Febuary 10, 2012-Departing Africa

wingssail images-fredrick roswold
Blue Peter at the hoist

Wings departs Africa today bound for Saint Helena Island in the middle of the South Atlantic.

We expect to weigh and set sail at 14:00 and the wind, though light, should be adequate to get us out of Walvis Bay and out of Africa.

Hopefully we’ll reach the SE trades, which are in the forecast but otherwise nowhere to be seen, before the day's sea breeze dies out.

The fuel and water have been topped, the provisions refreshed, and the boat is in good shape except for the water maker and outside stereo speakers. No worry mate, she’ll be right.

It has been a good year in Africa, one which we would have been sad to have missed.

We’ll post the blog when we can.

Fred & Judy (and Randy and Laura), SV Wings, Walvis Bay, Namibia

Febuary 8, 2012-Walvis Bay

wingssail images-fredrick roswold
Walvis Bay, near the salt pans

Maybe it is something to do with the weather which has me down. It has been cold and cloudy here in Walvis Bay since we arrived. Cold? How can that be in Africa at 22 degrees latitude in the middle of summer?

Well, it is. There is a cold current coming up the coast and it brings cold air with it, and fog.

So, we have fetched up in an altogether dreary place, in my opinion, although our new friend here, Arri, said, "If you get sand in your shoes here, you will always come back”. If there is charm here it must be the people, they are wonderful. But the town is is flat, industrial, cool, windy, dusty; you name it.

wingssail images-laura hacker-durbin
Judy and Namibian Friends

But on the positive side, people here are very friendly, all of them, the yacht club is quite nice, we’ve found what we needed for the boat (not much, just a new computer!), and we’ll be able to get water and fuel and the other provisions we need for the crossing to Brazil. But boat parts? Impossible. Good thing we don’t need any. And right now I do have sand in my shoes but I find it hard to believe that I’ll always come back, as Arri said I would.

Right. Get me to someplace warm.

We leave Friday or Saturday for Saint Helena and Brazil.

Fred & Judy, (and Randy and Laura), SV Wings, Walvis Bay, Namibia

February 3, 2012-Driving in Namibia

wingssail images-fredrick roswold
Namibia

Namibia is not a crowded place.

We rented a car on Wednesday and headed out. On Thursday morning we drove across the Namib Desert and for half a day and we encountered only two other cars.

That afternoon we saw four more cars and at the check point they said that they were having a busy day.

Wild Horses

But we are glad to be here; the sights in the desert are amazing. On Wednesday we visited a ghost town where diamonds were mined for 50 years. We saw a herd of wild horses. We stayed the night at a roadhouse in the desert with good food and old cars, mostly American ones.

On Thursday we drove to a huge canyon, the Fish River Canyon, which is said to be second in size to only the Grand Canyon and we were only one of three cars (and a couple of motorcycles) there. We drove along the edge of the south rim for two hours. There were no guard rails and no guards. We could have driven off and no one would have known.

We drove though mountains which border the Namib and then along the Orange River which flows from South Africa to the ocean along the border between the countries.

On the way home we drove through a sand storm.

We were glad for the reliability and air conditioning of our rented ford truck.

And we were glad to get back to Wings anchored in Ludertiz Harbor.

Luderitz

Tomorrow we sail for Walvis Bay, another port in Namibia.

Click here for more photos from Namibia

Fred & Judy (and Randy and Laura) SV Wings, Ludertiz Bay, Namibia

January 31, 2011-Randy Joins the Blow Over Club

wingssail images-fredrick roswold
Dolphins escort us

You couldn’t tell it from the photos I posted but the bay at Luderitz is pretty windy. In fact the world record for speed sailing was recently set here.

Randy found out when he tried to take the dingy to shore in a near gale of wind. Only a few yards from the boat a gust of wind picked him up and blew both he and the dingy upside down. That’s when we also found out how cold the water was. He nearly froze to death and that is not an exaggeration.

I was on board Wings and I heard his shout and ran on deck to see him swimming alongside the white bottom of the upside-down dingy. From his gasps I knew the water was cold. In fact hypothermia was a danger. This was a serious situation.

I urged Randy to swim towards the boat and he urged me to start the engine and move the boat closer. We did both and soon he was back on board. That was a close call and we were lucky.

But in the end no harm was done and we learned a lesson. No boating in gales of wind without a second person’s weight to hold the dingy down to the water.

Fred & Judy (and Randy and Laura) SV Wings, Ludertiz, Namibia