Three Bits of News:
- The Video coming out shortly, debuting 2pm tomorrow, is from before we departed Cape Town. We sailed his boat, Intrepid, a small 31 Foot Steel Boat. One great way to interview the potential Captain was to see how well he sails his OWN boat, how well he maintains it, if he even knows how to sail etc. So we sailed off to Hout Bay. It took a couple tries to get there due to stormy weather, but we eventually got there! Hope you like this lighthearted video with all the smarty pants questions the poor Captain was asked! See how he fairs, when the new video is released in the next 24 hours at “Sailing Brick House” on YouTube.
- We have finally departed Cape Town. The new Captain has lots of footage of the passage and will now have time to learn how to edit the footage he has, so you can look forward to the growth of his videos as time goes on. I will continue to make many of the videos too.
One video is underway now showing you both the sailing and personal challenges we both encountered preparing for this new chapter! Not easy to pluck a man from land, give him a much more complicated boat than his own to run, have him sell up and prepare to depart in a few short months. This story will be a video next month, likely while we are at sea, since there is no affordable internet after this stop, til we arrive on the other side…
- Not everything was ready when we departed Cape Town, but sometimes you just have to untie the dock lines and go. Reghardt Van Der Rijst, a 41 year old Afrikaans friend of Michael’s, accompanied us for the sail up and was a huge, enthusiastic help, and pleasant company too. He had to be back to work for yesterday so we could not delay any longer.
We arrived after a rambunctious 7 day sail that Michael will detail in his debut video in a month or so, also while we are at se.. We cleaned up the boat and rented a car to do our first reconnoiter, after clearing in which was easy and pleasant. No covid test was even asked for and no quarantine. Maybe they forgot as other cruisers had a bit of a run around. Namibia is proving a beautiful country with very nice people, already. I think we will take another trip soon, maybe to Etosha National Park one more time, so I can see my African animal friends once more, and Michael can see the beauty in he countries on his own continent.
As you can well imagine, Michael is struggling getting used to this small space and radically different lifestyle with me; a crazy emotional lady … and me…getting used to a new Captain on a boat I spent so many years with Patrick on…still grieving in many ways, and still struggling to maintain happiness, and the sailing life I so badly want to continue with. Handing control over to a new Captain with not that much experience…not knowing if we will stay together long term… struggling with knowing when to point things out that must be done a certain way, and when to stay quiet and let him do it his own way. There are after all, many ways to do the sam thing, correctly! Not without struggles, to say the least. But we are both trying hard to adapt and make this all work in already trying covid times, so we can pursue a common goal.
Cross your fingers for us! We need lots of fingers!