Thank You, Thank You, Thank You...

Our time here in Cape Town has given us have the opportunity to have some people come into our lives that we will always be grateful to - they have made our time here a wonderful part of our journey...

Phil Southwell - firstly, thank you for designing such a beautiful boat that we are now so fortunate to call our home... secondly, thank you for all your wonderful support, suggestions, downloads and genuine friendship - we can't wait until you join us somewhere in the world!

Paul Rackshaw - a Maverick owner who has given us so many suggestions and helped us with decisions along the way.

Francois from Raymarine - you have given us so much help in your own time - thank you

Joe & Tariq - Jo Fensham Yacht Upholstery - you have done a stunning job of our upholstery and you have made us feel like friends, not clients

Heinz - Multi Marine - you have given us so much of your time outside of business hours - you have been a true help and we hope you and your family will also come join us!

Neil - the man who can "do it all" for Maverick.  Neil, you have been the answer to making our beautiful boat the boat she is - you have helped us so far beyond what is expected of you from Maverick and we will always be grateful for your help and support - again we hope we never loose touch and see you somewhere again on our journey.

Jonathan from Ysterplaat Medical - the time you gave me was something I will always be grateful for.  My regret is that we didn't end up having time for you to come to our boat before we left Cape Town, please keep in contact and hopefully we will see you in the Caribbean.

Alan Harrington - a new Nexus owner - thank you for your suggestions, thank you for the red wine and thank you for wanting to help keep us safe on our crossing across to the Caribbean - we look forward to seeing you again - the Fruit Cake challenge is on!

Roger and Andrea - Nexus Catamarans - where do I begin - you have been so much fun, and help along our journey.  We will truly miss you both and again, look forward to seeing you when you come to see us in the Caribbean.

Claire - We met you after being in South Africa only one month and you have been a wonderful friend to us both. We know that we will all see each other again - we believe in everything you are and everything you wish to do in your life

Mark Wannenburg - our skipper - already so much time has been give to us by Mark - he is a wonderfully knowledgeable Skipper who has become a wonderful friend in such a short time.

Come And Have A Look Around...

 Welcome to our home... please excuse some of the photos as we are still unpacking - however here we are...

Our Scullery and Galley .  Below the third planter box in the fold down cupboard is my dishwasher.  The picture beneath is our Saloon.  The table has three heights and folds out to a full dining table

Guest Cabin... we have put in a TV, DVD and Fusion Docking Station with Surround Sound, so you can have time out from us when you come and stay...

This is your bathroom.  It has a seperate shower, you can just see the door into it.

 This is the third Cabin, sorry about the mess, but we are still unpacking.  Underneath all the bags is a lovely seat, which is also a single bed, however it can fold out to be a double bed.  In the cupboard, which is out of the photo as the near end of the seat/bed, as shown is my washing machine.

 Forward of this, behind the closed door is my dry store area, as shown below.  Then looking back toward the Guest Cabin is our Chart Storage

This is the Nav Station 

Our Cabin, again with Fusion Surround Sound and Air Conditioning.  Four Wardrobes

Our Office - sorry about the mess, still unpacking

Our Bathroom, doesnt show the toilet, but we have one on our side too.  Note the size of the shower, it is actually a bath too.  We had our first bath on Friday after arriving back from testing the sails.  We were very wet and very cold.  We decided we would run only hot water to see when we would run out.  Well, we didn't!  We had to turn off the hot to add cold.  Behind the door at the end of the shower is our generator and behind the shower nozzle is our watermaker.  We can make over 144 litres an hour

Our Darling Friends from New Zealand, whom we miss so very much, gave us this lovely plaque just before we left.  It has pride of place in our Saloon so that we can see it every day

Thank you for coming to visit our home - please, please please come and see us soon!!!

Tulbagh and Jens Garden...

While Our Rose was out of the water we took the opportunity to go to the charming historical town of Talbagh, in the winelands of the Boland about 120km from Cape Town.  The valley was first discovered by European settlers in 1658 - with beautiful Cape Dutch architecture.  The is a place we went to for wine tasting, it also has the most beautiful church on the property, set amongst the vines

We stayed at a lovely place called "Vindoux" Tree Houses.  We had a lovely "Braii (BBQ) one night, which was given to us in this lovely hamper  - heres the master at work, along with the very friendly little doggie, who we found was very receptive to cupboard love (left overs!)

 On our way back to Our Rose, we went and collected our plants from Bridget whom I had hunted down www.herb-nursery.co.za  She is such a ball of energy and was so helpful (also introducing us to some great comedy!)  She will definatly visit for a wine or two before we leave and maybe somewhere in the world also...
So, when we arrived back to Our Rose, who was waiting for us back at the V & A Waterfront, with her bottom all fresh and fixed, it was time to start planting.  We had just unloaded the plants onto the dock (with quite a few un-usual glances from people), when a couple came up to us, and in the most unmistakable "Kiwi" accent said "so where in NZ are you from" - lovely to meet others from home.  Brian and Jill have been cruising for 7 years or so.  Needless to say, we offered them a wine (or two) and I proceeded to start gardening...

We had a lovely time chatting and drinking while I kept getting the hands into the soil and planting - It felt fantastic!
The next day, Friday, Rudi arrived - our watermaker was commissioned, it is producing more than 144 litres an hour - yahooooooo.  Joe from North Sails arrived, along with Mark, Neil, Rudi and ourselves, went out to test the sails - from full sail, reducing gradually to third reef.  Perfect day to be doing this as it was blowing, and pouring with rain!
Then, when we arrived back, Rudi's son Chris met us at the dock and he had the Pajero loaded with our things we had sent from New Zealand.  The plastic has come off the upholstery and we are now unpacking, surrounding ourselves with "home"...

The next update will have the interior photos!

What Next???

Saturday was the anniversary of our Hannah Robinson leaving us... we bought these roses for her...

We finally received our "Screecher" on Friday, with the beautiful rose on it.

Rudi had asked us if we would take Deslynn, Himself and Phil Southwell (the Maverick designer) out for an afternoon on Our Rose, so we also asked Mark (our delivery captain) to join us, along with Francois from Raymarine.

 Building Our Rose has been a real journey.  It has had a lot of happenings, with the latest being that our Anti-Fouling, after only three weeks is coming off.  We could not believe our eyes!  Rudi had used International as the base, however had been approached about using another product for the top coat - he had been told that it was the "best" thing, however it was overlooked that there needed to be another bonding agent used.  Long and short of this, Our Rose, after less than a month is now out of the water.

We have moved off her (we didn't think we would be doing that for a long time) and have gone away for 3 nights whilst this recent event is being rectified and Our Rose is being completed - she is still not yet finished, however we are hoping that all will be finished by the end of the week.  We are trying to stay positive, after so many issues.