Travels – rush cruising

France to Greece – October / November 24

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We returned to Port Saint Louis and Rush in early October after a couple of great months at home, culminating in two milestone family birthdays and, sadly, a funeral for someone who meant a huge amount to us.

Rush was launched two days later and that afternoon Alexis from Belgium (he has a CM46 like Rush in build) and his friend Roel from the Netherlands joined us. We met Alexis through this blog and video chats while he and his wife, Veronique were choosing which catamaran to order – then had dinner at Bucklers Hard when Alexis and Roel sailed to the Solent on Roel’s boat. A trip aboard Rush gave Alexis the opportunity to experience a CM46 in action before making their myriad of final spec decisions.

Alexis and Roel in CM46, Rush's cockpit — Alexis and Roel join the crew

After working through some electrical gremlins, with Clarence logged in from Cape Town, followed by a major food shopping expedition in Derek, we departed the following afternoon for a 60 mile passage to Ile de Porquerolles and a rendezvous with Lars and Anna-Lena on Odin.

Arriving at Porquerolles in the night set the trend for the whole passage. Fortunately, I enjoy night-time arrivals provided the conditions are benign, which they were. That said, later in the voyage a fish farm did necessitate a full-on, full-astern stop as we felt our way into a Capraian anchorage!

Two (more) days of howling Mistral winds kept us pinned in Porquerolles harbour, the upside being good times with Lars and Anna before departing for the Italian island of Capraia, just beyond the northern tip of Corsica. That night saw our first wing-on-wing sail with Solent and staysail in the last blast of the Mistral, then mainsail and G1 the following morning, followed by motoring in flat calm the rest of the way. That also set the pattern. We have a boat that sails in light winds – but you do need a light wind!

Looking aft from the cockpit of performance catamaran CM46 Rush at sunset — Goodbye France

Sunset off the northern tip of Corsica — Spectacular sunset as the northern tip of Corsica drops astern

Capraia in the moonlight — … and a few hours later Capraia ahead in the moonlight

Can’t complain, we could keep making progress and, with Alexis and Roel aboard, we all got decent sleep during the long autumn darkness. With many cruise ships around to inspire us, we decided if we did want to stop, we’d do it during the day; swim, explore, then depart before dusk with (alcohol free) evening drinks, dinner at the table then slot into our night rota.

Cruise ship passing Rush in the night — Cruise ships that pass in the night

Our route comprised heading from Capraia down past Elba to the island of Ponza, on the approx. latitude of Naples, followed by a hop past Capri to have breakfast off Positano and an afternoon in Amalfi (we know how to live), then on down to Vibo Valencia, about 30 miles from the Messina Strait. My word, the Italian Islands and Amalfi coast are spectacular. Capraia and Ponza were wonderfully out-of-season quiet, while Positano and Amalfi were like blasts of tourist humanity amid our four-person passage-making “isolation”. In many ways, that added to the experience – and dipping into to them for a few hours was perfect.

Ponza seen through the offlying rocks — Isola Ponza from our anchorage

View of Positano from the bow of CM46 catamaran Rush — Arriving at iconic Positano on the Amalfi coast

The Amalfi coast near Positano, seen from the sea — The incredible coastline

Inside Amalfi Cathedral — Amalfi Cathedral – yes Giles, culture too!

Alexis Roel and Amanda in Rush's cockpit with Amalfi astern — Off again – the Amalfi coast fading behind

Sadly, Alexis and Roel’s time was up and they departed in Vibo Valencia. One of the lasting memories and upsides of this trip will be the time spent with them. They ran the boat with us, maintained and fixed stuff – we visited places, laughed and told life stories. We’ll remain friends and sail together again. We’re so often reminded how cruising is about people as much or more than places.

A few hours later Adam arrived from Bermuda to see and sail Rush – to help his decision-making process regarding a CM53 purchase. At this point, you may be thinking we have a commercial link to CM. We don’t! It was also lovely to spend time with Adam but… after his massive journey from Bermuda, we either had zero wind or a lot, smack on the nose, through the Messina Strait – where the eastern small boat channel is too narrow to beat. Adam didn’t even see a sail on Rush before he had to head home… Sorry Julian…

Adam Johnson joins the crew of performance catamaran Rush — Adam joins us for the passage through the Messina Strait

Adam did, however, earn his keep on the approach to the Messina Strait when we motored into a large patch of floating debris. The port engine vibrated then stalled. The props are accessible from the waterline on a CM but, nevertheless, it’s handy to have a 60m capable, passionate free-diver on board. Adam donned his mask and hopped off the transom with a knife, emerging several minutes later with a shredded back-pack which had become solidly wound around the prop and shaft. You’re also welcome anytime, Adam!

Gelato in Reggio di Calabria — Amanda and Adam in Reggio Calabria with the best gelato in southern Italy

Adam left from Reggio Calabria at the bottom of the Strait and suddenly there was just the two of us. It felt quiet, and good too. We departed for the crossing to Kefalonia, in the Greek Ionian Islands, but with no wind (again) and a sloppy sea after the strong winds of the previous days, we decided to get some rest and more diesel in Rocella Ionica on the Italian toe, before crossing.

As we approached, in the dark (of course) a patrol boat hammered out to circle and unnervingly blind us with a massive floodlight, before blatting back to the harbour. We headed in and tied up on an empty stretch of quay, as two uniformed guys turned up to ask nicely, albeit with a language barrier, for our papers which they indicated they needed to take away and return two hours later. That wasn’t comfortable so Martin followed them to their office to wait, sign loads of forms (in Italian – no idea what) and be told to leave first thing in the morning – well, second thing, they insisted on first go at the fuel dock!

When we woke in the daylight it all became clear. We’d moored alongside a migrant camp. Two lads, up early, wandered out of the huge tent to chat to Red Cross people in bright uniforms and then try fishing with rudimentary string and bait by Rush’s stern. We swapped friendly gestures and, when their line got caught, allowed one of them to hop onto Rush’s stern to reach it. Normal, seemingly nice lads – we felt no threat – it all felt very real.

The sparkling sea was flatter and we even had 10 knots of breeze for about three whole hours at the start of our 180 mile Ionian crossing. Rush was off at 7 to 9 knots while we had breakfast and, once again, thought how fortunate we are. Then, after flopping about in hope for a while, it was back to motoring and we nearly made it into Greece, a key destination for SO long during this project, before dark the following day… but not quite. It would have been an anticlimax!

Amanda gazes south from Kefalonia — Back in the Greek islands again

It was a Friday evening when we anchored off Argostoli and the following Monday was a public holiday, so we had an enforced few days to chill-out before we could tackle the Greek clearance and cruising paperwork fest. It was wonderful to be back in the Greek Islands. We love them. Actually, in typical fashion, the wind filled in after the first day and made the anchorage slightly hostile, but that’s cruising!

We then had two glorious weeks in one of the world’s most beautiful cruising grounds, hanging around between Kefalonia, Ithaca, Levkada, Meganisi and the mainland in 20 to 25 degrees of unbroken autumn sunshine. This region is usually somewhat spoilt by huge numbers of yachts competing for the best bays and harbours but at this time it was almost deserted. When the first (half term) week ended everything closed instantly – shutters down, tables stacked, small boats pulled up slipways, shops closed. We had to think carefully where to buy food, let alone eat out! We got loads of minor jobs and updates done on Rush, interspersed with swimming and walks on shore. Oh, and one more tense night at anchor off an un-forecast breezy lee shore. It felt an absolute privilege to have this area almost to ourselves.

Fishing boats on Meganisi — Atherinos, Meganisi – where we met our new favourite ancient Greek fisherman, who led us to his even more ancient wife? mother?? for some eggs from her scruffy chickens and gave us his (only slightly less ancient) mobile number with the promise of catching us a fish when we’re back next spring

Rush at anchor in Atherinos — Rush with Atherinos bay all to herself

Rush sailing off Lefkada — 5 knots of breeze and actually sailing!!

View from CM46 performance catamaran Rush in Vathi, Meganisi — Our view moored stern to the quay in Vathi, Meganisi

Right on cue, the weather changed, rain and wind set in and we headed for shelter at Preveza Marina, removed sails and lines, serviced engines and prepared Rush for the winter, ahead of lifting out at Cleopatra Marine on November 14^th and heading home two days later.

Rush at anchor off Meganisi — Rush’s compliments roll on. Fun favourite this trip was after she was spotted going through Levkas bridge by a catamaran sailor from down-under, who then sent her husband to search Preveza, have a proper look and find out what type she is

Cote d’Azur, France – June / July 24

Rush arrived safely in Fos-sur-Mer, near Marseille, following her delivery by ship from Cape Town and we boarded her on June 20^th. Full marks to Peters and May in the UK, Pronto Shipping in CT and the ship’s crew for a perfectly executed and communicated job.

It was a slightly heart-in-mouth procedure as Rush was craned off the deck, swung over the side and lowered to ship’s deck level for us to board, then on down into the Med – with fingers crossed that the engines and everything would start and work as it had on another continent. We headed across the bay to Port Saint Louis where we’d booked a berth to moor alongside while we cleaned and re-rigged.

Our Swedish friends Lars and Anna-Lena on Odin of Sweden (we met and cruised in company in the Med on the previous Rush and did the fabulous Baltic Yachts Rendezvous on Odin last September) were coincidentally also heading to Port Saint Louis in late June. They’d been en-route from Italy via Corsica, set off from Ajaccio 36 hours before Rush arrived and remarkably, following their cruise from Italy and Rush’s delivery from Cape Town, we entered Port Saint Louis at exactly the same time and motored up the canal together. After all our hurdles and years away from cruising you couldn’t have made it up. It felt symbolic – We Were Back. A blow your cheeks out moment.

Lars, Ana-Lena and Amanda celebrate midsummer on CM46 catamaran Rush — Mid-Summer feast with Lars and Anna-Lena in Port Saint Louis

Rush and Odin were absolutely plastered in red Sahara dust, which is often a thing in the western Med but had literally rained down so badly that week that it made the French news! Cleaning it out of every nook, clutch, traveller and cranny took a full day…. then it came down again…. Joy.

The day after arrival was mid-summer, which Swedes celebrate in style. Lars and Anna-Lena (who is an amazing cook) arrived on Rush laden with multiple incredible dishes of gourmet traditional Swedish food and a bag full of appropriate beers and wines for each course. Having been light drinkers of late, we embraced the whole occasion – there was no rigging or sailing to be done the following day anyway, due to the wind!

Howling Mistral winds (another feature of that corner of France) also seem to be having a bumper year and it was about four days before we could even unroll the sails on the deck to re-rig, without fear of them taking off.

A week later we’d rigged, provisioned and had properly itchy feet so, towards the tail end of the Mistral, we convinced ourselves that it had dropped enough to head off on our first cruise…. a marginal call as it turned out that resulted in a bit of a baptism of fire. But it was downwind and, after rounding a couple of lumpy headlands with breeze in the high twenties, we sat at Rush’s saloon table for supper while surfing downhill, with a 360 view… and nothing sliding off the table!

CM46 Rush Côte d’Azur crew — Lots of laughs with the Côte d’Azur crew

The harbour at La Ciotat — La Ciotat Old Harbour

Over the next couple of days we anchored off La Ciotat and La Madrague, swam in turquoise water, boat bimbled and dropped our shoulders. Old friends Mike and Ruth Austen then arrived from the UK to spend ten great days with us and, while we wouldn’t say the Côte d’Azur is our natural cruising habitat, the contrasts you get while cruising are a big part of the whole experience. We had a fabulous time on beautiful Ile de Porquerolles; sailed through an enormous number of crazy glam superyachts off Saint Tropez (including the hands down, most beautiful of them all, Faith designed by friend and neighbour Justin) – posing people-watched on a Friday night in Saint Trop; drank café in the square of surprisingly likeable Port Grimaud – explored its canal “streets” in Derek and chose our favourite house; enjoyed a fish supper treat from Mike and Ruth on the quay in Saint Mandrier on our 20th wedding anniversary and swam in the impossibly Bombay gin clear waters of Cassis.

Front door on Ile De Porquerolles — Beautiful Ile de Porquerolles

Classic yachts in Port Grimaud — Above and Below: Sightseeing via Derek in Port Grimaud

Saint Tropez from the Bay — Approaching Saint Tropez

Friday evening in the restaurants of Saint Tropez — The Rush crew looked lovely, but possibly not dressed like many on Friday night in Saint Trop

Superyacht Faith off Saint Tropez — Stunning Faith eclipses them all

It is amazing to be able to visit regions like this in our own “home” and hanging out at anchor on Rush is almost ridiculously comfortable – like living in a super-cool apartment with the best views and an all-round swimming pool. It almost felt unreal – “this can’t be us…” Mike, Ruth and Amanda all love to cook so the whole experience had it all!

Preparing supper on Rush on the Côte d’Azur — Ruth demonstrates that even washing up on Rush can be a pretty glam experience!

Of course, all the typical cruising challenges bring you back down to earth… dodging strong winds and annoying boats that anchor so close they force you out of the perfect spot you spent ages finding etc etc. They aren’t much different whatever the boat!

Rush does, however, attract compliments and favourite from this trip came from a blond Norseman who dinghy’d over from his 70 or 80 foot Oyster to say something along the lines of “I raced a Tornado for Sweden at two Olympic Games and know a bit about catamarans. Is yours as good as she looks?” Well, all boats have pros and cons but we did think of that question a couple of days later when fetching in light winds with the Solent (not even the Code) set and Mike, at the helm, chuckled “OK, 7.5 knots boat speed in 7.5 knots of wind.”

The Calanques of Marseille — Above and Below: Motoring past the Calanques of Marseille in the late evening sun

Of course, Rush is new and we had some jobs to do following our first shakedown cruise. We headed back to Port Navy at Port Saint Louis where we’d booked for her to be lifted (cheaper and safer than staying afloat at this time of year) before we headed home to escape August Med madness and hide from Schengen Zone, post flippin’ Brexit, time limitations.

First night we stayed on board

South Africa – March to May 24.

Following Rush’s launch on the 6^th, at the end of February we packed a lot of bags and headed to Knysna for the final stages of completion, testing and departure.

That period in Knysna, moored in the harbour by the Yacht Club, will always feel a blur of boat work, excitement, stress, camaraderie and being absorbed into Knysna’s amazing sailing community. Seeing Rush finally afloat was, of course, a big moment – moving aboard too.

Part of performance catamaran Rush's christening with branch — A year ago, friends from home Red, Kate, Cleo & Aub sent us off to Knysna with a Christening kit that included an Exbury oak branch. The leaves, now slightly crispy, were green enough to satisfy tradition so we took them for a “voyage” and safely returned them to shore – heralding safe passages for Rush and her crew

Perhaps the most powerful memories are rightly related to people. We can’t possibly mention everyone but we have to tell you about at least a few….

CM’s Julian, Renay and Rod (and factory manager Adrian too) we’ve mentioned in earlier posts. They overcame adversity, completed Rush, and she’s awesome. We’ve hugged many times and we probably drove each other mad at others! We’ve shared so many highs, lows, beers and meals that there will always be a bond. What a journey.

Martin And Amanda Wadhams with Julian Kneale aboard Rush in Knysna — Julian (centre)

First rum & coke on performance catamaran Rush — From L: Rod, Renay, Amanda & Dudley – first ever rum & coke on Rush… excuse the cups – it was urgent, before our gear was even aboard!

We spent many days aboard with CM’s fit-out team, including Lindsay, Solomon, Giovanni, Dalmenian, Steve, Boyce (who slept aboard before we did) and many others. You guys were always so courteous, helpful and fun.

Clarence, Daniel and Nathan from CYS, electronics gurus – what can we say? Above and beyond. Top sailors too – one moment in a locker with a multi meter – the next trimming and tuning.

We genuinely, genuinely, miss all you great people who created Rush.

Greg and Leslie… Central Knysna characters and simply wonderful human beings. Leslie organised so many occasions – dragging us off the boat and into a world new to us – meals, music and stunning places. Greg is one of SA’s top, top sailors with Round the World races and World Championships under his belt – a boat builder, his own house builder, movie set builder and talented artist! Greg can spot an issue, create a carbon solution, tell you when it’s safe to press or better to back-off, introduce you to anyone in the SA marine industry and get stuff done just because they love him. Greg was with us through most of our SA sailing. What would we have done without you, Greg??

At the African Bush Cafe — From L: Ellie, Amanda, Leslie and Greg – at a Bush Cafe for an evening of music and food

Dudley, ever present at Knysna Yacht Club and ever ready to help, which he did, in so many ways. Among Dudley’s wide fleet is Al Malaika, a 1933 33 footer built by McGruer for King George V to gift to the Sultan of Zanzibar. With Dudley’s blessing, she needs a new home and a full restoration. If with anyone with deepish pockets reads this and recognises the opportunity of a beautiful yacht with impeccable provenance – a boat that could be day-sailed locally, popped onto a truck to Les Voiles de St Tropez or packed into a container for Antigua Classics – I’ll put you in touch. Seriously… what a prospect. We’ll come.

Leon, the TAG 55 catamaran owning, snail farming, cigarette rolling, ex Southern Ocean fisherman with 30m wave stories, the world’s deepest toolbox, the cheekiest humour and a penchant for prescribing Tequila to solve any problem… you added warmth and colour to our ride.

Hugely experienced offshore skipper, Brett, gave us sound advice, sailing trial input and enthused about Rush’s smooth upwind speed. We have limited benchmark experience but Brett assured us that it is quite exceptional compared to most cats.

Den and Michele, owners of the apartment we rented, consoled us after the fire, stored loads of gear for us, cooked and cried when we left. We have such a soft spot for you two.

Ellie, Mike, Dave, Rosanna, Gavin, Bev, Rudy, Michaela, Marina, Rob, JP, Diane…. we could go on…

Anyway, to cut an already-too-long story short, by the time Rush was ready to go, the approach of hurricane season (forecast to be a highly active one) in the north Atlantic meant that, with heavy hearts, we decided to ship the boat from Cape Town to the Med. It means we have to accept a significant cost and missing out on an adventure but, undoubtedly one of the hardest parts was having to disappoint Greg and Les who were going to sail with us. That would have been such a great adventure and we’d have learnt so much from Greg.

Current Marine team with Rush — Some of the CM team with their Rush caps, prior to departure

After frantic final days in Knysna, which included a photo / video shoot for CM in the Lagoon; a visit by the entire CM workforce to see the beautiful, completed Rush (most hadn’t seen her since she left the factory un-furnished, un-rigged and half covered by protective sheets); plus a quick Christening ceremony….Amanda, Greg and I departed for Cape Town.

View from Rush's cockpit of the southern tip of Africa at sunrise — The southern tip of Africa at sunrise

Key memories of that passage are:

- Leaving feeling utterly frazzled and emotionally wrung out. Again!

- A marginal, but correct, call by Greg and Jacques that the notorious Knysna Heads were passable – albeit with breaking waves to port and rocks close enough to touch to starboard.

- Motoring in no wind into a large residual swell for the first 24 hours and not feeling great.

- Rounding the southern-most tip of Africa, Cape Agulhas, in the night and then picking up a building, favourable breeze.

- Smoking downwind past the Cape of Good Hope (aka Cape Point and The Cape of Storms) in 30+ knots of breeze, at up to 17 knots boat speed, with just the Solent set and Rush sailing on rails with the front crossbeam never even once getting wet. Incredible.

- Arriving into iconic Cape Town, with the wind back to calm, Table Mountain dominating the skyline and Greg so happy to be berthing again at his second home, the Royal Cape Yacht Club (where we spotted his name engraved on most of the biggest trophies).

Cape Point from the deck of high performance sailing catamaran Rush — Cape Point

High performance cruising catamaran Rush arriving into Cape Town with Table Mountain backdrop — Arriving into Cape Town

A couple of days later, in fog so dense we had to use the chart plotter and radar INSIDE the harbour, we moved Rush round to the V&A Waterfront where, a few years earlier, we’d watched a couple commissioning their new catamaran and said “one day that will be us”. Finally, against some odds, it was. That was a moment too.

There wasn’t much time to draw breath. We had a few days (before our visas expired) to get many more jobs done, prepare Rush for shipping by removing and securing sails, lines, wand and everything, be cooked for by Clarence and Ellice – then fly home.

Greg returned to Knysna, collected and prepared a set of cradles from CM for Rush to sit on, on the ship, took them back to Cape Town and, finally, he and Clarence spent a whole cold night motoring around in the port, waiting for Rush’s turn to be craned onto the ship…. which came round at 4am on May 20^th.

CM46 catamaran Rush being loaded for shipping to the Med — Loading in Cape Town for shipping to the Med

Rush is now on her way up the African coast, alongside seventeen other yachts (mainly new Leopard catamarans) aboard the Lilac Roller, with an ETA of June 19^th into Fos sur Mer, near Marseille. We’ll head out a day or two earlier, ready to hop aboard as Rush is lowered into the Mediterranean for the proper start of our cruising life together.

South Africa – March ’23

By the latter part of February we’d really started to develop a home-from-home in Knysna. We’ve spent evenings with Julian talking boats and business, others with his lovely sister Renay and her partner Rod and some of their friends. We’ve met great people at the Yacht Club and uncovered shared contacts around the small world of sailing. Dudley generously lent us his “spare” dinghy – a newish training type boat he’d bought to get friends afloat. We’re really grateful, have done some club racing (and will do more) and are just not going to go there with the fact it’s a Topper Argo. OK guys??!! Let’s just call it RS competitor analysis.

It’s also inspiring to hang out in a community where a group of people have extensive ocean sailing experience, as well as dinghies in the boat park. From round-the-world races, to Caribbean and European boat deliveries and cruising, I guess if you’re going almost anywhere from here, the geography leads you to ocean sailing. Talking to Clarence the other day, it sounded as though the equivalent of a New Year’s Day club race at home, is the Cape to Rio race here! It’s also good to hear these guys talk positively about the boats CM build.

Paddleboarding on the Knysna River — Testing Rush’s new SUPs on upper reaches of the Knysna River

We marked Amanda’s birthday at the end of February with an overnight stay in a fabulous lodge at Plettenburg Game Park. Belle Balance lodge was a treat and, while the game park didn’t quite match Amakhala last year, the fact that we could see elephants, giraffe and other animals only an hour from Knysna was pretty cool. Favourite quote from our guide after earnestly tracking a rhino: “The rhino is not here, so he must be somewhere else”. Years of hard-earned experience.

Amanda at Belle Balance lodge on Plettenburg Game Reserve — Birthday girl at Belle Balance Lodge

The view at dawn from Belle Balance lodge in South Africa — Dawn view from the lodge

Giraffes at Plettenburg Bay Game Reserve — Plettenburg Bay Game Reserve

Next up, in early March, was a visit from a new-found friend (a bonus from this blog), Scott from Vancouver. Scott made contact a year ago while researching performance cats, with a view to retiring from his role as a trauma surgeon, persuading his prosecutor wife to do the same and, with new-found freedom due to uni-age daughters, head off to explore some world. Plans were modified late last year when Scott’s wife earned promotion to become a judge. A great achievement but the world must wait!

Scott is not a man to be easily deterred. We’d struck up a bit of a Zoom rapport and he decided to visit South Africa, take a stunning trip up to and through Namibia, then come down to Knysna to meet us, the CM team and Rush. He’s a top guy and we spent four fun days together, despite the weather going to rats. We parted vowing to meet up again soon for passages and holidays along Rush’s travels.

Scott Finlay and Amanda Wadhams at Knysna Heads — New mate Scott with Amanda at Knysna Heads

While we’re primarily here in Knysna for the completion and launch of the boat, it is also the first part of our adventure and experiences in some new parts of the world. We wouldn’t have spent time in South Africa and met people in the same way had it not been for the project and the introductions it brings.

The remaining jobs on Rush are steadily reducing and only a few items of equipment are outstanding. The solar panels finally arrived from the UK in early March and the trampolines (top of the tramp tech range and coming from the USA) were clearing in Cape Town customs. We’re awaiting Kevlar diamond shrouds for the mast which are being made in Italy. They should be despatched in late March.

Our SA visas have to be renewed in early April so we decided to head home for a couple of weeks in March to catch up with family and friends – new 90 day visas are granted on return to SA.

The flight home was definitely an experience we’ll remember. The plane developed a technical fault over the Med which we first knew about through being plunged into total darkness, followed by the pilot saying very simply “We have a technical issue and are diverting to Barcelona. We’ll land in 20 minutes. Fasten your seatbelts. I’ll tell you more when we’re on the ground”. No fluff – a man with stuff on. The cabin crew’s body language indicated that, while they were doing their jobs, they knew more than we did and were, well, frightened. From these and a few other indicators, it was clearly a serious situation and we weren’t sure whether it was going to end well. We said a few words to each other. Then the entire plane fell utterly silent.

It was a long forty (as it turned out) minutes until we landed – but it did end well! The landing was normal except for blue flashing lights following us down the runway. There had been an engine failure – that’s 50% of the engines on a 787. We passed the pilot as we eventually disembarked and were able to thank him and ask what exactly happened. He told us the port engine lost its oil so they’d had to shut it down – then various procedures automatically activate, protecting the remaining systems. I guess they couldn’t be sure whether there was risk to the remaining engine. The pilot pointed out that they regularly train for this type of thing in a simulator… but you could tell he was somewhat shattered. Must feel different with 265 people sat behind you. Apparently most air crew go through their whole careers without experiencing something like this.

Virgin plane at Barcelona airport — Great to travel but sometimes even better to be on the ground!

We’ll gloss over the following 24 hours trapped airside in Barcelona. Interesting how trivial that seemed in the circumstances – and the camaraderie between everyone was warming. Bit like a movie where you gradually get to know the people, from all walks of life and around the world. Sadly, no romances or murders we’re aware of… but imagine this: One of the passengers was a nineteen year old South African girl, travelling alone, on her first ever flight – with $400 given by her parents to last until she received her first ever pay cheque at a US restaurant.

Two weeks at home were absolutely lovely and flashed by, meaning we didn’t manage to see everyone we’d have liked to, but we did catch up with quite a few. It was quite hard to head off again, even though we’re very fortunate to be doing what we’re doing.

Heading into the hot and dusty Karoo

South Africa – February ’23

In mid Feb we headed off on Amanda’s planned diverse five day road trip.

An hour’s drive from Knysna the Outeniqua Pass climbs over the mountains above the town of George, on the Garden Route. The pass was originally created in 1847 (and known as the Montagu Pass), as a trade route inland from the coast, for horses and wagons. It was one of those hard-to-comprehend projects that took a significant toll. It has since been re-routed, re-built and re-named as technology, machinery and vehicles have evolved. After driving back and forth along the N2 (between the mountains and the coast) several times it was exciting to head into a landscape that had only been a dramatic backdrop until then.

Outeniqua Pass above George in South Africa — View from the pass over the Outeniqua mountains

We’re going to run out of superlatives if not careful, so let’s just say the pass has steep, lush, green and rocky slopes (a bit like Scotland on steroids) with huge views down over George at the foot and on towards the Indian Ocean. It’s often shrouded in the clouds but we lucked out with a crystal clear conditions.

The pass leads into the Karoo – a sort of cross between desert and rocky flatland pastures. The Karoo is hotter and drier than the coastal areas – over 30°C when we were there, with huge plains and red rocks. In the Outeniqua region the Karoo is also home to ostrich farms on, of course, another grand scale. Ostrich generated wealth through their meat, leather and, it now seems… monster feather dusters. Locals sell them on street corners in the ostrich capital Oudshoorn and we wanted one, but it would be a touch unecessary on a catamaran.

Amanda Wadhams in the South African Karoo — Heading into the hot and dusty Karoo

Next stop was the spectacular limestone Cango Caves – one of the world’s longest and largest cave systems and it’s best to let the photos do most of the talking. The stalactites and stalagmites have formed over millions of years and, of course, in caves they’re not subject to erosion or other degradation. Standing next to these incredible formations, in cathedral sized galleries, put us and our lifespans into perspective.

Rock forations in Cango Caves — Millions of years old stalactites and stalagmites in one of the world’s largest cave systems – Cango Caves

From the caves we drove along Route 62 which, like Route 66 in the States, has its own T-shirts, mugs and tea towels. It’s justifiably renowned. The best stretch came the following day, so we’ll jump to our first night’s stay.

Amanda had found a converted old, seriously rustic barn on an olive farm in the middle of… nowhere. Let’s hope Avis don’t read this blog because off-road use of the car was banned (how’s that ever going to work in Africa?). By the time we tracked down our barn the car was an indistinguishable dusty lump. Mountains towered above the barn on one side, with huge views over the karoo on the other. Utter silence. We wandered around the olive trees, cooked a braai (South Africans tend to burn wood rather than charcoal, so you have to light it long before you’re hungry) and lay on stone benches gazing at the stars. Should have booked a week.

Inside the Olive farm barn in the Karoo — One end of the beautiful olive farm barn – check out the bath!

Amanda in the outdoor shower at the olive farm barn — …and not much makes Amanda happier than an outdoor shower

View of the mountains from a wine farm in the South African Karoo — The view walking through the olive farm with a coffee, just after dawn

Next morning, after more dust and ruts, we re-joined Route 62 for one of the most epically breath-taking road trips we’ve ever done. Our photos just don’t cut it. It’s the size. Mountains on both sides, plains between, with the undulating road stretching, often ruler-straight, into the distance. Then, winding through another pass with a valley dropping away from one side of the road and a mountainside blocking the sky on the other. A scale you can’t really figure because there’s just nothing to give it perspective. Welcome to South Africa.

Eventually, Route 62 leads into the famous winelands, a hundred kilometres east of Cape Town and a complete change of scene from the olive farm. Names like Stellenbosch and Graeme Beck appear on signposts. Things become manicured and grand.

We were heading for one of the poshest wine farms (translates to vineyard), Babylonstoren, also boasting notable gardens that Monty Don travelled from the UK to film. Our wine-pro friends, Red and Helen, will testify that we’re not knowledgeable on this subject. And it was cooking hot – close to 40°C – too hot for us to want to taste wine. Even garden-passionate Amanda struggled looking around in the heat. BUT… lunch, made only from produce grown on site, was memorable. Anyone who knows The Pig restaurants in the UK will get it… but equally, have no idea.

Amanda Wadhams walking through the gardens at Babylonstoren, South African winelands — The gardens at Babylonstoren, in the winelands

Grapevines at Babylonstoren, South Africa — Babylonstoren vines

At the other end of the scale, just up the road, was Mitres Edge wine farm where we stayed that night. Our kind of place. Lola Nicholls, Mrs Mitres Edge, inherited it from her father, who owned several wine farms in the region. As the sole daughter she got the smallest farm (her brothers got the big ones) but was happy with that. She’s fully hands-on, doing everything with a few long-serving staff, producing wines under their own label and supplying grapes to some of the bigger names. Lola gave us a wine-tasting in her cellar and we left with a case for Rush’s bilge.

First job next day – find a car wash (and hence the car), before heading into Cape Town where there would be increased risk of Avis spies. Car washing is, of course, done by people not machines and we asked for a quick hose-off. Forty five minutes later, leathered and gleaming (just as well – with only 400km on the clock we had no-where to hide) and we were off again.

Call us sad but the first job in Cape Town was to check out the chandleries. Important intel for the post launch, personal tweak stage. We bumped into Clarence (electronics guru installing Rush’s systems) in the first one, shared some banter and were starting to feel like locals.

Then down to the waterfront where The Ocean Race (formerly Volvo Ocean Race) was due in the following day. We’d timed our trip accordingly. This edition’s small fleet were having a slow leg from the Cape Verde Islands down to Cape Town, with routing taking them down the Brazilian coast and as far south as the ice limit to pick up the SW winds across the South Atlantic, into Cape Town. The leg was already about five days longer than predicted, they’d had to ration food and another shut-down was expected on the final approach. That night, after 17 days of racing, the first four boats were within a few miles of each other with everything to play for (or lose) through fickle conditions approaching the coast. Nice.

We were confident there’d be people we’d know on-shore – race officials, media etc – and one of them would say “Come out on our RIB for the finish”. Absolutely none. But the finish was visible from the breakwater and we could enjoy the Cape Town atmosphere as they came in. Shore teams waited on the pontoons with fenders and burgers. Foiling IMOCAs are so cool up close and you could feel the emotions of the crews – relief and joy, or disappointment.

Holcim-PRB dock in Cape Town with Table Mountain backdrop — Holcim-PRB docks after winning the second leg of The Ocean Race 2023

The Ocean Race stage in Cape Town — The Ocean Race stage – coolest place to hang out that day

It rounded off our varied trip, ahead of the drive back to Knysna the following day. We won’t talk about passing a fuel station because, according to Martin, “we still have plenty”… followed an hour later by driving for miles, on fumes, at snail’s pace, in stony silence. All’s well that eventually…

South Africa – January ’23

Well… to be honest, we didn’t have the best of starts after arriving in SA on Jan 9^th…

But before we get into that, we did have a fabulous time over Christmas and New Year, prior to heading off. Christmas Day at Lepe Farmhouse with the Redmans and Heeley/ Stevens and their families – Boxing Day in Kent with Martin’s family – New Year in Staffordshire with Amanda’s Mum – numerous suppers and lunches with mates before, between and after – culminating in many of our very local clan joining us for a send-off drink or two at Montys pub in Beaulieu. Hectic – as it seems the South Africans say.

Until three years ago we were accustomed to coming and going from home, off on sailing and work travels. In fact in 2019 it was the end of June before we spent more than four consecutive nights in our own bed! This time, preparing to leave after being largely home based since the start of the pandemic, we were surprised to discover we’d put down roots! Our families aren’t actually very close to us geographically, but we’re definitely close. And our community of friends is amazing.

So all the farewells added up to us feeling pretty emotional and wrung out.

We landed in Cape Town, picked up a hire car for the drive to Knysna… and the rampant UK flu bug hit us. Properly. As many of you know, it can be quite severe and we were the most ill that we’ve been so far this century.

View of Knysna Lagoon and out to the Heads — The view of the “Lagoon” and out to the Heads at Knysna from our apartment

Fortunately, we’d booked a great apartment to live in while the boat is completed but it took almost three weeks to stop feeling rough, stop coughing and get our energy back. We weren’t up to spending much time at the factory and anyway, we really didn’t want to infect the team.

Don’t feel sorry for us. Fat chance. There are far worse things going on in the world and we’re now back on form, in South Africa and focussed on the boat… while it freezes back home!

There are a fair number of outstanding finishing jobs on the boat, some caused by supply issues, some just taking time. The upside is that we’ve been able to participate in many decisions (including detail changes such as interior flooring, which we’re now happier with than the original plan) with a visibility we wouldn’t have had from home.

CM46 Rush hull in late stages of build — Rush – wrapped for protection with boxes of equipment heading aboard

We’ve been here nearly a month and settled into a pleasant routine. Most days include a visit to the CM factory or one of the local suppliers (upholstery, graphics, domestic appliances etc), local sightseeing and walking, coffee at White Wash Café served by the very smiley Mr Stone and Abigail, swimming from the stunning beaches around Leisure Island, Wednesday evenings at the Yacht Club, Friday late afternoons at the Knysna Gin Distillery with a semi-permanent bar akin to Solent Cellar at Bucklers Hard (mind you at 280 Rand for a round of five G&Ts and two beers, there’s a difference – that’s about 14 of those British Pounds) rolling into a pizza next door and, Alison will be relieved to hear, Tuesday morning Pilates.

Amanda Wadhams at the White Wash Cafe in Knysna — Homework at the White Wash Cafe

View of the beach at Brenton in South Africa — The beach from Brenton to Buffels Baai to the west of Knysna Heads

Flower stall at Sedgefield Farmer's Market — Vibrant Farmer’s Market at the nearby town of Sedgefield on Saturday mornings

Martin and Amanda Wadhams on the beach at Leisure Island, Knysna — On the beach at the aptly named and beautiful Leisure Island, Knysna

We’ve met a couple of American families collecting catamarans from one of the other local brands, Vision Yachts. One of them has a surplus set of Starlink gear which we aim to snap up as it’s not available in SA. Apparently the Starlink RV service now works offshore in many regions; it’s affordable and with streaming level speed could be a sat comms game changer (don’t tell the mother-in-law).

As we mentioned in our Travel Post last year, Knysna is on the bottom of Africa on the well-known Garden Route. In addition to being a working town it is also a very popular holiday and retirement destination. It is, for sure, Africa “lite”. We’ve found nearly everyone to be extremely friendly and welcoming. Everywhere you park an unofficial guy directs you in and out of the space, expecting a tip, which takes a little getting used to. But they are trying to give a service rather than simply asking for money, so we respect that and go with it.

Frustration with the government has definitely increased since our first visit to SA. Perhaps the most visible demonstration of the way things have deteriorated is the electricity shortage, with several scheduled power cuts (known as load shedding) every day. Some days there’s no electricity for almost half the working day and some of the evening. Apparently several new power stations don’t work and some old ones are starved of maintenance. Businesses are folding. Unemployment is growing. People are concerned about how the downward spiral can be ended. It’s very sad in such an amazing country.

Tour Guide Amanda is planning a few mini breaks within South Africa over the next couple of weeks.

South Africa – February ’22

After an amazing trip to South Africa, visiting Current Marine, equipment suppliers and spending a few days at a safari game park we feel such a relief to have been able to get back out into the world again – and very fortunate.

The situation in Ukraine, which developed while we were away, and the hardship that many people are enduring makes it seem wrong to talk about our pleasure trip. But, it’s also the case that people in South Africa are very happy to have international visitors once again and they welcomed us. Many have struggled over the last couple of years. Furlough didn’t exist. This blog will form our lasting record of travels, thoughts and experiences and sadly, withholding our memories won’t help those suffering in Ukraine right now, so we’d like to write them up while they’re fresh.

While we’ve been holed-up in the New Forest for the last two years some deeply sad Covid events impacted our family yet, on the other hand, we also enjoyed unexpected upsides. We live in a beautiful area with beach and countryside playgrounds on our doorstep. We couldn’t complain. Having been perpetually on the move, we metaphorically drew breath – spent time with local mates, worked on the house and even, courtesy of the previous Rush’s lovely new owners, escaped for a few weeks of UK south coast cruising each summer! So, even when travel restrictions were eased, we’d not been outside the UK. This trip to South Africa to see our new boat in build and a bit more of the country was, in every respect, a BIG deal!

world cruising blog, performance cruising catamaran, outremer, marsaudon, hh catamarans, seawind catamarans, balance catamarans, cm46, cm52 — Cape Aghullas : Indian Ocean to the east – Atlantic Ocean to the west

South Africa is simply stunning. Our only other visit to the African continent was when we went to Current Marine during our catamaran research process. Following that, the prospect of spending more time there during a boat build was a major upside. There’s always a risk when you wait ages and build something up in your mind, that it disappoints. It didn’t. Never thought we’d be happy to remove belts and shoes, dig out devices and schlep through security… but even that felt part of getting our old lives back – pressing Play again. Much of the world isn’t vaccinated or out of Covid the woods yet. Recent years have taught us all to appreciate things in a way we didn’t necessarily before.

After flying into Cape Town, we picked up a car, loaded it to the gunwales with stuff for the boat and headed for Kynsna. The nav’s not taxing… leave the airport – join the N2 – drive for five hours along the well-known Garden Route – arrive (still on the N2) in Knysna, home of CM.

CM46, CM52, Current Marine, Martin and amanda wadhams, performance catamaran, outremer, marsaudon, ts42, orc42 — Knysna lagoon looking towards the Heads

Knysna is like the Salcombe of South Africa – a holiday town on a pretty estuary, surrounded by hills and with a sometimes seriously iffy entrance. It’s a great place to hang out. Several catamaran builders are based there. We’re not experienced SA travellers but, after initial trepidation on our first visit, we’ve felt safe. I’m sure there are areas to be wary of in major cities but nearly everyone we’ve met has been genuinely smiley and friendly. Our only real question, when the end of our trip approached, was “why the heck didn’t we book longer…?”

Arriving at CM and climbing the steps to stand on the deck of our boat was a proper moment. Up to that point we’d felt, temporarily, cruising boat-less. Suddenly, we had a boat again… OK, still in build but honestly, it will be amazing. Just about every aspect, at this stage, is better than we dared hope – the appearance, spaces, construction quality and all. This will not be a run-of-the-mill production cruising cat. Can’t tell you how excited we now are.

Meeting Julian (the man behind CM) again felt like catching up with an old friend. We’ve had so many calls, WhatsApps and emails – discussing everything from boat design to life and the state of the world – plus just about everything in between. While Covid created challenges for boat builders, having a boat development project on-the-go during this period has been a life-saver for me. Endless design details and equipment to research and consider. Picking up with Julian was seamless and fun.

The first week of our visit disappeared in a boatyard blur. All day, every day, it was almost like going back to work! As you’ll see from the photos the hull is built and faired with final internal details and subsequent fairing being completed while we were there. As we write this, paint spraying will be underway. By good fortune it was a great time to visit and work through loads more detail decisions with Julian and the team – from exact deck hardware positioning to table sizes and cushion designs. Remember, ours is the first boat of this, now standard, layout.

Some of the CM guys have been working with Julian for a long time and others have joined as the yard has grown, adding experience from the likes of the original Gunboat yard in Cape Town and Southern Spars in Auckland. An unexpected upside of our visit was the effect on CM’s wider team. Through recent times they’ve worked in isolation from the people for whom they’re creating boats. Our excitement, involvement and appreciation of what they’re doing seemed to mean quite a lot to them. It was certainly good for us.

We rented an annex apartment on Thesen Island which joins the Knynsa waterfront. It’s criss-crossed by canals, spotlessly tended and secure. It was a perfect, convenient base about ten minutes from CM and five from the yacht club and restaurants so, if you plan to visit, do contact us for details.

martin wadhams, amanda wadhams, cm46, cm52, current marine, world cruising catamaran, performance catamaran, gunboat, hh catamaran — Plettenburg Bay

With temperatures in the mid 20s, stunning scenery and great value food and drink (for people like us from Europe or the USA) living in SA is pretty flippin’ good. We spent our first “day off” at super-scenic Plettenburg Bay, about 45 minutes down the, you guessed it, N2 and then travelled three hours further (yep, on the N2) for a couple of days on the Amakhala Game Reserve.

When you think about it, there aren’t that many experiences which fall solidly into the “we’ll never forget it” bracket but this one did. If you visit SA, you MUST do it. Amanda had booked us into the very beautiful Bukela Lodge where we spent two nights in about the most glam tent imaginable. The landscape is vast and beautiful and exactly as you picture it. Our guide, Sim, drove us in an open Land Cruiser for three-hour safari trips in the early morning and late afternoon each day, tracked the animals everyone really hopes to see, quietly waited in the right places until they got so close you could hear, smell and could have touched them. That wouldn’t be such a great idea. Sim’s gentle character and the background knowledge he shared made the whole experience even more special. To be with iconic wild animals, in their world, simply observing them was quite emotional. We absolutely loved it and would do it again in a heartbeat.

After a few more days at the boatyard with Clarence the electronics installation supplier (serious hands-on equipment experience – offshore racing and cruising), the cushions manufacturer, taps supplier and even vinyl graphics company, we drove back up the N2 for a meeting with David Rae at North Sails in Cape Town to discuss our rig and wardrobe before a final night in a beachside hotel.

The afternoon breeze was fully up – sand flying – wing foilers taking off downwind to goodness knows where – Table Mountain as the backdrop. Yet another South African blast to our senses. Just time the following day, before heading to the airport, to go down to the V & A Waterfront which is a super-colourful, bustling equivalent of Sydney’s Circular Quay, with a warehouse selling local arty and clothing products, a food hall, aquarium, museum, street performers and en-suite marina.

We leant on a railing watching an American couple on their spanking new Balance catamaran, swarming with build team doing final commissioning jobs – thinking how later this year, that will be us.