Saturday, January 24, 2009

Rounding Cape #2 - Good Hope

Latest Position: 01/24/09 0428Z 34 50.371S 18 44.283E
Spoke with a very tired but happily sailing Zac this evening/his morning. After another night of shifting winds and insane shipping he is expecting to arrive in Cape Town early this evening all being well. He has to get in before 10pm while the 2 swing bridges that need to be opened to enter the V & A Marina are still manned. If he can't make it in before then he'll stop in Hout Bay about 25 miles south of Cape Town Harbor.
Many thanks to Rob Jordan, Bryan Mitchell, Erik Bjerring and David Morris for their tireless efforts and odd houred phone calls and emails giving their experienced routing advice and weather info.
It has been a long passage for the miles covered but one he will remember for the rest of his life, for sure!
Update in the morning!
Cheers,
Marianne




















Map of the Western Cape of South Africa




















Map of the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Town

18 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Zac, I've been following you all along and am impressed with your experiences and the way you've handled them. Not many persons your age would be able to do what you're doing. You're one of a very select group.
I went around Cape of Good Hope when I was about 19, but as an apprentice engineer on a freighter... a whole different story. That's the first time I saw penguins in the wild. (it must have been winter)
Enjoy your stay in Cape Town. If you get a chance take the cable car to top of Table Mountain and hike back down. An all day affair, but well worth the view and experience.
J-P and his girlfriend are arriving on Thursday and I'm sailing them down to Ensenada on Sunday. He;ll be glad to get back on his boat.
Be well and keep your feet dry,
Pieter
s/v Lady K

January 24, 2009 at 9:43 PM  
Blogger Bob said...

Hi There Zac!!!!!!!

YOU ARE DA MAN!!!!!

Bob in OKC

January 24, 2009 at 10:15 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Zac,

Be in Good Hope. The Cape is near.
Godspeed.

RK

January 24, 2009 at 10:19 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Getting closer.......slowly but surely and safely.....that's how it's got to be in this area, it seems.
I am so excited, I can only imagine how the Sunderland family are feeling.
Love to you all.
Thanks for the maps Marianne....

UK friend

January 25, 2009 at 12:22 AM  
Blogger Anita said...

Thanks for the update Marianne! :)

Yeah...just about there!! Great job Captain Zac! I'm sure the chapter dedicated to Africa in your book will be a great read!

Have a wonderful visit with your dad!

Hugs
Anita
Waterloo, NY
Captain S/V "Wombat"
Avid Zac Fan!

January 25, 2009 at 2:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Cape of Good Hope: It was first circumnavigated in 1488 by Bartolomeu Dias, who named it Cape of Storms and after that by Zac in 2009 who re-named it: Cape of Undecided Winds.


Rounding the Cape of Good Hope gave the sailors of the United East Indian Company (Dutch = VOC) good hope to arrive home safely (hence the name Good Hope given by the Dutch).

Surely, at this juncture, this will give you..........

G O O D H O P E !!!

note: while in Cape Town, visit a museum or two and find out what they did with unruly sailors a few hundred years ago...

January 25, 2009 at 3:06 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Capt'n Zac,
Exciting passage,can't wait to see how it's handled afterwords with whatever form of media you use to tell your story!
Straight wakes,
Mike S.

January 25, 2009 at 5:17 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is a great news! Zac, get some rest, see some sites. You are on your way home. Followers: Here's a link to Cape Town and live cam:

http://www.capetownwebcam.com/

January 25, 2009 at 7:57 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lekker :-)

If he does pull into Hout Bay, make sure to get some fresh smoked snoek (fish). Watch out for the bones though.


It's kind of weird though, Zac can park in Hout Bay and drive on over to Cape Town for however long is required.

Different climate though. So continue on.

As for the "kak" advice in Mossel Bay about the fuel pumps.

Get used to it :-)

Welcome to Africa my man !

January 25, 2009 at 8:28 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow Zac !! What an accomplishment !
Now - put your had behind your lower neck and give yourself a "pat on the back" and then both hands around your torso and "give yourself a hug !!".

You deserve an extended rest in Cape Town - please have a toast from the Zac Pac.

Will you be meeting Mike Perham? I hope so - I am sure you two have a bond that the rest of us will never know.

Maureen
Boise

January 25, 2009 at 8:36 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for the update, Marriane! I can't believe it's this close, how wonderful! What a relief for all for Zac to be in Cape Town... can't wait for the next update! Peace, Your Oklahoma Well-Wisher

January 25, 2009 at 8:51 AM  
Blogger Daveh said...

Okay, we won't celebrate just yet, but we're preparing to!

Tell Laurence that all bridge operators will take tips for late duty! [laughing]

Swing bridges are cool, we have a few still here in Florida... However, they are typically narrow passages and the current RIPS through, can be dicey if it's a stern current...

Daveh & Skipper
dave@davehickson.com

January 25, 2009 at 9:02 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Awesome my good man!!! Zac, I can hardly believe that you are almost to Cape Town. Wow. What a ride it has been since last Spring.

Nice job. Thanks to our gracious Lord who goes before you.

You and Mike are pretty close. It would be fun if you could hook up even by radio.

You go guy,
Kathy
Bend, OR

January 25, 2009 at 10:43 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks again, Marianne! I've been gone a few days and catching up has been very exciting! Zac, best wishes for a wonderful reunion with your dad! Can't wait to read more about your adventures ... thanks for keeping us posted ... CindyinCincy

January 25, 2009 at 11:21 AM  
Blogger STEVE B said...

Zac,

Way to go! Hope you get some rest and have a good visit.

SteveB
Birmingham, AL

January 25, 2009 at 12:38 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I opened my local Sunday paper and found a nice story/update on Zac on the front page.

Also on the front page was an article about a local couple, who with their two young children sold their home 3 years ago and are sailing around the world. They are at the halfway point where they are currently tucked into a lagoon in Malaysia.

Both articles are worth reading, so I thought I'd share them with you.

Zac's article can be found at;
http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_11549016

The Mather's article can be found at;
http://www.dailybreeze.com/ci_11549015

Enjoy!

January 25, 2009 at 12:54 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks Melanie for the Link. Too bad we don't have ClustrMap on his Blog and home page. That would auomaticaly show where the people come from
@ Zac.
Welcome to Cape Town - by now you are probably there
Axel
heye@madisoncounty.net

January 25, 2009 at 2:07 PM  
Blogger Douglas Pistone said...

It's great Zac is holding his own. Tired but happy always sounds great.

Thanks for the update Marianne.

Sail On,
Douglas Pistone
MDR, California

January 26, 2009 at 6:38 AM  

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