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 .

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

PIRAQUARA DE FORA & ILHA DE ITANHANGA.

During our stay at Bracuhy Marina l met a local yachtie who mentioned an anchorage where he cleans his hull and does general underbody work on his boat because the water is around 32 degrees Celsius.This is due to the local nuclear power stations discharging their cooling water into the bay and after reassuring me that l would not appear as someone who has had his fingers in a live plug socket we sailed for Piraquara de Fora .
After two dives scraping tube worm off the hull and checking anodes and a general check over everything is now tip top below the waterline . Cleaning hulls is a bit like mowing the lawn . This is when you wished you owned a twenty footer as in lawn mowing a townhouse is much easier to maintain than a one acre garden.
We then sailed for Ilha de Itanhanga , a beautiful little island with a very pretty anchorage with a huge sheer cliff face as its main feature. Tucked in the corner of this anchorage is a really nice little restaurant which apparently rocks in the summer season . We have had the place to ourselves for two days now and sitting in the cockpit in the evenings sipping Brazilian rum and fruit juice under a full moon has been very pleasant .
PIRAQUARA DE FORA . THE PLACE TO CLEAN HULLS .


HARD AT WORK IN 32 degrees water temperature.

LITTLE ISLANDS DOTTED EVERYWHERE.

THIS LITTLE ISLAND HAS ONE HOME ON IT , SOMEONE'S PARADISE .

THE MAIN FEATURE OF THIS ANCHORAGE ON ILHA ITANHANGA .

GREAT SETTING FOR A RESTAURANT .

Life is good .  
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3 comments:

  1. ShirlMay 15, 2014 at 11:16 AM

    Just had a catch up, loved ALL the pictures, it all looks so amazing...and glad you guys are safe and having some fun. Mom was thrilled she had a call from you, just got back from a weekend visit and it's practically all she could talk about.

    Take lots more pics and chat soon.. much love from your favorite niece
    Xxxx

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kyle WardMay 15, 2014 at 11:13 PM

    Looks brilliant!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownMay 17, 2014 at 12:46 AM

    Wow I wish I was still with you guys it looks fabulous

    ReplyDelete

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