Exody - Days 324-325 : Cape Town Arrival

Moored at the V&A(Victoria and Albert of course) Waterfront Marina, we feel we are tied up next to St Catherines Dock, Oxford Circus or maybe Buchanan Street, Princes Square and Silverburn in Glasgow. This amazing waterside complex comprises several malls including no less than 80 eating establishments, a watershed business centre, an artisan foodmarket, hotels, serviced apartments, all juxtaposed with serious dry-docking, port activities and maritime tourist excursions. There is much new construction underway round about and everything seems very busy, vibrant, colourful and tasteful. All goods and services seem to be available. Apparently the annual tourist footfall here is in the millions so we guess that must be the economic driver.

We will be here for nearly five weeks and I already know our bank balance is going to feel the pain! But, as Marian has just said, after spending our monthly grocery budget on a new pair of glasses, enjoy the gain! This is what we have referred to before on this log as positive reframing.

Our final short leg of 58 miles here yesterday, Tuesday 1st December, was spectacular. Leaving Pringles Bay in the early morning fog, we were denied the quality photo-opportunities of the Cape of Good Hope through the murk. However it soon lifted and we enjoyed the scenery of beaches and characterful mountainous forms as we motored northward over a completely flat sea into a light headwind. We had a boatslength away encounter with a humpback whale, saw a whole family of what we now know are African fur seals basking on their backs plus loads of individual seals and a huge pod of dolphins. Once again the birdlife too was plentiful: cormorants, gannets etc. The majestic and iconic Table mountain dominated the latter part of the passage and our arrival was made all the more interesting by the opening of two pedestrian footbridges to allow us through.

All the ARC boats are together on a single pontoon and by the end of today, Wednesday 2nd December ten boats are here with the recent arrivals of Aretha, Starblazer and Hugur.

We will now be getting stuck into our administrative backlog (tax return, blog photo upload and visa applications) plus the myriad of small but material boat jobs. The latter, where possible, utilising the services available here in South Africa at relatively low cost.


Peter (Skipper)