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With Sue back in South Africa, all the comforts stripped to a bare minimum, I am living like a typical bachelor here on board Revelations in Chaguaramas, Trinidad. Gone are the little perks I have been used too and enjoyed when she is around, no more great food, the yacht quickly becomes a mess and the dirty laundry and dishes are piling up. Living in isolation, detached and almost cut off from the world, the days and long nights disappears into oblivion. Whilst I'm coping and mostly enjoying the isolation, I do miss her in so many different ways and cannot wait for us to get together again.

After a hectically busy time in South Africa, I'm back on board Revelations here in Trinidad. Sue is still in South Africa and will hopefully fly back here within the next three weeks. I say "hopefully" as there has been a number of developments. Britsie, her father is critically ill in the hospital's intensive care unit. The latest setback is that his one lung collapsed and he can't breath on his own. He will undergo an operation tomorrow morning and as it is, he is very weak and frail. In his current condition, the operation is very risky and we can only pray for the best outcome.

Whilst we were in South Africa, we launched an urgent High Court action against the people who bought our company. We were successful in our application, the judge gave us our company back and there is a high possibility that we have to delay our world cruise and return to South Africa and manage the company.

So instead of having a nice break, meeting friends and family, we had a hectic time. We mostly ran around meeting with attorneys and advocates preparing for the court case - the remainder of the time, worrying and visiting Britsie in hospital. So there is a high possibility that Sue will remain in South Africa and not return to Revelations soon.

There has been major adjustments for us during the past 3 months as we ease into the cruising life. Many of the things we did back home, how it was done and the way in which we went our business is so very different from what we are doing now. Back home, with water on tap and on demand, little thought went into where this precious resource came form and what a great convenience we enjoyed all our lives. Now that we are living "on the edge" so to speak, finding or getting or making fresh water is no small event. When full, our water tanks on board Revelations only take around 700 liters and this lasts us for about 10 days washing clothes, drinking, bathing, cooking and cleaning. By yacht standards, 700 liters of freshwater this is a LOT of water and other cruisers think we have the ultimate luxury - some of them only use 100 liters every 10 days. Tap water here in Brazil is not safe to drink and one have to either buy bottled water or make your own fresh water through desalination. Either way, it is a regular task and each one taking hours and at cost to accomplish. So imagine our delight when we find this free spring water resource, directly piped to the taps of the marina at Ilha de Itaparica! Here is Sue playing her part filling up water containers with spring water. Check the suntan!

We just had to visit the same restaurant where we had the delicious Mocqueca de Piexe meal the other day. We devised all sorts of devious plans to get hold of this specific recipe - we will tell them we are from a food magazine ... tell them we are writing a recipe book ... we are from BBC Food ... and many other schemes. In the end, Sue did the direct and honest approach asking if she can watch the Chef prepare the meal. Permission was granted and Sue met the Chef in the restaurant's kitchen where she watched for around 10 minutes as the delicious meal was prepared. It was served a bit later and we all once again thoroughly enjoyed the food. For you lazy okes, here is the recipe as eye balled by Sue. So now there is no excuse for you not to try this meal at home.

Ingredients
800		grams		Fish - White fish such as Hake, Cod or similar (you can also use frozen fish)
1		ea		Onion - coarsely chopped
2		ea		Tomatoes - coarsely chopped
2		cups		Coconut milk
1		bunch		Fresh Coriander leaves - coarsely chopped
4		tbsp		Dente or Palm oil
1		ea		Lemon
1/2		tsp		Salt
1/2		tsp		Ground black pepper
1/2		tsp		Dried garlic flakes
Directions
Mix the salt, pepper and garlic flakes together and set aside. Squeeze the juice from the lemon and set aside. Wash fish with water and 2/3's of the lemon juice. Now wash the fish with fresh water, pat dry, cut into 8 large chunks and set aside. Add coconut milk into a clay pot and bring to boil. Quickly rub the fish with the salt, pepper and garlic flakes mix. When the coconut milk reaches boiling point, add the ingredients in the following order; Fish, chopped onion, chopped tomatoes, palm oil and coriander leaves. Do not stir the dish - only use spoon to stir around the edges of the clay pot. Boil for around 10 minutes or until the fish is cooked. Serve on a bed of cooked white rice and a fresh salad on the side.
Servings = 4

Joe, Sue and I visited the Waterfront, Cape Town to get our compulsory vaccination shots. The girl on duty were torn between telling us what we had to know and getting her claws into charming Joe. Rattling, stammering, blushing all the while eye balling Joe, she finally managed to get the job done. Now Joe who's back is already fucked from previous car accidents and what not, wisely opted not to engage with this girl ... well, let us just say that she would have totally demolished Joe's already fragile back. Joe and Sue did not feel a thing when they got their injections, but dammit ... my injections hurt like hell. Not only did we opt for the compulsory yellow fever inoculations, we also received the recommended Polio, Hepatitis A and Typhoid injections and we have the certificates to prove it. So, we should now be immune to all sort of kak .... doze, aids, what, what.

It is only 14 days and a couple of hours before we depart on our world cruise! Time is now really short and despite all the work we have done to date, there remains some stubborn issues which we have serious difficulties getting sorted out. For us, the past 3 to 4 months has been a hurricane of activity, a massive transformation to our lives and at a pace where we were on the very edge of losing control over the rapidly unfolding events.

Four months ago, we were relieved when the sale of our company fell through as we were getting very concerned about a number of issues. Hardly 2 months later, our instincts and unease proved to be well founded and correct when theft of sizable proportions was discovered. But at the time, the sale cancellation forced us to almost liquidate our company. In the very nick of time, by the grace of God, a new buyer was found and a deal was forged.

We had slightly less than one month to do a complete handover of the company to the new owners. This was hampered by manipulations from a key person in the company who was only interested in self enrichment and very little else. When the theft became apparent, this person had to be replaced at very short notice - luckily we knew somebody suitable who would be an asset to the company.

Then we had to rapidly sort out our house so that we could get to Revelations as quickly as possible. This was a difficult process for us as we had to get rid of most of our possessions. In the end, we reduced our possessions from a full and well stocked 400 sq. meter house to as much as we could load in a car and off we went.

We found Revelations dirty and in typical chaos as maintenance and upgrade work was still carried out on a non stop basis. It took weeks to establish some sort of order and right now, we are still struggling to stow all the various bits and pieces we require for our world cruise. It has been a major adjustment having all the space an conveniences of a established large home to the tiny cramped space of a yacht. Both Sue and I have lost our cool a couple of times already as we struggle and forge ahead in very difficult circumstances. We are both private people and tend to keep to ourselves - we find it challenging to be constantly surrounded by workers, suppliers and contractors. We have difficulties when people have little respect or regard for what is ours and inflict damage as they go forth.

Soon after arriving, we enrolled in the Governor's Cup Yacht Race 2014 to St. Helena. This afforded us the opportunity to sail in the company of other yachts on the first leg of our world cruise. With a firm departure date and a additional list of requirements (besides our own long list), the race was on to get it all sorted out in the available time.

On the face of it, it seems quite simple to work through these lists and get it all done. But one single item on the list requires that four or five other requirements are met first - then each one of these four of five requirements have their own list of requirements which needs to be done first. So what seems to be a singular issue, quickly spreads into many other tasks and requirement - very much like the roots of a tree. In the end, the initial task list expanded into a massive task list with the barest minimum of available time. We probably made more phone calls during the past month than the entire year. We learned that institutions like banks, travel insurance, medical aid, credit cards and many others do not really cater for people in our situation. Things which are quite simple for people staying at a fixed address become formidable problems when you stay on a yacht.

Listening to other cruisers, most of them took more than one year to prepare for their world cruise - we have a little more than 2 months to get it all done. Thus far, it has been a ball breaking experience in the shortest possible time frame and we absorbed massive strains and stresses. This has been one hell of a rough ride for both of us on so many different levels, we are under some serious pressure, still playing catch up in the red tape department and there are several serious challenges before it is all sorted. But somehow we are coping with all of this, all that matters is that we are together and have every intention to complete what we have started - go on our world cruise and enjoy our freedom.

I know there is still a few weeks to go, but ... if you want to follow our voyage around the world and would like to know where we are, you can do so right here on this website. Whilst en-route to a location, there will be the minimum posting of messages on this blog webpage (here). Instead, you need to follow messages posted in the Google Maps area. On the top right of this webpage, you will see a menu item called "Location" - simply click on that and you will be taken to a webpage with Google Maps. You can zoom in on the map to see our exact location and if you click on the red star icons layered on the map, our message for that location will appear.

So give it a spin!

We moved to Cape Town about 40 days ago and was immediately struck at the slow and lethargic pace. There is no escape, it assaults your senses in every way, it's frustrating and annoying as hell. People drive slow, they talk slow, they eat slow, business is slow, getting things done is slow - the place is just very sloowwww! Do they also do sex slow? A slow moving schlong! A non spitting cobra! Huh!? Or do they then catch a wake up and come alive? We arrived back in Jo'burg earlier this afternoon and one cannot help but sense a much quicker pace. People walk faster, cars drive much faster on the roads - hey man, it is a different world all together. If I did not for other reasons dislike this barren place so much, it was almost a feeling of being home again. Our home, now essentially empty of all our belongings, echoes back to you when talking. This is also the place of sweet memories and bitter pain of our beloved children - Meatloaf, Steffie, Storm, Spice and Tubby. I glanced over at their little graves and immediately felt a lump in my throat knowing we will soon be gone for a very long time. In our absence, their now decorated graves will fade and become dull - but they live on in our memories every single day. But now is not the time to bare all and show the softer side - we have lots of things to do in a very short space of time.

Following on the advise of Brent Gray, we bought a piece of leather from WoodHead in Cape Town which will be used as anti chafe on the sheet touching the deflector block. I had some dumb ideas how to wrap the leather around the sheet and then do the stitching. Sue came to the rescue and did a fantastic job. She stitched a narrow strip of leather about 500 mm in length perfectly around the end of the sheet. This was delicate and hard work getting that needle through the thick leather - she bled from several puncture holes where she stuck the needle into herself. Ouch! But she persevered and got the job done! Excellent job done and one could not ask for any better.

We will be flying back to our home in Johannesburg on Tuesday (25 November 2014) morning to deal with some last outstanding issues. Hopefully, this will be our last visit to Johannesburg for a very long time. We will be there for a couple of hectic days dealing with legal stuff, selling our properties and saying final goodbyes to our immediate family. Then it is back to Revelations, the final stint of hard work before we go cruising. Wow! Can't wait for the departure day! 

We are frustrated to no end trying to get things done here in Cape Town! This place marches to a different drum beat than the one we know. Everything is slooooooowwwwwwwwww! So damn slow, "Ek kan in my broek kak!".

"He is not in his office, but please leave a massage and I will make sure he calls you back."
"Okay, my number is xxxxxxxxx - plase ask him to call me."
Two days later; "I left my number two days ago and he did not call back!"
"Yes, but he is not here. Give me your number again."
Another 2 days later; "I would like to see XYZ."
"He is not in. Do you have an appointment?"
"No, I left messages for him to call me but he has not done so. Neither does he respond to emails. So I drove here (40 Km) to see him."
"Well you actually need to make an appointment to see him."
"Can I then make an appoint to see him?"
"Yes, but you have to call him to make the appointment."

WTF? What wrong with this picture? Is this guy even alive? At this rate, you have a better chance of getting an appointment with your long time deceased great-great-grand father! So days and weeks go by trying to get things done, trying to see somebody. You get blocked and side stepped all the time. We have been in Cape Town now for almost a month and we have not had a single day to ourselves. We do not have a single day to waste and it is so frustrating dealing with the "slapgat" bureaucracy, untold red tape and lethargic pace of most officials, companies and people. Seldom can we drive to a place once only and get things done. Oh no, not in this place! It takes weeks, numerous calls and many repeat visits before you are sorted.

SAMSA - 5 phone calls, 4 visits spanning 2 weeks and they still cannot give us the single piece of paper we require.
Dive Shop - 2 quotes, money paid, 3 phone calls, 4 visits spanning 3 weeks and still unable to get the scuba gear we ordered and paid for.
Mast modification - 8 months to find a simple solution, numerous phones calls and emails - still no date when the job will be done.
Bank- it took almost a month, numerous visits, several unhelpful staff, many frustrating delays - to finally open a simple bank account.

Like I said to Sue yesterday, the past month has been nothing but total cruciating frustration. God forbid if this is what sailing around the world is all about! The quicker I get to leave Cape Town, the better for me - this place is most certainly NOT for me.

Watch out! Here is Sue, in the dive shop gearing up to be the NEW Rambo on the block!

Like they say in Afrikaans, “Op die paal” (direct translation to English: “Up the pole”). A saying when a unmarried girl indulged in sex and unexpectedly became pregnant. Not a very happy situation in traditional Afrikaans families - normally all hell would break loose when such shameful news are announced. But that is Sue going up the mast and not the “paal”.

“I want to go up the mast!” she announces.
“You’ll break your frigging neck! And you will see your “O” ring whilst doing so!” I say.
“I’ll hold on” she defiantly replies.
“Do not say I did not warn you!” I mumble.

So, there is Sue almost all the way up the mast sitting in a flimsy bosun’s chair. The thing is a couple a sizes to large for her - but no worries, up she went. Close to 20 meters above the waterline, hanging from a rope, sitting in a bosun’s chairs many sizes to large for her. Did I not tell you she is brave!? And the image does not fully do justice to the height as about one third of the mast is not even in the picture.

We caught up on some much needed rest and sleep during the past 2 days. The past few months of activity and the hectic pace we had to maintain caught up with us. So we took a break, lazed about and rested. But that is now also at an end.

Sue started getting the boat in order, unpacked our luggage, cleaned the boat and started organizing things. I have also been busy sorting out our email accounts on the yacht PC, making a list of everything we need done for us to start our world cruise - so, we now have a new list of about forty items which needs sorting out.

I did tell you that we are packing and that it is a damn serious undertaking. We are now probably about 80% done and there are plastic crates all over the place. I stopped counting around 90 crates - each crate is 700 x 500 x 450 mm (about 28 x 20 x 18 inches) in dimension. Sue packed each and every crate - numbering, indexing and sealing them as she went along. I guess there must be at least 120 of these crates - all packed to the brim and ready for storage. But, we are still not done!

Then, we must have thrown out and given away more than double this volume. Many more needy people benefited from us clearing out our house - fridges, freezers, cameras, computers, laptops, printers, books, clothing, kitchenware, tools, machines, CD's, DVD's and much more. It is simply astounding how much stuff one accumulates over time. The reality is that we had way too much stuff and it feels good giving away.