Meeting Up with Wind Wanderer Again

One of the joys of cruising is meeting new friends in a port and then meeting up with them again and again and again. We first met the Wind Wanderer crew, Sandy and Vic, in the Cocos Keeling Islands near the beginning of our Indian Ocean transit. Their Australian-flagged, 1982-vintage CT54 ketch was anchored close to Cups off Direction Island. As cruisers often do, we met up with them again in Port Louis, Mauritius and then again in Durban. We'd chat amiably each time we met, but it wasn't until our time together in Durban that we really got to know each other and spend some time together and since then we've been in frequent contact, but never in the same port.

Since we had a hire car and the First Mate convinced the Captain that we were due for a play day, we gave the Wanderer crew a call and headed to Simonstown. We spotted Wind Wanderer as we turned the corner heading into the port. She was snugged up against the outside of the pier at the False Bay Yacht Club.

After hugs and a coffee at the yacht club, we headed off to lunch. It was Vic and Sandy that first told us about Live Bait in Kalk Bay and we decided our farewell lunch should be celebrated there. There's never a dearth of conversation between the four of us. One thing about hanging out with Wind Wanderer, she seems to have as many issues lately as Nine of Cups. Misery loves company! They've had generator issues and engine issues and now transmission problems and a broken bobstay. Whenever we chat, we always have much to commiserate about.

One of less pleasant parts about cruising is saying goodbye to friends you've made. Vic and Sandy will be staying in South Africa awhile to sort out their boat problems and then will head back to Australia when Sandy's first grandchild is born. We will be heading across the Atlantic. Perhaps, we'll see them in the Carib or meet up in New Orleans … we've talked about that possibility. In the meantime, it's goodbye for now with lots of pleasant memories. I've promised to leave a package of goodies for them at the Royal Cape YC desk for them to collect:  a couple of Australian courtesy flags and a slightly-tasted jar of Vegemite.

A Sea Trial in Table Bay

With so many repairs, changes and maintenance projects having been completed lately on Nine of Cups, we thought it might be prudent to take her for a trial run out in Table Bay. She hadn't been out of her berth in awhile and needed some exercise, plus the crew had to relearn how to sail again. The day was sunny and mild, the wind was 10 – 12 knots and the bay was shining and brilliant. David had compiled a fairly comprehensive list of items and systems to check in order to avoid any more surprises when we finally do depart next week. We had already run into a problem with the mainsail repairs before leaving the dock. We'd sent it over to the sail loft for a good once-over and repair of chafe on the batten pockets. It was repaired and returned with the new sail delivery. As we were putting it back up and replacing the battens, we noted that though selective repairs had been made, there was still considerable chafe and what repairs were made were shoddy workmanship … adhesive was coming apart and the stitching was already pulling out. This did not bode well.

We carefully checked out the forward and reverse gears while still in the berth. It was backing out of this berth seven years ago that the gear shift handle broke off in David's hand. We managed to avoid catastrophe, but it was an adrenaline rush we were hoping to avoid duplicating. As we backed out of Berth B25 into the fairway, we could feel a touch of exuberance rise in ourselves. We were grinning … we were getting closer to departure. Out in the bay, the day was cold, but lovely. We slowly and methodically worked our way through the list, while at the same time enjoying being out on the water again. It was a weekday, but there were still a few other boats out enjoying the day.

One item on the checklist was the heater. When we were in the higher latitudes in the past, David had installed a bus heater that worked off the engine. The hot air was routed through old A/C vents and kept the saloon quite comfy at least when we were motoring. He'd disconnected it in the warmer climates, but thought it might be reasonable to hook it up again. In doing so, he noted some hoses that needed replacing. One thing led to another, and he felt it might be good to check out the system and make sure we were indeed getting heat and there were no leaks. All was good and when the engine got up to temperature, the saloon was toasty.

Checking out the electronics was high on the list. Autopilot, gauges, chartplotter, wind instruments, , depth, GPS … everything seemed to be in working order except speed through water which will need some coaxing. The alternator was charging the batteries properly.

The furler foil seemed to be just fine and the new rigging and tune-up looked good. The sail was stiff from its newness, but deployed well and furled up just fine.

We didn't go far or for very long, just enough to feel comfortable that Cups was in fine fit. We're still waiting on the repaired yankee and a rush-job on a proper repair of the mainsail. There are still several small tasks and chores to get done plus the usual laundry and provisioning (again), but we're hopeful we'll be off with the next weather window within a week.

Cups' New Sail

Baby's got new shoes and Cups has got a new sail! Winston and the Ullman Sail crew came through and delivered our new foresail … earlier than promised. Under-promise … over-deliver … works every time. We were originally quoted 3+ weeks, but Winston fit us into another less-hurried sailor's slot (thank you, Berserk), and babysat our sail through the entire fabrication process. He kept us in the loop all the way … plan approval, cutting, seaming, UV, hardware, QC.

We were hoping we'd see the sail by early next week, but with Winston's constant updates, we were optimistic we'd see it even sooner than the original estimate. This would give us time to check it out and still not have to rush to meet our extended visitor permit expiration date. When he called to schedule the delivery and fitting, we were thrilled. “Shall we pay the balance before the delivery?”, we queried. “Wait, till the sail is up and you're happy. Then we'll tend to the final payment.” Great!

We had also sent our mainsail over to Ullman for a quick once-over. We'd inspected it ourselves, but thought as long as they were fabricating a new sail for us, it wouldn't hurt to have the professionals check it out. They reported that the main was in fine condition, except a wee bit of chafe on the batten pockets … easily remedied.

The morning was clear and calm when Winston arrived with the sails. He and an assistant attached the new yankee and hoisted it up the furler. It was cut a skosh higher than the last sail to clear the bow pulpit rail, something that had irritated us about the last sail. It looked great, but was quite a bit larger than we imagined it would be. It was classified as a #2 yankee, but really it was a replacement for our old jib, rather than a replacement for the yankee, as we expected. Where did the communications go wrong?

Our new staysail, fabricated for us by Ullman in Durban, was exactly what we had ordered and has performed well over the 800 miles from Durban to Cape Town. In all deference to Ullman, I guess we should have known the exact measurements of the old yankee … what we thought we ordered. We had sent the yankee to them and asked for a quote on both the repair, as well as the fabrication of a new sail, a replacement with a couple of minor mods. They came to measure and evidently disregarded the existing sail measurements in favor of what they thought we wanted. Now what?

Well, we'll keep the new sail, of course, and get rid of the old jib. In the meantime, the old yankee is back at the sail loft for a rush repair. The checkout clock is ticking once again. Sigh! There's never a dull  moment on this boat.