December 2025
Ally and Shawn had booked a guided safari for the 1st December. They were picked up by Calvin of Bushbaby Adventures at 04.55 and had the whole safari vehicle to themselves. For almost 11 hours they were driven around the park, spotting many animals, sadly still no big cats, but they did have a brilliant encounter with a pack of Hyenas, one of whom had a very young pup, the youngest Calvin had ever seen so they were very lucky indeed. Both days in the Kruger National Park were superb and they could have stayed and done many more, but it was time to head back to Durban on the 3rd with an overnight stop in more rain and thunderstorms at a beautiful apartment in Melmoth.
They were back at the Marina by mid afternoon having stopped for lunch on the way down and then visited the huge Gateway Shopping Mall with the rest of the day spent unpacking and putting away. The car was returned on the morning of the 4th and apart from visiting to Marina office on the morning of the 5th to organise departure, Shawn and Ally remained on board to catch up the “admin” involved in route planning, laundry and blogging. On the 6th, they spent the day resting and getting organised for the sail down to East London before going to the Point Yacht Club for a beer and dinner, returning to Imagination just before the rain fell. At 04.45 on the 7th, they were away from the marina and making their way out of the port of Durban. They had a good motor sail down to East London over the next 37.5 hours, catching the Agulhas current which gave them an extra 4kts of speed at times. The last time Ally and Shawn sailed with just the two of them on board was from Borneo to Johor Bahru, Malaysia well over a year ago, so it was a novelty to have the bed made up in the saloon once again. Arriving just before the sun set, it was time for a quick dinner before an early night. The 9th was restful in the morning, and mid afternoon they went to the Yacht Club to meet up with last months crew member, Eric, and his wife which was lovely. It was another early get away on the 10th, this time for a longer sail. It was a little breezier and choppier than the previous sail, but it meant the engines could go off and they could sail properly. Over the course of their travels South, the temperature was gradually dropping and that, along with the fresh wind meant that Ally and even Shawn felt cold and had to wrap up with a blanket when at the helm overnight. They arrived at the notorious Knysna Heads at around 07.30 on the morning of Friday 12th, just at the right time in the tides to line up with the leading lights and get through the narrow, rock lined entrance in very calm conditions. If timed wrong, coming into Knysna can be very treacherous so Ally and Shawn were more than happy that all went smoothly. After sorting Imagination out, Ally was so tired she had to snooze while Shawn very quickly got on with organising the next few days. Later on, they went ashore to buy a few provisions and have a look around the fabulous waterfront area….in fact, the whole of the Knysna area is very pretty.
On the 13th, they went ashore at 08.30 to pick up a hire car, only to discover they were 24 hours early! While planning what to do yesterday, the itinerary changed a few times and they had forgotten the car hire dates had changed too hahaha. The guy was great though, completing all the paperwork and giving Shawn the keys so that they could just take the car the following morning. In the meantime, they walked into town where they mooched around the shopping centre and visited the Pledge Nature Reserve for a lovely walk, more geared towards the plants and trees than wildlife, of which they saw none. Walking along the waterfront area on their way back to the Yacht Club where the dinghy was tied up, they decided to have a beer at The Tiki Bar where the atmosphere and service were excellent, so they ended up staying longer than anticipated – what a difference great service makes! The next morning was car pick up time and they initially went to a store they had been in the previous day that was having a sale and they bought a new electric cooler/freezer at an amazing reduction in price. The rest of the day was spent driving along some of the gorgeous and famous Garden Route, specifically visiting Buffalo Bay ( Buffelsbaai) and Brenton-On-Sea which sounds very British because it is. This area was named after the British Admiral, Jahleel Brenton who declared Knysna a Harbour in 1818.
On the 15th, they drove through the Little Karoo ( Klein Karoo), a semiarid, intermontane basin to get to Oodtshoorn and the 20 million year old Cango Caves where they did a wonderful hour long tour. Amongst other things, they learned that the acoustics in the main cave were so fabulous, it was used as a concert hall until fairly recently when it was discovered that the vibrations were damaging the delicate structures within. They stopped to eat lunch on the way to Highgate Ostrich Farm where they had a private hour long tour with guide, Jonathon, who explained the history of Ostrich farming and of the farm itself. The birds are bred not only for their feathers, but for their meat which has become very popular over the last 20 years or so, and for their leather (who knew?), so they are very valuable animals.
The following day, they drove through the picturesque Tsitsikamma National Park where they visited “The Big Tree”, a 1000 year old Outeniqua Yellowwood, before they embarked on a very peaceful walk through the forest for an hour and a half. They bypassed the Bloukrans Bridge where many daredevils brave one of the highest bungee jumps in the world and drove on to Plettenberg where they spent a couple of hours on the beach, enjoying a picnic lunch in the sun and Shawn even braved the cool water for a body surf. Before returning to Imagination for the evening, they revisited The Tiki Bar for one last time for drinks and dinner.
The 17th was a much needed chill day after returning the car at 9am and paying their dues at the Yacht Club as the plan was to leave the following day. The way out of the harbour is back through the infamous Knysna Heads. There is a Tide Table at the Yacht Club, and the regulars there are very insightful, experienced and happy to help or advise and there is also 24/7 live video streaming of the heads online to help plan. The morning of the 18th was very relaxed and a fur seal came to hang out around the mooring ball for several hours, just turning over and over and over again which is apparently what they do to regulate their temperature and rest. Armed with all the tidal info and having received instruction and advice as well as watching the video footage over the course of the morning, they left the mooring at 12.25 and slowly motored to the Heads which took a good half an hour, giving the tide a little more time to go slack, with another catamaran following closely behind. As they approached the Heads, it became clear that things were not as settled as they had appeared to be and the tide was coming in so not only were they fighting against a current, but also battling against waves coming in, some of which were steep and short which led to slow progress, a feeling of going backwards at times and crashing down the other side of the waves. It was a tense few minutes as they made their way through the worst of it and out into the deeper coastal waters and once they were out dolphins and whales made brief appearances as they pulled sails up and set Imagination on her course.
Having started with clear skies and little wind, it clouded over and the winds increased during the afternoon of the 19th. Being the furthest South they had ever sailed, the 19.4 degrees C overnight felt even worse than before and both Ally and Shawn again wrapped up in multiple layers, socks and deck shoes and blankets! During the very early hours on the 20th, as they headed into the massive False Bay, the winds built up to a constant 33kts downwind and then when Imagination changed direction several hours later to come into Simon’s Town it was directly on the nose and gusting to over 40 kts by the time they arrived outside the marina . With two old 39hp engines, when the wind caught either one of the hulls it blew Imagination sideways and it took a minute or so to bring the nose back around and of course, in the midst of it all, the port side lazy line ( thin rope that holds the sides of the mainsail bag up) snapped and the mainsail came spilling out over the solar panels and down onto the port deck. With Ally at the helm keeping Imagination facing into the strong winds as best she could, Shawn fought against folds of flapping sail to tie it down onto the boom in several places. Once that was done it was clear the conditions would make life far too difficult and stressful to come alongside the dock in the Marina as planned so Shawn made the decision to drop anchor and wait for the winds to blow through over the rest of the weekend. At 09.35 on Saturday 20th December, the anchor went down in Simon’s Town along with most of the 330ft/100m of chain. Anchor alarms were set and Shawn and Ally remained alert for the rest of the day to make sure the anchor was going to hold, which it did after an initial slip of several metres. The following morning, the winds had unexpectedly all but disappeared so they grabbed the opportunity to move alongside in the Marina at 09.30 Sunday morning. Shawn repaired the lazy lines and then Ally went up the mast to put the line back through the block (pulley) just before the winds picked up again that afternoon. They went out for a walk around the attractive, small Naval town followed by a steak lunch on the 22nd before returning to Imagination to veg for the rest of the day.
The morning of the 23rd was spent checking/retying/repositioning fenders and lines before Ally and Shawn packed their bags ready for an Uber to take them to the airport at 4pm. They had made a relatively last minute decision to return home for a week over Christmas, arriving in the UK early on the morning of the 24th. It was a very special time spent with loved ones and friends and all too soon it was time to return to Cape Town where they arrived at lunchtime on the 31st. They thought they might go and watch the fireworks on the waterfront to see in the new Year but after a rest and takeaway pizza they were both more than happy to stay in and watch a movie and see in the new year together at the apartment they had rented for a couple of nights.
