Sailing South Africa with Electronics…Predictwind, AIS, and Raymarine Radar…we used them all!

In the old days, you used barometers, and GRIB files, and listened to SSB and VHF weather reports to round the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa.

Now there is just so much more to aid a sailor.

 

We used PredictWind Offshore for planning the trip when we had internet, and then during the trip using our Iridium GO! to get updates to know when it was time to seek shelter. This was probably our biggest tool for weather Routing using the ocean current models , as well as four wind and wave forecasts from Predictwind to make sure we got it right.

We would not sail any ocean now without the Iridium GO and the Professional version of Predictwind Offshore. I would simply refuse to leave the dock without it!

Latest Video

Here is the latest video with us sailing from Richards Bay, underway through lots of wind and speedy currents on the way to Cape Town. It’s part one of a 2 part series, as we need to seek refuge from an upcoming storm, in East London for a few days.

 

Maggi Chain USA, New Electronic Charts, AMT Composites for Fiberglass

LATEST ADDITIONS TO BRICK HOUSE

Brick House is in the Boatyard now… There is a lot of hardcore work going on…There is surprisingly a lot of great companies and products here for many of the upgrades we have needed to do to the boat. Custom upgrades will be the name of the game for at least the first half of this haul out…until we start getting ready for our next Ocean. But that’s jumping ahead…Here us what we have upgraded this year so far…2019…

July 2019 – Maggi Chain USA  This was a long time coming. Our chain was over 25 years old, and after regalvanizing it twice it Was truly a scary pile of rusty chain. We were losing confidence in it, but I all we could find in SE Asia was unproven chain made in China.  So we decided to wait until South Africa. We just could not trust it despite many local cruisers singing praises about how it lasts at least 3 years in not always so windy SE Asia!

In China, chain can be good, but it can be really really bad too due to a lack of quality control and unless you have YOUR run tested, you just don’t know for sure what you have.  We needed American or European made chain if we didn’t want to be replacing chain in a way too short 3-4 years, and we needed to be very sure of what we were going to get! To me, new chain looks all the same…it’s what it does and the physics involved that are important, and We need to go with reputation for quality…hence Maggi.

Before reaching S Africa we ordered a barrel of Maggi chain in the USA, who imports the chain from Italy where it is made, and had it delivered to South Africa. Yes…we went a round about way to get the best quality chain we could possibly find, but this is cheap insurance, since what our boat hangs on with, is worth being very careful about. Consistent quality control was what we are after, and are pleased to finally have new chain. We will sleep much better now during a big blow, because we are very sure we have the very best anchor chain!

This Company is Florida was a pleasure to work with…but the delivery by ship was a little slow, which I suppose is to be expected….but it was worth the wait to get the Cadillac of Anchor chain!

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July 2019 – Navionics Platinum + We have always used Navionics charts…since we left 12 years ago. We have found them to be very reliable and accurate. They add new cool features so frequently that there have been very few years where I wasn’t pretty stoked about a new feature they added. This year is no exception. The Platinum Plus Charts are actually not new and they are tried and true…we just haven’t been able to afford them and they have not been available in the oceans we have recently sailed. There is a good sale on them right now, and as we prepare to go off to South America at the end of this year, and we needed charts anyways, we got the Platinum + Navionics Charts for South America, instead of the usual basic versions. They include satellite imagery/photography available right on our Raymarine chartplotter, among many other things.  The thought of having the satellite charts right on our Raymarine chartplotter is amazing to me, and I can’t wait to get a good look at it all! Technology is finally evolving very quickly in the yachting industry, and Navionics as usual is on the forefront.

We also got a C-MAP  chart chip for the same area, all on just one chip, simply because we like to be overcautious and have the best charts we can get, not just the best 1 Chart. It’s always good to have redundancy and 2 “votes” of what the underwater topography really is. If Navionics and C-Maps both agree, that’s a good sign. If they differ…we take the most conservative vote until we get local knowledge. We feel well prepared having the 2 heavy hitters nautical charts on our chartplotter!

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June 2019 – Richards Bay, South Africa is turning out to be a real treasure of a place to work on one’s boat. We managed to find a South African company called AMT Composites. 

Not only did the technical professional staff there discuss our project over the phone for more than an hour to be sure we got what we needed,  but they were able to quickly deliver all of the high quality materials, free of charge, right to our boat within days of paying!

To be honest, we did initially buy some not so great resin here locally..so buyer beware…go right to AMT Composites to get it right on the first try!

After our first resin purchase blunder, we started checking with the local contractors here. They ALL pointed us to AMT if we wanted quality materials. AMT Composites imports the best products from all over the world, including Gurit resin, hardener, filler and other materials which are as good if not better than West System, and more affordable! They had every thing we needed including Peelply to paintbrushes. Patrick is happily rolling in fiberglass, fixing decking, hull, keel, and other.  Happier than a pig in sh**!  Our boat will soon be stronger than ever!

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An earlier recommendation that I made is still working very well here in S Africa. They are the ONLY packages that arrive without hassle:

A Shipping Trick for Yacht in Transit….Use Amazon to Ship!

We are preparing to do something, finally, to up the anti on Brick House against theft and vandalism. This will be a big upgrade…this is why:

Is Cruising Safe? Panama Pirate Attack in Guna Yala/San Blas Islands

 

 

 

Mozambique Cyclone Sailing Tanzania to South Africa

Mozambique Cyclone Update – a short post to let you know we are alive and well on Sailboat Brick House! The Mozambique cyclone definitely did have some effect on us on our 1200 mile passage down the East African Coast, from Tanzania to South Africa this month (March), hence why this 1200 mile passage is taking so long and why there haven’t been any posts or videos!

We had made a carefully calculated plan to follow the cyclone down, according to weather at sea from preeictwind and our Iridium GO,  riding the north winds on the tail of the cyclone and have had an interesting passage down…something we NEVER would have done without exceptional weather capabilities of Predictwind. Our Bluewater sailboat who is ready for storms at sea, as well as with the help of Des Cason, a cruiser who made this trip many times and kindly works with many cruisers traveling down this coast for local knowledge tips about the weather.

We left a little earlier than planned to come down the Mozambique coast, while it was still cyclone season, and it was certainly a little anxiety producing for us both. Weather at sea had to be watched closely and we had to be willing to turn in or even turn back if anything new popped up. I didn’t miss getting a single report this entire trip, that is for sure!

We have a video which we will try to post next weekend when we reach Richards Bay South Africa about the trip down, during what is being touted as the “worst cyclone to ever hit the east coast of Africa”. We feel horrible for the many Mozambique people who have lost everything including their lives in many cases. No photos or replies to comments until we get there since I’m using an expensive “World SIM card” to make this post, but we will reply to the many comments on YouTube and on this blog once we reach South Africa and get some real internet.

Again, we are safe, a bit tired of the passage, and hope to arrive South Africa this weekend or early next week! Please don’t worry about us…the video is ready to post about the whole adventure within a few days of arriving!

Thanks everyone for their concern over the last few days!!!

Here is our weather source: Predictwind Free

Rebecca Childress

 

Predictwind and the Iridium GO!

Bluewater Sailing Tips and Tricks Videos on Patrick Childress Sailing Youtube Channel