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 .

Friday, May 9, 2014

CABO FRIO .

We checked in at the very plush yacht club which is a branch of the Rio de Janiero Yacht Club in Rio itself. Situated on the river bank with great facilities and very pleasant surroundings it was a good place to step on Brazilian terra firma for the first time .
We headed off along the beach to check out the city which is a bustling seaside resort and being the Easter long weekend it was packed.I thought l had seen packed beaches but Cabo Frio takes the cake. There were thousands of bodies stretched between the waterline and the beachfront road . Standard dress it seems in these cities is T-shirt , baggies and slops . My kinda style .
We sampled the restaurants and checked out the city and the one thing that we noticed was how freely families and woman in particular wandered around the beachfront at night without seeming to be too concerned about their safety.It reminded me of Durban in the old days .
Soon after arriving we met a wonderful local yachtie Guilherme Moraes and his lovely lady Valeria onboard their yacht Zingaro and since that day we have become firm friends . He has gone out of his way to assist us in so many ways even giving me a shore power plug which suited the local socket . We have now named him St Bill for being such a giving human being.Being a longstanding member of the prestigious Rio Yacht Club , he promptly invited us as his guests to visit their club in Rio and l must add, you can only arrive if you are invited . We jumped at the opportunity so after a pleasant stay in Cabo Frio we set sail late afternoon for Rio to allow us an early morning arrival.
The sail to Rio was pretty hectic with all sorts of shipping on route . One vessel in particular that l had spotted from a long way off appeared at night like a christmas tree . We would pass each other two miles apart and both of us showing our port (red ) lights l wasn't too concerned. What puzzled me was her boat speed and although she did not have AIS l estimated their boat speed to be around 2kn . The next thing , l thought l could see a vague shape behind the vessel so we switched on our powerful sealamp and this object which resembled a block of flats appeared .That prompted the towing vessel to turn on their search light and illuminate this object for us to see in all its glory . Apparently unlit objects being towed back and forth from the oil fields is quite common along this stretch of coast .
We arrived in Rio in the early hours of the morning to be greeted by the famous Sugar Loaf and to Urs's delight Christ the Redeemer with his arms outstretched to welcome us to this famous city . Following St Bill's instructions to the t , we motored into the inner basin of the Rio de Janeiro Yacht Club and went alongside to check ourselves in. As l walked into the marina office , a very friendly guy stuck his hand out and greeted me with the words Allaaan from the beautiful yacht Windwaaaard.St Bill had even completed all the documentation , what a welcome .
CABO FRIO BEACHFRONT IN THE BACKGROUND.


LOVELY YACHT CLUB WITH FIRST CLASS FACILITIES.

SITUATED ON THE BANKS OF THE RIVER .

CABO FRIO MAIN BEACH . I THOUGHT I HAD SEEN A PACKED BEACH,CHECK THIS OUT.

RIO.THE FAMOUS SUGAR LOAF.

CHRIST THE REDEEMER.(In the far distance on top of the mountain.)
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3 comments:

  1. UnknownMay 10, 2014 at 12:07 AM

    You lucky guys. Your pictures take me back to when I was there in 2002. Have fun!!! Jan

    ReplyDelete
  2. Catlyn CrewMay 13, 2014 at 10:49 PM

    Beautiful !

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownMay 29, 2014 at 6:00 AM

    Hi guys,
    just been drooling over your pics looks absolutely amazing. hope you having loads of fun xxxxx

    ReplyDelete

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