34:54.00S 20:00.00E

 

Port Elizabeth to Cape Town is an extremely busy shipping route with as many as eight targets visible on the chart plotter at one time. After crossing the Pacific and Indian oceans, we were used to our oceans being empty. Now we were leaving the Indian Ocean for the Atlantic once again. We were pleased to have sailed the Indian ocean but none of us on board felt any desire to do it more than once!

 

With the colder weather, the duvets were pressed into use once again with most of the Ghost crew donning pyjamas for night time. They were actually quite comfortable under oilskins too.

The strategy for this particular passage was, ‘just get there’ so much of the distance was travelled motor sailing. The voyage was very pleasant with seals, penguins, dolphins and whales to entertain us en route. We motor sailed past Cape Agulhas, the most southern point on our second morning and motored past Cape of Good Hope on our last night in a flat sea and starry night. Reaching Cape Town has been a huge mile stone for the whole fleet so we were very excited to be so close. The prospect of over six weeks in one place without having to move was almost too good to be true. Two days and 13.5 hours after leaving Port Elizabeth we were tied to the dock in the V & A Marina in Cape Town with the magnificent back drop of Table Mountain. Such elation!