Zanzibar Marina, Tanzania, East Africa – A month at the new marina!

Advertisements

Zanzibar Marina, East Africa, Tanzania, a month at the new marina! It’s the only marina in East Africa, and is barely open. It is also known as Azam Watersports Marina, or Verde Hotel Marina, and is located a couple of miles north of Stonetown. It is a safe haven for sailboats. It’s brand new, and barely open, but when we heard the price, we almost decided NOT to come….$50 per night!!! But then we found out if you stay for a month or more, the prices come down to less than half. So we decided to time our arrival to Zanzibar for the Sauti Za Busara Music Festival in early February.

It was to be a safe place to leave our home at a dock, with guards, while we spent until the wee hours of the morning, in town, listening to the great lineup of African musicians, for 4+ days. It was a great 4 days, and we never feared for our boat, our dinghy, our outboard or our possessions the entire time we were away. Guards quizzed us each night upon return until they got to know exactly who we were and where we were going. I would wish them a “Lala salama”, and they would assure me that only I would have a good nights sleep…not them…they would be awake all night to guard the premises!

For a month, we did laundry on the dock, took endless showers, and walked on and off the boat any time we wanted to, together or by ourselves. I sat in a free massage chair for an hour a day getting a luxurious foot massage some days, and total body massage other days, after having a cappucino on fine china. Patrick went to the gym twice a day and got in a good routine, enjoying the air conditioning, nearly as much as the workout itself.

Every once in a while someone would turn off a motor that needs to run for the RO water to come from our hose on the dock, and we would have to wait until the next morning for dock water. But with a quick call to the manager, it would all come back on again. We were there for the hottest part of the year…February…and an AC unit would have made things better during the day, especially since electricity is included. Free WiFi is available in the restaurant and the lounge upstairs with the great coffee bar. The manager told me they are in the process now of trying to include more for visiting yachts including some Watersports…kayaks for example, and Showers, toilets, and laundry. Right now, if you want laundry done it it some outrageous amount per item, at the hotel. We never once used this expensive system. We hunted for showers to sneak in to, but alas, there were none. They did finally offer some outdoor, unisex showers that are used for the ocean part of the water park, but warned us to keep our clothes on 😉

With a nice restaurant at the head of the dock (which does not serve alcohol) , we splurged and ate dinner here every 4th or 5th night. Other times we ate on the boat running to town every few days for cheap fresh veggies and expensive boneless chicken breasts. Luckily we still had lots of food in the freezer not only from Dar, but from Mayotte and even ReUnion, so we never went hungry!

The dala dala or a taxi can be caught right outside the gate of the hotel, and though they always asked for more, you could generally get a taxi in for 5000 Tanzania Shillings, a little over $2 usd. If you came back late late at night, it could be as much as double that, and again, they start at 3x the price they are willing to go for. The Dala dala (a small bus or pickup truck with seats) costs about 12 cents, so when we could, we would catch the dala dala and be crammed in to a small pickup truck with seats in the back. There are also a few tuk tuks though most rare.

Continue reading

Sailboat vs Tugboat: We prepare for a passage to Zanzibar, East Africa

Preparation for Passage On our sailboat to Zanzibar. Dangers for Sailboat in Africa – Patrick Childress Sailing videos #34. Preparing for a passage, on our cruising sailboat, a Valiant 40, one sailing preparation we do on a coastal passage as well as an offshore passage, is a complete sailboat engine room tour. We stow everything as though there will be a surprise storm at sea for our sailboat, check the weather and tides, plot our course, and leave at first light, one of our coastal sailing tips for all sailboats. Preparation for Passage is something we take seriously, whether for a coastal passage or an offshore passage. 

What are the dangers for sailboat in Africa? For one cruising sailboat, cruising at night without radar, sailing in East Africa is dangerous. Were the navigation lights too dim? Maybe he did not see navigation lights at all.

How dangerous sailing in Africa some people would say! But what are the dangers for sailboat in Africa? What are the dangers for sailboats at sea anywhere? Are sailboat crashes common in East Africa? Are Yacht accidents common everywhere in the world?

What happens when you hit a tow line? This cruising sailboat, while coastal sailing at night, when a boat hits a tow line, it is almost dragged under by the tow line during this yacht accident with a tugboat and barge. This is one of Tanzania’s most recent sailboat crashes, but the captain is hoping to win the battle with the tug boat’s insurance company. But who’s fault was it? 

Get an education before you leave the dock…Here are a couple of FREE online courses…Sailing Courses

Zanzibar Marina, Tanzania, East Africa – A month at the new marina!

 

Larry Pardey on SERAFFYN has become Ill. Wife and community honors him in a unique way.

 

#sailing #sailboat #sailingtips

Sailing blog? Consider Using WordPress. I switched 4 years ago…

I run this sailing blog on WordPress. I use to use Sailblogs, and although it was simple, it didn’t offer enough to hold me there..it couldn’t do what I wanted to do as I grew just a bit. I am not a programmer, and I don’t know html at all. I just like a simple platform to write my blog on. Lately I’ve liked to get a little fancy with it, trying out different things.

Whether it be a monetized Website with a storefront that you eventually want, or simply multiple photos in one blog post painlessly, or as a compliment to a Youtube Sailing Channel……WordPress can do what you what it to do, no matter how fancy you want to get.

Or just use defaults settings and make simple blog posts, with multiple photos, and anything else you want to do without a lot of fuss.

Do it from sea, with just SSB and Pactor modem, or with you sat phone, or your Iridium GO. WordPress lets you be as plain and simple or as fancy and sophisticated as you like…. The sky is the limit. It provides great stats if you are a number geek like me, great backup options if you mess things up sometimes like I do. It offers so many plugins (ways to add every option known to man on your site) and lots of instructions and live support. It’s become a hobby that I enjoy, though at times I wonder why…

Anyways…they are offering a better promotion than I’ve seen come in for a bit so thought I tell you about it in case you are thinking of starting a Sailblogs. Yes.it’s an affiliate Link…why not.it’s what I’ve used for nearly 4 years and I still like it. The code is at the bottom of the post.

You may want to just start a free a. Ount, let it sit, and as you get inspired with it, learn a bit more, and add a bit more. Or just start making posts and having fun today with it 😉 It’s a fun hobby, and it can help other sailors know what lies ahead..or use it to just simply let family know what is happening and where you are. Or simply, a log of your travels that one day you can look back at and smile when you see the photos and the funny way you lived while cruising ;).

I started with the personal plan 4 years ago, but quickly upgraded to the Premium for under $100 per year total. I enabled the ads on it right away, but took them right down because it was just so bad and invasive. Now Adsense ads are much much better, and it enables me to at least break even if not make a few dollars each month! It’s nice to have all the bells and whistles to play with, without really paying anything. The ads on this blogsite enable me to pay for this blog…not my time….but at least for the financial outlay to have the site to begin with.

Either way…there are many options out there for blogging. This one can really grow with you. Don’t just get the simplest, most free one you can find, or you will find yourself having to convert everything over to a more robust platform to do what you really want to do, later one…which believe me, is painful. Just start with WordPress. You won’t regret using it! Sailblogs was good for me for a couple of years. But WordPress has offered much more.

Also…if you have a Youtube Sailing Channel…DEFINITELY have a blog. You need something called “backlinks” to your channel. Putting your links on Facebook helps a bit. But having people coming from a blog is even better. Having your own blog is a backlink that really helps to get things kickstarted and makes Youtube pay a bit of attention to the results the post with your video gets. Our YouTube just monetized 2 months ago, after 10 months (Patrick Childress Sailing), and a lot came from this blog…and still does.

If you are about to start a blog…WordPress is offering a 20% off discount from This Sunday for about 2 weeks: Use this code when you check out: WordPress Website. Be sure to use DISCOUNT20 at checkout!

Begins: Sunday, February 24th

Ends: Sunday, March 10th

Coupon Code: DISCOUNT20

Promote: WordPress.com, Jetpack

WordPress Discount Be sure to use DISCOUNT20

Here is the Youtube Sailing Channel: Patrick Childress Sailing, if you haven’t already seen it a million times on this site!!