The mail below was received from ABYC member Rob van der Merwe and family who have now left Cape Town on Margie which is taking the van der Merwe’s on their great adventure sailing around the world.
Hi everyone,
We arrived and are all well (almost) in St. Helena.
It was a long 15 days at sea. Unfortunately Gerda was sick of most of the way. Much administering of drugs to keep her sane, however she managed to puke through them all.
“St Helena” weight loss programme soon to be introduced by the champion “G”
The weather here has not been the greatest, but the island is really laid back and the people are fantastic and friendly, however some of the time quite difficult to understand. Their accent is a mix of Irish and Australian, with a bit of London chucked in for good measure. They also have a few of their own words which still have no meaning (to us) – Just smile and Nod.
The sail up was uneventful. We left Hout Bay at 12:50 on 2 October, had a great first 2 days with a 15 – 20 knot SW wind, but then it died. For 2 days we hardly moved, but then the SE came through and we have had it ever since.
We had a few troublesome times when the autopilot quit, but then I managed to get the wind steering working quite well. It steers like it has been drinkninng atol hic!
We arrived 4 days ago (exact distance 1702 NM, distance traveled 2176NM ), on the 17th Oct early in the morning, cleared Customs and Immigration and then had a burger at the well known Ann’s Place.
We have since climbed the renowned Jacobs Ladder (Alex and James 3x) visited Napoleons first House and generally just chilled.
Hope all is well in SA.
Chat soon when the Internet is not quite so expensive (UK pound 3.50 per 1/2 hour)
Rob, Gerda, Alex and James