Leaving Africa

I am writing from South Africa, the Western Breakwater dock of the
Simonstown navy shipyard. The Heraclitus is about to set sail for a 3,500
nautical mile sea voyage across the South Atlantic, to Parati, a town just
South of Rio de Janeiro.

We've just completed a major dry dock of nearly 8 months, and are
exhilarated to begin the next leg of our expedition. The intrepid crew of 14
are from Canada, UK, Germany, Solomon Islands, Netherlands, Italy and South
Africa- adventurers, artists, actors, musicians, technicians, entrepreneurs,
a baker and of course sailors...

Ready to go, we are now waiting for a weather window to get out of False Bay
and around the Cape of Good Hope. In the olden days, sailing ships coming
from the Indian Ocean sometimes turned into False Bay after rounding Cape
Hangklip, mistaking it for the Cape of Good Hope. They then had to wait,
sometimes for weeks, until they could catch the right winds again to get out
of the bay and around the Cape of Good Hope. Only then can you really set a
Northerly course along the West African coast.

We will follow the current by the Namibian coast (also called the Skeleton
Coast), pass close by the island of St. Helena and then veer South toward
Parati; a  5 -6 week voyage. We will be sailing into the setting sun. Finally
back to the sea- the South Atlantic- Heraclitus had been in these waters 19
years earlier, returning from it's voyage around South America to
Antarctica. We had rounded Cape Horn then and now, the Heraclitus will be
rounding the Cape of Good Hope.

Still, I will miss the beautiful Cape Peninsula with it's diverse cultures
and ancient history...


For more adventures see heraclitus blog spot on www.rvheraclitus.org

My Heraclitus Story in a Nutshell...

Since the R/V Heraclitus was built in 1975 by the Institute of Ecotechnics, the ship has sailed over 250,000 nautical miles studying oceans, coral reefs, rivers, lakes, estuaries and exploring the origins and futures of
human cultures.

I joined the Heraclitus as a 21 year old seamanship apprentice in 1986, on the Mediterranean island of Corsica, and have since spent most of my life sailing onboard, except for 4 years living in London and Berlin and travels on land to Tibet and China.

From 1991 - 1995 I was Captain, while the ship was based in the Caribbean and then became Expedition Chief of the 'Indian Ocean and South East Asian Archipelagoes Expedition', documenting and mapping coral reefs (1995 - 2000).

I am currently the Expedition Chief of the 'Coral Sea to Black Sea Expedition, 2006 - 2010', which began in Cairns, Australia- a studying-encountering Ethnosphere expedition - exploring cultures, including performances of the onboard theatre ensemble and engaging in local life - foremost the global culture of sea people.