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 .

Sunday, October 18, 2015

CHAPADA DIAMANTINA . OUR ESCAPE TO THE MOUNTAINS .



One of Brazil’s gems the Chapada Diamantina National Park  covers an area of 152,000 hectares consisting of mountains , huge canyons , waterfalls , caves , natural pools and grottoes . If you are into the outdoors and enjoy hiking it is hard to beat with trails lasting a couple of hours to five day hikes through breath-taking scenery .

We first got to hear of this amazing place after receiving an email from the now well-known British cruising couple Paul and Rachel Chandler , the same two people who were held captive for over a year by Somali pirates and where Rachel mentioned that they were visiting the place at the time of writing her email . Once settled in Bahia Marina in Salvador we started making enquiries and not only did we find out that it was a place of immense beauty but also that the annual Vale do Capao Jazz Festival was going to take place the following weekend. It was a no-brainer , we were going and to make things even better our good friend Saulo would be our personal guide and would meet us in Capao.

After an eight hour bus ride we arrived at 21.00 in Palmeiras and after collecting our backpacks we hopped into an ancient Kombi with eleven other people and bounced along a bumpy track all the way to Vale do Capao . We eventually arrived late into the night where our good mate stood waiting for us with a beaming smile on his face . He had organized a little cottage just outside the village which would become our home for the following five days .

The next day we headed off for our first hike to Brazil’s highest waterfall Cachoeira da Fumaca . When translated it means Smoke Falls getting its name because through its height by the time the water reaches the bottom of the falls it has turned to mist . The hike starts with a steep climb up to the plateau and then levels off to the top of the falls . The return trip is as tough walking down the mountain but we were pleasantly surprised the following morning to wake up feeling quite fresh in the legs and not bedridden . A couple of days later we hiked to Angel Falls and spent the day swimming in amongst the pools at the base of the falls .

The Jazz Festival for me was one of the main highlights of our visit and it did not disappoint . People travelled from far and wide to be there and with great music and a wonderful vibe in the crowd the bands played until the early hours of the morning . The locals that live in Vale do Capao are a motley crew who have chosen to live an alternate lifestyle in a remote mountain valley . Saulo our good friend packed in his job at Bahia Marina and has moved to Lencois for a quieter , simpler lifestyle and after spending time in both Palmeiras and Lencois it is easy to understand why people opt out of city life to live in this mountain paradise.


Having spent the last two seasons cruising the Brazilian coast we really enjoyed seeing a part of the countryside particularly a part as stunning as Chapada Diamantina .   
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