January 2026
Late morning on the 1st January 2026, Ally and Shawn went to the Waterfront in Cape Town and walked along the coast to Sea Point where Shawn lived as a child. It was lovely to wander, chat and reminisce and enjoy a beer back at the Waterfront area before returning, exhausted to their apartment late afternoon. They returned to Imagination mid morning on the 2nd where they unpacked and relaxed for the rest of the day and it was back “to work” on the 3rd with most of the day spent dismantling the freezer that Shawn had built in the Port corridor many years ago. On the 4th, the corridor area was thoroughly cleaned before the new portable freezer was put in place. At 3pm that afternoon, they went along to the Yacht Club to meet up with previous crew member Katie who was onboard from Vanuatu to Solomon Islands ( Nov ’23), along with her sister and parents. It was a very relaxed couple of hours spent catching up on news and chatting.
Shawn rebuilt the shelving in the port corridor and Ally finished cleaning and refilling them on the 5th before getting on with repairing several canopies while Shawn wired in the new freezer. He had spent most of the morning getting in touch with various tradesmen to talk about work that needs to be done onboard over the coming weeks. The 6th was laundry day and Ally was on the sewing machine making more repairs/alterations while Shawn was sanding down and making repairs to small areas of gelcoat on deck. When Ally went to the port forward cabin to retrieve some curtains, they were sopping wet as was the inside cabin wall…..the port side water tank had popped!! They had heard a noise the day before but didn’t know what it was and that morning the bilge had a fair bit of water in it, but it hadn’t been pumped out in a while so they thought nothing of it. It’s a good job it happened when it did and not on an ocean passage as they had access to shore water via their hose pipe so they could still cook and clean up and were hauling out imminently. The headsail was taken down and flaked on the 7th, ready for some minor repairs and so that the foil ( the pole the headsail wraps around when taken in) can be repaired too as it keeps coming out of alignment which is the cause of the sail damage. The starboard “coffin” cabin was emptied and everything dried out and the bottom of the cabin emptied of water…..another leaking hatch! On the 8th, Shawn continued with deck repairs and he and Ally removed the anchor so that it could be regalvanised. It was time to take the port forward cabin apart on the 9th, so that the damaged water tank could be accessed, pulled out onto the bed and assessed. The whole inside cabin wall and the wardrobe had to be taken apart and that deconstruction continued into the 10th when they managed to pull the whole tank out of the very tight space and discovered where the problem was. Thankfully, a welder had been organised to come and discuss other work to be done, so that was added to the list! Over the last few days, several scary looking vessels from Iran and China had turned up at the adjacent Navy base – thankfully nothing to do with recent world events, but for long planned military exercises over the coming week.
In 2019, while hauled out in Grenada, Shawn and Ally met a group of South African guys along with one wife, working on a storm damaged catamaran in order for it to be delivered back to SA. They spent time together on several occasions over a few weeks and Ally and Jane kept in touch since then with Jane making contact when Imagination reached Richards Bay. On Sunday 11th, Jane came and picked up Ally and Shawn to take them to hers and Stephen’s home in Cape Town, where they had a very pleasant afternoon in their beautiful, sunny and warm garden which ends at a large lake with Table Mountain in the distance. They sat in the shade next to the pool (just a little too chilly for total emersion) and they caught up on each others news before later enjoying a magnificent Braai which included delicious home grown produce. Stephen and Jane were kind enough to ask Shawn and Ally to stay overnight and in the morning Jane took them to the airport to pick up a hire car. They drove back to Simons Town to do a quick luggage swap and picked up provisions before driving all afternoon to an apartment in Mossel Bay.
They walked into town the following morning to visit the Bartholomeu Dias Museum and spent an hour or so looking at the exhibits. Bartholomeu was a Portuguese explorer who, in 1488, was the first European to navigate the Southern tip of Southern Africa having been sent by the King to find a sea route to India from Portugal. Although he didn’t sail all the way to India, he proved that their was a route from the Atlantic into the Indian Ocean and that opened the way for Vasco da Gama (also Portuguese). He made the journey all the way to India a decade later, leading to direct trade between Europe, India and the Far East. Inside the museum is an exact replica of Dias’s ship, which also sailed the same route and arrived in Mossel Bay on Feb 3rd 1988, exactly 500 years after Dias himself had, as part of a big anniversary celebration. Sadly, Dias drowned in a shipwreck off the Cape of Good Hope just a couple of years after he had made the discovery. Within the complex is a shell museum too, which both Ally and Shawn really enjoyed for half an hour before leaving to get some lunch to eat in the shade on the waters edge. Once they had eaten, they walked up to the Cape St Blaize lighthouse to try and locate a hiking trail they had been told about and found it running along the outside of the lighthouse perimeter fence on the steep drop off on the hillside. They braved it ( it actually wasn’t that bad) and once around the corner, the path widened out. It was a lovely walk along the cliffside and they encountered Dassies ( aka Rock Hyrax), cute rabbit sized rodents that look like a cross between a guinea pig and a rat. Ally and Shawn walked as far as the “Longest Over Ocean Zipline in The World” start point, before heading inland and back to the apartment to get the car to pick up some provisions.
They were away by 09.20 the following morning for a leisurely drive along the coast, stopping every now and then to take in the views and to eat lunch. During the afternoon, they passed through large areas of land that had been damaged by recent wildfires sweeping through the area and there were still fires raging on the hillsides as they drove through the pretty landscape which was sad to see. They arrived at Cape Agulhas, the Southern-most point of Africa where the Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean meet and as it was a sunny afternoon they went straight to the coast. Here, they visited the “Map of Africa” monument – a 30 metre hand sculpted concrete compass enclosing the shape of Africa with raised mountain ranges and valleys, and for an obligatory photo of the plaque. It was good to see the lighthouse and town up close having looked at them through the binoculars from the ocean as they sailed passed last month.
Thursday 15th was overcast and breezy as they drove to Gansbaai for coffee and provisions before carrying on to Kleinbaai to visit the African Penguin Sanctuary where rescued critically endangered African Penguins and other seabirds are taken to be treated and rehabilitated. It’s a small place with one enclosure and they rely on donations and tourists spending money in the café and gift shop to fund the work they do. They drove on to Walker Bay Nature Reserve and went into the historically and archaeologically significant Klipgat Cave where very clear evidence has been found of middle and later stone age civilizations. It is one of the most ancient sites in South Africa with one of the oldest known examples of early humans harvesting shellfish and using the ocean to survive. If only one could travel back in time, just for a while, to observe how life was for those people.
They drove on to Hermanus where they spent the night before starting the drive back to Simons Town mid morning on the 16th. They stopped at Betty’s Bay to observe a breeding colony of African Penguins in drizzly rain and it was lovely to see them in their own environment and looking so healthy. Such a shame they are on the critical list, mostly due to over fishing (commercial), shipping hazards ( oil spills etc), and human activities leading to disturbance and/or loss of nesting sites and habitat. The weather brightened up as they continued on the beautifully scenic route to Gordons Bay where they stopped to eat their lunch before returning to Imagination in Simon’s Town by 16.30.
Just because they were back onboard, didn’t mean the adventure stopped as they had the car for another couple of days. They got up early the next day ( 17th) and drove to the relatively nearby Cape Point National Park, where they visited 2 monuments, one for Dias, one for Da Gama, before going to the Visitor Centre and then to the Old Lighthouse at Cape Point, aka Cape Of Storms ( named by Dias who allegedly arrived in bad weather). Just as they started up the slope and then the many steps up to the lighthouse, the clouds came and bought some rain, but thankfully it was short lived. This lighthouse was used from 1859, but being at 238 metres above sea level, the beam was often obscured by mist and so it was replaced in 1919 by a smaller one built at a lower position at the end of the rocks and this lighthouse remains the most powerful on the SA coast. After a short drive, they came to the Cape Of Good Hope sign….another photo! In fact, the whole area is The Cape of Good Hope ( rather than Cape of Storms) having been renamed by King John II of Portugal to reflect optimism about the new route to India. After they left the National Park, they drove along the notoriously stunning Chapmans Peak route taking in the stunning scenery to Haut Bay and on to Camps Bay. This is a popular holiday spot which was heaving even though the main holiday season was over and after a brief stop ( too many people!), they drove back to Simons Town. That evening, they drove the short distance back along the coast to a restaurant in Glencairn where they met Shawn’s first cousin, once removed, Adie. It was really lovely to see him and to chat over a delicious dinner.
Their final day of exploring on Sunday 18th was spent in Cape Town itself. The first stop was Rhodes Monument, a Greek style building built to commemorate British born SA politician Cecil John Rhodes who was Prime Minister of the Cape Colony for 6 years from 1890. Due to his role in British Imperial policies, this place is now controversial and a little unkempt. Next was Bo Kaap, formerly Malay Quarter, one of Cape Town oldest residential areas famous for it’s vibrant coloured houses and cobbled streets. It was established in the 1760’s by freed slaves and political exiles from the Dutch East Indies (including Malaysia and Indonesia), hence the bright colours that represent freedom and joy. Following this, they walked through Company Gardens where Shawn used to love visiting with his family as a small child and where he once caught a goldfish from the pond with his bare hands and presented it proudly to his mom! To one end stands what used to be the Natural History Museum, which is now The South African Cultural Museum. Again, Shawn has great memories of this place, including attending lessons in the lecture theatres as a 9/10 year old. Both he and Ally thoroughly enjoyed the 2+ hours they spent in there looking at the exhibits and absorbing the information…they could have spent longer, but there is only so long a grumbling tummy can be ignored! They grabbed their lunch from the car and returned to the gardens to eat in the company of squirrels, ( including an albino one), small rats and pigeons. One squirrel in particular did very well out of it and was given numerous apricot and lychee stones, some of which he ate on the spot and others he took away to bury. It was then time to return the car to the airport and get back to Imagination ready for the busy couple of weeks ahead.
On the morning of the 19th, Shawn and Ally slowly prepared Imagination to be hauled out. They had hoped to be taken out of the water earlier in the month but due to the notorious pattern of winds here and the fact that it needs to be done at high tide, the date and time has to be planned perfectly. The tiny yard here doesn’t have a sling big enough to lift Imagination out, so she was to be pulled out on a trailer specifically built by/for a local catamaran owner. Two guys from the yard got onboard to assist with lines and watch for rocks etc as the entry to the slip is narrow and lined with kelp. Shawn had messaged the yard manageress around 6 days beforehand to express concern over the amount of kelp encroaching on the channel, explaining that it was a potential problem for the port propeller. He messaged her again 3 days later and she insisted that all would be okay as it had never caused a problem before. That morning though, Shawn went into the office to speak to her and told her that the kelp was absolutely going to be a problem with a very high risk of prop wrapping on the way in so she said she would send a diver down at lunchtime. When it was time to leave the dock to go into the slip at 14.30, the diver hadn’t been in and so there was a delay of a good half an hour whilst he went down to clear the way. It was a very slow process getting Imagination perfectly positioned over the partly submerged trailer and as she was very slowly pulled up the ramp, there were horrid creaks and groans coming from inside as the fibreglass flexed, the flooring in the saloon floor bowed, doors popped open and the lift up fridge top rose out of position as the shape of the whole yacht changed. It was a relief for everyone when Imagination was stationary and secured in her spot on the hard with everything back where it should be. By now it was late afternoon, so time for a well earned beer before dinner.
The wind overnight and throughout the 20th was wicked ( as is often the case here they have discovered!), probably as strong as when they first arrived and it just makes it harder and more uncomfortable to do anything outside. Shawn cracked on with starting to get the port engine ready to be taken out while Ally did other small odd jobs and blogging between being a “runner” for Shawn. The 21st saw the removal of the Port engine, with Shawn and Ally hoisting it up out of the engine room and then lowering it down onto the ground using an 8 to 1 pulley attached to the end of the boom. On the 22nd it was Ally’s job to get get on and clean the oily dirty mess in the port engine room followed by cleaning all the fenders that had become horribly marked in Sri Lanka and Reunion having been alongside and against big black tyres. In the meantime, Shawn got to work on uninstalling the Starboard engine. Various tradesmen had visited Imagination since being in Simons Town, to discuss work that needed to be done and to get quotes and work began on the damaged port keel (done in Mauritius) by Luca and his team. John came on the morning of the 23rd to take measurements for new drop down front screens and to take the mainsail that was taken down by Shawn and Ally that morning, the headsail and spinnaker away for repairs. Late morning, the two new engines that were ordered in October were delivered by the Yanmar dealers – they are sooo shiny! That afternoon, the starboard engine was lifted out and with the help of kids from the sailing school pulling the engine away from Imagination with a rope, it was lowered to the ground.
Saturday 24th , Ally finished cleaning the fenders before going down into the Starboard engine room to clean it, and my goodness, it was a horrid black mess and Shawn began looking at the installation of the new digital control panels/tachometers for the new engines. The old engine wiring loom was removed and the placement of the new ones commenced which involved Ally going under the cockpit floor. On the 25th, the Starboard side escape hatch that had been leaking (alot, whilst under sail) was unsealed having been “glooped up” with 5200 sealant as a temporary measure to slow the amount of water coming through. There was no danger of it coming off while sailing as it was bolted in place with 20+ bolts, but the water coming through a visible gap between the frame and the hatch was causing damage to the internal wood veneer. The hatch was was opened up and the whole area was cleaned before the handles were loosened up. Shawn managed to install the sail drive on the starboard side by the end of the day having done some more of the wire loom fitting with Ally first thing. It was time to lift the new port engine onboard on the morning of the 26th and thankfully, with the assistance of a very helpful chap from the Yacht Club who was passing at the right time, all went as smoothly as it could go. Guys started sanding down the hulls ready for anti fouling and the keel repairs continued over the course of the day as Shawn got on with installing the engine and Ally pottered with other, smaller, less demanding chores. The Starboard engine was lifted into the engine room and put in place on 27th, ready to be installed over the course of the day on the 28th when the first coat of paint went on the bottom of each hull……what a treat for Ally and Shawn not to be doing this themselves as they have done since the beginning of (Imagination) time!
Thursday 29th was a day of organising the reupholstery of the saloon couches, finishing the installation of the engine wiring looms and control panels/tachometers as well as going shopping for sundries. The rest of the afternoon and into the evening was spent sorting through the boxes and bags of “stuff” from the engine rooms and getting rid of a fair few kgs of acquired, not going to be needed used/not working spares and “bits” from the last 15 years (starter motors, showers etc etc). The great thing about this place is that nothing goes to waste – both of the old engines and saildrives, plus some spares found new homes almost immediately and many other things that were no longer needed/wanted onboard that were placed in the ” garbage” trailer, were removed to be used/rehomed by someone else with other items being gifted to the workers in the yard! Love it. In the meantime, the bottom was given another coat of paint, including the repaired keel, and the bottom of the dinghy was sanded and fibre glassed where it was damaged from repeated hauls up onto secluded, beautiful beaches for BBQ’s and exploring. On the 30th, work commenced on the upper hull (ie sanding down and removal of the “go faster” stripe), the welders came to do several jobs, the saloon cushions were picked up to be remade and 3 hatches, including the safety hatch were removed to be re-seated. One went back in the same day, one was left out to let the area dry out and the escape hatch had some welding done and was left out overnight. The dinghy underside repairs were also completed and more ” stuff” was sorted for garbage or to give away. Adie came to the Yacht Club that evening and again, Ally and Shawn had a very pleasant evening with him. The escape hatch and Starboard “coffin” hatch were both reinstalled on Saturday 31st and the fresh water tank was taken across to Ryan, the welder, so that he could repair the split in it. Saliem continued with sanding down the hulls leaving Imagination nameless.
Phew…what a busy couple of weeks with more to come!!
