2 weeks to go

We have water!!!!  Our desalinator officially produced its first liter of H2O so we are all extremely excited.  Doesnt taste quite the same as the good H20 coming out of the tap at home, but looks like water, smells like water, and tastes very similar to water so we are just going to claim it as water.

We also have a Sat Phone which works, together with a weather routing system.  After many days of frustration, we managed to set the whole thing up, so now we have weather routing, calls and email all ready to go.  Yes please!  The hard part still involves connecting this now to the boats own instruments, a feat which will take place on Tuesday.  Hold thumbs.  

Racing in Aus is going well so far.  Rick and Ryan had a superb day yesterday leading the fleet in one of the races until they had a mini-collission with a shark.  Ask no more.  They ended up finishing fourth in that race, which is still a great result.  Michaela Mae has not been too well, so she was booked off racing yesterday.  Holding thumbs she is fully recovered by tomorrow.

Cape Town is blowing a hooly for close on the sixth day in a row.  As a result, I have chosen to cancel the trip to Underberg for New Years, and hopefully get in some good sailing this weekend.  That is provided this silly South Easter will subside at some point.  

Anyhow, we are exactly 51 minutes from market closing and 51 minutes from me leaving this desk.  

Have a wonderful New Years....      

Three weeks to go

Ciao Bella has been given a true Hollywood-style mooring, right in front of the main veranda at Royal Cape.  The mast was put up on Christmas eve, and boasts a new set of halyards so looking very slick at this point.  Christmas (much to Mum's disgust) took a backseat to a degree as the cleaning of bilges, and boat electrics took priority.  But, the engine prep is now pretty much complete and awaits the final service from the Yamaha guys.

Boat prep in Aus has been much more successful.  "African Express" was a mere 300g overweight, much to Michaela Mae's delight.  The racing begins today in Australia.  All very excited.  

As we look at the week ahead, the things that still need to be done include:

-  Final food and provisions shop

-  Replace the stantions that were damaged in transit

-  Navigational issues and setup

-  Connecting up water maker  

*  Mooring - Parking spot

*  Halyards - Ropes to pull sails up and down the mast

*  Bilges - Water drainage compartments under engine 

*  Stantions - Protective wiring down side of boat  

Four weeks to go

Ciao Bella has finally made it into the waters of Table Bay.  While the mast is still having work done on it, the bottom has been smoothed (thanks to cheap child-labour) and sprayed (thanks to the work of Hecky).

With four of the team-members safely on their way to Australia (to partake in the Mirror World Champs), the rest of us are all now down in Cape Town and will try get the last of the maintenance issues dealt with.  It definitely does not help that most shops/businesses are closed for the next four days, but hopefully this will be a good excuse for a couple of good sails to take place over the next few days.

Pictures of the arrival in Cape Town and the bottom smoothing ......

Ciao Bella arrives at Royal Cape Yacht Club (note Table Mountain in the background).....

 

and gets lifted off the trailer,

under the watchful eye of the man with the moustache under the umbrella.....



and then the team gets to work on the serious business of making her bottom smooth!!

That's Brennan (not Bradley as reported earlier) in the T shirt - Bradley was obviously holding the camera.....I hope the Blogmaster doesn't remove this because of Ricky's porn shorts!!

Easily the most highly qualified (but by far the cheapest) labour in Cape Town.....

The next pictures should be of the finished bottom, with the rudder in place, being put into the water. 

December progress

Today marks just under a month from the race day. 

Ciao Bella is safely in the yard at Royal Cape Yacht Club, having some maintenance performed.  Even with Bradley and Brennan overseeing the maintenance, Slaap Stad has lived true to its word with some of the contractors having very little sense of time constraints and urgency.  That aside, hopefully the mast inspection, rudder repairs, and anti-fouling will be done by this weekend.  The RCYC crane being out of order has not helped, with the boat now only being scheduled to go into the water next Monday.

Bradley, Ricky and Brennan are currently sailing Table Bay Week.  Ricky is helming "Gumption", Brad is doing foredeck on "Squirt" and I'm not sure what Bren is sailing on.  Altogether looks like it is going quite well.  This is post a very successful Intervarsity regatta at Theewaterskloof the week before, where the boys took silver. 

Michaela Mae and Ryan are sailing Junior Nationals at the Vaal Dam.  The sailing is going ok despite the monsoon weather conditions that they have been experiencing.  With there being nothing worse than putting on a wet wetsuit in the cold, the weather has ended up with many mornings being spent with little Michaela trying to put on a wetsuit under a warm shower with Ricky waiting patiently outside holding all her kit. 

Next Tuesday sees Ricky, Ryan, Michaela and Brennan flying off to Aus.  They are sailing World Champs in Albany (somewhere in the south) in early Jan, so are hoping to get the boats unloaded off the container and some training in before the time.  They fly back on the 14th Jan. 

The rest of us will be down in CT from half-way through next week.  Hopefully the boat will be in the water and we can move to finishing off certain things around the navigation and electronics, safety equipment, meal plans and other stuff that needs to be seen to. 

Have a good weekend,
Love Kax

 

Michaela describes the interior....

 I thought I would tell you what CIAO BELLA was like inside

1)FOREPEAK: In the forepeak I cannot explain how nice and comfortable it is  but sadly I am not sleeping there.

2)BATHROOM: The bathroom is the most amazing place on the boat I think, because there is a toilet so I do not have to bucket and chuckit,there is also a basin in the bathroom and a shower.

3)WETLOCKER: I think the wetlocker is an excellent idea,because you put all of your wet things there so the whole boat will not get wet.

4 )SALOON: I think the saloon is quite small to have 4 beds,a chart table,a oven,a stove,and a sink.

5)INBOARD MOTOR: The inboard motor I like a lot,because it is not under the stair case it is in the middle of the saloon and makes a loud noise.

6)FRIDGE: The fridge is not in the middle of no-where it is in the stair case.

7)COCKPIT: The cockpit is the biggest place of the boat I believe,because it can fit my mom,dad,ryan and myself.

8)LASERETTE: The laserette is a hole under one of the chairs in the cockpit where you can also store things.

9)And that is the inside of CIAO BELLA!

Preparation for the race.

Some of the crew prepared like this:



While others prepared like this:

hmmmm?



A Quiet Sunday Sail

Mom had taken one look at the wind and said “You’re not getting me out there. That must be at least 25 knots there.”

Michaela  also looked at the wind and did not give it a second thought. Her mind was made up. She was staying with Mom. And just as we left the harbour I thought to myself what was I getting into, but I couldn’t go back now.

We were going to take Ciao Bella for a sail, so we could get used to her for the Rio race. What seemed like a nice enjoyfull relaxing sail turned out to be a nailbiting thrill ride.

With just Bren, Dad, me(of course) and  Brennan’s friends Jaimie Barker, Sebastian and Robyn we were a fairly inexperienced crew if you ask me. I did not know how we managed - but we did in the end.

We started our sail with a very windy beat. We were going about 9 knots and having fun. The reefed main was a good idea, and the number 3 jib was great.

 I was just there to move my weight around the other people were doing all the work. We were beating all the way until past Stilbaai which did not take long at all. Then we tacked across to the end of North Bay.

Then Dad decided to put up the spinaker  for the run! Bren took the bag out and after much dilly dallying we got it flying, and we just took off!  By this time I was scared out of my head, but was not going to tell anyone.

And not only was the bag flying but we were too. It was not long until we thought we had to gybe because we were heading for a point of land. I was dreading this moment the whole run and finally we had to face it! And then just as we were preparing, we got a push, and we could make it past the point. In all my life I have never been so happy for a wind shift.

But the problems hadn’t ended with Brennan and Jaimie flying the bag, Dad skippering and us others holding on for dear life, I saw a huge gust coming from behind us. I was standing behind Dad, and one by one they all came to stand behind him, even Brennan, to try and keep the nose out of the water. Someone told Dad afterwards that they had measured 42 knots of wind at Mantens.

And before I knew it, it had hit the boat. The nose was digging in and there was water coming over the deck. Just before something broke, Brennan let go of the sheet and we broached.

Because the spinnaker was loose, the broach was quite gentle, and Brennan and his friends soon got the boat tidied up.

After what had happened, getting back was like a walk in the park, with us all sitting on the rail talking about how great that was.

And that was our Quiet Sunday sail.

Ryan.

November in perspective

Let’s get this straight – when there is nothing left to say – I normally say F**K!

Robtek is not a quiet business – in fact chaotic is an understatement of enormous proportions.

Everything done so far has happened with Robtek hurtling on like a locomotive on a downhill, Kax in the UK trying to be a financial whiz, Gill trying to get the last of the reports out, Ricky trying to get his architectural house sufficiently in order to finally pass something serious at Wits, Brennan in Durban finishing off the practical work he should have done years ago, instead of sailing, Bradley desperately trying to ward off the spectre of a sup in his first year and Ryan and Michaela trying to play their way through the entire universal library of computer games.

Ciao Bella came out at Mantens exactly a week behind schedule – but that was cool, because it gave us a chance to do a couple more shake down sails – and with each sail, we felt more and more confidant that Mark had lent us an absolutely fabulous boat. Dirk Manten did a whole lot of the maintenance that was needed, and gave us the boat back in almost pristine condition.

Manuel Mendes (That’s Manuel with an ‘e’, as opposed to the one with an ‘a’, which refers to the gearbox of a car) has been tasked with the repair of the rudder. This means that once the boat arrives in the Cape, it will not go into the water immediately, but will need to have the repaired rudder fitted first.  We needed to replace the rudder bearings, but, believe it or not, Harken don’t make these any more. F**K!

And Trevor Spilhaus is going to service the mast, and get it all set up and safe. We have found a crack on the boom – so it’s not just a “routine service”.

So there is a lot to be done in Cape Town…..

And with time running out, Derek was finishing off the modifications to one of our trailers to make it suitable to transport the boat, while trying to get the revenue producing work done at the same time. The permits were arranged, based on measurements that I had done……(you can guess where this is going – I am sure – I hate humble pie!)

Loading was set for Friday, but the trailer was not done in time, so we got Dickie Manten away from his Sunday lunch, and the boat was on the trailer and tied down by early Sunday afternoon. We dropped a tape from the pulpit to the ground – just as a final check, and found that the load was 360mm higher than the permits allowed for!

F**K!

We contacted our permit organizing lady, and she said we needed to revise the permits, and with the revised permits came a revised route, and a whole day’s delay.

Right now, as I am typing this, Bradley in the company of Kirk (as co-escourt) and the driver Danny Boy are approaching Bloemfontein, having travelled the whole day at 60 km/h.

Tomorrow morning, they have to wait until 09h00 to be escourted through Bloemfontein by the Traffic Police, and then they are on their way again.

Interesting thing – Gina and her sister needed a lift down to the inter varsity regatta at Theewaterskloof, and are travelling with Bradley. At Brad’s 18^th birthday, (you may recall if you were there) we arranged for him to be kissed by an older woman (turned out to be Gina).

Should anything be read into this? And anyway, what do you call the escourt’s escourt?

M

30.11.2010   

The preparation begins

The main boxed could officially be ticked off, but certain items still had to be addressed.  These included:
i)  Whether Ryan and Michaela (aged 13 and 10 respectively) were old enough to race;
ii)  The IRC Handicap certificate of the boat had to be sorted out;
iii)  The relevant qualifications of the crew (specifically the skippers and their ocean going miles) had to be approved; and
iv)  The returning of the boat to Cape Town post the race.
 
The above issues (with the exception of point iv) having been dealt marked the beginning of the large preparation process.

Dad, moved to adapt one of his job-planning charts to a race-planning chart, and we were off.  My inbox also increased with an average of 13 emails a day as Dad moved to including us all, Ryan and Michaela included, on every email and document that had anything to do with the race.  (I did not know that my dad knew how to send email, nevermind use the "reply-to-all" button.)

The list was as follows:   

1.      Project plan and programme

2.      Budget

3.      Finalization of charter                                                                                M

4.      Entry form and formalities

a.      Ships papers and consent for use

b.      Transfer responsibility of owner (ref NOR) to MRR

c.      Review and update IRC certification

                  d.      Acceptance or review of skipper qualifications

e.      Payment of entry fees

f.        Confirmation of acceptance of entry and of compliance

g.      Formalize return shipping arrangements

h.      Maintain contact with race headquaters

5.      Ciao Bella inventory and inspection

a.      Rudder                       

b.      Engine                  

c.      Batteries                                                                                             

e.      Sails

                   i.        Hull and associated         

j.         Fuel and gas

6.      Safety compliance

7.      Emergency equipment

a.      Ships EPIRB

b.      Life raft

                  c.      Grab bag

d.      Personal EPIRBs

8.      Communications

a.      Review the provisions of RRS41 – See NOR Sched 1 Par 3

b.      Satellite phone

c.      SSB Radio – Radio Licence

9.      Race strategy and weather routing

a.      Mark Hammick’s weather routing stuff

10. Boat transport

a.      Trace cradle

b.      Establish load dimensions

c.      Permit requirements

d.      Transport to Cape Town

e.      Launching in Cape Town

f.        Quotation for shipping

g.      Customs, clearances and formalities

h.      Contact John Martin direct – per Crockett

i.        Finalize return arrangements

j.         Ship cradle to Rio

k.      Loading in Rio

l.         Customs and formalities

11. Travel documentation

a.      Passports

b.      Visas

c.      Air tickets

d.      Travel insurance

12. Provisioning

a.      Water

                   b.      Food

                   c.      Medical supplies

13. Electrical systems and Instruments

a.      Check functionality

b.      Manuals

c.      Additional GPS

14. Boat organization and packing

15. Sail testing and Basic maneuver practice

16. Operational organization and roles

17. Post race inventory and refurbishment

18. Hand over Ciao Bella

And that was what landed in my inbox on 29th September 2010.  And that same date marked the beginning of the preparation process.

The journey begins

Before we delve into the details of our adventure, it is probably fair to give some background as to how the adventure has come about. 

Post Dad blowing his cash flow on four tickets to Australia for the kids to sail in the Mirror World Championships in Albany in early January 2011, Brennan kindly pointed out that their tickets were scheduled to return on 14th January.  Exactly a day before the start of the Rio race.  So lazing around on the vaal on some idle Sunday afternoon, the famous sentence started like this:  How cool would it be if...

And the rest is history.

With the idea merely still pie in the sky, we moved to looking at the possibility of a getting hold of a boat.  While Three Wishes (our 33ft trimaran that is moored on the vaal) was an option, the chance to do the race on a racer was that much more appealing.  The deal was sealed as Mark Hammick kindly lent us his 35ft Simonis design yacht - Ciao Bella.        

We have since spent many a fun Saturday and Sunday on Ciao Bella since.  A beautiful boat which I hope is going to love the trip as much as we are going to enjoy sailing the trip on her. 

After the first seed was planted on that lazy Sunday afternoon, to today as we load Ciao Bella onto the truck for her trip down to Cape Town, much has happened.  I hope to share some of the bits and pieces that have happened in the past three months, and as we move along share more pieces of the adventure with you.