Celebrating Portugal Day in South Africa

The Portuguese have played a significant role in the European exploration of South Africa. Vasco da Gama, Bartholomeu Dias, Pedro de Ataide, João da Nova, Antonio de Saldanha were all Portuguese navigators and sailors during the Great Age of Sail and Discovery. They've left their mark throughout South Africa in the form of statues, monuments, place names and even museums … like the Dias Museum in Mosselbaai.

According to Wiki, Dia de Portugal is celebrated annually on June 10th as an official national holiday in Portugal. The date commemorates the death of Portugal's national literary icon, Luis de Camões, who died on 10 June 1580. Camões wrote The Lusiads, an epic poem celebrating the rich history and achievements of the Portuguese, especially during the 15th century. It has become symbolic of Portuguese pride and nationalism. So when local friends, Jannie and Christine asked if we'd like to join them aboard Radiance for a Portugal Day pursuit race in Table Bay, we were thrilled. What better way to celebrate the Portuguese heritage and influence in South Africa than take to the sea?

The morning was cool and foggy and at 10:30am, I wasn't holding out much hope for a clear sailing day. We couldn't even see Radiance berthed on the next pier across the way. Then voilá … as it happens so often in Cape Town,  a brilliant sun broke through the mist and fog, the sky turned blue in a matter of minutes and the day turned perfect … cold, but clear. It seemed odd heading out of the harbor leaving Cups behind.

We had a crew of eight aboard, all with varying degrees of sailing experience and some, like us, with no racing experience at all. No matter … it was a fun race with over 50 boats participating.

We learned that a pursuit race had staggered start times and Radiance was scheduled to cross the start line at 12:22. Michele and Christine kept track of the time as we approached the line.

Throughout the day, the weather alternated between brilliant sun and dense fog. The wind piped up to 15-20 knots and then died to 3 knots. We tacked frequently as the fickle wind shifted.

The 13nm course took us into Table Bay with a loop around South Lion's Paw, a rock said to resemble the paw of the famous Lion's Head Peak. There's a North Paw as well and both are reportedly good dive sites. We were just interested in getting around the South Paw.

As we neared the rock, the wind left us and we were sailing perilously close.  Since we were nowhere close to being competitive in the race, Jannie decided to retire us and kicked on the engine. The engine cranked right up, but we made no headway. A quick inspection indicated the Morse cable was not shifting the gearbox. Jannie was able to put it in gear manually from the engine room, got back to the helm, and we were soon heading back to the Royal Cape. Beyond the problem with the gear box, we were all afraid the red wine would be gone by the time we got back to the clubhouse!

As we approached Radiance's berth, David headed into the engine room to shift manually between forward and reverse gears on Jannie's command. The wind picked up at the wrong moment and there was an adrenaline rush as we neared one boat and fended off, reversed closely to another boat and fended off and Jannie finally managed to maneuver us into the berth. No harm … no foul. With Radiance snug in her berth, we tidied her up and all headed to the clubhouse where a post-race party was well under way.

I'm happy to report there was indeed red wine available for a cold, thirsty, hungry crew. A hot Portuguese soup and Portuguese rolls were being served followed by a seafood and rice dish … and  red wine, of course.

We watched as the Portugal Day trophy was being awarded, a rather large cup indeed. Portuguese music was playing and dancers in traditional dress entertained a merry crowd.

All in all, a fun, enjoyable day with new friends. Who could ask for more?

Yacht Clubs Round the World

Yacht clubs, depending upon where they are and their membership numbers, vary greatly worldwide. They usually have a few things in common … a love of sailing and the sea … and a bar. We've visited little, tiny clubs that have only a few members, a few boats and a bar. We visited the friendly, little Niue Yacht Club which had no boats, nor, for that matter, any members who'd ever owned a boat or sailed, but they did have a bar. The bar is always obligatory! Commodore Keith readily admits he has no sailing experience, but the island certainly does love yachties.

The Suwarrow Island Yacht Club in the Cook Islands was a cruiser's haven. The “yacht club” was nothing more formal than a meeting (and drinking) place on Direction Island for yachties who stopped for a respite at this tiny uninhabited atoll at the Cook Island's only national park.

Several yacht clubs offer amenities to visiting sailors. Sometimes we've been offered a free mooring or berthing for a couple of days or in the case of the most generous Yacht Club Peruano near Lima, Peru, we stayed for a month on their largesse. The members stopped by daily to invite us to coffee, lunch, dinners, excursions. Friends made there, especially Gonzalo and Magdala, have remained good friends through the years.

Sometimes, we're offered free membership in the club for some period of time allowing us to use the facilities or eat at the restaurant/bar at member prices. Sometimes it's a most welcome, hot shower like in Mossel Bay, South Africa or a mooring in Esperance, Western Australia or perhaps, a cold beer at the Buffalo River YC in East London, South Africa. The smaller or off-the-beaten track clubs are usually more friendly and welcoming. At the larger clubs, we're lost in the noise of yacht club activities, as well as the frequency and volume of visiting yachts.

Some yacht clubs are famous. The Panama Canal Yacht Club, for instance, was an icon. We were lucky to have had a chance to visit before it was torn down to make way for containers and other important shipping stuff.

The Club de Yates Micalvi in Puerto Williams, the southernmost town on the planet, was perhaps the most unusual yacht club we've visited. It was nothing more than an intentionally grounded munitions carrier that yachts tied to … sometimes rafting four boats out. The ship was a rusting hulk, but still offered showers and backpackers slept on the decks. It had, of course, a requisite bar.

The Royal Natal Yacht Club in Durban is the oldest yacht club in Africa, but sadly, it's losing its members, perhaps because of its downtown location or lack of activities or other business reasons. The adjacent Point Yacht Club seems to be facing similar problems.

I'd say Royal Cape is probably the most prestigious, as well as largest and most active yacht club (not to be confused with a marina) we've ever visited. Begun in 1905, it really didn't get its legs under it until the Cape to Rio Race in 1971. With 400+ berths and 2,000 members, there's always something going on. They have a very competitive racing group, a sailing school and youth sailing, as well as lots of fun sails and activities like monthly Jazz on the Deck. There's rarely a time when the restaurant and bar are empty. Lying in the shadow of Table Mountain close to the city center, there's not a better place to be in Cape Town.

The friendliest yacht club? That's probably a toss-up between the Yacht Club Peruano in Peru and the Mandurah Offshore Fishing and Sailing Club in Mandurah, Western Australia. Both clubs were particularly generous and the members went out of their way to be welcoming and include us in their activities. These are folks we're still in touch with and who will remain friends forever.

I'm sure some yacht clubs are pretty snooty and exclusive, but we haven't found them yet. We travel in different circles, I guess. Without exception, our experiences at local yacht clubs have demonstrated the generosity and camaraderie of the sailing network around the world.

A note … in the USA we call sailboats, unless they're ginormous, sailboats and tend to think the “yacht” terminology is pretentious. The really huge, luxury boats, motor or sail, are called superyachts. In many parts of the world, however, and by definition, a yacht is a vessel designated for personal, recreational use and/or competitive racing versus commercial use.

Boat Launching at the Royal Cape

South Africa has a robust boat-building industry. There's Admiral, Matrix, Two Oceans, Pacer, Maverick, Celtic, Afri-Cat … to name just a few.  Many of the newly manufactured boats are launched and commissioned right here at Royal Cape Yacht Club.  One of the most fascinating activities here in the early morning is watching a new boat being launched. Leopard catamarans are built by Robertson and Caine in nearby Woodstock. One of the largest catamaran manufacturers in the world,  about three new cats roll off their production line each week. Huge flat bed trucks with custom cat cradles pull up to the yacht club gates in the early morning and take turns backing into the yard. It doesn't matter that it's cold, dark and foggy.

Watching a 48' catamaran being raised and then lowered into the water 20' below causes me angst even though it's not my boat and these guys do it all the time. There's a moment of anticipation when the yacht is hoisted and the straps tighten and begin to creak. The boat is suspended from the crane and slowly swinging out over the water and my heart starts to race.

As soon as the hulls touch the water, the waiting crew jumps aboard before the boat is even fully lowered. They scurry around and finally crank on the engines and the cat comes to life in the water for the first time.

Then the mast is lowered and stepped and the rigging is attached.

It's an efficient process and within a couple hours, the new cat is moored waiting for the rest of its commissioning and subsequent sea trials to begin. Many are headed to Sunsail or Mooring charter centers throughout the world and a high percentage of the rest are destined for export to foreign shores … like the USA.

Once they're commissioned, they move into berths next to us and wait for crew to either sail them to their destinations or load them onto ships for transport.

It's not just catamarans though. Recently, there have been several ambulance boats delivered and destined for Ghana.

They're sitting down the dock from us while they're being commissioned and we invited ourselves aboard for a quick look since we'd never seen ambulance boats before. Built right here in Cape Town, they'll be transported by ship to Ghana. These boats are used primarily on rivers and lakes and equipped with two 250HP engines to insure fast emergency runs.

Obviously, I have too much time on my hands if I'm watching boats being launched, but quite honestly, it beats polishing stainless.