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, November 4, 2015

THE FINAL LEG OF OUR 2015 CRUISING SEASON TO CABEDELO .

After waiting for the high tide to give us enough depth to leave the Cabanga Yacht Club we motored down the channel and cleared Recife for our final sail of 2015 to Cabedelo . We had some decent wind so we raised the main , unfurled the genny and off we sailed heading for Ilha de Itamaraca .

The island is set off the coast of the historic city of Igarassu and the part that really interested me is that they have a protected area for manatees . Unfortunately the facility was closed for some reason so next season it might justify catching a bus down there to visit these gentle animals .
After enjoying a good sail we made our way through the reef and sand banks and headed around the island to drop our pick in the lee for the night .
The following morning we upped anchor and set off for Cabedelo our final destination for this season and it turned out to be a really nice sail with which to close the final chapter of 2015 . We arrived early evening and after being warned of fisherman who lay their nets across the width of the river we motored slowly upriver in the dark until we had Jacare off our beam and dropped our anchor for the night . Once again we were welcomed with a live band pumping high volume music across the water but fortunately they did not play until the following morning .

I had pre-arranged a long-term berth for Windward at the small Ribeira Adventure Club Marina across on the opposite side of the river so the plan was that Luciano the owner would meet us the following day and guide us through the sand banks to his spot which he duly did . Unfortunately as we were to discover on the full moon spring tides two weeks later is that the trunk of a large coconut palm was lying under our keel on the river bottom across our berth and during spring low tide we developed a serious heel that could have damaged our boat and our neighbours who were back home in the States at the time .
Knowing that l would get little sleep back home for four months worrying about this problem Luciano suggested we try and find a berth at Jacare , either at Marina Jacare Village or Peter’s Pier and with only two days left before we would be flying off to the Iguazu Falls the pressure was on to move our boat and settle her into a safer berth . With Marina Jacare Village being full we met Peter who immediately set about sorting out a great berth for our beloved boat , even laying a second mooring buoy to secure our bow . Peter’s approach to his business is very professional and l will have no problem sleeping while he takes care of our boat until next season .

We really enjoyed having our dear friend Philippe with us over the final five hundred miles of this year’s passage , so much so that he will be joining me next season for our passage to the Caribbean . We travelled to the Joao Pessoa Airport and bid him farewell until we meet up again in Sao Paulo .

We fortunately had some time to explore Joao Pessoa which l might add being the most eastern point of the America’s , gets to see the first light of day on the continent .
I have known about Jacare ( Alligator ) for many years and it is very popular with cruising yachts and is often the first landfall for many boats crossing the Atlantic . We met a number of cruisers even a French boat who were our neighbours in a marina in Paraty last season . I got to watch our Bokke scrape in against the Welsh and sat with the French cruisers and witnessed their team get a hiding from the now World Champions , the All Blacks . They were not impressed with their side and there were long discussions after the match about their game . I have a feeling that there were many French speaking Bok supporters in our semi-final against the New Zealanders .
The one attraction that Jacare possesses that l have known about for many years is the now famous sax player who goes by the name of Jarundy do Sax . Every evening and l mean every evening at sunset he stands in a canoe and while being paddled along Praia de Jacare he plays Maurice Ravel’s “ Bolera “ while the sun dips below the horizon . He ends his performance by raising his arms and saluting the sun and the crowds love every minute of it . He started playing on the river 15 years ago and has played this same number over five thousand times earning him a place in the Guinness Book of Records . He is the backbone of tourism in Praia de Jacare and a fleet of large cats carrying tourists anchor off the beach every night to watch his performance along with hundreds who stand ashore .

All too soon it was time to lock up our faithful little ship and catch a taxi to the airport . Our flight departed at 2.45am , an ungodly hour in the morning and we knew it was going to be a long day flying to the southern border of Brazil to visit the famous Iguazu Falls and then onto Buenos Aires , Argentina .

Exciting stuff lay ahead .
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