Cape Town!
We finally made it in to Cape Town! We were greeted by the other boats and some Stormhoek champagne to cheers our arrival. It was an absolutely gorgeous day when we came in. As we arrived in port, the marina looked much like what I would imagine New Orleans to look like even though I've never been. After the quick celebrations and info gathering, we were whisked away to immagration in a tourist bus so we could be cleared to leave the docks. Again, we started another round of 'Eer-lie in the morning' on the way over announcing our arrival. Once we were cleared, we were given the evening off to shower and meet for dinner.
Celebrating our arrival into Cape Town
We made our way to a hotel for the night since the house that was booked was not available until the following night. What a glorious treat having a hotel shower after not showering for 3 weeks! So amazing!! We made our way to the local scene on the waterfront to have some beverages and land food with the whole crew. It was nice to relax for the night and not start the deep clean right away. There were signs for karaoke, but by the time we left the restaurant it had shut down for the night...probably a good thing.
Our first dinner after our voyage
It was back to the boat for an early 8:30 start. I went straight to the sail tent with Karri, Jesse, and Tiffany since we had a tight time schedule to keep in order to get our sails ready to send off to the loft by Monday morning. Once in the sail tent, we camped out in the back and laid out code 2 to get a full assessment of the damage. The kite was ripped completely from head to clew, the head had been ripped apart in two pieces, layers of the kite were coming apart, and there were tears in various places across the kite. Martin, the sail god from Hyde Sails, gave us the low down of what we needed to do to get the kite ready to send off. It seemed like an endless job, but we were ready to pull late nights to get it done in time. For our task, we had to pin each section down individually and then piece the two panels back together with sail tape going down one side of the kite and then with a new layer of sail fabric and surrounding tape on the opposite side. Once that is completed, we have to stitch the ends of the new fabric in place on both sides of the kite. It took us an entire day just to get the tape and new fabric down. Around 8 pm, the rest of our house crew came by to steal us away for a bite to eat at one of the local restaurants. We were at a good stopping place, so called it quits for the night and went and enjoyed some local cuisine.
My favorite tool, the hot knife! Totally buying one of these when I get home!
Karri on the sewing machine
Karri added a nice note to our mothers...my mom will love this one!
What a freaking feast we had! I somehow ended up at the table with the biggest eaters...maybe because I am one myself, but we ended up ordering a starter each, which consisted of oysters, salad, and a sampling of crocodile, ostrich, and some other kind of local wild meat carpaccio. Then we got a shared seafood platter and a meat platter and another main course. And, of course, we had some champagne to start, followed by the most amazing sauvignon blanc! After that, we made it back to the house Tino had booked, where he, Patsy, Karri, Jan, Leo, and myself were sharing. Such an awesome place and nice and spacious for us all to get some space from each other.
Cheers!
Raw meat appetizer
Oysters!
Fresh veggies!
Seafood platter...
...nom, nom, nom!
Meat platter
The next day, was back to the sail tent for another earlier start so we could get all our repairs done in time. While Karri worked on stitching the big rip, I worked with Martin on fixing the major damage on the clew and head. It was a work of art in the end watching the head come back together! I am still quite amazed at how Martin salvaged it. Sunday also happened to be the prize giving ceremony, so we departed from our tasks for a quick break and headed over to the lookout on the other side of the waterfront which was hoisted by Stormhoek. It was quite a nice little venue and my favorite part were the oyster men walking around with fresh oysters...seriously the best oysters I have ever had! After the winners were announced, Karri and I snuck back to the sail tent to finish our work but not before sneaking some hamburgers from the food trucks who were not scheduled to start serving food until later. We pulled a late night, but we got a lot of work done. Karri finished all the stitching on code 2 and I learned how to use the sewing beast fixing up the small repairs we had on code 3 from wrapping it around the forestay. By around 3 am, we were done and finally able to go back and get some rest. We missed out on the crew party but I think it was well worth it to get our work done and have more free time later in the week.
Sidenote, keep a lookout for the creepy guards that sneak up on you in the sail tent late at night, not saying a word and starring at you working...scared the shit out of Karri and I!
The venue
Jesse being Jesse
So excited for Oysters!
Back to work on the sails for the night
Monday morning, it was back to the sail tent to meet with the sail loft guys and get an estimate of repair costs. After that, I finished my work on code 3 and had the afternoon off! I made my way over to the massive mall that lives on the waterfront and bought my first pair of crocs! A must needed investment for the boat. By that time, most of the boat cleaning and maintenance was done as well, so Jan and Leo were free as well and we all decided to hit up Table Mountain. After a quick stop at our place to drop off knick knacks, the five of us, Jesse, Karri, Jan, Leo, and myself took a cab up to the bottom of Table Mountain. We decided to do the 3 hour hike since we never get to walk much on the boat. It was an incredibly strenuous hike up to the top after not really having any cardio exercise for 2 months! But Jan kept us going by enticing us with dried mango and Jesse was on his A game entertaining us the entire way up, referring to each of us as a boat from the Clipper fleet as we passed one another. At one point, Karri and I couldn't go on because we were buckled over laughing so hard! However, we finally made it to the top, even after Jesse was sure that he was "going to die today" and realized at the top that, "well I did not die." If only I could play a recording of his strong Finnish accent to make it even better. It was a great hike in the end with amazing views on top! After our exhausting hike, we had a nice meal in and caught up with loved ones from home.
Crocs!
Tabletop Mountain hike
LMAX in the lead!
Leo photo bombing per usual
View from the top
Karri and I
The next day, Karri and I had a day off and we were determined to find a spa to go to and get pampered! After fruitless efforts of searching online, I finally just asked the house cleaners if they knew of a place and they told us the shopping areas a couple blocks from our house had one. So we made our way over and got our appointments booked! We walked through the shopping center and found an awesome store called Drifters that basically had everything we needed and didn't need but wanted for the boat, so we stocked up on some goodies, had some food, picked up some wine for our evening dinner and then went our separate ways for our spa treatments. It was a great relaxing day! That night, we were planning to have some of the crew over to eat but it ended up just being our house again, but Tino went all out and bought the mother load of all kinds of meats; chicken, steak, ostrich, squid, crayfish, and shrimp. We had a smorgishborgue of food that night with good wine! Karri and I were ready to enjoy the evening after our night off and joined Patsy at the DJ party all Clipper crew were invited to that night while the boys stayed home. It was a great, fun, long evening! Perhaps a bit too late for my next day's activities!
The next morning, Leo knocks on my door at around 7:15 maybe? asking if I was ready to go...it was SHARK DIVING DAY! I quickly got dressed in about 5 minutes since we were scheduled to be picked up at 7:30, but the driver came early and I just had to throw stuff together quickly. I actually managed to make it this time! So Tino, Leo, and I set off on our epic journey! Luckily, the diving spot is two and half hours away, so I got a good snooze in on the way over. We had a quick stop to pick up some coffee and treats before making it to our final destination. Once we arrived, we had some breakfast, a briefing, then waited another hour before finally making it on the boat. I was very skeptical that we would actually get to see any sharks so I was happily surprised when one came up within minutes of us anchoring off! I squealed with excitement and said I was ready to go in! After another briefing, we were part of the first group to get in the cage thanks to my eagerness after seeing the first shark. We put on wet suits, weight belts, and dive masks and made our way into the frigid water. It wasn't long before a few sharks starting coming up! So cool! We got a few glimpses and then it was the next round of people. With the second or third round, the lot inside the cage got a great experience with one of the sharks thrashing against the cage going after the bait! I was full of squeals of excitement and fear that the people in the cage were going to get eaten alive! But I still went back in for round 2 hoping to get a similar experience! Although the view from on top of the boat is almost better than the cage at times if the water isn't clear enough. Round 2 was even better and we had a few sharks nibbling at the bait in front of us...so an awesome experience!
After that I was freezing and ready to get back into my dry clothes, not to mention that Leo and Tino were in top form and I needed to quickly find the bathroom before peeing into my wetsuit from laughing so hard, which was strongly advised against from the dive instructors. The boat heads were luxurious compared to our heads on the boat. The toilets had electric flushes! I was very confused how to use it at first because the sign just said to press the button which I did and nothing happened, but then I tried again holding it down and it actually worked like a normal toilet! How amazing! I was quite impressed...the little things in life!
After our dive, we met up with Karri and Jan in Camps Bay to enjoy the scenery and some drinks. We then moved next door for dinner where Jesse and Ana met up with us after their wine tasting tour. We enjoyed several bottles of wine and massive quantities of food per usual and then made our way back home. Another amazing day in Cape Town complete!
Camps Bay
Thursday, Leo scheduled a wine tasting tour for our household to go on. So at 7:30 sharp, these people are very punctual in Cape Town, our guide Marlene had shown up and was ready to whisk us away. We opted for a half sight seeing/wine tasting tour, so we headed out to the Cape of Good Hope to see the penguins and the light house first. Marlene was the best tour guide ever! She fit in just perfectly with our lot! She was the same tour guide that Ana and Jesse had the day before and nailed Jesse's accent...it was amazing! On our way out, we passed by several beaches, one of which Marlene pointed out the shark spotter lookout. There is a person who sits on top of the cliff and looks out for sharks! They have different colored flags depending on the visibility they have, so if a black flag is flying that means they have poor visibility, etc. So I found my new calling in life to be a shark spotter in Cape Town! I would just need to get laser eye surgery first since my vision is currently lacking the required skills...minor detail.
We continued on our journey to see the penguins with Marlene continuing to entertain us along the way. Penguins were cute and then it was back in the van to the lighthouse. Once we got to the sign, Marlene made us run to the queue forming in front of the sign before the two big tourist buses unloaded who pulled up right before us. However, the tourists didn't understand what a line was and just photo bombed everyone's picture instead. So we have some lovely photos with random Dutch people in them. Then we hiked up to the lighthouse to enjoy the views and take some photos and then it was down to lunch next to the lighthouse. The food at the restaurant was surprisingly good for being in a tourist area. The only awful part was that we were surrounded by flies who kept sticking to our drinks. At least we were given plates to cover our wine glasses with!
Penguin beach
Karri listening in to the school guide with the kids
So excited to learn about penguins!
Trying to crop out the Dutch folks
We love each other!
London to Rio to the Netherlands eventually!
Because we can't get enough views of the sea
After lunch, it was time to start the wine tasting! We made it to two different wineries, the first more modern and the second more rustic and definitely more preferable. After wine tasting it was back to our place for some quick R&R and then back to the waterfront for one last dinner with the entire crew from Leg 2 and 3 before everyone parted their separate ways.
Cheers!
We love Marlene!
Tablecloth on Table Mountain
Friday was our last day before the start of Leg 3. I still had plenty of laundry to do since our washers were preoccupied cleaning all the crew's foulies throughout the week. We did laundry all morning and packed up for Leg 3. Then it was back to the waterfront for our Leg 3 official briefing. We managed to stop in the mall for a few last minute items as well, where I finally found a random Hallmark type store that had Halloween costumes! By Halloween costumes, I mean they had one option, that being a butterfly for a five year old child. Thank goodness for my small stature! I was on a hunt all week in Cape Town for a costume since leg 3 started on Halloween, but came up with all dead ends. So you can imagine my delight when I finally found this little gem last minute to celebrate one of my favorite holidays! After our crew briefing, we had one last meal at our place to try and finish all the food and wine we had bought earlier in the week. We had a nice relaxing evening and made our last minute personal calls before calling it a night.
Halloween!!!! Saturday, we were due to be back on the boats by 0800 so we could catch the tourist bus back to immigration. Once we were through immigration and had our official photos taken, I was free to put my costume on! It just so happened that the green in the costume matched perfectly with our Visit Seattle gear! I got lots of weird looks, but several people quite enjoyed the outfit! I mean, I couldn't not get dressed up on Halloween! I even got a complement on my outfit from Sir Robin Knox himself! The day went by quickly and before we knew it, the race had started! We all put our foulies on in preparation for a wet start similar to leg 2. Luckily, my costume still fit over my foulies...best find ever! After hitting a few markers around the area, it was off to Albany, or so we thought...
Waterfront Marina with the boats
Leg 3 Crew waiting for immigration bus
My butterfly costume for the day!
Bye, bye Cape Town...I'll be back!
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