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, November 6, 2015

THE MIGHTY IGUAZU FALLS .

WE FELT PRIVILEGED TO BEING ABLE TO VISIT ONE OF NATURE'S 7 WONDERS OF THE WORLD.

WITH THE SCALE OF IGUAZU YOU CAN ONLY PHOTOGRAPH SECTIONS OF THE FALLS AT A TIME.

BRAZILIANS AND ARGENTINIANS ARGUE ALL THE TIME ABOUT WHO'S SIDE OF THE FALLS ARE THE BEST . THE TRUTH IS BOTH SIDES GIVE DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES AND BOTH ARE BEAUTIFUL AND NEED TO BE SEEN .

THIS LITTLE FELLA HAS TWO NAMES DEPENDING ON WHICH SIDE OF THE FALLS YOU ARE ON .
IN BRAZIL THEY ARE CALLED A QUATIS AND IN ARGENTINA A COATI .

THERE ARE APPROXIMATELY 276 INDIVIDUAL DROPS OVERALL AND IN THE PEAK RAINY SEASON OVER 300 .

ON THE BRAZILIAN SIDE YOU CAN ENTER THE DEVIL'S THROAT ALONG THIS CATWALK AND EXPERIENCE NATURE AT IT'S AWE-INSPIRING BEST AND GET SOAKED AT THE SAME TIME.

ON THE TRAIN TO VISIT THE IMPRESSIVE GARGANTA DEL DIABLO .

THIS SIGN STANDS JUST BEFORE THE AWESOME SIGHT OF DEVIL'S THROAT .
ALTHOUGH IT IS OBVIOUS THAT THE ENGLISH IS TRANSLATED , I THOUGHT IT WAS VERY APT.

STANDING ON THE EDGE , A DIFFERENT VIEW .
THESE FALLS STRETCH FOR 2,7 KMS .

FEELING THE POWER .
WHEN THE WATER IS FLOWING LIKE THIS THE CURRENTS IN THE RIVER ARE VERY STRONG AND YOU CAN'T HELP WANDERING ABOUT HOW MANY CREATURES HAVE BEEN SWEPT OVER THESE FALLS OVER THE MILLIONS OF YEARS OF THEIR EXISTENCE .

THOSE TINY SPECS AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PIC ARE SOME OF THE LARGE GROUP OF SWIFTS THAT ROOST BEHIND THESE THUNDERING CASCADES .

OVER 270 FEET UP, STANDING ON THE EDGE OVERLOOKING GARGANTA DEL DIABLO .
ONE SPECIAL OCCASION IN OUR LIVES .

THE INCREDIBLE SOUND OF THE WATER ROARING OVER THESE CLIFFS AND GETTING SOAKED BY THE SPRAY IS ALL PART OF THE EXPERIENCE .

WHEN IT CAME TO THE BUTTERFLIES , URS WAS LIKE A MAGNET TO THEM .

THE ARGENTINIAN SIDE ,CALENDAR SHOTS AROUND EACH CORNER .

I HAVE NEVER SEEN SO MANY RAINBOWS IN A SINGLE DAY .

STANDING AT THE END OF THIS CATWALK PUTS YOU A FEW METRES AWAY FROM THE DROP .
THOSE PEOPLE ARE SOAKED TO THE SKIN . I KNOW , I WAS ONE OF THEM .

THESE LITTLE GUYS ARE CRAFTY . THIS ONE'S COUSIN SNUCK UP BEHIND ME AND SNATCHED MY CHOW OUT OF MY HAND .

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3 comments:

  1. DesmondNovember 7, 2015 at 2:25 AM

    Wow looks wonderful, Thanks for showing us.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownNovember 10, 2015 at 1:36 PM

    This quati is indeed very crafty... he is hiding the word "mata" (kill) so you can feed him without breaking any rule!

    ReplyDelete
  3. WINDWARDNovember 10, 2015 at 3:02 PM

    The little buggar , l didn't even pick that up . At least l can say that l have been mugged by a quati .

    ReplyDelete

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