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!
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.
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.
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.
