East African sailing trip – log 21
SAILING LOG21
August 30, 2004
This morning Wolf and I make sure that we are wide awake bright and early to avoid the rude awakening experience of yesterday.
By 5:00am we are sitting in the cockpit with our morning tea breathing in the beauty of this peaceful place.
I have the camera am pointing and clicking to my heart’s content. Digital cameras are wonderful and we are truly taking advantage of ours to capture as many images as possible.
Manatee’s crew sleeps in and we leave at 8:00am.
It is interesting and a little scary rounding Ponto Pinda where the reef runs parallel with the shore but quite a distance for the mainland. The strong currents cause a washing-machine effect when combined with the tides, swells and winds.
It feels like forever until we finally cross Baia de Memba a huge bay which would probably have been another great areas to explore.
We head toward Simuca which is another lovely secluded bay, where baobab trees stand awkwardly along the shores just behind the thicket of mangroves, brilliantly green and lush in contrast to the grey/brownish vegetation growing on the surrounding hills.
It is overcast when we drop the anchor with only specks of blue peeking out overhead. Rhett and Denise radio us to fetch them in our dingy and we head off to the islet nearby for sundowners.
The tiny islet is surrounded by sharp sand-stone rock and Rhett and Wolf lift our dingy up and balance it on the rocks before we can climb the steep bank to the plateau.
We fill our glasses and enjoy the views from this vantage point.
Things To Keep In Mind While Using Kamagra viagra tadalafil These benefits of getting ED medicines online let the ED sufferers in the UK. Nonetheless, don’t misuse liquor and greasy nourishments before taking Kamagra Oral jelly offers http://djpaulkom.tv/video-aint-no-party-like-a-dj-paul-kom-party-watch-the-edm-reel/ cialis uk various benefits when treating sexual dysfunction in men. This results in long lasting and stable erection and hence a better love session. levitra online Men who are suffering from TC mat develop best female viagra ED.
The sun begins to slip quickly behind the high peaks of the distant mountains, the cry of a fish eagle soaring above echoes across the bay, and the chatter of monkeys on the mainland drifts across the water.
Back on Manatee we feast on a wonderful spicy rice and fish dish which Denise has prepared for dinner. We are all exhausted and head off to sleep but invite them to join us for Sunday “king’s breakfast” on Karibu. This has become a tradition – each Sunday we take turns in hosting a fabulous breakfast/brunch and taking a day off from sailing to catch-up with chores and boat maintenance.
August 31, 2004
Breakfast consisted of fried onions, bacon, hash-browns, scrambled eggs and freshly baked bread. The table was set and the breakfast was waiting to be served. Wolf went out for something and sudden exclaimed in horror, “Look at these coral heads right under our rudder!”
We rush out like bats from a cave only to realized that the near spring low-tide is draining more than we expect and exposing more and more of the reef. The wind has swung us directly above the corals heads are dangerously close.
Breakfast is forgotten as we scurried to move our yachts into deeper water, Manatee is almost touched bottom. It was such a relief that Wolf decided to check on things before we settled in to eat our breakfast. By the time we reassembled around the table the food is cold and spoiled but we warm it up as best we can and enjoy the time laughing and joking together.
We plan to go out in Duck-Manatee to explore the beaches of this lovely bay but as soon as we move out across the water we notice boats conglomerating next to the yachts. We didn’t feel easy about leaving them unattended and revert back to our original idea of each couple taking a turn to explore while the other couple stays back – on guard.
Wolf uses the time to top up the fuel from the spare drums (70lts) and then fixes Manatees radio. I uploaded photographs to my laptop and create a few digital scrapbook pages for their photo-album.
At dusk the 4 of us set our boat alarms and speed across the bay to inspect the blow-holes at high-tide. The force of the waves pushes up a spout as high as 3-4mts. We take lots of photographs and make our way around to the boat-building beach which we had spotted in the morning.
We are able to beach Duck-Manatee so we walk around inspecting the craftsmanship still used in the age old tradition of dhow building. We spot what we believe to be a grave-yard and ceremonial symbols strewn all around the area. It was a very interesting evening and another fascinating experience to add to my journal.