January 2012
43 posts
7 tags
Cloudy ... with a Chance of Meatballs
Mare’s tails, those high wispy cirrus clouds remind me of the
Joni Mitchell song …
bows and flows of angel hair
and when cumulus clouds, as puffy as popcorn
ice cream castles in the air
bubble up and boil over like a pot of pasta …
(I’ve looked at clouds that way)
I could tell we were going to get more than just a sprinkling … of parmesan!
The layer of...
6 tags
Fill Her Up
So this is what I thought.
I thought we’d fill her up. And fill all the cans with diesel too.
All four of them. We’d fill them up.
Almost to the top,
then stash them on the deck. So that when we entered the I.T.C.Z
Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone and find the doldrums —
where the sea is flat and twinkly-blue —
I would lie in the cockpit
and read — as we motored...
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Gone Fishing
With the roller furling drum fixed we headed round the bulge of Brazil to Fortaleza - our last ‘port-of-call’ in South America.
We had wind. Lots of wind. We had seas. Big seas. Seas that swallowed the little fishing boats in their troughs and then spat them up out again like a plug of chewed tobacco. At night their tiny oil lamps dotted and dashed like Morse Code in the...
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A Fish without Water
Have the following ready BEFORE you catch that fish.
A heavy-bottomed frying pan
loads of limes and lemons
and
a bottle of cachaça [pronounced KUH-sha-SA] — Brazilian Rum !
Limes and lemons —
in your caipirinha [pronounced KIE-pee-REEN-yah] —ward off scurvy,
the cachaça, although an evil spirit, is less scary.
So,
rather than whack the fish over its head with the frying pan,
...
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Home Away (from home)
Recife …
with its colonial buildings
and colourful characters
dancing in the streets
reminded me of Cape Town !
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“Ring the bells that still can ring
forget your perfect offering.
There is a...”
– Leonard Cohen
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Picture this.
The winds were light when we left the island of Morro de Sao Paulo
and headed back to sea. Heading north-east.
We pushed hard against a 2 knot current — all day and all night —
as the sea rushed past us. The wind kept switching …
We tacked,
and tacked …
and tacked again.
In the morning we could still see the shadows of Salvador.
The sea was uncomfortable, like a lumpy old...
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“I am in love with Ocean
lifting her thousands of white hats
in the chop of the...”
– by Mary Oliver —
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A Stitch in Time Saves Lines
Between sunsets, I checked the sheets.
And the blocks. And the lines.
That’s what the Chafe Inspector does.
You see the little fold in the foot of sail?
Where it’s folded on the pulpit. Well, that’s no good.
Sometimes it shook itself out naturally as we banged across the pond.
If conditions were favourable and the Skipper deemed the action safe,
I would go...
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By 5pm we were cruising in the lee of Morro de Sao Paulo —
The Hill of St Paul.
There was a fierce current running so it took some time
to get the anchor settled snugly in the seabed.
And then
I sent sent my Boat-boy out on Tubby (the tender)
to find the Dinghy Dock.
There’s Tubby tied to a post, under the pier.
We waded ashore and took the s—t—e—e—p path up to the...
4 tags
Island Thyme ... no ... Island Lime
I put da lime …
in da coconut
it was to quench my thirst !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wg_L0wGTyA
I put da lime in da coconut,
BUT
I wish I’d seen this first.
http://peegaw.tumblr.com/post/13386130223
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We slipped away from Salvador and crept quietly out of the bay.
And when the shrinking city was nothing but a blurr,
Robb turned Summer Love hard to starboard and headed south.
“Hey Skipper,” I shouted, “the Caribbean’s the other way,”
and then just in case, went down below to check the charts.
By the time I’d come back up for air — we were cruising...
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Carne - ful !
Salvador, a sleepy hollow?
Not !
It was a rave, but we needed rest.
So,
first things first …
The Elevador Lacerda — the Symbol of Salvador — and link to the city.
We swept to the top in 20 seconds and the hunt was on.
Robb wanted meat.
He found meat.
Me: ”Shouldn’t we get some chicken?”
He: ”No, chicken is a vegetable.”
We...
6 tags
As the sun sets on the city of Salvador
and I stir myself from my siesta —
the sounds of the samba start the night and
trips the light fantastic .
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Far from the maddening crowds wind
and into a sea of people !
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Pride and Perspiration
3500 miles away from Cape Town - across the ocean - lies
Cidade de São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos,
or just simply Bahia !
The music capital of Brazil.
And Summer Love had sailed us there!
I had palpitations.
My chest was pounding as we tied her up to the pontoon.
Then I realized that it was the echo of the drums —
in the remnants of the night.
And carnival.
...
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Let the Countdown Begin
From the Log:
26 January 2009 -
03h00
578nm to go !
Going like a (runaway) train at 7 knots.
Those little black clouds are stalking us. Again.
Waves are building up.
12h00
520nm to go !
And if we keep up this speed — only ANOTHER 3 days at sea.
Dolphin surrounded Summer Love, some leaping 3m into the air.
The display was awesome (in the true sense of the word).
...
6 tags
Water, water ... everywhere
I had never seen so much sea.
And sky
nor clouds
and sky
nor clouds
and sky
and sea.
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How to earn respect on a sailboat ...
Use a pressure cooker!
OR
make this Cheesy-Onion Loaf:
3 cups self raising flour
1 packet (60g) instant white onion soup
2 cups milk
1 cup or less of grated cheese (any hard cheese)
2 beaten eggs
Cayenne Pepper
Mix flour and soup powder with all the milk
and two-thirds of the cheese.
Add eggs and mix.
Spoon into a lined loaf tin.
Sprinkle with left over cheese then
dust with...
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“But do not hurry the journey at all
better that it should last many years,
be...”
– Constantine Cavafy 1863-1933 Greek poet
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All in a day's work.
Other than the highly acclaimed position of First Maid,
I also held the rank of Chief Lookout and Assistant Grinder.
Thankfully Summer Love did not have a Crow’s nest,
so I was able to carry out most of my duties at sea level.
I checked the bilges and the batteries, wrote the Log — every 3 hours.
I reported our position to The Boss who was always delighted to hear
that we were...
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From the Echoes of my Mind
11h00
We’ve been holding a good 7 knots for a while now
which is not too bad for Summer Love, a heavy ‘old girl’.
(Which happens with age, even to a boat.)
Robb argues that her heaviness is due to all the ‘girl-stuff’ I brought along.
Like candles and place mats and silverware.
Humpf!
He will thank me once we are safely anchored under palm trees sipping cocktails from proper...
2 tags
Se(a)duction
She slips into the night to meet her lover.
Far from the glare of city lights
they find their rhythm.
They rise and fall,
Together.
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“There was once a businessman who was sitting by the beach in a small Brazilian...”
– The fisherman and the businessman
by PAULO COELHO
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A whale of a time !
Rewind three years TODAY.
3 January 2009 -
I have taken my last, long hot shower in a stall that does not move.
And,
I can dry between my toes without having to sit down.
We cast off our lines in a few hours and my adrenal glands have already gone into overdrive. The wind has abated and veered to the NW.
It’s sure to back again.
It wouldn’t be summer or Cape Town if the...
“Never go on trips with anyone you do not love.”
– Ernest Hemingway
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From the Log on 2 January 2009
Tomorrow we sail beyond these sunsets.
… scary-exciting.
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Entry taken from the Log - 1 January 2009
The notorious south-easter is honking.
Clouds cascade over Table Mountain like a billowy table cloth.
The race banners are rigid in wind gusts of 40 knots !!
I hope it eases a little a lot before the start!
In two days time we leave Cape Town and sail across the mad Atlantic.
Our course will take us via St Helena Island to Brazil.
Canned goods are labelled, then stowed.
...
