Prize Giving, But None For Us!

Good African music

After every leg of the World ARC, which is a friendly competition event, there is a prize-giving dinner. It is usually hosted by the local community and we experience cultural demonstrations, greetings from the dignitaries and a meal of traditional cuisine. It is always a very nice event. This time, as most, the meal was marvelous and bursting with flavors. It was a traditional stew made with Kudu (their venison) and cooked all day over an open fire.

There was a wonderful dance and drum exhibition before dinner. The welcome speeches were short and sweet. And the prize-giving was fun. There are always the fastest boats who usually win everything and every time. The rest of us vie for second and third places and smaller prizes. If the weather or wind is not conducive to good sailing, the Yellow Shirts have the option to restructure the competition - even after the finish! This way others have a chance to win.

S/Y Firefly took first for mono-hulls. Surprising, but not surprising. Paul is one of the best sailors out here, but he is also the boat that sailed with damaged rigging after a collision with a freighter. Somehow, they managed to keep the boat "healthy" enough to get them across one of the toughest passages. Therefore, the prize was extra special!

I have to say that we came in second in a category of which one should not be too proud: Number of Hours Motored! We were ahead of S/Y Brizo, but four hours behind S/Y Caduceus for this "not so honorable distinction!" Not a great showing for the three boats who started together in January 2014. Do you think we are at the point of just wanting to get there?

Pat from S/Y Brizo trying to win the contest.

All in all, it was another great evening. However, this venue had a new twist and apparently it was something they started for earlier WARC fleets and it has become tradition. I actually think it is done just to see if these silly sailors will actually take part in the event to entertain the locals!


What is it? It was referred to as a "Shit Spitting Contest!" The host actually showed us a video of the collection of dung in the bush. We are talking balls of dung ranging from the size of an M&M to the size of a softball! It is collected from various animals and we were told there was no ebola or other types of bacterial infectious ingredients in it! The guy speaking was a doctor (maybe a veterinarian?).

I did not bite on the offer to participate, but Dennis and almost everyone else did. I think it required more alcohol consumption than I usually have. Just maybe! Anyway, the participants put the ball of dung in their mouths, rolled it around and then spit it with great force to see who's went the furthest! There was a winner for females and one for males. Dennis had the lead for a while! (No good night kiss tonight, Dear!)

And the ladies' winner was our little British doctor, Elizabeth, who had earlier told me she wasn't going to do that! Huh! It must have been the wine! I am sure we provided a great deal of laughter for the locals! One of the younger guys won for the men. At least it made for a lot of laughter and a great ending for a fun night.

Holiday Celebration in Richards Bay

Don overseeing Dennis at the grill!

One of the best things about being part of a rally is the friendships that are made. Most rallies start out with a large number of boats from many different countries. It is only natural for like-speaking participants to stick together at first. Eventually, everyone gets to know one another and friendships across borders are in order.

It just isn't the same without turkey!

We have participated in three different World ARC Rallies: 2014-15, 2015-16 and now 2016-17. Each has been very different in its makeup of boats and crews. And they have all been enjoyable. Thankfully, we were graciously welcomed in to the two we joined along the way and this one is a great group to bring it full circle.

There are always opportunities for Sundowners, BBQ's (or Braai as it is called in South Africa), a before or after (or both) glass of wine, a helping hand, etc. In Richards Bay, we all participated in the Zululand Yacht Club Braais and had our own for Thanksgiving. Of course, the three American boats led the charge on that one!

This group represents Sweden and Australia with

England at the far end of the grill.

The S/Y Into the Blue crew from the Isle of Guernsey

There was no turkey available so we roasted whole chickens on the grill along with other meats and sausages and vegetables. Laurie and Bob from S/V Barbara Jean (and Sturgis, MI) made sage dressing that tasted so good!

I did squash and mashed potatoes and gravy. Mary Beth and Mike from Paradise Found came with salads and vegetables. They don't seem to have canned pumpkin in any of the countries we have visited!

Luckily, I was able to find a tiny little pumpkin pie (SA style) so we cut it into one inch squares so everyone could have a taste. Claudine on Wishanger II made a wonderful apple pie!

Our Thanksgiving buffet! Dining on picnic tables under the stars!

Then true to our traditions, we went around the table and shared what we were thankful for and asked all of the rest of the fleet to join in.

It was an enlightening and moving experience with an international twist. The Europeans seemed to enjoy tasting our traditional Thanksgiving foods. We should have made more of everything! There were no leftovers here.

Our First Game Reserve Adventure

Yield to the animals, please.

This was a day for which we were waiting! We were heading out on another great World ARC tour to see the wild animals of Africa. Our daylong trip began early in the morning with a bus ride to the Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Game Reserve. Apparently, it is the best place to see the African Big Five in KwaZulu-Natal: Lions, Elephants, Black Rhinoceros, Buffalo and Cheetahs.

This Reserve is an unspoiled wilderness of rolling hill, subtropical forest, acacia woodland and palm-lined rivers. It is 372 sq. mi. in size and has a range of altitudes. It is known for its rhino conservation program. The biggest threat to the rhino is man: as in "poachers" who are after the rhino horn. The area is fenced, but not to keep animals in. It is fenced to make it difficult for poachers to enter. It is one of Africa's leading wildlife sanctuaries.

In addition to the black and white rhinos, we had the chance to see many other animals: lion, giraffe, impala, warthog, baboon, zebra, elephant, wildebeest, kudu, nyala and buffalo. There are also cheetah, leopard and hyenas in the park.

Let the adventure begin. There is a big animal world out there!

Our tour took us to see where a lion was dining on a dead giraffe. Apparently, two giraffes had a fight and one did not survive. Once it was down, the lion moved in to begin a several day feast. Unfortunately, it was too far away to get a good photograph. It was sad to see, but we must respect this is the natural selection process that has its own food chain.

We drove through many different terrains and climates from the lowest at the river to the highest in the mountains. Different vegetation and water holes draw different animals to various areas.

We also saw the watering holes where many types of animals appeared to be existing in harmony. Maybe the rest of the world could learn from them!

Nine of us in each Jeep vehicles are off to see ....

In the middle of the road there was a Dung Beetle rolling

a ball of dung where the female Dung Beetle lays her eggs

Our tour stopped at a picnic area where we all got out of the vehicles and feasted on some typical African foods. Delicious! We are looking forward to more culinary adventures, too. Each area of Africa has its special foods to try.

I will let the photos tell the rest of this story:

A Soft Landing on Africa!

South Africa! We made it!

Dennis has always said from the beginning of this adventure that if we landed softly on Africa, we could consider ourselves adequate sailors. So we are now ADEQUATE!

We made it to South Africa with the Chesapeake Bay, North Atlantic, Caribbean Sea, Panama Canal, Pacific Ocean, South Pacific Ocean, Coral Sea, Tasman Sea, Great Barrier Reef, Straits of Torres, Gulf of Carpentaria, Arafura Sea, Timor Sea, Flores Sea, Savu Sea, Java Sea, the Mozambique Channel and the Indian Ocean behind us! Whoo Hoo!

We arrived in Richards Bay just before the weather changed.

The crossing was relatively easy compared to what we had expected. Everyone told us how awful it was going to be with confused seas and horrendous waves and swells. We were warned of suddenly appearing gale force winds and big storms. Fortunately, we only had a couple of really head-in-the-bucket type days out of eight days.

Actually, we ended up motor-sailing more than we wanted because we had a very short weather window. The weather service predicted a gale hitting Richards Bay, SA around 1800 on Saturday. We got into the harbor midday and were secured in our slip before the weather turned.

We are following the WARC staff boat through the channel.

Typical of weather forecasts, it didn't come to fruition at the intensity predicted. That was a good thing! It did blow hard and rained, but we never saw the hail. The locals were very worried about a hail storm since one had done extensive damage nearby so they were telling us to get in our boats and check our lines, etc. They were leaving early to go home before the storm.

I guess if you come from Michigan, one doesn't get too excited about hail, wind, rain, snow, etc. Nor do we believe the forecasts to be 100% accurate. That is not saying that we are lacks in our planning regarding the weather, though. We do respect Mother Nature and her powerful forces - especially on the high seas.

Zululand Yacht Club

For the present, it is good to be in Africa. There is so much to explore and learn here. We have several trips and a big safari planned. And we are looking forward to the vibrant city of Cape Town. And there is only one more big ocean to cross: the South Atlantic. Actually, the roughest sailing has been in the North Atlantic so we still have to face that before we get back to Maryland.

Our arrival at Richards Bay was relatively uneventful. The entrance to the Zululand Yacht Club is tricky so we had to wait for the Yellow Shirt staff  to guide us into the marina. As always, we had a wonderful greeting by the locals. And our welcome gift was a bottle of Champagne  - or correctly name "bubbly" since it is not from France.


Now that we are looking at the last few months of this journey back to St. Lucia, we are feeling somewhat bittersweet. While looking forward to returning to family and friends, the idea of leaving the sailing behind and selling S/V Trillium makes us sad. But we have other things we want to do and S/V Trillium is a wonderful blue water boat who needs to go to sea again.

I always look like the Wreck of the Hesperus when we

arrive in port, but the bottle of bubbly will make it a

non-issue! Where is the straw? Do I have to share-really?

Of course, our other concern is how will it feel to be back on land. We are not the same people we were when we left the shores of Maryland over three years ago. Where do we want to live? Where do we travel next? How do we find a comfortable place in a community? So many questions to consider over the next year.

All of the Captains and crews were happy to be on land!

A BBQ here is called a Braai. It is very heavy on the meats.

We would call it a mixed grill: beef, lamb, game, and, of

course a variety of the South African sausages. Great flavors!

Now For the Tough One!

We spent a lot of time in their neighborhood!

It was time to bite the bullet and finish crossing the last quarter of the Indian Ocean. We enjoyed our time in Reunion, although the marina was not located close to anything. Our tour with the WARC was great and we got to see the rest of the island with Elizabeth and Martin. But it isn't one of our favorite places.

Everyone was watching the weather and having daily discussions regarding it. There was a major concern about a gale that would greet us as we approached the east coast of Africa. Since we have to sail across a very fast southerly Aguhlas Current, our route had to take us north of the entrance to Richards Bay so we wouldn't be carried past the it. The Aguhlas Current is somewhat like the Gulf Stream off the east coast of the USA, except this one flows south instead of north.

Are we going the wrong way on a one-way street?

After a fleet discussion on the weather, it was decided that we needed to ask the WARC officials for an earlier than planned start for this leg. No one was looking forward to this leg of the journey in the first place. Secondly, no one wanted to encounter a gale at the end of it. It would normally take 8-12 days to sail this downwind course. The WARC agreed and moved the start up by 24 hours.

On Friday morning, the boats began pulling out one by one since we could only have one boat in the marina entrance at a time. It was called a Gate Start where we went out on our own, put up sails and marked our time when we crossed the Start Line.

The sea was settling and the sun was setting. Good!

We were still waiting for the delivery of our Watt & Sea part which we learned had been sitting in Customs for a week and no one had notified us. Victor, our WARC Yellow Shirt, used his native tongue of French to get the part delivered within an hour of his call. Thank you once again, Victor and WARC. He had also spoken to the company in France earlier to get the part sent to us.

Once the package was in hand and having had the autopilot repaired - actually it was only a loose bus connection, we were ready to head off to South Africa. The engine was warming up and Dennis was casting off the lines when I realized there was no navigational data on the chart plotter! YIKES! Stop, stop, stop was my call.

We sought out the electronics technician who had worked on the autopilot. He came right away and check everything until he found that the NEMA connection was not firmly seated. It felt snug when we checked it but obviously we didn't know that it wasn't in all of the way. So we were finally ready to leave but we were three hours behind most of the fleet.

The first 36 hours of the passage were awful: strong winds after we got away from land, high swells and lots of chop. Passage Diet time again! Fortunately, after the first 36 hours, it settle down enough to have a good sail for a while.

Then we hit the doldrums: no wind! The sea had settled down some, but we couldn't sail so on went the motor. We ended up motor sailing most of the way to South Africa over the eight days at sea. We could have sailed at a very slow pace, but there was the gale looming at the end. It was essential to be in the harbor before 1800 on Saturday. Therefore, we put the pedal to the metal.

When the wind is too light for us on a downwind course, we just motor. When it is behind the beam, we need at least a steady 12 knots to move. When it is dead behind us like this passage, the sails just slap as the swells move the boat around and we lose whatever air they can hold. After a few hours of beating up the sails, we took them down and turned on the Iron Jenny! No prizes this time! Who cares; the goal was to get there before the storm.

And there was a lot of shipping traffic as once again we were crossing the main shipping channel between Africa and Asia. At times the screen was covered with ships converging on the same area. We managed to safely dodge them and always gave way even when we had the right of way. We prefer to be at least 1.5 nm away from them, especially at night. A couple of times we were as close as three-quarters of a mile. The skippers were very nice when we called them on the VHF to determine how they wanted to cross our path and what course we should take.

A lot of traffic night and day!

All in all, the passage was much easier than we had anticipated. It became challenging on the day and night before we crossed the Agulhas Current and seasickness struck again. Once that system blew through, we were prepared to make our way across the 4-5 knot current north of the harbor and hoped we could hold to our waypoints. The harbor entrance was a welcoming sight!