Simon's Town Arrival

Hi everyone,
We arrived at False Bay Yacht Club in Simon's Town at 0645 this morning.  There are a large number of other international cruisers here and we arrived just in time to join an Ocean Cruising Club (OCC) day out.

Zen Again at FBYC

Here are the usual graphics for the passage...

Zen Again Track

Zen Again Speed

And here are the vital statistics for the passage...

• Distances/Speeds
• Route distance = 220nm
• Logged distance = 188nm
• GPS distance = 217nm (so we appear to have gained about 30nm from the current)
• Duration = 43 hours
• Average boatspeed = 4.4 knots
• Average speed over ground = 5.0 knots
• Weather
• Wind speed = 0-12 knots
• Apparent wind angle range = all!
• Seas/Swell up to 4m
• Engine
• Total = 43 hours
• Driving = 43 hours
• Charging = 0 hours
• Failures

• None  - engine freshwater is clean!

Yesterday evening we experienced our first Atlantic sunset from aboard Zen Again.  That was followed by a pleasant night spoiled only by having to motor through it due to lack of wind.

First Atlantic sunset

 The approach to Simon's Town was straight-forward.  We did see some kelp but only small amounts.

Approaching Simon's Town

The entrance to FBYC is quite constrained so we were happy to have arrived in daylight.  The marina is nestled close alongside the naval base.

Approaching FBYC

After cleaning up the boat and crew we were urged to join a group of OCC members heading off for wine tasting and lunch.  Happily there just happened to be two seats free on the minibus so off we went.  It was a good day out and great to catch up with the crews of Minnie B, Impala, Vulcan Spirit, Sara II and others.  We visited Constantia Glen for wine tasting and Groot Constantia for lunch.  The scenery around this part of the world is spectacular.

View over Constantia Glen Wine Estate

View over Groot Constantia Wine Estate

We now feel we've fulfilled our goal for this year, namely "Cape Town for Christmas".  We've "eaten our elephant" on time (and more or less on budget) and now look forward to a few days R&R.  We have a list of jobs to do on the boat (of course) but they'll be moderated by the festive season.