[b]Going out to sea[/br]
We were planning to use the boat on the sea and in
order to do that, the engine problem had to be fixed
of
course.
When I started out for the Zambesi tour in May, I
was of course completely ignorant and naive about
boating because it had never been my hobby.
I may have been on a boat a few times before but
without knowing much about the intricacies that
amount
to something like "good seamanship" in their sum
total.
First the engine problem had to be fixed.
I brought the boat back to the guy who had done the
electrical conversion and it turned out that one of
the magnets on the flywheel had come lose from that
2nd hand part and
attached itself to one of the stator coils so that
the motor only fired
on one cylinder. That of course explained the lack
of power.
Then I learned that in order to launch a boat on the
ocean it had to be certified as seaworthy.
That meant buying a lot of safety equipment like
signaling flares, fire extinguisher, and a lot more
little things, life vests, a capsize bottle to store
all the stuff for
it to remain dry in case one flipped the boat.
I also realised that I would have to pass some sort
of skippers exam in order to be allowed out.
All this put me on a steep learning curve.
While normally I am quite critical of all the state
interventions and regulations, I must say that the
stuff
I was forced to learn was quite useful and in many
ways eye opening.
After all, the sea is a very powerful thing and
should be treated with great respect.
Nevertheless, due to time constraints, I was not
able to do my skippers exam before we went down
to the South Coast of Kwa Zulu natal in order to
start our coastal gifting programme.
You may remember that I have been pursuing the
project of necklacing the southern tip of Africa
with
orgonite for a while. So far we only managed to do
the stretch from Durban up to Bazaruto Island in
Mozambique by booking ourselves onto a
cruise ship.
The envisaged sailing trip from Durban to Cape Town
never materialised and generally it seemed that
obstacles were thrown in our way again and again.
Hence now the idea to take matters in our own hands
finally and do it in small segments with my own
little
boat.
This optimistic map I published after the Bazaruto
cruise in March 2006
The total project of "necklacing southern Africa"
comprises about 4000 km of coastline. We're lagging
behind but we will get there.
So off we went at the end of September with the boat
in tow.
Having some fun on the Mtamvuna river instead
I was soon to find out that without the skipper's
licence I was not allowed to launch anywhere
and that sneaking out anywhere from a river estuary
undetected was virtually impossible.
So I decided to do at least the practical side of it
and enlisted for a surf launching course of 3 days
that ended in a practical exam.
Again, I must say that I'm grateful for what I
learned in that course. The Indian Ocean has a big
swell
coming all the way up from the antarctic and
breaking on the beaches with at least 2-3 metre
breakers in fine weather and much more when the wind
is high.
Even though the instructor overdid it a bit with his
constant cursing and abuse, I'm glad for every
little bit that he taught me in those 3 days. Most
of the time I felt very stupid of
course and that was obviously also his impression.
(LOL)
At least after that and with the endorsement of the
course instructor, the control tower in Shelley
beach allowed us out.
So at least we had not come down in vain and finally
managed to do a stretch of some 200 km.
On the Zambesi trip I had adopted the tactics of
studiously throwing out 1 TB or dolphin buster every
1 km to
which I have adhered ever since on these outings
with my small boat.
On the cruise ship to Bazaruto we did one every 10
km as the distance was much further and we could
only
carry a limited number of orgonite devices on board.
We were lucky to see some whales broaching close by
and schools of dolphins as well as plenty of flying
fish (or sail fish more correctly)
Here are some impressions from those 2 outings
Whales, whales, whales! To bad that digital camera
always clicks with so much delay...
Dolphins
Look at my three pretty seafaring girls:
Kika
Bella
Friederike
more dolphins
The proverbial blue hole did indeed form again - we
have gotten used to that kind of confirmation
The weather was not too nice and the swell quite
high most of the time
Sail fish
We had brought along a CB which we pointed from the
balcony of our apartment
We would later hide it in the dense coastal forest,
protected by a swarm of wild bees (I got about 10
stings while placing it there)
The South Coast busted - the flag is a CB of course
The Vaal Dam
Getting back, I returned to the Vaal once more, this
time to the giant Vaal Dam which is in fact the main
water supply of the greater Johannesburg region.
Getting ready for the Vaal river again
A little incentive for the kids - the tube ride
Vaal Dam busted on a stretch of 60 km
To be continued...
____________
Doing it all over Africa and sending it out to the
world
www.orgonise-africa.net
