Update from Cape Town

During the Cape Town stopover, I finally got the chance to record some recent events.
Recollections from Rio
In Rio I managed to visit the “must do’s” - the statue of Christ the Redeemer, Sugar Loaf Mountain and various beaches including Copacabana and Ipanema.
It was a very pleasant stopover with good accommodation and food. They have an excellent underground railway system that is spotless. Rio is an expensive place to live and I would compare it to Australia prices. Their economy is booming. The architecture is a mixture of old, with very strong European influence and new steel/glass.
On the outskirts of the city you can see the 'favelas' or slums and they strongly promote these as no go areas. During the stay I had no problems and found everybody to be pleasant and helpful.
Trivia fact: Brazil has a larger land mass than Aust.

Report on Race 3: Rio to Cape Town
Departed on September 10 at about 14.30 hours. It was a beautiful afternoon with enough breeze to utilise the full main, the yankee 1 and staysail. We had a small group of spectator craft as it was the weekend. Rio harbour is a busy working harbour so we had to be aware of the big ships and their accompanying tugs around the start line.
This is our second transatlantic crossing which will take us 3,400 n miles to Cape Town.
It was a close start with the skippers on most of the yachts close enough to call out "get out of there" or something like that as we were within 1 or 2 metres of each other jockeying to be in the best possible position for the start.
We were first over the line closely followed by Singapore then Finland and New York. We made it first to the fairway buoy. An incoming freighter blasted all of us to say he was restricted by his draft he had a pilot on board and we had better get the *%@# out of the way or we would be run over.
We all tacked and made for the open sea, happy to be on our way, with glances back over our shoulders at the silhouettes of the hills of Rio as they quickly disappeared in the background.
I celebrated my 62nd birthday the next day. It is a birthday I will remember for a long time, mostly because of where it was celebrated.
We, as a team also remembered and paid respect to the memories of those affected by the events of 9/11.
Ships log entries:
Whales spotted close to the bot. Make sure all water tight doors are closed.
Spinnaker down, pole bent.
Strong squall wind up to 60 knots. Rain and rainbows.
Cold on deck. Hail storm had to bear away. Now leading the fleet.
Sailing well. Still freezing.
Sea fog rolled in. Spooky.

As all the daily reports indicated on the Clipper website we had strong winds and huge waves, I experienced for the first time some freezing nights on deck. It was a wakeup call that when going south we need to have the right amount of gear and strive for warmth. Gloves and goggles are no longer a joke. Looking and feeling like the Michelin man is OK as long as you are still flexible enough to do the job.
The yacht handled the conditions well - we broached a couple of times as a result of the sudden squalls and being over powered. For a few days we had the 3rd reef in the mainsail with the yankee 2 up front still getting along at about 10knots.
I have every confidence in the yacht as an ocean racer but she does tend to leak a bit from water over the deck or when healing over.

Yes it was all damp below, my only oasis or refuge was my waterproof sleeping bag. It is a beauty, I would roll it up on itself after every sleep and suspend it from the bunk at one end (it’s not just my bunk, but other peoples as well because of hot bunking) I'm sure being suspended helped keep it drier with circulation etc.
The 17 day voyage all becomes rolled into one, with two mini sleeps a day, mothering duties, bilge duties, cleaning the heads and eating keeping us on schedule to achieve and arrive at our destination.
Yes we got tired, at times exhausted but routine meant you must keep going. I would say it’s a bit like people who say when they retired from work you have nothing to get up for so you sometimes give up. Keep on keeping on, that’s the way.

Arrival in Cape Town
Our arrival in Cape Town - South Africa was on 27/10/11. Table Mountain could be seen some 20n miles out to sea. It was a little hazy at first but it soon became more than an apparition standing bold and strong on the African continent. We had done it, we had sailed from South America to South Africa and we were in first place again.
The greeting from family and friends on the dock was awesome. It was the first time that we had been welcomed by an official band and had so many loved ones waving, clapping, yelling, flying flags and smiling as we made our way to the marina. I spotted the largest boxing kangaroo flag being waved earnestly plus heard a klaxon horn being sounded and knew straight away it had to be Chrissy.
Well done team, 3 out of 3 ain't bad. We didn’t just win, we s*#t it in.

Within a few minutes we were tied up at the wharf and hugs and kisses given all round. We do respect our skipper (Richie) but thought it was a good idea at the time to throw him into the water as part of the celebration. He took it all in good Aussie humour and joined us in a celebratory beer or two.
I will let you know in the next instalment what we did in South Africa but at the moment I aim to do three things.
1. Drink beer
2. Sit on a porcelain toilet and take my time, and
3. Stand (or better still sit) on a seat in the shower, drink beer and take my time.
Talk to you soon, BAMO