Yacht Wilhelm in Cape Town, South Africa for 2009

We have decided to keep sv Wilhelm in Africa during 2009. We arrived in Mozambique in October 2008, after crossing the Indian Ocean. We sailed along the Mozambique coast to South Africa, and rounded the Cape of Good Hope in the months that followed. We arrived in Cape Town, South Africa on December 31, 2008, and will keep our boat there until January 2010. Here is a link to our sailing route from Australia to Cape Town. http://www.tripmapper.net/wilhelm
We are taking advantage of all the cultural and other activities in Cape Town, as well as the chance to explore other countries in Africa by land. (Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana.) We plan to spend June - Dec. in the USA (flying home and leaving sv Wilhelm in Cape Town.) In Dec. 2009, we'll return to Cape Town and sail toward Brazil in early 2010.

Cape Town, South Africa

Our life in Cape Town. In the morning, we walk along the waterfront to the swimming pool. Because we are over 60, we can swim for free in the 50 meter salt water pool. Behind Natalie, you can see Lion's Head. There is a trail to the top, which we hiked in January. We also watch the progress on the stadium being built for the 2010 World Cup soccer matches.

We have enjoyed lots of plays, movies, museums and concerts in Cape Town.

People's litter hurts animals!

Yacht Wilhelm is moored in the Victoria and Alfred Marina in Cape Town.* Sea lions come to visit us. We don't like them on our dock because they smell and make lots of noise.... however, they are funny creatures and one can spend a lot of time watching them romp around. It is very upsetting when we see one, like the close up photo, wounded because some human has discarded plastic debris in the ocean. At sea, they twist and turn in plastic fishing lines and other human detritus. Over time, the lines dig into their bodies and cause open festering wounds, aggravated by salt water, flies. We see the wounded ones grow weaker as they rest on the docks. It is a very sad situation that makes us very intolerant of human beings who do not clean up after themselves.

*Named after Queen Victoria's son Alfred, not after her husband Albert...in case someone notices that apparent discrepancy.

The Amazing Weaver Bird

This is a tree outside the office of the Zululand Yacht Club in Richard's Bay, South Africa. Weaver Birds make their nests in the tree and it was a scene of frantic activity during the entire month we were there....As we understand it, the males build the nests. If the nest is not to the females satisfaction, the female pulls it down and the entire process starts over. From one of the discarded nests, photographed where it fell in the parking lot, you can see the carefully woven strands that seemed impressive to us, even if they did not meet the female's high standards.

Africa has animals!

So, we went on a trip to a game park and saw lots of animals....and we took these photos. They are not, as has been suggested by our offspring, photos that we downloaded from some website.

We are in South Africa. November 10, 2008

(Google Earth -28.7931, 32.0832) We have arrived in Richards Bay, South Africa, the most eastern port in the country. We are moored at the Zululand Yacht Club and will be here until at least mid-December. Since April, we have sailed from the east coast of Australia, across the Indian Ocean, and south along part of the African coast, a distance of more than 9,000 nautical miles.

It’s Not All Sunshine.

Google Earth -25.9614, 32.9129

Triple snub lines on Wilhelm’s anchor chain provide protection in heavy wind and sea conditions off Mozambique, during one of the southwest gales that move quickly across the southern coast of Africa. Rob designed and built Wilhelm’s foredeck mooring bit, which provides safety and security not often found in a sailboat. (Photo taken after weather calmed down enough to go on deck.)

November 4, 2008. WE ARE PROUD OF OUR COUNTRY!!

What a great election. Thanks to Blair, we traveled with an Obama sticker on our dinghy – people everywhere wanted to talk about him. (BTW, did you know that beaches in Mozambique look like this?)

Africa: A Continent of Contrasts. November 2008

(Google Earth -21.8521, 35.8521)

The village “store” in Mozambique, where we bought sugar, cornmeal (no flour available), and sweets for the children, contrasts with the beachside resort where we enjoyed lunch in luxurious surroundings. The two are located within a kilometer of each other. Both are Africa.

Mozambique – Ilha de Mocambique October 16 – 21, 2008.

(Google Earth -15.0301, 40.733)

We are in Africa! What a great spot to arrive – a trading port for over 500 years, a crossroads of Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. The Portuguese enslaved the local people, and then spent over 50 years using forced labor to build an enormous fort that dominates the point where we entered. Dhows (local sailboats) sail the waters. For more photos of our stay in Mozambique, please the slide show at <http://picasaweb.google.com/nataliewestsellin/MozambiqueSlideShow#>

Mayotte: October 6-13, 2008.

(Google Earth -12.779, 45.265)

Mayotte is a French Overseas Territory near Comoros, off East African coast. Cruising yachts anchor at the yacht harbor in the background, and people take ferries back and forth among the islands in the lagoon. Yarmila & Nadav took us hiking around the caldera of an extinct volcano that overlooks the lagoon. Bright colored dresses in the streets, and French bread and pastry in Africa!!!

Mayotte has Lemurs!

Most types of lemurs are found in Madagascar, but Mayotte also has its own species of lemur, and has set aside a small island as a lemur sanctuary. We were fortunate to visit during the breeding season in September. Can you find the baby lemur? (Unlike kangaroos and other marsupials, the mother lemur has no pouch…Baby must hold tight or else!.)

Seychelles: Mahe Island (Google Earth -4.6458, 55.4768, Sept 5 - Oct 1, 2008)

Mahe is the main island. We spent most of our time at the Wharf Marina in top photo, and explored the island by bus. The manager of the marina wanted an Obama for President sticker for his car, and Blair mailed one from the USA. (Thanks, Blair!)
Seychelles is a beautiful country but a troubled little country - it is ironic to be here when the USA is suffering such financial problems because you look at this country and wonder what is ahead for our own - Seychelles had a boom period when it had everything, and gave a lot to its people - health care, education, transportation on lots of buses that cost 25 cents, social security for those who could not work, housing assistance, etc....but it spent beyond its means and borrowed money on the international market to do so...Now those other nations will not extend credit. There are shortages of food and other materials. (See photo of people standing outside the market before it opens in the morning - they will rush to find staples.)

Soaring fuel and commodity prices have worsened the problem, and the country is in trouble. The country generates all its power from diesel powered generators - fueled by imported oil. For the first time in our travels, we could not buy flour. The price of wheat has gone up on the international market, the country has bad credit, and it can't buy flour. We arrived at the same time as IMF advisors who are seeking a way to solve the country's economic problems. Seychelles is also the site of the largest tuna canning factory in the Indian Ocean. (See massive tuna nets drying in the sun, in photo above.) Lehman Brothers owned a stake in the tuna factory! We were here when Lehman went bankrupt, and the congress had a special session to discuss what it all means for Seychelles....the ripple effect of American economic problems felt throughout the world.

Seychelles: La Digue Island (our favorite!)

La Digue does not allow many cars. People ride bicycles, walk, or ride in ox carts - now mostly for the tourists. Living in an environment without cars is very pleasant.

Seychelles: La Digue (more photos)

More photos of the no-car life on La Digue. We took a ride in an ox cart. Children ride on special bicycles that have a second seat in front of the normal seat, or in more precarious positions such as standing on the cross bar with an arm around the parent's neck.

Seychelles: Curieuse Island

A park, Curieuse is a refuge for the Seychelles Giant Land Tortoises. Giant Land Tortoises are found only in Galapagos and Seychelles. The Seychelles Tortoises have adapted to dry climates by being able to sip water through their noses.
Natalie feeds banana to fish that come around the boat while we are at anchor, and Rob feeds a banana peel to a Giant Tortoise.

Seychelles: Praslin Island

Praslin is home to the Coco de Mer tree - Rob is holding the nut of the female tree, which looks like a woman's buttocks, the fertile part of the male tree looks like (well, see for yourself....photo above) so this tree has had many fans over the centuries. It is found only in Seychelles. This area of the island is a world heritage site. The Coco de Mer nuts are the world's largest nuts.

Maldives

These photos show a typical street, a shop that sells head coverings for the muslim women, a motorbike (very few cars) in front of a home (all the homes have names - you can see the name plate over the gate), and a traditional boat in the harbor.
For more Maldives photos, see the slide show at http://picasaweb.google.com/nataliewestsellin/MaldivesSlideShowForBlog#

Maldives. Addu Atoll, Gan. August 9 - 24, 2008

We were anchored at Chagos when we looked at the charts and realized that the Maldives were only a few hundred miles north. How, we said, can we sail across this part of the world without seeing the Maldives? So, we turned north and here we are. Here are photos of the cooperative and friendly customs, immigration and quarantine officials who came to our boat and processed our paperwork, even though it was their weekend. Rob hoists the Maldive courtesy flag under our starboard spreader.

A lovely country with kind people. A poignant moment this morning when I told a shop owner that he has a beautiful country, and he replied "yes, we have a beautiful country but we have no money." That is the problem in so many places that we have visited.

There were four garment factories on this island that sewed items for American stores under some sort of quota program that provided quotas for garments in underdeveloped countries. The law changed in 2004, the U.S. abandoned its quota program, and all four factories shut down. (I will add more info if I have a chance to do more research about this issue.)

Chagos (Google Earth -5.3289, 72.2657 July 30 – August 6, 2008.

After 13 long days at sea, we finished the passage from Cocos to Chagos. The sixty odd islands in the Chagos Archipelago are situated in the Southern Indian Ocean. These photos show the way we had to anchor, by dropping anchor on a sand bank and backing off into deeper water. Not our most secure anchorage.

Chagos has a “long and tortuous history … riven with conflicting interests.” The islands are currently uninhabited because in the 1960’s Great Britain relocated all the inhabitants so that the US and Britain could establish a military base on Diego Garcia, the main island in the group that lies approximately 170 miles south of the island where we stopped. Diego Garcia is the site of British/U.S. military operations, base for bombing Afghanistan, reputed to be one a site for CIA covert operations, etc. Yachts are prohibited from Diego Garcia and its surrounding waters, but are allowed to enter certain other parts of Chagos after obtaining a permit from BIOT. (British Indian Ocean Territory.) We obtained the requisite permit.
For the last forty years, Chagossians have sought repatriation to their homeland. They have prevailed in the courts. In the words of one justice “The suggestion that a minister can, through the means of an Order in Council, exile a whole population from a British Overseas Territory and claim that he is doing this for the ‘peace, order and good government’ of the Territory is to us, repugnant.” (quoted in paper presented at Cambridge Colloquium on the Royal Prerogative, 19 January 2008. Political context (the Bancoult case) and Possible Solutions. David Snoxell, January 2008 )
To the best of our understanding, the various political forces supporting repatriation changed their minds or deferred action after 9/11. The increased concern with security required the Chagossians to continue their legal challenges. The courts have found in their favour, and it is anticipated that some sort of repatriation will be required within the next few years.

After being there, we are of two minds. On the one hand, we wonder why people would want to live in such a remote spot. On the other, if they want to live there, they should be able to do so...and it is annoying to see yachties hanging out for months at a time, killing the coconut crabs, catching the fish, and eating the hearts of palm that should belong to the traditional inhabitants.

Coconuts float on the ocean, and sprout where they wash ashore. Unfortunately, plastic bottles float on the ocean, wash ashore, and remain forever….even in places as remote as Chagos.