Around the world in 4459 days!

                                                Home!

OK, so it's not exactly a speed record but we did it!  12 years, 2 months and 15 days.  Nearly 45 000 nautical miles or 83,340 kilometres!

We're back in Simon's Town where it all started in 2004 and what an adventure it's been.  The people, the places, the islands, the seas, the sunsets, the foods: nothing can take away the memories of this amazing journey.  

We set off with five years in mind but it didn't take long to realise we didn't want to rush it and five years wasn't going to be near enough.  Although I really do admire those folk who race around the globe, I have to question the logic.  What do they see, who do they meet?  Do they ever sit on a beach to watch the sun go down?  Do they ever stop long enough to savour the variety of cuisine offered around the world?  To experience the culture and diversity each country has to offer?   To simply observe life from a foreign perspective?  And most importantly, to realise how privileged we were to be there in the first place?  We did all this and more!

We often wondered why more people don't get on a boat and sail away but in hindsight, thank goodness they don't, it would be awfully crowded out there and the solitude we experienced so often was half the charm.

Given the choice, would we do it all over again?  Most definitely and we wouldn't change much, not even the boat, except maybe give us a bow thruster next time and perhaps a nice big sugar scoop off the stern.  And while we're at it, a slightly bigger fridge and freezer and....... nah, leave that, they were just fine.  Calypso did us proud.

For all of you who followed our exploits, we hope you enjoyed travelling with us.  It wasn't always easy to stay in touch but we were fortunate to have so many friends back on the land and blessed beyond measure for all those we met along the way.

And now you ask, what's next?  What on earth does one do to follow on from this?  Neither of us is ready to sit back in a rocking chair to reflect on times and adventures past.  We will create new ones.  And so now, on to the next stage of our lives whatever that may hold.

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And now to tell the last tale of our trip into Simon's Town: this final leg of 214nm was some of the best sailing we've had, especially on the SA coast!  We thought we had ended on such a good note, sunny skies, perfect winds (wing-on-wing), moderate seas, a full moon, seals playing around us pretending to be dolphins and, to top it off, Paul caught a beautiful, big yellow-fin tuna.  Sushi H?

Our fabulous cruising friends, Bronte and Helmke were waiting to take our lines along with Roger, the chap who joined us leaving SA in 2004, and quite a few others.  The winds had picked up quite significantly, 25-30 knots, (NOT forecasted) but it was still lovely out there.  And then we rounded the corner with only a couple of miles to go and all hell broke loose.........45 knots gusting to 50 on the nose, we couldn't fight it!  Engine full on but we were not making any progress, rather we were getting forced closer and closer to the far shore.  We turned back and tried again but no luck.  

In the end, to our chagrin, the NSRI came out to tow us in but even that was a saga of its own.  Once they got us closer in, the conditions were marginally more protected so we made the turn into the marina on our own but got blown side on across the finger.  Not my moment of glory!  It took at least a dozen pairs of helping hands on shore to finally pull us straight and tie up!  Shatter nerves and shattered ego and one hell of a grand finale!  Thank goodness for the bottles of bubbly.