SV Catching Up

The Maiden Passage of Catching Up! Knysna to Cape Town

November 17, 2018November 17, 2018SV Catching Up

It’s been a few weeks since an article was posted. Cape Town has been a non-stop adventure from the moment I got here however, these stories will be discussed in articles to come.

Catching Up has been sitting in Knysna since it’s splash in August. With the final fit out and testing taking place, Catching Up never left the Knysna lagoon apart for the photo-shoot with the Knysna Yacht Company. Mum and Dad flew down specifically for the passage, however, due to abhorrent weather conditions around Cape Agulhas, the passage was delayed for another week. Our expected departure soon arrived on Wednesday the 10^th of October. All was on track until Tuesday when Malcolm the delivery skipper approached me and informed me that due to worsening weather we were departing at 17h00 that day. I quickly got into action to prepare our yacht for the passage. I ran to the shops to get meals for the yacht while Grant from Knysna Yacht Company decided to provide catering for the yacht. After a long day of preparations, two last minute guests arrived on the yacht. Dave and Iolanda, boat owners of sister ship SV Impulse decided to join us on the passage. We loaded them up along with Andre, our sailing instructor and Malcolm and set sail to the Knysna Yacht Club Dock bound for Cape Town.

OCEAN SCREEN 1 — The cloudy afternoon leaving Knysna on way to Cape Town

As the sun started to set, we settled in for what was going to be a very long night. The swell caused big waves to crash against the side of the boat, the resulted in Dave, Iolanda and I suffering from the effects of seasickness. I managed to hold it off by lying down and falling asleep until 3am, when I heard that Dave and Iolanda were not as fortunate as I was! Malcolm and Andre were nice enough to struggle trough the entire passage ensuring that one of them was awake for watch at all times. Having never done a night crossing before, it was very reassuring knowing that we had two highly skilled sailors on board with us for our maiden passage. As we continued through the moonless cloudy night, bioluminescence trailed in the wake of Catching Up. The first night passed and soon dawn was rising behind us with the Western Cape off to our starboard/right side.

SCREEN ONE PASSAGE — One of the first of many spectacular sunsets that Catching Up! will see.

Day 2 on the ocean was much more exciting. The ocean calmed down greatly and the wind was no more than 16 knots off our port/left forward quarter. The wind angle didn’t give us much of an opportunity to get a sail up, however, as the morning progressed the wind began to slowly pick up again giving us a more favourable sailing wind angle. We raised the sails and started picking up a few knots and dropping our time to the next waypoint. Dolphins would come up and play off the bow and just as fast as they arrived, would skirt off back into the deep blue waters. Massive whales would be seen breaching and their spouts going off. The amount of nature on this passage just blew my mind. The wildlife kept us busy for a few hours in between navigating, looking out and just listening to music. Catching Up was well stocked so there was no shortage of food to snack on during the long watch throughout the day. As sunset was approaching, Catching Up achieved her first major milestone … she passed the southern most point of South Africa! Cape Agulhas separates the Indian and Atlantic Ocean. As the sun set, Catching Up crossed into the Atlantic Ocean. The next time she will be back in the Indian Ocean will only be in approximately five year’s time. After the celebrations were complete it was back to the long night watches with ships pinging up on the radar screen. After a while we could see the lights of Hermanus off in the distance before I left my watch period and went to bed.

The Faces of Knysna

October 14, 2018October 14, 2018SV Catching Up

Having lived most of my life now in Australia, South Africa has become a holiday destination. Before starting this adventure with the yacht, I didn’t know a place like Knysna existed. I thought all the Western Cape had was Cape Town and the rest was just little towns dotted along the coastline. Most of my experience of Cape Town was in Stellenbosch so when it came to Knysna I had no expectations or idea of what was to come. I have to say looking back now I can safely say I was so far wrong, it’s laughable.

Landing in Knysna I started looking at this town as more than a tourist destination where people stop over for the night, soon it became a home. Faces became routine, people became friends and locations became familiar. Little by little, life began to settle and the weeks started to roll past. After writing about my first week on-board Catching Up, I quickly began the process of trying to figure out what to make next, what to film and what to write about. I started filming early in the morning and soon the marina would be alive with activity. Standing on the deck of Catching Up trying to capture shots, person after person would walk past her and say their morning greetings as they began their day. Local workers would stream in with their tools all prepared to tackle that issue that they’ve been struggling with for the past week. Four legged friends would be rushed down the jetty to the patch of grass for their first bathroom break for the day. It was just a flurry of movement around Catching Up as we slowly began to blend in. I continued trying to attempt to capture the perfect shots but life just seemed to get in the way.

A common view of the yacht club on my runs around the Lagoon.

Days would start with a coffee, a quick clean up before Malcolm, (the delivery skipper and all round handyman for the Knysna Yacht Company) arrived. From there onwards over a coffee we would discuss the days activities, who would be coming down to the yacht to do what and the snag and extras list that he had been working through. The morning would move on with countless faces appearing on the boat. Peter Abbot would arrive early and stay late working on wiring and connecting power to all our creature comforts on the yacht. Peter would provide true words of wisdom as he carefully and meticulously conducted his work making sure to focus on the primary task. He would bring such positivity to the workers on the boat and really brought the overall on-board mood up in the busy days. One of the assistant workers Sheldon would spend his days on the yacht doing odd jobs, paint touch ups and help run wiring. He would bring his lunch with him, sit on the back of the yacht enjoying his sandwich. This became a common occurrence throughout the week while I was on the yacht. Conversations would continue day after day as they blended and transformed with new topics. These conversations made it so hard to say goodbye to the people in Knysna as we cast off and set sail for Cape Town.

1 Week of Living on Catching Up!

September 18, 2018SV 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.

Breakfast Then Launch: The Launch of SV Catching Up! Part 2

August 28, 2018August 28, 2018SV Catching Up

Previously – Journey to The Ocean: The Launch of SV Catching Up! Part 1

Where we left off… our baby had just been delivered to the Knysna Yacht Club on a bitterly cold morning. By now, it was 07h00 and the sun had already started cresting the horizon. As we all huddled around trying to get some feeling back into our fingers I noticed out the corner of my eye, two ladies in swimming costumes strolling down to the water. We collectively commented that they had to be crazy to get into the water when it was almost unbearably cold outside. I did admire their commitment though! We decided that by now there was no point in being at the yacht seeing as there was no way for us to get on board her, as well as no one would be working on her until 10h00. We decided to head back to our accommodation, warm up with a hot shower and go grab some breakfast. For those inquisitive, we decided to go to what appears to be South Africa’s national breakfast hangout WIMPY. The place was packed and the food was not half bad… explaining the high occupancy rates of the restaurant.

After breakfast, it was straight back down to the Yacht Club where we were met with our mast, rigging and boom all sitting on this massive trailer system. On our mast, most of our gear had already been installed such as the security cameras, mounting brackets for the Garmin Radar and our spreader lights. Our mast kind of resembled a Christmas tree with all the ornaments neatly arranged. At about 10h00 the real work began, our static dissipater for our lightning system went on, as well as the antennas for our range extender. While this was all happening, someone brought over a flimsy rusted ladder and placed it under the sugar scoop. I decided to risk it and climb up to see what was going on inside. Out in the daylight, the interior really came to life. While it was still quite dusty, most of the interior was already clean. You can only really appreciate the woodwork when you have good lighting conditions these were perfect. I admire how the Knysna Yacht Company has such a good attention to detail. For example, on our helm seat we have a lifting cushioned armrest for those long days on watch. When the armrest isn’t being used, it’s stowed upright. Knysna realised that the underside of the armrest would always be visible when stowed upright and decided to add a stunning wooden finish to the polished stainless steel.

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Returning down to the ground I strolled around the car park turned worksite getting footage of the yacht. As you can imagine, tourists, boat workers and the public were walking past us. The yacht was in the heart of the tourist spot, as well as in an operational marina. My favourite thing to do was to stand back and pretend to be one of the media crew that Knysna Yacht Co hired and to listen to these strangers’ opinions on the yacht. The comments I overheard just brought a smile to my face. People commented on the style, size, height and even our Flexofold propellers with rope cutters. Every single comment was positive; I never overheard a single negative comment that entire day.

Journey To The Ocean: Launching SV Catching Up! Part 1

August 20, 2018November 24, 2018SV Catching Up

Taking off from Australia I knew what journey was ahead of me. Having previously met “Catching Up,” I was so eager to get back to seeing that beautiful piece of craftsmanship. We landed in a cold Johannesburg and after a short layover; we were quickly on our way to Port Elizabeth. We’ve been asked why we decided to fly to a place that is 3 hours away when we could easily fly to George, which is only an hour away. The reason is the garden route. People pay thousands of dollars to come and visit this amazing landscape where lush green foliage meets deep canyons of granite. It simply is a stunning route to drive regardless of the impact on our time! The 3-hour drive goes by quickly with the weather changing from clear blue skies to dark storms. Soon we are pulling into 31 Boswerker St Knysna… the Knysna Yacht Company Factory and birthplace of Catching Up. Peeking through the big blue doors is a familiar sight. Suddenly I am taken back to the first time I saw her, with her bows facing outwards and her while hull reflecting the florescent lights of the factory. It brings back a grin that never seemed to go until we were leaving our baby in her spot at the marina. This time seeing her however, things were different from what seemed like an endless list of additions, modifications and changes that had been made since I saw her last.
Rika Fouche met us at the doors and said they had something to show us. She prefaced it saying if we were not happy it can be removed but she was confident in her workers and the design. We had little knowledge but what she was about to show us quickly became the best and my personal favourite feature of our yacht. As I climbed the wobbly wooden staircase, I glanced up at our solar panel system (not a new picture to me) and was met with this elegant fibreglass moulding underneath the solar panels. What originally was such a stunning feature on the yacht was suddenly stepped up by 100% with this new addition that seemed to blend the solar panel system to the rest of the structure. Knysna Yacht Co (KYC) was kind enough to show us our functioning electrical system with all the lights on, the Fusion sound system and the external courtesy lighting all functioning. By this point, I was already blown away and barely coherent at how much work had been done since the last time I was there. Since it was already 17h00, we decided to call it a day and go to our accommodation. I am glad I managed to get an early night as I severely underestimated the emotional, mental and physical demand of what was to come the next morning.

Solar Panel Updated — The new solar panel covers that blend the coachroof perfectly.

Cockpit Refined — SV Catching Up! with her lights on.

04h00 August 8 2018, I was woken by the annoying sound of my iPhone. As groggy as anyone who is cold, jetlagged and regretting setting an alarm for 30 minutes before I was supposed to wake up I soldiered on, got showered and changed. We arrived just after 05h15 at the factory and quickly got our GoPros ready and mounted. We had a few short moments to walk around the yacht in the factory one last time while the tow truck was getting into position and the crew were prepping the yacht. Before I knew it, they were already moving the yacht out of the factory. Suddenly the yacht was moving around the corner and down the road. It looked as if the truck was going at about walking speed I thought I’d just keep walking in front of the convoy for some cool photographs. My body aches and sore muscles would tell me later that this was probably not a clever idea. As the convoy rounded the corner of the factory we encountered our first snag, a beer delivery truck was parked up blocking the path of the convoy. Thankfully, the traffic police escort quickly dealt with the truck and we were back on the move. From where I stood, it appeared that two workers were situated on the bow and one was running with me ahead of the yacht. The whole experience was quite surreal. Everyone was calling out hazards, instructions and movements while slightly being drowned out by the engine of the truck.