Day 3 out of Cape Town

Imvubu departed Cape Town Monday Nov 18 just after midday, with Ralf
and LT onboard. A Jackass Penguin and a Mola-Mola (Sunfish) bid us
farewell as we motored out of the harbor. Leaving the lee of Table
Mountain, the wind freshened and soon Imvubu kicked up her skirts and
ran along with 25 to 35 knots from astern. Day two found us motoring
again for awhile and now we've had alovely 15 to 20 knot breeze more
or less on the beam with Imvubu doing 6 to 8 knots. Tomorrow we expect
to pass over Vema Seamount where the fishing promises to be good.

Back in South Africa

I arrived Durban the evening of November 6 and joined SV Imvubu at Bluff Yacht Club. It took me a bit under 9 months to sail Twister from Durban to Bergen, via Brazil and Florida (blue line on map). It took ca 18 hours (flying time) to do it by airplane via a more direct route (red line).

sailing vs flying

SV Honeybadger Imvubu

Imvubu looked sharp after a year of refitting which included new sails, new engine, a new galley, and much more. I spent two days in Durban as we put the finishing touches on Imvubu's refit and provisioned for the shakedown cruise to Cape Town. We (Ralf, Jenny, and I) departed Durban the morning of November 9 and motored, sailed, and motor-sailed the 811 nautical miles to Cape Town. The weather was uncharacteristically mild (for the South African coast) the entire passage (I don't think the wind was over 20 knots), and we arrived Cape Town late on Wednesday the 13th (4.5 days). Coming down the east coast, the amount of wildlife increased noticeably after we passed East London. We saw hundreds of Humpback Whales, many of them giving us impressive breaching displays. One appeared to get totally airborne. Also in attendance were Cape Gannets, albatrosses, seals, and a few Jackass Penguins.

We will spend a few days here in Cape Town fixing a few small issues that revealed themselves on the passage as well as provisioning for the South Atlantic crossing. We plan to depart Monday the 18th of November. Where we make landfall on the South American continent depends on the winds.