1 Week of Living on Catching Up!

It’s been officially one week at the time of writing, living on Catching Up! The week has gone insanely fast and even this article had been placed in the background.

Flying down to George already started with a delay. Arriving at the airport with my luggage limit maxed, I was so excited to take the massive step of the adventure and move down to the boat. After getting all checked in and arriving at the boarding gate, I patiently anticipated the arrival of our aircraft. Boarding began and we got fas far as the boarding ramp before hitting all stop. There we waited for half an hour as the plane was cleaned and prepped for the flight. Finally we got to board and just as boarding was completed we were informed of a further 30 minute delay due to some overheated brakes on the plane. After take-off, I got chatting with the flight attendant. It turns out the flight was delayed for an hour due to the previous pilot having had a heavy foot with the brakes and overheating them.

Arriving almost 2 hours late we quickly drove down to the boat where I started the mammoth task of unloading all the stuff I’d brought down in my baggage. While unpacking, Grant Boshard from Knysna Yacht Co came down to discuss the action plan for the next few days. I was informed that we would be having a camera crew on board on Tuesday for a few hours to do some reshooting and then have a full day of film shooting on the Wednesday. We agreed to help Knysna Yacht Co do a corporate film and marketing shoot with Catching Up being the flagship of the company for the shoot. The film shoot on the Tuesday was only supposed to be a quick few hours however, it turned into a whole day ordeal.

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Waking up at 5am on Tuesday I began the morning trek to the Harbour Heads for my daily shower. Showering on the yacht is possible however; your showers are limited due to the size of your water tank. Returning to the yacht, I was met with Knysna’s delivery skipper Malcolm who would be taking the yacht out for the shoot. We got the yacht prepped as we waited for the camera crew to arrive. Once they arrived, I assisted them in loading their camera equipment onto the yacht and we were soon off to Featherbed Nature Reserve in the Knysna Lagoon.

We spent a few hours moving back and forth to ensure we maintained adequate lighting for their photo shoot. We moved the entire day around the lagoon getting various interior and exterior shots of Catching Up and the surroundings before finally packing up at 17h30 when we were back at the Knysna Yacht Club dock. Once everyone was off the yacht I finally got to enjoy some quite time with a beer from the yacht club bar as I watched the sunset. I took an early night, as I knew the next day would be a long one.

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Waking up again at 05h30, I took my morning stroll off to the harbour heads for my shower. On returning, I bumped into two actors who were arriving for the shoot. I hopped on board, put away my clothes and when I returned, the yacht club dock was awash with people, catering staff, film crew and yacht crew all preparing for the shoot. 27 people, 3 Knysna yachts and a drone were involved in the massive shoot. The actors were split up between Catching up and a Knysna 480 called Captivating. Catching Up set off first with the first load of actors for the first scene. It was absolutely amazing to see these people work in action, repeating scene after scene until the director was happy that the shot was good. Once the first scene was shot, we were first through the heads. Already running behind with the shoot, we missed our optimal time as we exited the treacherous Knysna Heads. The passage was rougher than expected however, Catching Up handled it perfectly. It was the first time Catching Up had left the safety of the lagoon so it was great to see her take on the challenge effortlessly. Throughout the rest of the day, we had actors and camera crew shuttling between three yachts with the majority of the filming taking place on Catching Up! During the down times, I got to meet and talk to so many talented actors and film crew. One of the videographers, Daniel Snyders re-told stories of his time working on National Geographic film shoots in Africa, as he got some extra footage for the shoot.

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The day dragged on and finally all the actors were in place for the final shoot on Catching Up. The final scene was completed and we were free to eat all the extra food that was set up and drink the champagne that was used. During the day I felt a little uncomfortable with the amount of people on the yacht and the demands of the film crew, however, looking back it was an amazing experience to be on a working film set. The people I met that day are talented and have so much passion. I do hope that someday I could meet up with them again to hear more of their fascinating stories.

The rest of the week from that Wednesday were a blur, moving boxes of items stored in the factory to the yacht and unpacking goods that were brought down in previous trips took up most of my time with only a few short breaks to chat to some working staff from the yacht company. My parents arrived over the weekend with more supplies and quickly settled in. After a short while, we’d rearranged the contents of the yacht into their designated spots.

This afternoon I suddenly looked at the clock and realised that it was Monday, 14h00…I had no article, no video and no interaction on the Facebook page. An entire week had passed by in a flash and this took me completely by surprise. It is a wakeup call for me to always be on the ball, have plans etc. or I could fall into the monotony of island time!

SV Catching Up