Windhorse Sailing

Things are looking good from here. We sailed her last night in 40 knot winds with 30 percent of the genoa headsail out. We reached a speed of 6.5 knots. Not too bad. And she was so steady, no rocking , she barely healed over. The reason we took her out was to transfer from the Elliot Basin down to the Royal Cape Yacht Cub in preparation for the haul out on Monday. A nice little sail and a much better address.

Preparing to set sail for our new location.

As we pulled into the marina, other cruisers at the guest docks came out to welcome us and catch our dock lines. As it turns out Francis knows some of them from the ocean academy, a couple of Americans, Josh and Ryan. They were just cooking up a pot of pasta and invited us to join. Then their friend, Piero comes up with a box of wine. ( Don’t be a snob, box wine travels better and the buzz is just as good). Things are pretty nice at the Royal Cape. A great dinner and early to bed. A lot of work still to do.

On our way to the Royal Cape Yacht Club.

The next morning I jumped up on deck to another sunny day. I started sanding the rails in preparation for priming and painting. After an hour or so Piero came looking for an extra hand for fixing his staysail furler. I felt like telling him to go jump, I’m busy, but in the colleagial spirit of cruising I went over to help. Good move.

Piero is an Italian, 68 years old in his third year of cicumnavigating. We fixed the furler and he invited me in for tea. His 53 foot wood hull is 14 feet wide. It was bigger than my New York apartment. It was like sitting in an oil tanker. The fore cabin has a motorcycle on one side and a wood shop on the other. He builds whatever he needs.

Piero in his boat, the Quo Vadis.

We sat down for tea and he started telling me about his trip. He showed me his route from Greece to the Straits of Magellan to Australia and to South Africa. Fascinating stories, all of them, and valuable commentary.

Back to my sanding.

Let me tell you a little about The Shangri-La. By class definition she is a 36-foot cutter sloop. But I have come to learn she is so much more than that. With her steel hull and sturdy rigging she is a tank. A vessel guaranteed to get you there. A pure cruiser, she won’t win any races, but she should win a battle. I am slowly learning why Dirk, her builder, loved her so. I am beginning to feel the same way.

Working on the mast.

The hull is four-millimeter thick steel throughout and 17 millimeter thick in the bow and the keel. The boat is very heavy, but well shaped. Her keel doesn’t fall directly into any one category. Keels are termed for their length in relation to the boat. Full, long, or fin (racing) keel. Shangri-La has something between a long and a fin keel. Made of lead it has the weight of a full keel, but shorter in length it creates less drag. Also helpful in diminishing drag is the chine of the boat. Chine is the curvature of the hull below the waterline. Shangri-La’s designer took the time and trouble to round the steel like a fiberglass race boat. This is rare for a steel boat as steel is harder to shape than fiberglass. And finally she has a sugar scoop transom. At the aft end a platform to stand on for fishing lengthens the boat at the waterline increasing its overall speed through the water. (Top speed= square root of waterline length x 1.34).

The rigging is made up of the boom, the mast and the shrouds (cables stabilizing the mast). In the case of Shangri-La they are all designed for a bigger boat, which allows us to carry greater sail to harness greater wind force and create greater speed. All this is needed as we weigh more than some bigger boats because of the steel hull. So while greater speed to us won’t break and records we cannot be considered slow. The larger rigging specifications also allow us to withstand greater winds that we may encounter in squalls or low-pressure systems. This is not to say that she cannot be over powered. The first rule of sailing it to reduce sail the moment you think it might be necessary. Good judgment will be the strongest part of our rigging. But it is good to know our rigging may allow us a larger margin of error.

When it comes to caring for a steel boat, it is simple. If you see rust - sand it, prime it, paint it; done. That’s what I’m hoping anyway. As I learn more I’ll elaborate on that.

So far, everyone who looks at her says, “she is a sturdy boat. No Mickey Mouse shit here,” they say. There is no doubt we have the right boat for our journey. What she lacks in style or speed, she makes up for in stability and design. Dirk likes to say she is “always out numbered, never out gunned.”

It’s week two and things are moving along. Francis is still in the Yachtmaster program seven days a week, but this week has stayed on Shangri-La at night. All day I round up workers for jobs we need help with such as welding and hauling the boat out for bottom painting. I also round up tools and supplies for the repairs we do ourselves such as plumbing, organizing and rigging. For these tasks Francis has been invaluable. He is able to teach me things every boat owner should know to care for and maintain his boat. All our major jobs are done and we will focus this next week on spare kits for the rigging, electronics, plumbing, paint, and the engine. Hopefully one or both of us will have time for some sight seeing. Regardless, things are getting done and a departure date of February 15th looks likely.

Francis taking a break from all the tasks he’s started.

Delegating the work has been a daunting experience. At 36 feet Shangri-La will be comfortable enough for three of us to live, but when everything is ripped apart, floor boards out and companionway stairs removed it is a tight space to have more than one job in motion at any one time. So far coordinating jobs has worked out well. I would prefer to do it all myself, but the learning curve is too steep at this point given the time we have allowed for departure. In time we will be at sea and doing all the work ourselves anyway. So, I am careful of what I wish for. Between the three of us, Steve, Francis and I, we will be able to handle anything eventually.

The only job that has presented any problem has been carpentry. We need a teak floor made for the cockpit. As it is now, we stand on what looks to be a plastic mat that you would see in a public bathroom. There is no place for such a thing on my yacht. More importantly it is very uncomfortable to stand on for any length of time. I called a carpenter, this Indian guy, who was recommended who said he was too busy, like I inconvenienced him. Then he showed up anyway. I told him we only need a rectangular plank made up that will let water drain through. He looked at me like I asked for a 50 foot shrine to Chrisha by tomorrow. He said he would return on Saturday. Well, he didn’t show and I don’t know if we are getting our floor. Stay tuned for that.

I look forward to Stevo getting here. Three is a good number. I think the odd number settles alot of decisions. There can’t be a tie vote and there is always someone to diffuse the argument between the other two. Let’s hope so. Francis and I get along well, which is why I knew we could do this trip, but we are different. He starts five jobs at once. I like to “organize and prioritize.” I start a job and finish it before I tackle the next. Francis has so many things going on at once. Crap everywhere, a little of that, a little of this, and back to that. It makes me crazy, but it works for him. He does get stuff done.

Last night I went to meet a friend Ed Griffin and his wife Katie at Ed’s sister’s home in Constancia, a beautiful suburb of Cape Town. When I left Francis was in the middle of cutting a rusted shackle off the anchor, installing a fan, taking apart the sander to see what was wrong with it, figuring out the wind vane hooking up to the tiller, and replacing the jib furling line. He didn’t want to come to dinner.

Me on the Shangri-la before heading to dinner

I met Ed in Darwin after a passage there from the Solomans. Ed had made the same trip a day ahead of us as captain of an amazing Swan 60. He is a native of SA and told me then he would be home for 1 month break in January. I’m glad I emailed him, because I had a great time. His sister and brother in law were great hosts and I don’t know if it was the booze talking, but I invited them out for a sail on my yacht. I guess I forgot the boom is off right now. I promise to fit that in to the plans. I look forward to having Ed on the boat if only for a day to share his experience on our equipment and planning. I’ll gladly humble myself to anyone who can help our cause and Francis can ask four hundred questions a minute, in every direction.

To that end I frequent the bar at the Royal Cape Yacht club. My man Derrick who worked on the engine hangs there with all his boys after work. He knows everybody, just like he said. I bring my days questions to them. If they don’t have the answer they know who does. I asked about charts and Derrick pulled over Tom Morgan who wrote the South African Ocean Almanac. Let’s put it this way - I have a well used account at that bar now.
However, as any sailor knows, you get in a room with other sailors and there are as many answers to your questions as there are sailors in the room. Some can agree, but the bottom line is everyone knows better and know one ever made a mistake. That happened to someone else. Regardless, you have fun and glean some info from all opinions no matter how badly they stink.

That after all is the purpose of this journey. We try to enjoy every step and every challenge and in the end we can’t help but learn something.

Schwartz - I rock all day, I rock all night. I’m the pitbull, Yah,Yah,yah, Alright!
Mom - Don’t Worry
Elvia - Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.
Justin - keep calling, BNP will never know.
Shamess - put down that beer.
Teddy - ask the international operater how to dial.

I haven’t been in Cape Town a week yet and already so much has been done. Out of worry I jumped right in on the tasks ahead. My sightseeing has been limited to rounding up supplies in various parts of the city. Jet lag has sapped my energy or at least confused it. I’m awake when I don’t want to be and I can’t keep my eyes open when I need to. The Elliot Basin where Shangri-la is birthed is far from town and any comfort sources.
Alone on the boat at night, wide awake, it’s hard not to be homesick and think maybe all this is too hard, too much.  But I’ve passed many a test before and the rewards are always so great.

Seals in Elliot Basin near Shangri-la

This week I have joined the close group of sailors and technicians at the Royal Cape Yacht Club who have begun helping me pull all this together. The engineer, who lives on his yacht nearby, is helping with a few jobs and has introduced me to the carpenter. Francis set up the electrician who has installed a stereo, upgraded our power sources, and is teaching me much in the process. He then introduced me to the rigger working on the yacht next door. I have rented a car and driven to every corner of the city on all their recommendations to find the best equipment. In four days I have covered a lot of ground. Bottom line - the work is getting done. 

Francis met me at the airport on Tuesday night. It had been a long flight and anxiety wouldn’t let me sleep.  I hadn’t seen him since Fiji in August, he looked the same. I think he was wearing the same threadbare t-shirt. Though, there was a jump in his step.  I felt an excitement about the trip that I had lost in all the preparations at home. We took a cab to the Shangri-La where we talked and organized a plan of action till 2am. I was overwhelmed by what needed to be done. We bought a boat that is “ready to go", but that is a relative term. As for Francis, he had to be ready to go at 6am back to Saldhana an hour and half north for his navigation course as part of the Ocean Sailing Academy Yacht master program.  At 6 I was already awake and said goodbye until next Tuesday. I would attack our plan as agreed.

Wednesday, my first day, I took it easy making a few phone calls to connections Francis had made.  One was the electrician William Mabe who had been recommended by the owner of a super yacht doing a refit. William has done complete electrical systems for much larger vessels.  He is accustomed to much larger jobs, but is in between jobs and has decided to see if he could help us. He agreed to show up Thursday at 10am and we are lucky to have use of his talents. The next call was to engineer Derek Graham. To my surprise he said he would be by in a few minutes, and he was. We discussed some things we thought the engine needed and he agreed with some ideas and disagreed with others and in the end it looks a lot less expensive a job to me. He’ll have the job done on Monday and another job done the day we haul the boat out to paint the Hull. “What else do you need, I know everybody. A carpenter; meet me at the Royal Cape Yacht Club tonight. Marchal is your man.”

Well, I had to call and cancel so I could meet with Dirk Kotze and his wife Nicky, the former owners of Shangri-La.  It was good to see the way Dirk looked at Shangri-La. He still loves her. He showed me a couple quick design points such as the rounded edges everywhere for minimal toe stubbing. And the water outlets that don’t go through the boat, they will never foul or plug. He talked about the magic he felt on the boat. Alright enough, but I got to say, as guy going on a voyage I like hearing this shit. I declined an invitation to their weekend house (until next weekend), but we made plans to get together and discuss the boat in detail next week. I went to bed at 8:30pm.

View of Table Mountain from Shangri-La

On Thursday Derek called with the number for his carpenter friend who said he would come on Monday. At 10am sharp William showed up.  We discussed what needed to be done. The stereo needed to be replaced with one I bought and a 12 volt outlet for the ipod needed to be set up. He finished that in 30 minutes and started on the mast and deck antennas for the sat phone, vhf radio, and ssb radio.  By Tuesday he will be done with the job that includes diagrams, maintenance schedule and electronics 101 for me. Then Derek showed up for some measurements.  He found a leak on the chlorifier behind the engine, which I knew about thanks to Francis, but hadn’t gotten to. He gave me a guy to call about it.  Then he started talking to William, and because they know people in common, Derek will recommend him for a big job coming up. So far it doesn’t seem like just talk with these guys. 

Friday, William is back at 8am rewiring the water maker, and installing the new wind generator with me.  Things are moving along and I feel oriented. No routine yet, but I am settling in. I do know that I like the people and I look forward to meeting more and learning about what makes Cape Town tick.  William worked till 4pm, but as Derek promised the Cape shuts down early on Fridays. He finished his day at noon, “none of that American work til you die rubbish.”  Kudos to Cape Town. In that spirit I went Panama Jacks for beers. “Close the hatch when you leave, William, thanks.”

Panama Jacks is a popular seafood restaurant right here at the Elliot basin. It is the only thing around. It fills up, but with an older crowd. Perhaps I’ll make myself a regular at the Royal Cape Yacht Club a mile up the road. There is quite a bit I could learn from the salty dogs that hang out there. But for the weekend I will spend my time looking for a place to watch NFL playoffs. There is a sports bar at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront.

The Clock Tower at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront.

I’ll see if they don’t close too early for me to be able to watch the whole game. Perhaps I will check into a hotel. There is no need to be without ESPN during playoffs.

In a short while I have learned so much and I am feeling good about things here.  The people have been warm and helpful and the sun is shining.  I look forward to the characters we will meet and the challenges we will embrace in the coming weeks. If we do things properly now, the voyage will be a cruise.
 

Shangri-la from above.

Cait and Neil - Email if I should contact your friends here.  Neil I promise to work on my writing. I’m a bit stretched right now.

Doc - close one for the Steelers. You must be unbearable right now.

Bart and Lily - thank you, thank you, thank you.

Roe - I used the sat phone for this email. Good stuff.

Justin - wine is too expensive to ship, but quite affordable to drink. It will take up a lot of spare time.

Red - What else you got?

HL - Shangri –La is a tank and quite comfortable inside. Ask any questions you want, I can answer now.

Though I have thought of this trip and variations of it for quite some time,
the actual green light for it did not appear until just three months ago.
This is not a lot of time considering what needs to get done. The hard
part is finding a beginning with so many questions yet unanswered. I
focused most of my time on safety and communications hoping that the rest
would take care of itself.

Safety and communication rely heavily on technology - not my strong suit.
With the help of Chris Roe and Elvia Garcia I was able to choose wisely and
implement correctly. That is not to say that things went smoothly. The
hardware resulted in a logistical circus with so many calls to Federal
Express and trips to Radio Shack that I should receive a dividend like a
shareholder.

I leave for South Africa tomorrow knowing that I have left my personal
affairs in order. But as any one would be I am nervous that I left
something undone. I am truly confident that my crew and I will have
state of the art safety equipment from personal EPIRBs to all encompassing
expedition insurance, and everything in between. Our communication equipment
will allow us to check weather and wave heights ahead as well as emails and
calls home on Sunday nights.

Francis has been working on the boat in South Africa with former owner Dirk
Koetze. When I arrive I will join them in preparing the boat for our
transatlantic passage to Argentina. Toward the end of January, Steve
Jacobson will join us and as a trained chef will take charge of provisioning
our galley.

There has been a lot of hard work to get to this point and there remains
quite a few jobs ahead of us before we depart. We have followed many guides
written by those who have gone before us, but to get to this point, I know
that good fortune has played a role. Indeed, I think it is more than good
fortune, but I can not claim that a sailing expedition is divinely inspired.
Although, it does make me think about the people that we may
be able to effect along our way.

So, to all our families and those who take interest in our voyage, thank you
for all your support. Please know that we will take care to be prudent and
generous in our endeavor.

Soon you’ll be able to read exciting posts from the crew.

Some will be posted directly from the boat on open water!