail changes later we have managed to set up a good replacement using our all powerful Code Zero (it really does sound powerful, not so?) and we are back on track again.
So where does RR come into this picture. Our ever zealous skipper, Gerrie, has advised that we should have sewing and crocheting skills as an integral part of team dynamics - so we reviewed the possibility of sewing something like 50m of fine cross stitch sewing - by hand. Most unfortunately we only have enough special cotton to do about 39m - so RR is now engaged in sticking the sail together using MacGyver tape and specialist sail repair material. A hectic job for RR!
Our one and only formal bucket which we use for washing dishes, clothes and ourselves decided to part ways with us early this afternoon as it quietly slipped out of soapy hands (the soapy hands were conducting RR on a gas leak). Bushy's comment... "we can stop now, our bucket list has gone!" Since when did one ever mourn the demise of a bucket! We certainly are so RR has decreed the requirement for a new bucket and inventions are being developed.
I have alluded to the concept of an "off button" in previous report backs. Let me explain. Many of the crew are (or were...) indeed reasonable athletes. We even have a Sani2Sea medallist with us. However every single one of the athletic activities that have been embarked upon have had an off button. If the bike broke - that's it - you have to stop. If you really feel beyond exhausted, you can call it a day and move on to the next event. This yacht has no such off button. Be assured, in the first few days of this adventure, I personally searched high and low. And I am sure I was not alone in my search. On many occasions in those first few days, I found probably every Newbie skulking around searching under sail bags, behind cupboard doors and even in cabbage holders - and I have it on reasonable authority that they were indeed looking for that "off button". I am not entirely sure what we would have done if we had found it - however it simply does not exist. The Atlantic simply does not offer a worm hole back to a comfortable motion free bed. Fortunately we have embraced this reality fully and have rather devoted efforts to RR to ensure our worm hole is ahead of us in Rio.
This afternoon we are planning our first braai - this will be an adventure in itself. There is still plenty of very hot daytime left for us - even though the nights are still cold.
Lots and lots of love and best wishes to our family and our friends
A SPECIAL wish to my son Ryan who turns 21 tomorrow - happy birthday Ryan! Sorry I'm not there to celebrate.
Regards
Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
Today marks one full week of sailing and I am happy to report that all crew are still well and healthy - although our infamous friend RR (Running Repairs for those occasional followers) has caused us to take on some "different" new hobbies.
Last night the winds were quite mild so headway was slow. We had our full spinnaker flying all night - hard concentration for those on the helm (that's the driver of our yacht .
Early this morning we changed course and thus changed sails - however more changing winds took us back to our spinnaker. Somehow Poseidon did not take a liking to the brand of rum we toasted him with yesterday (maybe we should have used champagne) and he (she?) threw a brief tantrum around 9:30 this morning and ripped our largest spinnaker from top to tail. (So that now makes two spinnakers out of action) Two sets of sail changes later we have managed to set up a good replacement using our all powerful Code Zero (it really does sound powerful, not so?) and we are back on track again.
So where does RR come into this picture. Our ever zealous skipper, Gerrie, has advised that we should have sewing and crocheting skills as an integral part of team dynamics - so we reviewed the possibility of sewing something like 50m of fine cross stitch sewing - by hand. Most unfortunately we only have enough special cotton to do about 39m - so RR is now engaged in sticking the sail together using MacGyver tape and specialist sail repair material. A hectic job for RR!
Our one and only formal bucket which we use for washing dishes, clothes and ourselves decided to part ways with us early this afternoon as it quietly slipped out of soapy hands (the soapy hands were conducting RR on a gas leak). Bushy's comment... "we can stop now, our bucket list has gone!" Since when did one ever mourn the demise of a bucket! We certainly are so RR has decreed the requirement for a new bucket and inventions are being developed.
I have alluded to the concept of an "off button" in previous report backs. Let me explain. Many of the crew are (or were...) indeed reasonable athletes. We even have a Sani2Sea medallist with us. However every single one of the athletic activities that have been embarked upon have had an off button. If the bike broke - that's it - you have to stop. If you really feel beyond exhausted, you can call it a day and move on to the next event. This yacht has no such off button. Be assured, in the first few days of this adventure, I personally searched high and low. And I am sure I was not alone in my search. On many occasions in those first few days, I found probably every Newbie skulking around searching under sail bags, behind cupboard doors and even in cabbage holders - and I have it on reasonable authority that they were indeed looking for that "off button". I am not entirely sure what we would have done if we had found it - however it simply does not exist. The Atlantic simply does not offer a worm hole back to a comfortable motion free bed. Fortunately we have embraced this reality fully and have rather devoted efforts to RR to ensure our worm hole is ahead of us in Rio.
This afternoon we are planning our first braai - this will be an adventure in itself. There is still plenty of very hot daytime left for us - even though the nights are still cold.
Lots and lots of love and best wishes to our family and our friends
A SPECIAL wish to my son Ryan who turns 21 tomorrow - happy birthday Ryan! Sorry I'm not there to celebrate.
Regards
Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
Friday, January 10, 2014
Day 7 on Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching and all is well.
Day 7 on Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching and all is well.
Not that the day has been trouble free or without its amusement and excitement.
Last night was a cool breeze with a beautiful starlit night. Night time on the yacht can be very special. The scene may resemble a thriller movie with people moving around stealthily on deck with red headlight torches. Maybe stealthy movement is being too kind - some may call it a drunken like stumbling. The only things to see are brilliant stars, a half moon rolling away from side to side (or maybe it's the masthead rolling?) and the occasional cloud creeping up on our unsuspecting yacht from the rear. Our spinnaker was flying and so was the boat. All was well until around 2:35am (SA time) when a sudden squall hit with zero warning. Within seconds we had an "All Hands" situation. No damage to the boat or crew - but our spinnaker has made an appointment for its maker. It shredded from top to bottom and had to be reeled in rapidly to ensure it did not do under the boat itself. A scary and unnerving time for all - but not without its humorous side. It involves Gerrie and the Heads.
Gerrie had gone down below around 2:20am - the chaos broke loose at 2:35am. Only after all was resolved and we were back sailing under a genoa did we find out that Gerrie gone to the toilet (Heads - remember?) and he was in the process of pulling up his trousers when "All Hands" was called. He came flying out with Oilies still around the ankles and stumbled head first out of the toilet. He finally made it up top (within seconds) with Oilies around knees and a hugely frustrated look on his face. Bushy says "Ek het net Gerrie's se groot oë gesien!"
The next Heads story is not for the feint hearted - you may want to miss the next paragraph. (Another reason for being called the Heads - it seems to Head up so much discussion? I am sure there is a great reason for calling toilet the Heads - but we are having our own fun finding newbie definitions for these sailing peculiarities.).
This is also a little personal - but I was advised under duress to recall the story. I had visited the toilet in the afternoon under pleasant sailing conditions (only one elbow, a knee and a foot required to stabilise). On completion of my duties I had unthinkingly "made clean" and thrown all toilet paper into the bowl. A sudden realisation hit me that this is an absolute no-no! Toilet paper must not go down the toilet! It must go out the window. Toilet blockage is a real threat which we do NOT want. What to do? What to do? (plus other expletives). My only recourse was to very carefully remove every shred of toilet paper from the bowl, squeeze it dry to ensure no spillage and then throw out the window. Be assured I shall not make that mistake again .
We passed through zero longitude around noon SA time today and drank a toast to both Neptune and Poseidon - just to ensure we stay on good terms. We are now officially Westerners! In our travels from East to West, we have not seen a single boat, yacht or light on the horizon (for the past four days now). The Atlantic truly helps redefine the concept of huge open space.
I said we would talk about the off button - sorry this has to move another day.
Best wishes and lots of love to our family and friends
Regards Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
Cheers!
All well crossing zero degrees longitude at around noon today SA time. We toasted both Neptune and Poseiden!
 |
We are now approaching zero deg longitude
Dear Family and Friends,
Sorry for the late update today. We are now approaching zero deg longitude and we are moving our time to "ships time" which is currently around GMT - 2 hours ahead of SA time.
The last 24 hours have been good sailing with relatively calm seas. However this has required sail changes and constant attention to ensure maximum speed - an incredibly busy day. We removed our mysterious code zero sail (I shall have to figure out a good reason for the name code zero) and hoisted one of our spinnakers. In the pictures, this looks fantastic. On board this sail requires constant attention on a second by second basis. So those on watch are now fully engaged. Tonight could be a tough night! Did I say that I am looking forward to going to bed in real pajamas rather than Oilies, boots and safety harness.
Bushy started us off with bacon and eggs this morning - and it's not even Sunday! A great start to the day. However I do need to elaborate on an earlier Bushy happening...
We have now heard that the start of this Cape to Rio was one of the toughest in many years - maybe that makes us newbies feel a little less down about the first few days. Bushy was the first to be taken out by sea-sickness within eight hours of Cape Town. This stayed with him for another two days during which time he could be found lying down on whatever sail sack offered respite. On the second night he awoke convinced that he could well be dead as he could smell himself rotting! Fortunately (??) he had laid his head down on the cabbages we were due to eat that day and the smell was from the cabbages rather than himself! We saw the funny side - he could see nothing humorous at the time
In my previous note I indicated Rex has preoccupied himself with resolving our water maker problems - and I suspect I was not so respectful in my comments (he is my friend after all - this may be up for review when we get to Rio). Note this is not a trivial issue. We resolved we need to assume this would not be working so this required salt water showers at the back of the boat. I wish I could share pictures but luckily our bandwidth limit does not allow this. Gareth advises if you dry rapidly after your wash, the salt will not be so noticeable on your body. Will report on this tomorrow...
Late this afternoon our key RR team (including Rex, Gareth and Bushy this time) developed a "bubble box" for our water maker - so it is now working. Yes! We can shower again! The water maker was apparently not getting a bubble free supply of water from the inlet under the boat. This bubble box is a modified jerry can which allows the salt water into the can and which the water maker now uses as its bubble free water source. I am personally not sure if I prefer the contortionist maneuvering required for a fresh water shower to the freedom of the salt shower. Basically any activities in that cramped toilet are taken on with a combination of agility (lacking in some of us) and trepidation.
Food remains a highlight of the journey and Shin is determined to provide us some Sushi. So Shin and Gareth put out a fishing line this afternoon - no bites as yet. It will be interesting if we catch anything while sailing at 10 knots (18 kph).
Many thanks to both family and friends for all the good wishes - this is reported back to the team and is highly appreciated.
Tomorrow we shall discuss the concept of an "Off Button" - but that's for tomorrow.
Love to our families - we miss you all. And best wishes to all our friends.
Regards Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Who are the crew aboard yacht Rocket?
Pictured here aboard their Vessel just before they set sail are (left to
right) Pieter Brink (Vaalie), Volker Domres (German), Rex Anderson (Vaalie), Gareth Elias (Durban), Gerrie Boshoff (Skipper and Vaalie), Johan Brink (Vaalie), Shin Terasawa (Japanese), Johan Brits (Vaalie), Mike le Plastrier (ex Vaalie).
Stop Rhino Poaching is born of the same mould as sister-ship Prodigy - the line honors winner in the 2011 Cape to Rio race. She was launched in June 2006 and built in accordance with the European CE-certification. Stop Rhino Poaching was bought by her current owners in Nov 2013 with the initial goal of sailing the Cape to Rio race.
"We want to raise awareness of the plight of the rhino at the hands of unscrupulous poachers world wide. This is our way of making the world aware." says Gerrie Boshoff
More about Team Rocket:
Gerrie Boshoff (Skipper)
Gerrie started sailing in 1987, lives on the Vaal river, near the Vaaldam, where he does most of his sailing. He has amassed over 60 000 nautical miles since then, which includes:
· 9 Atlantic crossings & 1 Circumnavigation
And the following races:
· 5 Cape to Rio's
· 17 Vasco Da Gama's
· 3 Inhacha Island
· 2 Mauritius to Durban
· Tahiti Pearl Regatta
· Round the Canary Island race
Why is he doing this for the 6th time?
For the love of the Colour of the beautiful Atlantic Ocean and to give some friends the opportunity to empty their BUCKET list. On the Vaal Dam, we were waiting for wind to continue racing in one of the provincial championship races. We had rafted up with one of the other boats and Rex Anderson mentioned that the Cape to Rio yacht race was on his bucket list. Next day I phoned and said if they want it out of the bucket list , I will assist in making their dream a reality, AND THAT IS WHY! Sourcing a yacht, putting the campaign together, sail training on the Vaal, and making the START LINE, in limited time is a "Hell of a Race" in itself. Ask the crew!
See you on the start line!
Johan Brits
Johan is a Vaal Triangle based business man whose wife (Susan) and 10 year old twin daughters (Annanieke and Deone) questioned his sanity when he said he was going to sail the 2014 Cape to Rio Yacht Race. Johan has immersed himself completely in preparation for the race – and, in his three most recent races, has managed to garner a 3rd place (from last), 2nd place (from last) and “did not finish” (the yacht ran aground). Together with his rapidly developing sailing skills, Johan brings excellent organisational skills, enthusiasm and friendship to the yacht.
Rex Anderson
Rex originates from the Orkney Islands so has wind and sea inbred into his veins (along with a dram of whisky).Rex is married to wife Rosemary and they have three children John (23), Storm (21) and Sarah-Stone (11). Rex came out to South Africa and in 1994 opened a resort, with his wife Rosemary, “Stonehaven On Vaal” – on the banks of the Vaal River. 19 years later Stonehaven on Vaal is still thriving . Rex is a certified day skipper and has sailed in the Mediterranean and Seychelles – and is a regular on the Vaal Dam.
Johan Brink
Johan is a businessman from the Vaal Triangle that works in the Computer industry. He loves the outdoors and adventures like trial running, cycling and adventure racing. Johan is married to Corne and has three sons, Hanno(21), Jan-Hendrik(9) and Christiaan(6). Johan did the sailing course with Austin Daily and is training on the Vaal Dam.
Pieter Brink
Pieter is born and bred on the banks of the Vaal River and is always looking for a nice adventure. He has done various water sports and only recently took up sailing. He is married to Isabel and have two daughters, Alissa (9) and Christelle (7). Pieter regularly competes in sailing events on the Vaal dam aboard ‘Baleka’ – the winning boat of the Cape 2 Rio in 2003.
“What we lack in experience, we make up in enthusiasm …”
Shin Terasawa 寺澤 真一
Shin is single and lives in his home town Nagano, Japan Is arriving in South Africa, 17th December for the Race. While doing a circumnavigation he befriended Gerrie Boshoff and sailed together for thousands of miles. He is a Dive Master with a kind heart! On one occasion while crewing on a catamaran, they caught a Dolphin on a lure while trawling, which the owner wanted to kill and eat! He dived into the ocean and freed the Dolphin to the annoyance of the owner/ skipper!
Mike le Plastrier
Mike le Plastrier is a Johannesburg businessman who has spent countless hours water skiing and wind surfing – and has turned to yachting in his advanced years. Mike is married to Cheryl and they have a daughter Jade (24) and Ryan (20). Mike has limited sailing experience in the Mediterranean and on the Vaal Dam – but says he is a fast learner…
Gareth Elias
Gareth a seasoned talented youth sailor and sailing instructor based on Natal, although he is the youngest aboard yacht Rocket he certainly is is a valuable crew member!
Messages of support for Team Rocket
Some of the great Facebook comments and messages of support for Team Rocket:
Well done Team Rocket, have a safe and good race ... regards Cindy
Mitchell Tiling - All the very best of luck to the crew of 'The Rocket' Very brave men indeed!
Adele Andrews - Wishing Team Rocket everything of the best. Have a safe trip, we are all behind you - the Andrews Clan x
Mmoni Seapolelo You go guys...we are so proud of u. Do it for the vaal
Andy Rossell - 15 knots is awesome god speed.
Joyce Vincent - Best of luck to the team, may u only have happy sailing from now on
Elizabeth Gibson - Lovely to hear from you all - stay safe
Johan Laas - I'm just SO surprised you guys didn't make a U-turn during those initial storms. Well done boys! I hope you have a pleasant trip to Rio!
Manten Marina - Thinking of all of you. Have an awesome race.
Christopher Bathie - Hi Rex thinking of you and Mike. Take care and vasbyt with the sea sickness.
Richard Patrick - Keep safe. Here's wishing you fair winds & calm seas
Glen Marshall - Glad to hear all things going better now....wishing you great sailing
Lynn Soer Strydom - KEep safe.....
Nicole Van Vuuren - Keeping you in our thoughts everyday Dwaine and Nicole x
Shirley Wall Grove - Fare well. We are watching every move you make. Thanks for the updates Mike. Shirley and Jacks
Anja Kotze - Hi Gerrie and crew we are all the way with u guys!!
Riana Deysel - Thanks for the updates we appreciate it. Hoping for less RR as you call it from now on
Glen Marshall - Hi Gerrie, fair winds to you and crew and have a great race. I am tracking you all the way.
Gathering local support in the Vaal
A large A0 poster has been put up at Stonehaven on Vaal a restaurant and venue on the Vaal River in Vanderbijlpark gathering local support for Team Rocket accompanied by a flat screen showing real time updates on the Cape2Rio race.
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Latest from The Vaalie Sailors
To our family and friends
Yaaaaaay! RR (Running Repairs) had a quiet night/day! Of course Rex has spent considerable time with the water maker - but we suspect that may just be a Rex thing :).
We experienced good winds (15-25 knots, 30-45 kph) and only mild swells last night with occasional squalls coming through - so great progress was made. Today has been equally good with great sunshine, good winds and only a mild swell. I'm going to stop there in case I incant some sailing voodoo by talking too many good things. (Gareth has given us advice on strict sailing lore instructions such as not to shave until we reach Rio. We are nervous that Bushy will truly live up to his name by then. We broke the sailing lore of bringing bananas so we have eaten them quickly - maybe this caused the boom to break?)
Interestingly I suspect all newbies brought pajamas (short/T shirt). This created a smile with the real sailors - and now we know why. Within 4 hours of leaving Cape Town we were all in our "oilies" (waterproof gear for you land lubbers). None of the newbies took this gear off for the first two nights! The boat was throwing around so much it was impossible to change clothing. Let this not imply we knew where our clothing was - we had NO idea where anything was - apart from various sails. There were certainly no beds - only sail bags to sleep on. Gerrie defined 2 hour watches (shifts in land English :))on the first evening. When sleep was permitted, any and every surface which allowed you to wedge in was an absolute luxury which we embraced fully.
Last night (night 4) was our first night of any real adherence to watches/shifts as good friend RR allowed us this respite. However this does not imply much at all. You must still be available on deck for any emergency so "oily" sleeping kit is quite the norm. Fireman Pieter has shown us how to attach boots to clothing for quick access - we don't have his skills.
From a sailing viewpoint we are not able to use our spinnaker as yet (partially because of wind direction and partially because of the broken bracket). So Code Zero is our sail of choice (sounds a bit like a Hawai Five Oh thriller?) and is pulling us along just fine.
All of us were truly saddened to hear of the tragic fatality on Bille. Our prayers and condolences go to the family of the deceased and to the crew of Bille. Our thoughts are with you at this time.
Love to all the family and friends
Regards from Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
Yaaaaaay! RR (Running Repairs) had a quiet night/day! Of course Rex has spent considerable time with the water maker - but we suspect that may just be a Rex thing :).
We experienced good winds (15-25 knots, 30-45 kph) and only mild swells last night with occasional squalls coming through - so great progress was made. Today has been equally good with great sunshine, good winds and only a mild swell. I'm going to stop there in case I incant some sailing voodoo by talking too many good things. (Gareth has given us advice on strict sailing lore instructions such as not to shave until we reach Rio. We are nervous that Bushy will truly live up to his name by then. We broke the sailing lore of bringing bananas so we have eaten them quickly - maybe this caused the boom to break?)
Interestingly I suspect all newbies brought pajamas (short/T shirt). This created a smile with the real sailors - and now we know why. Within 4 hours of leaving Cape Town we were all in our "oilies" (waterproof gear for you land lubbers). None of the newbies took this gear off for the first two nights! The boat was throwing around so much it was impossible to change clothing. Let this not imply we knew where our clothing was - we had NO idea where anything was - apart from various sails. There were certainly no beds - only sail bags to sleep on. Gerrie defined 2 hour watches (shifts in land English :))on the first evening. When sleep was permitted, any and every surface which allowed you to wedge in was an absolute luxury which we embraced fully.
Last night (night 4) was our first night of any real adherence to watches/shifts as good friend RR allowed us this respite. However this does not imply much at all. You must still be available on deck for any emergency so "oily" sleeping kit is quite the norm. Fireman Pieter has shown us how to attach boots to clothing for quick access - we don't have his skills.
From a sailing viewpoint we are not able to use our spinnaker as yet (partially because of wind direction and partially because of the broken bracket). So Code Zero is our sail of choice (sounds a bit like a Hawai Five Oh thriller?) and is pulling us along just fine.
All of us were truly saddened to hear of the tragic fatality on Bille. Our prayers and condolences go to the family of the deceased and to the crew of Bille. Our thoughts are with you at this time.
Love to all the family and friends
Regards from Mike on behalf of Team Rocket/Stop Rhino Poaching
Message from Rex Anderson
Hi family & friends,
All is well-we now all have our sea legs and are able to do other chores. For the first 2 days or so most of us worked as required to sail the boat, did all the repairs as things broke and slept to try to recover from the sea sickness.
Every day we have had something break and had to do repair work. Yesterday I sailed the yacht for about 6 hrs in total. Winds around 15 to 20 knots. Made 2 errors, one nearly did a Gybe and the second time a Broach---neither things you want to do in strong winds but we are all learning fast !!
Got water maker working today so will now have a back up water supply. We all showered today and everyone has done some washing-all the wet clothes are hanging from the side of the boat - looks like a washing line!
Weather today a lot nicer-winds are around 15 knots and the sea is a lot calmer, waves about 2 meters.
Shin is a great cook so we are eating really well. Still not had a braai or any sundowners assume will only do so once we get better weather.
I got to say its tough going, not for the weak. Have no idea how someone does this type of thing solo--- I would have said it's impossible. We all of have bruises as we fall against something as the yacht rolls. Every night we put our wet weather gear on, lifejackets and harnesses, and attach ourselves to the boat. Nights are cold and the first 3 nights had heavy rains at stages.
That's it for now
Rex Anderson
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Tuesday, January 7, 2014
More news from Team Rocket
Dear Family and Friends
Latest news from Rocket as at 17h51 SA time 7 Jan.
Good headway made last night - no major hiccups. We lost another reef (first reef this time) but this was repaired around 2am. (Running Repairs?)
Today progressed well with all the crew managing to have a shower. Not sure when I last enjoyed a shower so much. Note that this is not trivial. It requires you to wedge yourself in between the toilet door and basin to ensure you do not land headfirst in the toilet itself (maybe this is why it's called the heads?). Then apply a splash of water, a layer of soap before splashing down with a drop more water. A fascinating act to apply while maintaining balance. Of course this is old news for real sailors - but
yet another learning for the newbies.
Heavy swells this afternoon with a strong tailwind caused a "wrong movement of the boat" (I was told to make this sound not too bad :)). This has resulted in us tearing the bracket that is used to raise the spinnaker pole. Out comes the hacksaw and 15 different toolboxes and hey presto, we have running repairs (lets just call him RR) back in action!
As at this time the bracket is not fully replaced and we shall be very limited in the potential use of our spinnakers - let's see how this progresses.
The watermaker was finally fixed today (RR again :)) - this gives us permission to shower more regularly. Note that showering (and anything else in the toilet) is not trivial so this is not likely to be a twice a day affair.
The steering on our ultra reliable starboard side failed this morning. Gerrie found the brackets which the fitter decided were not required when he replaced our steering on 3 Jan. So we (RR again)fixed both port and starboard steering using the brackets. Hopefully this is the last we shall be hearing from our steering.
All crew seem to be back to eating and drinking - although we believe we shall still have our full complement of booze when we get to Rio. We shall have to make up for lost time then. Pieter says we shall have a drink under the first tree we come to.
All the crew send love and best wishes to family and friends at home - and thanks for the prayers and good wishes.
Regards from Mike on behalf of Team Rocket.
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