Windward Voyage: July 2015

Allan & Ursula Ward: Port Owen, Cape West Coast, South Africa.

Shearwater 39:

- L.O.A. 43ft (13.22m)

- L.O.D. 39ft (12m)

- L.W.L. 34ft (10.3m)

- BEAM 13ft(3.9m)

- DRAFT 6ft(1.8m)

HOW IT ALL BEGAN .

I placed my order on Nebe Boats on the 19/10/1992 for what was initially planned to be a complete factory built yacht that l would sail home to Durban from Capetown once she was completed. Unfortunately due to the demise of Nebe Boats in the early days of her construction it did not turn out that way, so l decided to truck her home to Ramsgate on the KZN South Coast to finish building her in our garden at home.

For many years we could proudly boast that we had the most expensive piece of garden furniture in town, but at the time l had no idea of how massive this project would turn out to be. As anyone who has built a blue water cruiser will tell you, particularly if she is kitted out with all the systems and the equipment that a modern cruiser has onboard these days, it is a daunting task . Looking at the positive aspects of this project, l know the boat intimately in that l designed and installed the systems, so from a repair and maintenance perspective l have no issues carrying out the work that is necessary from time to time.

The big day arrived on the 29/8/2008 when we craned her out of the garden onto a rig to truck her through to Durban for launching . What followed was three months of preparations to ready her for the maiden voyage to our home port in Port Owen on the Cape West Coast.

We had a fast passage down the South African East Coast including a storm off the notorious Wild Coast and arrived in Port Owen in dense fog. Windward had passed her first test with flying colours and since then we have enjoyed some great sailing on the West Coast.

The master plan has always been to go cruising, so our plans are to leave for Brazil via Luderitz and St Helena Island at the end of February 2014. So far everything is on track although the “To Do“ list still grows each day.

The purpose of this blog is to record our adventure for ourselves, family and friends. Although it will probably end up being a brief summary of events while we are cruising, we hope you will enjoy and share some of our experiences with us.

LIVING THE DREAM .

Thursday, July 30, 2015

THE ABROLHOS ARCHIPELAGO . AMAZING EXPERIENCE .

We are pleased to inform you that we were very privileged to attend part of the 2015 Humpback Whale AGM held on the Abrolhos Archipelago recently . The meeting was very well attended with approximately 15000 members travelling up from the Antarctic all behaving in typical humpback fashion of breaching , pectoral fin and tail slapping , spy-hopping and lob-tailing . Judging by the aggressive behaviour of various competitive groups we have no doubt that as a result of this years AGM there will be a substantial increase in the humpback whale population next year .

Jokes aside , l have just made one large tick off my " Must Do " list after experiencing what at times felt like a National Geographic mission .Being part of the annual migration of thousands of humpback whales to breed and give birth to their calves is a unique experience . At times we were surrounded by whales and on a number of occasions l had to quickly alter course to avoid bumping into a whale that has surfaced right in front of us .

It all started out with a tough sail from Vitoria . I tracked the weather for days and the forecast was the same , persistent easterlies 15kns gusting through 20kns plus . So it was close-hauled all the way , non-stop for 170nm with frequent rain squalls creating gusting winds into the high twenties . The problem is that with a forgiving boat like ours we tend to hold full sail through the squalls otherwise you are forever reefing or shaking out reefs as they pass .

Soon out of Vitoria we started seeing whales , plenty of them and the more we headed offshore the real show began with breaching , fin and tail slapping and on one occasion a competitive group that had targeted a female that l had been watching about 100m away appeared just ahead of us charging and parrying with some heavy blowing indicating that the competition was fierce. We had a number of whales cross our ends with one surfacing right next to us . It was peak hour traffic out there .
As it started getting dark the first thought that crossed my mind was that we needed to get through 12 hours of darkness without hitting one of these 40 ton giants , so although we had good boatspeed we started the engine and motorsailed throughout the night so that they could at least hear us coming .
The following day the show continued unabated with one individual giving Urs a demo on breaching less than 100m away while she was on watch .

Mid-afternoon the islands of the Abrolhos Archipelago appeared dead ahead on the horizon and we both looked forward to dropping the pick and getting some rest . We had held one tack the entire passage heeled all the way so it was good to motor into the anchorage that was protected from the east .

The Abrolhos Archipelago located thirty five miles off the coast consists of five islands and an extensive reef system providing an area of rich marine fauna . It is apparently Brazil's largest group of offshore coral reefs and has certain species of brain coral unique to itself . The islands are also a breeding ground for pelagic birds with some endemic species found here . The islands are uninhabited apart from the main island of Ilha de Santa Barbara which has a small group of Brazilian Navy personal and a group of researchers who monitor the cetacean population who visit the archipelago . If my memory serves me right they have four thousand catalogued whales on record .

The following morning while having breakfast on the stoep we were approached by a small inflatable carrying what turned out to be a special young lady .
Daniela Abras who heads up a team of cetacean researchers on the archipelago stepped on board and introduced herself . She is totally obsessed with whales in particular humpbacks and when two adults swam past in our anchorage you would have thought they were the first whales she had ever laid her eyes on . When she realized that we were very interested in her favourite subject we hit it off immiediately and from that moment on she became our personal guide and ensured that our stay on the archipelago would be a memorable one .
She took us on walks explaining in great detail exactly which birds are found on the islands and we visited their roosting sites and because they are not intimidated by man at all , we were able to get really close . She arranged for us to go ashore on Ilha de Santa Barbara to visit the 150 year old lighthouse which still operates today and apparently on a good day can be seen from forty nautical miles away .

We met Berna who has spent 27 years on the archipelago and she is literally a walking encyclopedia when it comes to knowing what exists and goes on here .
They are passionate about the place and they passed on all their expertise freely with us .

We spent hours in our cockpit watching the turtles swimming around us while the birds flew about our anchorage and the magnificient frigate birds roosting on the cliff on Ilha Redonda with their bright red throat pouches all inflated . The white and brown boobies on Ilha Siriba talked all night with the grazinas chirping all day circling our boat . It was magic witnessing nature at its best all to ourselves .

One of the big advantages of having a cruising boat is being able to access these far out places and in this case having your waterhome anchored in the middle of one of Brazil's gems is really special in anyone's book .

We had a whale of a time ( sorry l could not resist that ) and we are definitely richer for this experience .

THE ABROLHOS ARCHIPELAGO . MOTHER NATURE AT HER BEST .

LOOKING FOR UNDERWATER OBJECTS THAT MIGHT SCRATCH OUR GELCOAT .

THE FIRST MATE'S TURN TO LOOK FOR NASTIES .

BREAKFAST ON THE STOEP .

ILHA REDONDA TO THE LEFT AND ILHA DE SANTA BARBARA TO THE DISTANT RIGHT .

ILHA SIRIBA .

BRAZILIAN NAVY OUTPOST ON ILHA DE SANTA BARBARA .
WE FELT QUITE PRIVILEGED AFTER READING THE NOTICE ON THE WALL .

THE LANDING AT THE BASE .

THE BASE VIEWED FROM THE TOP OF THE LIGHTHOUSE .

SPECTACULAR SUNSET . THIS PIC DOES NOT DO IT JUSTICE AT ALL .

DANIELA ABRAS , THE CETACEAN RESEARCH LADY BASED ON THE ISLAND .
A WONDERFUL PERSON WHO WELCOMED US AND BECAME OUR PERSONAL GUIDE ON THE ARCHIPELAGO .

INCREDIBLE VIEWS FROM THE TOP OF THE LIGHTHOUSE .

THE ABROLHOS LIGHT . 150 YEARS OLD .

THE WORST JOB ON THE BOAT , CLEANING HER UNDERBODY .
I SUPPOSE YOU SHOULD NOT COMPLAIN WITH 27d WATER TEMP AND 20m VIS .

THE BOOBIES ARE NOT INTIMIDATED BY HUMANS AT ALL .
IN FACT IF YOU VENTURE TOO CLOSE THEY WILL CHASE YOU OFF .

BERNA TALKING TO ONE OF HER BIRDS .

THESE BIRDS TALK DAY AND NIGHT , THE MALES SHRILL AND THE FEMALES CLUCK .
FROM THE BOAT WE WOULD HEAR THEM ALL NIGHT LONG .

WHO DAT SCRUFFY YOUNGSTER .

URS AND THE WHALE LADY .

HOME SWEET HOME .

GRAZINA BIRD WITH IT'S CHICK .
THEY FLEW AROUND OUR BOAT ALL DAY .

ILHA SUESTE VIEWED FROM ILHA SIRIBA .

THE WHALE LADY . SHE MADE OUR TIME ON THE ARCHIPELAGO VERY SPECIAL .

BROWN BOOBY WITH IT'S BALL OF FLUFF FOR A CHICK .

URS AND DANIELA LOOKING FOR THE LEG RING ON A DEAD BIRD .
BY THE WAY , THAT IS THE ONLY TREE ON THE ARCHIPELAGO , PLANTED BY MAN OF COURSE .
THEY HAVE APPLIED TO HAVE IT REMOVED .

ILHA DE SANTA BARBARA IN THE DISTANCE WITH THE LIGHTHOUSE ON THE RIGHT .

BERNA . THIS LADY HAS SPENT 27 YEARS ON THE ARCHIPELAGO .

WE SAILED AT SUNSET FOR SANTO ANDRE' .

THE ABROLOS ARCHIPELAGO . WHAT A GREAT EXPERIENCE .

Sunday, July 26, 2015

VITORIA . THE GOOD AND THE BAD .

Our two hundred nautical mile sail to Vitoria would take us around the well respected Cabo Sao Tome shoals , a very shallow area with depths down to three metres in places that extends over ten miles offshore . Judging by the charts , many ships have come to grief on these banks so we went well offshore to deeper water .

It is also probably the busiest section of the entire coastline with Brazil's biggest oilfields east of these shoals and the normal north and southbound shipping tends to funnel through at this point so good watchkeeping is the order of the day . There are numerous oil related vessels sailing back and forth from the oilfields to Macae which is the shore base for this industry in this area . With our new fancy AIS transponder it was wonderful tracking approaching ships and seeing them alter course once they had picked us up . One fellow was zooming up our rear end rather quickly but when l radioed him he assured me that he had us clearly on his screen and would alter course in good time which he did soon after .

That evening was really pleasant as we sat out in the cockpit under a canopy of stars and a phosphorus trail streaming off our stern and on the eastern horizon the lights and glow of probably over one hundred oil rigs . Through the night we passed numerous fishing boats that seem to operate in formation of long lines abreast of each other .

The following day we arrived off the Iate Clube Espirito Santo Marina as Paul and Rachel Chandler were leaving their berth . By the way , they are the British couple who were hijacked by Somali pirates and their story is now well known particularly in sailing circles .

Vitoria is the capital of the State of Espirito Santo and is located on an island which is connected to the continent by the second tallest bridge in Brazil . It reminded us a little of good old Durb's by the Sea albeit that its an island . The most fascinating feature of Vitoria is that is is connected by an undersea mountain range which has its highest peak on Ilha da Trindade some 650nm off the coast and an island that we visited when we did our Transatlantic crossing . That blew my bush hat off .

Once again a really nice Brazilian couple Pedro and Claudia befriended us and went out of their way to make our stay in their city as enjoyable as it was . Claudia drove us around the city being the perfect tour guide which we really appreciated . She took us to the authorities and acted as our translator then off to shop to restock the boat . Brazilian people are wonderful hosts .

The bad was the marina . Very nice facilities and everything you could ask for except a lousy berth . Visiting cruisers tie up at the entrance to the marina fully exposed to the NE/E wind sector and the chop generated from across the bay hammers you literally beam on . I was not happy about the loading on the mooring buoy that we were attached to but the marina guy that l spoke to gave me the thumbs up indicating that it would hold . Well l won't repeat the whole story as it is on a separate post but l was a little grumpy when there was a loud bang and our boat was in serious trouble .
The other crappy feature of this marina is that it is situated directly downwind from an iron ore loading facility and what looked like a large steel plant . The resultant dust and dirt blown down onto the city must make the cleaning trade a really profitable business .

We were quite happy to leave after the strong easterlies that we had endured throughout our stay in Vitoria .

Our next destination the Abrolhos Archipelago lay 170 nautical miles ahead of us and we were keen to get there .

VITORIA .STATE OF ESPIRITO SANTO .

OCCASIONALLY WE GET GUESTS . THIS GUY MUST HAVE BEEN QUITE PLEASED TO SEE US AS WE WERE THIRTY MILES OFF THE COAST .

GOOD TIMES IN VITORIA .

ILHA DO VITORIA THE CAPITAL VIEWED FROM ILHA DO FRADE .

THE ONLY MARINA IN THE ENTIRE STATE .

VILA VELHA . THE CONTINENT ( MAINLAND ).

CONVENTO DA PENHA . THE MONASTERY .

THE SECOND TALLEST BRIDGE IN BRAZIL .
IT CONNECTS THE CONTINENT TO ILHA DE VITORIA THE CAPITAL .

CLAUDIA . OUR SAINT IN VITORIA .

THE MONASTERY OFFERS THE BEST VIEWS IN TOWN .

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

BOOM , BANG , CRASH .

THE DEFECTIVE MOORING BUOY BEFORE IT BROKE .
THE RULE IS , NEVER TRUST THEM EVEN IN A MARINA UNLESS YOU ARE 100% SURE .

My heart is sore right now . It has been seven years since we launched our boat in Durban and since then thousands of nautical miles have passed under her keel and in all that time we haven't picked up a scratch .

Yesterday while moored in the Iate Clube do Espirito Santo Marina in Vitoria with a stiff Northeaster blowing the chain securing the buoy to its anchor parted resulting in our boat slamming into the dock and hitting the neighbouring motor launch causing substantial damage to both boats . Fortunately we were both onboard at the time and l was able to start the engine and under power keep our boat off the dock while the two boats slammed together with the steep chop coming through the entrance to the marina .

The marina staff were quick to react and although it took time we managed to get lines to other mooring buoys and at the same time get our anchor out and set . In the process my pulpit and bowsprit punished my neighbour until we could pull our bow off her .

The windvane steering system is now inoperable , our rudder has suffered damage , our pulpit is bent and twisted and my beautiful iroko cap rail is smashed near the bow .

The bubble has burst and Windward has scars to prove it . It is one thing when you make a mistake which results in your boat suffering damage , but when it is something beyond your control it is even more painful .

Fortunately the damage has not affected the seaworthiness of our boat so we will be able to sail at first light in the morning . We have a 170nm sail to the Abrolhos Archipelago off the Brazilian Coast where we have an appointment with some whales who have travelled all the way up from the Antarctic to meet us and we can't keep them waiting any longer .

Chow for now .