Home sweet Home!

Ladies and gentlemen,

A simple mathematical equation sums it up:  percale duvet + sealy posturepeadic matteress = Pure heaven.

The crew (minus one) of the good ship Ciao Bella have left the land of caparinhas and are safely back in their own beds.  I think we could safely say that everyone had a complete blast - a great way to end a great race.  The only complaint raised was received was the false advertisement surrounding Ipanema's bikini babes.  Apparently while the size of the bikini on the postcard is correct, the size of the average bikini wearer is very much distorted.  I ask no questions. 

Ricky will be sailing the boat back with little Guff, Paco and Johan.  The rules have been adjusted to Speedos now being compulsory, as well as dragging a lure.  After mass-admin surrounding the repair of motors, they should set off later this weekend.  Holding thumbs.       

Please find invitation below for a little get-together that we will be having in the mining metropolis of Carletonville.   Everyone is invited, so please do spread the word.   We would especially like to invite our  'yet-to-be-met' followers.  Passports are no longer compulsory. 

There will be snacks provided but you will need to bring your own drinks.  Even with our top-class provisioning skills we will need to know if you will be joining us so that we can make sure we dont have to deal out the left-over tuna and rice-cakes.  RSVP by email is preferred.  We know everyone cant make it, but we have the little presentation/slide-show guy that we can send to you.  If you forward through your postal addresses we will make sure a copy gets delivered. 

So 6 March, in the car, head west.       

Best wishes,

Team Ciao Bella

PS - We regret that given the conservative nature of our town, that no speedo attire will be allowed. 

   

Hello Rio de Janeiro!

Ladies and gentlemen,

The good ship Ciao Bella crossed the finish line on 4 February at 19h13.  This qualified her for second place in the Cape to Rio 2011.  The last bit of the trip from Carb Frio had 12knots from behind and had us finish our transatlantic crossing with a a stunning South American sunset as a backdrop.  A great ending to a fantastic adventure. 

After docking and some press interveiws, the team headed straight to the restaurant (albeit with very wobbly legs) and smashed a couple of burgers and chips without blinking an eye.  Since then there have been many a hour spent on the beach, and many a caparinha having been consumed. 

The hard part isnt over and there are many things that need to be repaired before Ricky heads home with the boat.  Those include the motor needing to be repaired, the gas needing to be refilled and provisioning needing to be done.  And trying to do this with portugese of the same level as Ryan's afrikaans is testing to say the least. 

But, the sun is up and the beach is calling.  Thank you for all the fantastic emails and messages... all made our little adventure so much more fun.

Your speedo torpedo signing out...

Team Ciao Bella

 

      

The last word

With Cabo Frio on the starboard beam and the finish only 50 miles away, all the cards are on the table and the hands of the wind gods.

This was never going to be an easy enterprise. Not only were the logistics astounding and the physical act of crossing an ocean under wind-power only a challenge, there was also the interpersonal component of newly adult children in close confines with ageing parents and pre-adolescent siblings.

The potential final position (will it be second?) is very gratifying. But the way that our children and Bradley have contributed to the success of this venture is the real prize for us.

Kax took care of the logistics and communications with amazing efficiency. The quality of the vittles and the distribution thereof matched her new found skill at navigating and weather-routing. And the way should took care of communications was phenomenal.

To watch Ricky on the helm is awe-inspiring. He has an ability to make this little boat sing in the lightest of breezes, and really hum when the wind gets up. And the way he diffused his skill through the crew (and the positive way they responded) will make us smile for a long way to come.

Brennan and Bradley have displayed levels of seamanship and boatmanship that we never expected. Not withstanding 3200-odd nautical miles, Ciao Bella will arrive in Rio with every single sail, halyard, guy, sheet and line fully operational. The first time we heard we were going to "letterbox the kite", we just looked at each other! The next thing the spinnaker came down, slid over the boom, under the mainsail and into the saloon with so little fuss that we needed to check that we were actually sailing in 30 knots of wind. More importantly, never once have they taken a shortcut on safety or walked away from a job before it was entirely complete.

Ryan needs to be commended on the courage with which he overcame his fears, and the humour which he brought to the boat not withstanding recurring bites of sea sickness.

Michaela-Mae was spectacular. From cooking meals to cleaning toolboxes. She even did night watches when the weather permitted. Surely the most all-together ten year old we know.

(From a Michael only perspective, one of my lasting memories of this trip will be going on watch at 03h00 on a wild full-moon night to see Gillian in her foulies. Streaming wet from the spray, standing on the transom of the boat, with one hand on the back-stay and one hand on the shoulder of her helming son, with a look of determined support on her face. Totally caught up in the common cause of winning the race - totally in support of her children in their endeavours. A special woman, and a huge source of pride
to me).

For us, the definitive moment of the trip was when we were staring down the barrel, with a broken engine (and thus no desalination and very quickly diminishing battery power) and a leaking water bag. We were looking at a tight water ration all the way to Rio, when the heavens opened and this
intrepid crew managed to catch enough rain water to see us safely into Rio with water to spare.

It was with this rain that it became clear that we had not embarked on this endeavour alone.

And so it is that every member of this crew will get a small bottle of this rain water as a memento of the adventure and a reminder of the Grace that made it possible.

We have surely been blessed!

Thank you all for your support.

Gillian and Michael.

Hello South America

South America is in sight!

The silhouettes of oil rigs have faded into the distance, and can officially see the outline of Carb Frio on the horizon. 65.2 nautical miles to Rio...

Last night saw some good 15knots which had Ciao Bella flying down the waves as the kamikaze pilots took charge. The competition moved from who could reach the top speed, to who could keep it on the plane for the longest. Ricky and Mum's watch saw the wind die down at around 02h30 and has since been sitting at around 8-10knots.

We hope that the weather forecast, like all the others we have received over the past few days, it will be wrong. The forecast for later today does not look that great with lighter winds predicted. We hope this is not the case, as rations are running low and our lack of fishing skills might have us be forced to eat Michaela.

In the event of no breeze, we will move to the implementation of plan 17G: the traditional Ciao Bella light wind sacrifice. Earlier this week had us receiving a mail in which some priceless information was revealed to us by Mr Hammick himself surrounding this Ciao Bella Tradition. The tradition includes each of the guys shaving one half of their beard off (the windward side of the face as to present a smooth slip-streamed face). It also includes having to sacrifice one sailing shoe each. Apparently this sacrifice will have the wind gods look favourably upon you. Priceless advice I tell you!

Besides the obvious attraction of a large 400g steak, there is the chance to share war-stories with all the other crews. We have been lucky enough to compete against some exceptional crews. This race has highlighted not only the high level of skill, but the great level of sportsmanship that these crews possess. The magnanimous gesture of Xtra-link giving up their own race in order to assist Izivungu with water speaks to exactly this.

As the finish line is looming and the breeze starts to set in, it is important to recognise five people:

- Our legend ground crew: Johan, Derek and Aunty Sharyn. Their unwavering support through the whole campaign has been mind-blowing.

- The Stig: This was the man who oversaw over 180 messages of support being delivered to our inbox. His work in the comms department has been phenomenal.

and lastly and most importantly...

- Mark Hammick: His incredibly kind gesture of letting us make use of his boat, for nothing more than a case of Brazilian beer in payment, made this amazing adventure possible.

Right kids - the Caparinhas are calling, and the Kitchen closes at 22h00. Best we get those speedos on and get this baby making those bubbly noises again that she so loves making.

See you in Rio!

Teamciaobella

PS - Will be updating pics this weekend onto the blog, so make sure to check it out on Monday.

PPS - If you have been following and yet to do so, please email us (teamciaobella@gmail.com). Would love to hear whose been following this crazy adventure.

A night on Caio Bella - unedited version

I thought you guys have gotten tired from the jiberish those other mniacal JK Rowling-Shakespeare wanabees have been writing so I will give you the insight into a night on Caio Bella!

It usually starts with you being woken by dads early (as in 3 o clock in the morning) call from RSG which wakes up virtually everybody thats come off watch and wants to sleep.  As my Afrikaans is very limited the only parts I understand are "more" and "caio bella" whatever that means.  And the minute you get to sleep you have Kax saying "get up for your shift". The first thing that comes to mind, pretend you asleep.  And if that doesnt work make up a lame excuse along the terms of "Im too cold" or say that your suffering from some chronic disease and if they cease to believe you then youve got no other options.

And what doesnt make it any better is after a good hours work you go and treat yourself to a cup of hot chocolate and a biscuit and to your surprise you find that someone (Michaela) has horded all the hot chocolate and biscuits into one secret location for her and Ricky to enjoy later.

If your not gazing at the stars or being mesmerised by the phosphorous then your are a lost cause.  But there are distractions from below if its not Bren reciting speeches or having conversations in his sleep then it is the band of chronic snorers of whom I cannot name because it is a long swim to Rio.

As I am writing this Bren is preparing a delicious supper.  We have probabley got 24 hours left and this will be my last and first blog report.  So this is me reporting from the Atlantic ocean for the final days of the Cape to Rio ocean race 2011.



Ryan (14 years)

Evening 20

Another good day in the office. The wind is back behind us, and Bertha is pulling us along nicely. A little more wind would be great, but given the 3-day drifter just past there has been no complaining as yet.

The 12 to 15 knots predicted for this afternoon / evening have not materialised, but we are still choofing along quite nicely. Our arrival in Rio will be a little bit delayed as a result but a conservative ETA sits at 20h00 Rio time (midnight SA time). That is of course assuming that the passage across the notorious "parking lot" is a swift one.

Oil rigs have started lining the horizon... the end is near. Carbo Frio by midday tomorrow, crossing the finish line by 20h00, and cold beers on the verandah by 22h00. Sounds like a plan I could live with!

Hold thumbs this North Easter plays ball...


** 172 nautical miles to go! **

Day 20

To this day I am yet to get the email that ends in the line - "PS - You're fired". I am very grateful. As are we grateful for the emails we receive twice daily. The lonely planet guide has nothing on you bunch. Specifically the advise around surviving Rio in red speedos. Nobody however has managed to enlighten me as to where one finds rich good-looking men. Preferably unmarried.

In terms of progress to Rio: 260nm and counting. Right now there is a stunner of a north-easterly blowing. 10 odd knots and Bertha up doing us proud. Never has one been so happy about the potential threat of dislocating one's elbow as one fills the bucket of water at the back of the boat. The swell has also picked up which has allowed for some super- surfing. Ciao Bella is in her element, and the tussle for who get to steer has begun.

The thirty degree heel is still here, and looks to remain. It was this same heel that had Mum catapulted across the cabin five days ago. She now bears a 3cm thick ring around her right ear. Not cool. However, after a many a myprodol she was back in action in no time and hasn't look back. Mum has been key in the success of this crew and having her someone with as high a level of talent and experience aboard is something one cannot put a price on. I do not think you could find five prouder children. Besides, not many kids have been able to experience the thrills of surfing down a wave at 29knots with their Mum alongside.

The appetite for zoo biscuits has indeed waned. This has been replaced by cravings for fresh green salads, fruit and yoghurt, and of course the good old steak and chips. With ice-cold beer to go with it. The topics of conversations have also evolved, and now include:

- Life without the 30 degree heel;
- The joy of moving from sleeping on a 5cm thick foam mattress;
- How good that first fresh-water shower will be;
- The sheer pleasure of a big cup of five roses on that big white couch;
- How amazing 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep is going to be; and
- How one says happy valentines day in Portuguese.

We will be having a little get together to share photos and stories. We know how you have all been dying for an excuse for a road-trip to the Ville - here is your chance. If anything, it will give you a chance to bust out that hard-practiced Afrikaans that Meneer Bester has had you all polishing up on. Reyn, even you and our newly found RSG followers are invited.

Details to follow.

As our ground-crew pointed out on this mornings call - the probability of bums in bunks tonight is slim. Excitement is already building, with every 10nm mark passed being noted. And no sooner are we 10nm down, that the challenge to burn the next 10 comes about. Life couldn't be better!

Bring on the next 260... burn baby burn!

Evening 18

Another stunning days sail. Refreshing breeze in the morning has held into the afternoon. After a brief stint of the Assym, we reverted to Big Bertha and are currently doing a heading of around 290 degrees magnetic.  Watching the forecasts carefully and hoping the nice breeze will hold.

362nm to the finish...

So what has this really been about?

Its been about the golden phone call and the generosity of one Mr. Hammick..

About the slaving for days in preparation..

About a journey with friends, astonished on-lookers and police escorts through Bloem..

About that feeling of -this is really happening- at the first sight of Bella on the water..

About touch-ups, tuning, realignment and preparation sailing in the presence of the Cape Doctor..

About final packing, friends giving up holiday time for much appreciated food rationing and a final meal at Forries..

Its been about butterflies in stomachs, waving well-wishers and ear-splitting start guns..

About sea-sickness, Robben and Dassen Islands disappearing behind you..

Its been about sunsets, dolphins, flying-fish, phosphorescence and a skeleton coast..

ABOUT NIGHT THREE! The exhilaration of mountains lining up behind you, summiting these mountains and seeing Bella's nose floating on air.

About the rush of adrenaline as you plummet down the face of these mountains into the dark water ahead.

Its about 29 knots! Walls of water gushing over her deck and the burning in your arms after grinding Isabel for three hours. And then doing it all over again..

Its been about navigation, decisions and a democracy..

About supportive emails from the vast ground-crew, night-watches, speedos and Dire Straits..

About confined living, boat food and apple shampoo showers..

About a looming second place, no wind, crystal clear water and anxiety... Followed by a sunrise, a fresh northerly breeze and hope.

Its been about family.

Its been about the journey, the challenge, the adventure, the dream..

Its been an unforgettable experience.

But we're not there yet, hold tight! 400 nautical miles to go, look out, will be adding to this list shortly.

Brad

Day 18

Life at 30 degrees... so glad to have you back. We all forgot what it is like to be sailing at a constant heel, with coffee cups crashing down off the galley and complaints from the first class about the turbulence being experienced below. Never been so happy about a bowl of cereal flying across the boat.

Ciao Bella is going along like a dream this morning. The wind has managed to hold and is currently belting out 10knots from the east north east. Big Bertha is still in action (while a little reluctantly), but continues to do us proud.

Gerry and the boys finished yesterday morning. They sailed a splendid race and must be commended on the faultless execution of a superb race plan. The chances of finishing in a time which will beat them is slim, but until we cross the finish line we continue to race hard and leave the rest for the wind gods to decide.

The crew woke up to a yacht filled with the music of Mid-Atlantic FM. Our own radio station with all your favourite hits, all the time. This included some Billy Joel, Rod Stewart, and Bob Dylan. Post the waking of Bren the line up has since deteriorated, but that could be expected.

A few days prior to the wind dropping, Rick made a suggestion of ditching the food for days 21 - 24 as a form of motivation. Little gullible Michaela took him seriously, and turns out she has been smuggling zoo biscuits for in the event that it might take us over 21 days. She obviously has borne witness to our pathetic fishing skills.

Our apologies for the atrocious quality of photos. It stems from the useless email facilities which are quite a joke - think of the old Telkom dial up connection. You start the whole bbbbbbrrrrr di di di di di di di di di di, brrrng brrrrng, more terrible sounds, then the email starts to send. No sooner have you send 3/4s, that it drops the call and you need to start the whole process over again. Very frustrating. I will never again complain about AFF's bandwidth.

Hence we moved to sending pics taken off a blackberry. This puts them at a similar size to a weather forecast file. And seeing as the quality weather files were so rubbish of late, the sacrifice of that weather file bandwidth for the pleasure of our followers getting photos is definitely worthwhile.

The support that we have received in putting this campaign together has well exceeded any of our expectations. The level of hospitality received from our friends and family in Cape Town was mind-blowing. The countless dinners and braais so often helped one survive a day of bilge cleaning, engine servicing, and other related race admin. Also to the titbits of advice given to us from past C2R racing hot-shots... Priceless!

The kindness displayed by Lynn and Paul Crosland through their opening of their house to us is incomprehensible. I do think if anything, that that little Mike Crosland is really going to appreciate going back to having only one older sister to boss him around.

This boat would also never have been ready to go if it wasn’t for the hard work of people like Hans, Manuel, Little Louis, Farmer, James and Will Crockett. Customer service does not get better than that from William. Even the support from Greg 'the godfather' Dobson. You guys were amazing and without you there is no way we would be able to have pulled it all off. Farmer - your advise on the wide-brimmed hats was spot-on!

While we have spoken about those that got us through the 21 days prior to race day, it is safe to say that the countless emails and blog responses are what have got us through the past 18 days. Keep on sending please. Be it one liners or one pages, every word is cherished.

428 nautical miles to go....

From all those aboard your favourite Speedo Torpedo.

A message to accompany your morning tea...

Hello blog-followers,

I have been a bit blog-shy until now, but i think it is important that I do a post because I have a small concern that needs to be aired.

We have been sailing for about 18 days now and there is still no sight of land - admittedly we did sit in very little wind for 2 days which slowed our progress - but I am starting to develop doubts in my mind. According to Columbus we should be seeing his "Americas" pretty soon. We have been travelling much faster than he would have (I think that might be due to our technological advancement - basically in Columbus' time they had not invented Speedo's yet). After multiplying the time he allegedly took with a very lenient handicap I had allotted him (the speed of a drifting log)I calculated that we should be seeing land soon. In retrospect we should really have checked the Spaniards credibility before we departed: It’s not too much of a problem if he was lying about the America thing, at least we will get to India then, but if his round-earth theory doesn't hold we might be in a bit of trouble.

Hold thumbs for us. I will keep watching the horizon and if anything solid materialises you will all be the first to know.

We have developed some new sayings and figures of speech that are more suitable to boat-life. For example: when trying to convince someone that you are telling the truth one would sometimes have said: "I swear on my oath" (a saying which I think might not be the most sincere anyway as no- one seems to know which oath is being referred to) With food having been meticulously portioned by Kathryn it becomes much more plausible to now insist that a person swears "on his oats" instead. At least there is some consequence involved.

I shall get some rest now, I have just woken Brennan for his watch and will now assume his bed (there are limited places to sleep that keep the boats balance to an optimum so we have to rotate). I will just turn the pillow over in case he has slobbered!

Thank you all for the great responses and the emails, excuse our lack of responses, we will be addressing the backlog once we make landfall.

Ricky

Evening 17

The wind is back.  It is still relatively light (8knots or so), but is like heaven after three days of nothing. Celebrated the newly-found wind with another shared slab of orange lindt chocolate.

Another stunning sunset this evening. Cant even start to describe.

520nm to go...

Day 17

580 nautical miles to Rio. I thought we would never lose the six in the front of that number. Last night was another night with close to nothing wind, very de-motivating to say the least. Needless to say ladies and gentlemen - the breeze is back up (it’s all relative of course) and Ciao Bella is currently making the bubbly noises she is so good at making.

Big Bertha is back. Just after she thought she was retiring she got called back up to the front again. If she gets her way, the wind will tick north and she will get a chance to pass the baton to Jemima (our asymmetrical spinnaker) to do the final slog.

Seven kilogram challenge still going strong (see day 3 update). So far dad is still up there to take top-honours. There has been concern raised around the last three days of high-carb meals with limited carb-burning activity to go with it. Rumours have also surfaced about an ice-cold Heineken awaiting at the finish. This has spiked up more debate. Specifically around whether one can deduct the 330g off your final weight so to get a true reading. No decision has been made as yet.

The culinary challenge has tapered off a bit. There is only a certain number of ways you can cook spaghetti. The pancake princess also had her final flapjack making session yesterday. Fruit cake and zoo biscuits are the only thing saving at this point. Right now the motivation of early arrival into Rio is shifting from the thoughts of a podium finish, to that of sinking one's teeth into a 500g rump steak.

Dad is into his 5th day of wearing shorts. Dad never wears shorts. Not in 25 years have I seen him wear shorts for this long a period. This move to shorts also coincided with the wind dying off. A decision has been made that should the wind not pick up substantially by the end of today, dad will have to move back to long-pants.

The blog and tracker has no doubt had a detrimental impact on certain firm’s productivity levels, not to speak of bandwidth levels. We have thus taken the initiative to help you draw up your own little excel model to work out the needed finishing times (see below). This way when the boss walks past you know longer need to frantically minimize a million internet explorer screens, but rather look at him coolly and explain that you are working on cash projections for the next while. I do believe some stakes were taken on this race so you wouldn’t be far wrong.

We have started to see new signs of life. Phosphoretic plankton is in abundance and flying fish are back with no suicides for eight days running. We also found a blue-bottle on deck this morning - no idea. The grave- yard shift (GYS) has made claims of ghost-dolphins. Those that you can’t see, but you can hear and know are there. No one believes them. Bradley did spot a "lighthouse" two nights ago and even took the initiative to take a compass bearing. This has since lost the GYS all credibility.

Everyone is very excited about the last couple of miles. Michaela and Ryan are now both doing night-shifts. This does end up depleting our hot chocolate and jelly-tots rations. The great enthusiasm and sparkle in eyes that you witness as they put on their harnesses at some unearthly hour makes the sacrifice worthwhile.

Send us some of your wind Cape Town...

From your email-loving, meat-deprived and oh-so-over-rice cakes-and-cheese,

Team Ciao Bella.

Handicap calculation goes as follows:

The days we need to finish in:

Days taken by C2C * 24 * CTC's handicap

-----------------------------------------

CB's handicap * 24

So, if CTC finishes at 12h00 on day 16:

= 16 * 24 * 1.151

 -----------------

  1.024 * 24

Or something like that.

Handicaps of the fleet:

Cape Storm 1.104

City of Cape Town 1.151

Izivunguvungu 1.103

Grand Filou 1.304

Perie Banou 0.918

Prodigy 1.383

Ciao Bella 1.024

Yachtport 1.114

Me2me 1.004

Xtra-link 1.093

Evening 16

635 nautical miles to Rio. Another frustrating day but there is nothing one can do but wait for the wind to fill in. The forecasts say it should fill in tomorrow morning, but we all know how accurate those have been over the last few days.

Holding thumbs.