Cape Town

Twister arrived Cape Town in the early hours of January 14, 2013. The passage from Knysna was uneventful and generally pleasant (at least for me. My friend Alison who's visiting, suffered a bit from seasickness). Exiting The Knysna Heads just after high tide was no problem (several days before, waves had been breaking across the entire entrance). We motor-sailed the first 18 hours I must confess. The second day was a bit rolly, sailing downwind in 20-25 knot easterlies with ~3 meter groundswell coming out of the Southern Ocean. We rounded Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point of Africa, around one AM on the 13th, so all we were able to see was the lighthouse, which blinks once every 5 seconds.* Fortunately we were able to enjoy The Cape Of Good Hope in daylight (and a good-looking cape it is) and lovely sailing conditions--close-hauled with about 12 knots of wind and smooth seas, going 5 to 6 knots with a current giving us a boost of one knot. We didn't see any penguins but did see many sea lions, relaxing on patches of free-floating kelp, frolicking, and doing sea-lion stuff. There was plenty of bird life a well--terns, gannets,cormorants, fulmars (?), etc. One highlight was dolphins surfing the bow wave at night, producing glowing trails in the bio-luminescence. Before leaving Knysna, I installed a new VHF radio which has built-in AIS.  AIS allows me to see the position, course, and speed (and sometimes a lot of other info) of ships (which have an AIS transmitter installed) within 10 to 20 miles of my position. It makes navigation in high traffic areas like Cape Town harbor, much less stressful.  Now looking forward to exploring Cape Town and doing some long-needed repairs on Twister (job number 1--fix roller furler). 

*That is a very useful navigational tool at night, by the way. Lighthouses all have different blinking patterns--at least the ones in the same area--which are listed on the charts. So if I'm in sailing from Knysna to Cape Town and see a light blinking once every 5 seconds, I know I'm passing Cape Agulhas. Of course with GPS and electronic chart plotters it's not as important as in the good old days, but it's always nice to get some on-the-ground confirmation of what the chart plotter is telling you.