Port of Call: Cape Town, South Africa -Feb. 20, 2002

Position: Port of Call: Cape Town, South Africa -Feb. 20, 2002

Seaquell has been in Cape Town since September to complete some refitting while June and I returned to Minneapolis area. Todd and I returned to Cape Town to prepare for the 6-week Atlantic Ocean crossing called "Going Home". This will begin the final leg of our 5-year trip.
June and I enjoyed a short stay last Sept in Cape Town before returning to MN while SQ was dry docked. This was Todd's first visit so I enjoyed seeing more of the area with him. Together we found Cape Town to be a very modern city with a beautiful mountainous countryside. The city has a great natural harbor that has been newly developed with tourist accommodations, restaurants, and shops for enjoyment. Its famous 3000ft table mountain around which the city is built, was much more visible than in Sept. Population of the Cape Town area is 3 million. A larger metro area than we had originally envisioned.

North of Cape Town it is very mountainous and the valleys were green with many vineyards. This area has great wineries that offer tasting. The hills were heavily treed much like the mountains of Montana. The roads were excellent and the city clean with friendly courteous people. The views from Cape Hope were awesome as we anticipated a sailing trip around it.

In the early sailing days Cape Town was developed as a major port for ships going from Europe to India and Asia. Africa was developed by several major countries. The Portuguese, German, and Dutch all wanted a part of it to develop their economy and to protect their trading. England was the last to own it before it became Independent. There are sections of Cape Town that are Dutch and some all German which gives a mix of white population. There were also many slaves in the early days and over the 400 years there is now a mixture of races, often referred to as the `Fairs' and the `Blacks'. More blacks have been moving into Cape Town from the central part of Africa.

Mandela was in prison on an island in the Cape Town harbor for over 20 years. When released he lead the black population into equality creating the apartheid. Most the blacks that he led are in Johannesburg and Pretoria which is 500 miles north of Cape Town,
South African economy is largely noted for its diamond and gold mines, located in the northern part of the country near Pretoria. There are many game reserves and national parks that have all of the noted wild animals and excellent lodges for game viewing. The largest is Kruger National Park in Northern South Africa. This viewing is different than Tanzania where the game, by the thousands, are in the wild and migrate over 500 miles.
Carol our stewardess, from Cape Town, has a home near the beach where she grew up. Her folks now have a 5000-acre ranch several hundred miles from Cape Town with all the animals in the wild.

With Seaquell being in the yard and having various work done, a shake down cruise was necessary for the boat and crew. This was a 70 miles sail around the Cape of Good Hope with an overnight in False Bay and a return trip the next day. This was a real shakedown with rough seas and high winds at the Cape where the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean currents meet to give a great challenge for sailing vessels. An experience to be long remembered by Todd, the crew and me.

Finished and on to St. Croix.

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