The Final Push to Cape Town

Cape Blaize Lighthouse - last manned lighthouse in South Africa

MAGGIE on far fishing jetty in Mossel Bay

Beautiful beach by Mossel Bay Yacht Club

Replica of Diaz's boat - this one actually sailed from Portugal to Mossel Bay

Tents set up to accommodate participants in the Cape Pioneer Trek

No Regrets passing us flying their spinnaker

Lighthouse at Cape Agulhas - most southerly tip of South Africa

Rounding Cape of Good Hope in early morning

The Final Push to Cape Town

Port Elizabeth to Mossel Bay to Cape Town

Oct.18, 2016

As I am writing this we are underway, several hours from Cape Aghulas, the southern most tip of South Africa. So far, it is quite pleasant. The wind was supposed to increase during last night and today, but has not happened yet. We have been motor sailing since leaving at 5 pm last night from Mossel Bay. Before dark we saw a whale surface within a few boat lengths of us. A rare treat! Also the number and variety of birds are fun to watch. The dolphins look quite different from ones we have seen elsewhere.

It is about 400nm from Port Elizabeth to CT and we gave up waiting for good enough weather to do the whole trip in one shot. We stopped in Mossel Bay, which was a 2 day, 1 night trip, arriving Fri the 14th. The winds were in the 30's overnight but from behind so that helped with getting there before dark. We enjoyed having a good sail after all the rough weather up to that point. There was room in the small marina for the 3 boats.

 The bay and town were really worth the visit. It is a pretty town set on a hill rising from the beach. Also it was safe enough to explore on foot. This area of South Africa (southeast coast) was settled by the Dutch farmers, and that influence still shows. The language spoken is Afrikaans, with most signage in that and English. They have tried to keep many of the original buildings from the 19th century. Many have been converted to restaurants or accommodation. It is a tourist destination for those starting a tour of the "Garden Route" back towards Port Elizabeth. The coastline is mountainous, and the land fertile, so good places to hike and see.

On the Sat there was a mountain bike event beginning in town, called the Cape Pioneer Trek. It is a 5/ 6 day race through the garden route area. The school field where they registered was full with their tents. On practice rounds they were passing us all weekend on the roads and paths. We walked out to the point that protects the bay. There is a lighthouse that you can visit that is still manned. From there you have a good view of the surroundings. Below it there is a cave. Archaeologists have found evidence in it of humans from the middle stone ages. From other such caves they think that homo sapiens originated somewhere in SA. During the last ice age the shoreline extended much further out as water levels were lower. The shallow banks off Cape Agulhas used to be land.

On Sun we visited the Diaz Museum. Diaz is commemorated in town as the first European, from Portugal, to arrive here in 1488. In 1988 a similar voyage was made from Lisbon to Mossel Bay. A replica ship had been built for the trip and is now on display in the museum. The only difference was that the new ship had all the modern electronics and safety gear and an engine. Their trip took 3 months instead of the original 6 months. In the museum there are long lists of shipwrecks through the centuries along these shores. But with our new equipment there are not nearly as many. We enjoyed a few hours of reading much more history in the museum. There was also a shell museum and aquarium and grounds with the plants identified. There is a tree, centuries old, that was used to "post" mail for passing ships in a shoe in the tree. The bushmen thought writing was from the devil so left it alone. On the weekend there was a flower show and competition in the buildings. I enjoyed that as well.

Our goal on this passage is to make it to Cape Town in the light Wed afternoon. And also try to pass both capes in the daylight to enjoy seeing them. The southernmost cape of Africa is Cape Agulhas which you pass first coming from the east. The Cape of Good Hope, that is to the south of Cape Town, is more famous than  Agulhas. It is more dramatic to see, and also to sail around, we hear. Its former name was the Cape of Storms.

Update, Oct.20

We arrived in Cape Town about lunchtime Wed. The whole trip went well. I think this was the first time that the weather was more benign than forecast. We even had a full moon to brighten the night. We spent Wed am enjoying the trip up the coast from Cape Point into Cape Town. There were many seals in the surrounding water entertaining us. Our slips are in the Royal Cape Yacht Club. After an unglamorous docking job by the admiral we had a leisurely lunch at the club. Adrienne is representing the BPO here and was full of  ideas about things to see and do in the area. After a nap and some chores and we will be looking forward to exploring.