The options seemed to be: leave now for South Africa via Cocos Keeling, Mauritius and Réunion arriving at Richards Bay mid-November and Capetown about Christmas time; leave end of January 2012 for South Africa via Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Chagos and Mauritius arriving Capetown Christmas 2012; put JJ Moon on a freighter bound for Turkey.

 

There was nothing much wrong with leaving now although I was becoming a little chary of a first leg of 1300 M directly to windward and without company.  More importantly Mags has been getting chilly feet for various reasons and I have been coming to the conclusion that it might be wise to have additional help on long ocean passages - for no particular reason, just the passing of the years.  This is rather perverse of me because when previous insurers stipulated three competent crew I was incandescent.  I sacked the insurers and signed up with a more reasonable company, (who in any case are probably the market leaders and have a good reputation for dealing fairly with claims).  We were all set to go when we had second thoughts.  The advantages of option two include buddy boats from the start, more time to find crew and, even if we cannot, shorter ocean passages.  Disadvantages include putting our return to Europe back a year but, heh, we are enjoying the cruising life!  Going by freighter is expensive and conceptually unattractive.  There might be circumstances when it is the only sensible option but we are not faced with those at present.  Several wise and experienced friends have advocated this course and some have suggested that it is a matter of swallowing pride.  But it isn’t quite that – we have put our hands to this challenging circumnavigation project, we have enjoyed the co-operative adventure even more than we expected and it would be a great disappointment not to be able to see it through.

 

So it’s option two, which includes the prospect of five more happy months based in Rebak, and that cheers the spirits.

 

Since we got back from the UK we have been busy with lists.  Preparing them, dealing with them and adding further items faster than we can knock them off.  And we have been doing pretty well, while at the same time getting last minute stuff sent out, provisioning, socializing, exercising, and otherwise enjoying life in the sun.   A great life apart from the angst and that is over now.

 

Not much adventure during the next few weeks, we hope, but perhaps we shall find something entertaining to write about.