With a Sailing Yacht - Ambassadeur Joernaal

August 1, 2016 kate brand

Our new job, setting up a new boat, means that we are bound to the marina here in Fort Lauderdale, while the works are being completed and until hurricane season is over...

As a result, the only thing I have to document is a construction site of a catamaran. So, instead, I have been going through my archives and catching up on events that haven't yet been included on the blog yet. This particular one is special because it involves some of our closest friends back home, in South Africa:

Carla is one of our dearest friends and you might remember her from previous posts. Carla's friend Derick Muller is the creator and editor of a new Afrikaans journal called Ambassadeur and he wanted to include a story of adventure, which is a big part of what the journal is about:

"Ambassadeur is an Afrikaans literary lifestyle journal with a penchant for adventure. We celebrate the creators, the thinkers, risk takers and artists, the craftsmanship and business acumen, the extraordinary, the creative, the filmmaker, musician and author. Hoist the anchor, raise the sails and come with us on this new journey."

Through Carla, Derick heard of our story, Wilhelm, Vivian, Rufus and I refitting Melody and crossing the Atlantic in 2012. He asked Vivian to write an article which detailes the journey with all four of us and then her and Wilhelm's year aboard Melody while Rufus and I returned to work in Zambia in 2013.

She wrote a brilliant piece, which was expertly translated into Afrikaans, and included some of her beautiful photos as well as one of Rufus'. Ambassadeur was launched last year November and since we weren't in the country, the first time we actually got our hands on a hard copy was this past June when we visited home for a few weeks.

It is something truly special to see friend's work in print, especially in such a well executed piece of literature. To make it extra special Carla did the cover interview with talented photographer, Daniel Naudé, who also happens to be a friend since school days!

Derick funded the entire project himself, with no advertising in the first edition. This is no small feat, especially in South Africa, and an impressive undertaking in the current world of digital magazines. I have included an interview he did with Flits on Kyknet, explaining more about Ambassadeur and plans for another publication to be launched this year, especially for the ladies!

Thank you, Viv, for our copy and for so beautifully illustrating our and your story so well. What a special way to remember such a key part of our lives together!

Our very own copy, with Daniel on the cover!

Team Melody on our last together in Tobago, before Rufus and I left to Zambia and Viv & Wil continued sailing.

Derick, Thys and Carl at the launch party. Photo credit: Abassadeur

Carla, Vivian and Wilhelm at the launch party. Photo credit: Ambassadeur

Ambassadeur launch party. Photo credit: Ambassadeur — Ambassadeur launch party. Photo credit: Ambassadeur

Rufus' photo of Wilhem repairing boards as we crossed the Atlantic, ready to surf in Brazil!

Interview with Derick on Kyknet

With a Sailing Yacht - Ambassadeur Joernaal

August 1, 2016

Our new job, setting up a new boat, means that we are bound to the marina here in Fort Lauderdale, while the works are being completed and until hurricane season is over...As a result, the only thing I have to document is a construction site of a catamaran. So, instead, I have been going through my archives and catching up on events that haven't yet been included on the blog. This particular one is special because it involves some of our closest friends back home, in South Africa...Carla is one of our dearest friends and you might remember her from previous posts. Carla's friend Derick Muller is the creator and editor of a new Afrikaans journal called Ambassadeur and he wanted to include a story of adventure, which is a big part of what the journal is about:

"Ambassadeur is an Afrikaans literary lifestyle journal with a penchant for adventure. We celebrate the creators, the thinkers, risk takers and artists, the craftsmanship and business acumen, the extraordinary, the creative, the filmmaker, musician and author. Hoist the anchor, raise the sails and come with us on this new journey."

Through Carla, Derick heard of our story, Wilhelm, Vivian, Rufus and I refitting Melody and crossing the Atlantic in 2012. He asked Vivian to write an article which details the journey with all four of us and then her and Wilhelm's year aboard Melody while Rufus and I returned to work in Zambia in 2013.She wrote a brilliant piece, which was expertly translated into Afrikaans, and included some of her beautiful photos as well as one of Rufus'. Ambassadeur was launched last year November and since we weren't in the country, the first time we actually got our hands on a hard copy was this past June when we visited home for a few weeks.It is something truly special to see friend's work in print, especially in such a well executed piece of literature. To make it extra special Carla did the cover interview with talented photographer, Daniel Naudé, who also happens to be a friend since school days!Derick funded the entire project himself, with no advertising in the first edition. This is no small feat, especially in South Africa, and an impressive undertaking in the current world of digital magazines. I have included an interview he did with Flits on Kyknet, explaining more about Ambassadeur and plans for another publication to be launched this year, especially for the ladies!Thank you, Viv, for our copy and for so beautifully illustrating our and your story so well. What a special way to remember such a key part of our lives together! Our very own copy, with Daniel on the cover! Team Melody on our last together in Tobago, before Rufus and I left to Zambia and Viv & Wil continued sailing. Viv at the helm Derick, Thys and Carl at the launch party. Photo credit: Ambassadeur Carla, Vivian and Wilhelm at the launch party. Photo credit: Ambassadeur Ambassadeur launch party. Photo credit: Ambassadeur Ambassadeur launch party. Photo credit: Ambassadeur Rufus' photo of Wilhem repairing boards as we crossed the Atlantic, ready to surf in Brazil!Interview with Derick on Kyknet

Another Detour

July 20, 2016 kate brand

For the better part of this year so far the plan has been to complete our circumnavigation in 2016, by crossing both the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

The Pacific crossing was a peaceful time of reflection with little distraction - 5 weeks of thinking, dreaming and talking at length about what we want out of life, both together and individually, as well as our immediate and long term plans.

One afternoon in the cockpit, during one of these discussions, I asked Rufus “What would you do if, when we arrive in Marquises, we get an email with our dream job offer? Would you take it?” His immediate response was “No. We are committed to completing this circumnavigation this year. Absolutely not.” I then replied “Good, because that was a test and you passed with flying colours!”

To give you a bit of background, it was more my idea to complete the circumnavigation this year and it took months of convincing to get Rufus on board (excuse the pun). As a sailor and master of your own small, older, basic vessel with limited funds it is a daunting task facing a long crossing like the one we just did and then the trans-Indian which is known as the worst, most uncomfortable, leg for 99% of circumnavigators. During the Pacific crossing this changed and Rufus finally came round and started getting really excited about my plan.

Rufus and I had made sure that we had enough in our kitty to complete the trip this year and also time each leg it so that we would be in the right places in the right seasons for the right winds to get us where we need to be.

If you know us at all you will know that there seems to always be a big difference between what we plan and what we end up doing. In the big scheme of things though, we keep going in the same general direction even though there are quite a few detours and, to be honest, we enjoy the surprise turns in the road because it keeps things interesting and we enjoy change.

So to cut a long story short, when we arrived in Marquises we opened our mail boxes to find the email we never thought we would receive at this stage of our journey: our dream job offer. And to our surprise and delight we accepted! We learned a lot from our last working experience on a super yacht and so we would not go lightly into a decision like this. Thankfully this literally ticked pretty much all our boxes for the perfect job:

- Great owner(s) who we know, have mutual respect and get on well with. Working for and with good people is probably the biggest factor for us.

- A boat that we can run just the two of us, no other crew dynamics to deal with.

- An active international itinerary.

- A brand new build sailboat, and a design we know and love.

- And the list goes on!

So with great excitement we accepted the new positions and within a week we had put Melody on the hard in Hiva-Oa, winterised her and booked our tickets back to SA (we wanted to see family and had to get new passports as we had run out of space for visas and literally could not travel anymore!). After a month, mostly with family and doing admin for our next adventure, we flew to Ft Lauderdale and joined our new boat at the start of July, a 2016 58ft Leopard catamaran!

kayaking on our last sailing weekend with Melody

view from the deserted little beach we anchored off

Rufus putting his gymnastic training to good use

our FAVOURITE fruit - pamplemousse (grapefruit) which grows everywhere on the islands

driving to the farm on a winter's weekend, one of our first destinations during our SA trip

packing up all our personal belognings stored in our tiny farm cottage, where we fell in love and where Rufus proposed more than 8yrs ago

family dinner with Rufus' dad, Boris, and Cherie at Myoga Restaurant

our unfaltering ever supportive dream team: Shawn and Karien — our unfaltering ever supportive dream team: Shawn and Karien

reunited with our old Melody crew :) Photo credit Vivian Botha

Betty's Bay with our dear friends Sonet & Arnold

one of the views from the beautiful new home of our talented friends Evi & Jochem

Rufus and Jochem relaxing in front of the fire, overlooking Yzerfontein beach

our gorgeous room in the guest wing of the house

reunited with  our baby boy Jack for the first time since Zambia!! — reunited with our baby boy Jack for the first time since Zambia!!

delicious traditional Peruvian dishes at Charango Grill and Bar in Cape Town

my best friend Diana's BEAUTIFUL healthy baby boy, Axel.

Vivian's article on our team's journey with Melody in the first edition of  Ambassadeur Joernaal (more info in a future post) — Vivian's article on our team's journey with Melody in the first edition of Ambassadeur Joernaal (more info in a future post)

family farewell at the airport with Cherie

brand new MAXI passport for all the many countries we will continue to travel to!

flying over the ice lakes of Southern Greenland

finally at our destination: Ft Lauderdale, Florida and our shiny new catamaran!

Rufus and the owner enjoying the view from the flybridge on our first sea trial

Family & Friends

August 14, 2015 kate brand

All things must come to an end and so did our time with family and friends in South Africa. We returned to Central America at the start of June and it was a tough goodbye to say after everything that happened in the 3 months while we were there.

Most of our time was spent with family, understandably so, and Rufus put everything of himself into building his mom and dad's dream home. Thank you to every member of our family, close and extended, for everything while we were there - the chats, the meals, the help with building the house, the support after Ma passed and the laughs. You are all so special to us.

And then we have our amazing friend group that understood if we couldn't see them, to be with family. Those we did manage connect with did a wonderful job of taking our minds off things and inspiring us with new dreams and joy when we did see them.

Thank you!!!!

Rufus, Cherie, Leo, Rhiannon and me - Ma se mooistes x

family effort, working hard to get the house done in time!

like brother like sister, two monkeys on the roof

Rufus & Chris: there is no hope for any kind of normalcy when these two get together... and it's great!

1 day after we arrived in South Africa, taken at the Root 44 Market, outside Stellenbosch. Photo Credit: JC van der Westhuizen

long lost friends from my time on the cruise ships in the Caribbean - me, Karen, Acil and Rufus

my dad making fun with my sister's scarf - he always knows how to make us laugh

Rufus and the happiest baby on the face of the earth, Anya

My sister Emily and her trademark "Berry" smile ;)

Melodian reunion: Viv, Wilhelm, Rufus and I back where it all started with Melody almost 5 years ago! — Melodian reunion: Viv, Wilhelm, Rufus and I back where it all started with Melody almost 5 years ago!

our first date was on the beach, eating ice cream, and 14yrs later we're still doing it whenever we get the chance

Inverroche

August 6, 2015 kate brand

On our way out of Stilbaai we stopped at Inverroche Distillery. Inverroche basically means the meeting of water (the Celtic word "inver") and rock (the French word "roche"), specifically limestone found in the region.

It's a boutique distillery just outside the town of Stilbaai, which produces "small batches of limited volume, handcrafted spirits incorporating indigenous flora. Fynbos flora is a main feature of all Inverroche gins, liqueurs and spiced rums which have been used for centuries by the Khoi and San people as medicinal and edible plants"

They provide detailed tours of the distillery at certain times of the day but we were too early for the next one and we couldn't stay and wait. Instead we did a tasting of their three gins; Classic, Verdant and Amber.

We were the only guests in the distillery and the lovely Annalise, lady pictured below, gave us her undivided attention, answered our many questions and handled my camera in her face with grace. She explained the origin of the Distillery, the processes involved in creating the spirits and the unique attributes of each kind of gin, as well as how to drink it. Each "flavour" has multiple ways of being enjoyed and she let us taste each one.

We only really started drinking gin during our time in Zambia, up till then it had mostly been wine and beer. It must be something to do with the "colonial" lifestyle lived as expats, as friends of ours put it. We are both natives of the Western Cape and growing up with fynbos everywhere we loved the idea of it being incorporated into a local gin. I especially loved how each group of fynbos not only influenced the flavour of the specific gin but also it's beautiful colour.

We ended up leaving with two bottles, one Classic and one Amber. Even if you are not in the area, make a plan to stop there and do a tour. It's a beautiful establishment and the staff are warm, friendly, patient and informative.

The only thing we regretted was that we could not take the bottles back with us to Central America! Maybe they distribute or ship internationally?