It is already January 2015 and here we are on our way again. Where did the two months in Cape Town go? It seemed as if every day was filled with seeing family and friends, getting boat issues sorted and putting in Xmas in the bush and New year in our beloved Paternoster.

The problems we had with the main engine have been rectified and both it and the generator have been serviced. I can highly recommend Peninsula Power who in an efficient and competent way repaired our fuel injection pump in three days. Quite a relief not to have to go through the three week saga we had in Mackay Australia when we tried to get it repaired there!

Tom went off on long leave, first visiting his girlfriend in Puerto Rico, and then joining his parents and brother for a few weeks tour of the Western Cape. Thank you to Susan for her organizing and booking the trip of a lifetime.

Whaleview Manor (Sue’s Guest house) had their staff year end Xmas party at Panama Jack’s in the Waterfront after which we took them out for a sail on Shaya Moya. As per usual the Cape Doctor was blowing up a storm giving us a wet and bumpy ride. This did not deter them from thoroughly enjoying themselves.

A number of our friends came down for sunset cocktails in Table Bay, followed by a dinner somewhere in Cape Town. As usual the food and hospitality in the Cape has been fantastic.

Sue and I joined Reece and Lea and their two friends for Xmas at Olifants . Despite it being oppressively hot we had the traditional Xmas turkey. Lea’s friends had the luck of the first timer and saw the big five in 24 hours. They went off home thinking this was an every day occurrence. What a special treat that was. Sue organized a helicopter trip over the farm and they did a fly by of our house. Reece was most impressed with the with the skillful flying and power of the machine.

What with a photographic one day course as my Xmas present from Sue, lunches, dinners and barbeques with friends, to seeing my favorite South African group, The Parletones at Kirstenbosch, it was a frenetic couple of months. We even managed to put in new floors in our Simon’s Town house and install a “boil in the bag” Jacuzzi as Sue calls it. 

My sailing friend of the past 30 years, Anthony Seiderer, has decided to join me for the next leg to the Caribbean via St Helena and Salvador in Brazil. How fortunate I am to have sailed with my good friend Roger from Australia to Cape Town and now have Anto for the next leg. It is very special to be able to fulfill a lifetime ambition with my brother Ted and two great friends.

Thank you Sue for your courage and support over the last year and into the next year. Without your encouragement I would not have been able to fulfill the dream.

We finally left Cape Town on Mon 13^th and sailed up the coast to Paternoster where we went ashore to meet up with Sue and our friend Suzi who runs the wonderful Gaaitjie restaurant on the beach there. Paternoster was another tick off the bucket list as a place we wanted Shaya Moya to sail into for years. Suzi is planning to join us on the leg from Portugal to Greece in June-July.

So after a hectic but wonderful two months at home we set sail from Paternoster on Tuesday 13^th  bound for St Helena 1650nm away in the South Atlantic ocean.  Au revoir South Africa.