Cape Town Rendez Vous

Mike Perham, Minoru Saito and I

I was all set to head out on Thursday. I had said good bye to my new friends here, packed up everything and the boat was stowed. And I had a nice fat weather window to go with it. Wednesday evening I went to dinner with Richard, Jed's dad, Seth, Sasha, Dean, and Jen Edney. Richard and I went over some cruising guides of Panama (where he has lived before) and the Mexican coast while looking out of the restaurant window at the mildly stormy sea.

When I called my mom to check in she told me about Minoru Saito, the oldest solo circumnavigator, who was going to be pulling in to Cape Town on Friday. I decided to stay in Cape Town for another weekend - not a hard decision. I went down to the Royal Cape Yacht Club on Friday morning to welcome Saito-san in. We waited at the YC for a few hours and didn't see any signs of him or his approach. We went up to the club and on to his web site (www.saito8.com) and saw a photo of his boat. As I walked outside I saw him pulling in just then. We got some photos for our mutual sponsor, Clearpoint Weather. They provide me with my Iridium satellite phone and their fabulous weather forecasting software. Great guys and great software. I'm not just saying that for a sales pitch, they really are the best over there. I've had them cheerfully helping me sort out software issues at all hours of the morning when I was pushing deadlines. A blogger asked if the crahing of the Iridium satellite this week has effected my phone reception. Their site said that there would be some minor problems and I have definitely had some. Apparently they have a few spare satellites up there for just such a time as this so all should be well soon.

Mike and his dad came down to see Saito-san and we all went and had lunch together and, of course, talked about our travels. Saito had been out for 40-some days and had only stopped for some sail repair. He has seen it all in his time at sea including pirates. Although he has been sailing all of his life, he did his first solo circumnavigation when he was 50 years old. He is planning a short stay here in Cape Town before heading on east.

It was great to see the Perhams again. Mike's boat should be back in the water this weekend and he is looking at a Wednesday departure. I have nothing but the greatest respect for Mike. To be able to do what we are doing is no small thing no matter your route, boat or even personality.

That evening we went for a braai at Dustin and Adam's place (sailing instructors down here). There is nothing better than a good South African braai with their big brick ovens and great food. Today is Valentine's Day. I am looking forward to a good one. I have a few surprises happening today. I will elaborate more soon as well as thoughts and details of my next leg into the Atlantic.

Have a great one.

Cheers,

Zac

PS Many thanks to Jen for her awesome photos. Check out more of Jen's photos at www.jenedney.com and http://jennedney.blogspot.com/