Seals and Penguins

14th September

Yesterdy we did not stick to our normal routine, instead we walked to the beach. We saw a restaurant called Y-Knot and walked in, but it did not open until 11:30am so we walked on. We saw the German monument and went to the aquarium and saw seals wave and salute like a navy seal.

I learnt that seals are very smart and we found ourselves laughing at the trainer because he had no control over them.

We watched them feed the penguins then went to a restaurant Guido's and walked home.

Birthdays!

2nd September

Today is my sister's birthday. Happy Birthday, have a great day Amy!

This weekend was very exciting we had 2 visitors. They got on the boat with no hassles and we spoke and fished and enjoyed our time. My mom made Millionaire's shortbread...sounds expensive!

4th September

We started yesterday by fixing the broken geyser which had been broken for years. We opened it, everything worked except there was no flame. We changed the batteries and we get a flame. Then my mom cooks lunch and we eat  and try the geyser again. No flame again!
At this point we are on the verge of ripping the geyser out, along with the toilets and tossing them overboard. but with our luck the water will be too shallow and only waist deep.

We give up with the geyser and my dad has a drink instead. I decide I am hungry and try to cook, no flame on the stove.Then it hits us, we have no gas. We swop the gas bottle and and my mom checks the water. "It's hot!" she says, I lift u my foot in joy and my foot get caught under the chair and it catches my heel. I jump about in pain. My dad doesn't realise I have caught my foot and keeps telling me to calm down...having hot water is not that exciting.

5th September

This morning when we woke up there were dolphins playing in the harbour around our boat. I tried to go see and headed for the door. Rauen stood in the way and leant back as I tried to forward and blocked me from getting outside. I got mad nd squeezed past him. Then everyone said I was in a bad mood today...I did not even reply.

The day went passed quickly and near the end of the day my mom saw something in the water. We rushed outside to see and it was a seal! My first seal! He played in the water for a long time and finally left.

9th September

We went to Doreen's house, I played laptop and found out Doreen's birthday is lso on the 7th of April same as mine!

Toilet trouble!

26th August

Here I am hiding in a corner!
It all started when we started servicing the toilets. Once we got them reinstalled we tested them and they worked fine. I had to go to the toilet and when I was done it did not work. My dad fixed it again and then tested it, my mom tested it and then my dad asked me how I put toilet paper in the toilet. I say "I get 2 squares, fold and fold," My dad says:"No, only fold once and then flush it." He throws a piece in the toilet and fllushes it and it does not go down. He flushes again and again and the same thing happens. He has fumes coming out of his ears and he curses. I ran away because I wanted to laugh but my dad would kill me.

Next Rauen goes to the bathroom it works all good and fine. Rauen goes later to the bathroom and it does not work!Rauen and my dad must remove the pipes. So there I was in my corner and I heard the poof...Aah man! then Rauen comes running with disgusting water.

I am glad I am sitting int he corner for 2 reasons:
1. So I don't have to see it.
2. If it splashes on me I am going to grow 73 fingers and 81 toes.

When my dad gets upstairs he is as mad as a hornet. but at least he had ideas that made me laugh and laugh.

On Monday we went for a shower and get my dad's book. We also went shoping at Greenfel's Pick 'n Pay. I sat at the entrance because I was tired after walking all the way and people walked past giving me the stupid eyes. The eyes that say "Are you a stupid?"
I did not care and when my mom was done we walked tot he bottle store.
While my parents were inside a man asked us :Are you tired?"
I answered: "Yes" and he left.
My parents came back and the same man asked them:"Are you waiting for someone?"
We answered:"No"
He said: "I'll sort you out!" and he got the store manager to drive us back to the boat.

28th August

My mom made hamburgers that I have been craving for weeks and so I finely got them!

Weather Window Lost!

19th August

We got picked up by my mom's cousins and drove to their house. We had a great bath, a braai, drank, played computer games and slept over. The next day we drove to another cousin Doreen's house who had a lot of dogs.

21st August

We took the "Walk of Death" and got in the "escaped convicts car". She drove like a lunitic again but this time we almost crashed into a Mercedes which seem to be very popular here. We got to the post office but they did not have my dad's book yet. We walked home after eating hamburgers.

22nd August

We went to the cold showers then to Doreen again for a braai and I played laptop.

23rd August

We saw a weather window to leave so we called the people who were delivering our book, they had not delivered it yet so we have to stay and wait for the next weather window so Yrumoar can not go around the world yet again.

Visitors and visiting sites!

8th  August

I did school and learnt about cube and square roots. We left the boat and I had a cold shower. We got back and I played laptop, Rauen watched movies and my dad fibreglassed.

12th  August

It was another rush this morning. My mom's old friends were coming, so I brushed my teeth, brushed my hair, ate breakfast and cleaned the boat. 8 people were coming so we went up to great them some of them were late. When we got the the wa,k of death, Aunty Max could not go on it. So they headed over to the yacht club and we motored across tot he yacht club to fetch them. The late arrival visitors did not want to go on the dinghy so they went home.

15th August

We went to the museum, we saw fish, fish and more fish, mammals, dinosaurs, birds and humans. Manys shells and shipwrecks. By the time we were done we were out of energy, got into the crazy taxi that moved warp speed along straights and light speed around corners and flew when it hit potholes and speedbumps. It did not slow down for either, it just kept speeding. Now I know how an escaped mass murdering convict drives when he is getting chased by cops.

 

I am sure more than once people thought they were in the middle of a movie scene. I wonder if the taxi service, Eagle taxi's is for convicts that are on probation for sppeding too much and I m sure that the South African flag is not there anymore for the fire she makes while speeding burns it away.

The next day we were going to be driven by friends, we enjoyed our ride and shopped for a few things, 1 whole trolley is little to my mom but to me I think we go overboard with food. We went to their home, ate quiche and came home.

16th August

We decided to go to Nahoon Point nature reserve, the weather looked right to go. We were excited to go, Nahoon point had blowholes and a cave, it was a 12km hike. We ate breakfast and walked on a wooden walkway and saw rocks, we ended up rock climbing, miountain climbing and going along small edges and walking.
When we had finished we decided to walk the whole 20km home. When we got home we slept.

Heading inland

5 August

We woke up to a rush. Brushing teeth, eating breakfast and all the other things we had to do so we would be ready to meet my mom's old friends. As we were getting ready a man came over on a dinghy and spoke to my parents, they offered him coke and they spoke while we got ready.

We went to my mom's friends house but first we had to walk across the walk of death...
Getting off our boat is not a problem...
First step over the rail with 1 foot then the other, if you were on the sailing course you would be told to Never Ever, I mean NEVER EVER do this.
Then you climb on to the steel boat next to us, go over his railing.
the next obstacle is the ladder. I know you are thinking a ladder but it is not that simple.
Climb over the steel rails of the steel boat and step on a rusted step on the ladder, then up to a normal step. 1 wrong step could kill you.
You eventually reach your goal, a run down, rotting, cracking walk-on. You must walk on 4 planks at a time as some are missing and others if you step on them brake and crack, then you get to a gate that is locked, luckily only with a piece of wire. You untie the wire with haste because it is the only thing keeping you from freedom.

 6 August
I started Grade 7 school work, by school work I mean Maths.

Later we called Eagle Taxi's. It came. The car had tigers on it and a tiger airfreshener hanging in the front.
We arrived at the shopping centre, we ate Wimpy, went to Pick 'n Pay and bought shopping.
When we got home I watched a movie, Rauen skated and my parents sat outside talking.

7 August

We called Eagle Taxi's again.
They picked us up, no tigers this time. We drove to Eagle taxi's home base where we were invited to go yesterday.

We saw monkeys, parrots and other things. We spoke to them and after the 1 hour tour we went from shop to shop collecting cigarettes and diesel.

We came back to the boat and Rauen watched a movie which we all eventually started watching with him.

Our first passage

2 June 2012

We went to Duban by boat on our first passage. My dad and brother watched boat or cruiser or tanker ship while I just fell into a dream which I unfortunately can not remember. So I only have a memory of leaving Richards Bay and arriving in Durban. We had a pleasant experience but when we got to the Bluff we got an unpleasant surprise!

The yacht club had an awful smell, like sewers emptying into the water.

On our trip down to Durban our autopilot broke and my dad and Rauen had to hand steer.
We decided it would be better to sail back to Richards Bay and we did that knowing it would be a long day of hand steering.