Al takes the 2016 Vasco title in record time

Point Yacht Club

Vasco da Gama Ocean Race

Port Elizabeth: 25 April

Al Mount Gay Rum skippered by Rob van Rooyen goes one better this year, taking line honours in record time and claiming the handicap win in the 45^th edition of the Vasco da Gama Ocean Race hosted by Point Yacht Club.

The defending champ on handicap sailed a flawless race in a time of 2 days 6 hours 1min 22 sec, smashing the record by 56mintues and claiming the double when she arrived in Port Elizabeth yesterday (Monday) evening at 06:01pm. The team of eight from Cape Town were delighted with their victory, “We knew going into the race that getting the double was a possibility, we knew it would be a challenge but anything is possible. A double whammy, it really is wonderful.” an elated van Rooyen said as soon as he reached the moorings.

Continuing, he stated, “We were really disappointed when Yes Girl retired! They sailed a phenomenal race straight out of the starting blocks and into the lead. We were happy if they got line honours, we knew we could take them on the handicap, and our game plan was to beat them tactically. But once they retired, our tactics changed and we eyed out our next opposition, Bellatrix who at that stage were lying in third, behind us before Yes Girl made her way to East London.”

“We opted to sail using the currents, but once the sea state deteriorated, we came inshore. My team did fantastically, all things considering. One or two got seasick, but they dug deep and got over it. The more experienced guys handled the rough weather like champs.”

“Our average age, we worked out is 24 years on the boat. I just turned 30 and two of the other guys are 30. The youngest is 17. So, we are young, eager crew. We all have been sailing on and off together since I was about ten, so we know each other’s abilities, strengths and weaknesses.”

With the fleet getting dished all sorts of weather, being battered by lumpy seas, winds from all directions, van Rooyen commented, “Al was great. I think going into the race that is where we were better compared to the other guys. We have been prepping Al for the last six months and were extremely well prepared and managed to keep the boat in one piece throughout the heavy stuff. She was sailing like a dream. So I do believe we started at an advantage to the rest of the guys, no one else spent half a year readying their boat.”

With the upcoming Cape2 Rio race around the corner, van Rooyen highlighted, “We would consider doing a race like Rio but in all honesty, the Vasco is far more challenging. Yes, the race only last two days but the actual getting to Durban, and sailing along the SA coastline. This race is much more difficult that the Rio race, in my opinion. There is far more adrenaline in this short, burst down the coastline.”

The next boat to cross the line was Durban’s very own Bellatrix skippered by Gregg Hurter, who arrived just over three hours behind Al. The two pushed each other the entire race, down the coastline, both opting to stay relatively close to shore. As they neared the end, Al accelerated in the varying winds, expanding the gap between the two.

After 400NM, two boats diced it all the way towards finish line in the hopes of claiming third across the line. Only one nautical mile separated the two that were due in the early hours of this morning (Tuesday). Rocket, skippered by Herbie Karolius from Cape Town put in a fine display of sailing, having had to return back to sheltered waters, soon after their disastrous start. The Simonis 54 snagged the start buoy as they were heading through the line on the start on Saturday. After a battle to free it, they eventually cut the warp free and started their voyage only to realise that they in fact were dragging the start line’s anchor, which was slowing them down.

Hats off to the dark horse, Yes Girl from Cape Town, skippered by Gabriel Fernandes the L35 Mod looked to have the race wrapped up with a red ribbon, but as ocean racing goes, it isn’t over until you cross the line. In the proverbial all things happen in threes, Yes Girl certainly was dished a threesome. First, as they were heading to the start line, they got stuck on the ‘putty’, beaching themselves at low tide on the sandbank at the end of the marina. They then got themselves tangled around the start line when they got offshore, dragging it for some distance. And then the third and fatal blow to their race, their steering system packed up after the boat was pushed to the maximum late on Sunday, when they were forced to retire to East London.

Joining them in East London, the gorgeous Ray of Light also had to retire due to blowing out their head on their main sail in 40knots wind. Helmed by the husband and wife team, Heidi and Michael Kavanagh will be disappointed as they got brand new sails leading up to this race.

The remainder of the exhausted 16 strong fleet arrived in to Port Elizabeth with only one boat not being able to cross the lien in the allocated time, Izimoyo II skippered by Jasper van der Westhuizen just didn’t make the cut, as they battled with the challenging conditions the whole way from Durban to Port Elizabeth.

For more info visit www.pyc.co.za or like the Facebook page or follow it on YB Tacking

Chatting to Durban Sailor Nqoba Mswazi

Known as ‘The Machine’ in the sailing community, young Nqoba Mswazi from Umgababa smiles while having breakfast after his weigh in.

"We made it!” grinned the charming sailor, gorgeous dimples beaming from his face. “We were a few kilograms under, hence I am allowed to eat!" said the relieved lad.

Nqoba and his team are currently competing in the biggest and most prestigious sailing event in the country; the Ola Lipton Challenge Cup hosted by the Royal Natal Yacht Club. This is the first time in over a decade that the race is being held in Durban.

"We are starting the regatta as the underdogs but this has been a great motivator. The boat is capable; it won the regatta last year, now it is up to the team. All we can do is try our best.” stated the level headed man.

Mswazi recently competed in the Colorpress Vasco da Gama in his first international ocean race from Maputo to Durban, “Early in my sailing career I competed in Reunion, my mentor Sean Jones and I competed in a class that we knew little about but learnt a lot. It was the F18 class, a big hobie cat, we came third last but my passion for sailing ignited there.”

They competed in the Round Creole Race which was competed racing around the island. “We had lots of breakages and were the only guys who had never sailed a Hobie 18 before but the fleet were great, friendly and helped us a lot.”

“My favourite memory of that trip would have to be the food! There is nothing like creole cuisine. I discovered all these new types of food, the Octopus Curry which everyone raved about was scary but I tried it. It was slimy and didn’t taste like much. But the sushi and crab – wow! One meal we had a pineapple sushi. It was a pineapple bunny, hollowed out with sushi inside, delicious.” He says glancing at his bacon and eggs in front of him.

“Sailing the Vasco last month was testing but was great. I did however score myself a nickname while on the water! One which I am eternally proud of! To the crew I am now known as Mandela, the reason for this, the first evening I had just finished my shift and was down below about to get a few hours’ sleep when we went through a bad gybe. I was summoned back on deck and rushed to the front of the boat. I can’t remember what happened but about twenty minutes later I woke up with a huge gash on my head. I had fallen through the hatch well trying to cut the kite, managing to get an impressive slice on the top of my head, similar to Nelson Mandela.”

The bowman, his position on the boat first started sailing in 2008, “Craig Millar came to our school, Rossburgh High to chat to us about his experience circumnavigating the world in the Clipper Round the World race. His stories stole my imagination and soon after I was enrolled in Sail Africa learning to sail.”

Proudly stating, ‘The Machine’ says, “The moment in my career that stands out for me, a shining moment in the last five years. It would have to be the first trophy I received; this was a realisation that I actually was extremely good.” The trophy that he talks of was awarded from South African Sailing KZN for being the Most Improved Sailor of the Year.

“I also have a silver medal from racing in this year’s L26 Provincials and a bronze one from the L26 Nationals, both sailing with his Lipton team racing on the yacht Orion B2G2” the first of many in this highly talented man’s fresh career.

Directly after taking on the crème-de-la-crème of South Africa’s sailors in the Ola Lipton Challenge Cup, Mswazi’s next challenge is taking on the Pacific in the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race where he has been selected to crew from China to San Francisco.

We watch eagerly as Royal Natal Yacht Club’s Nqoba Mswazi makes waves in the world of sailing.

Wrap up for the Coopers Lighthouse There-and-Back Race

Royal Natal Yacht Club

Coopers Lighthouse There-And –Back Race

Sunday 26 May

The trimaran Ladybird skippered by Andrew Dolloway dominated in Sunday’s Royal Natal Yacht Club Coopers Lighthouse There-and-Back Race taking line honours in a fleet of 17.

Dolloway led from the onset heading offshore on the run as he raced to the mark set furthest for the racing class. Being the first boat to turn around the buoy, he opted for the route closest to the shore as he worked his way up to the finish line in a magnificent time of just over two hours.

Second around the racing pin, Sticky Fingers with Rob Samways at the helm navigated his way down the centre of the course. On his approach, Sticky Fingers caught up with the first in the cruising class, Bellissima with James Goss steering the larger yacht. The two duelled their way to the finish line in a wonderful tussle for the honour of second across the finish line. Bellissima powered her way to the end, pipping Sticky Fingers at the post.

James Goss enthusiastically stated after the race, “That was exciting! We were within inches of Sticky Fingers. I opted to wait and head further offshore on our approach to the finish with our final tack taking us perfectly through the line. This tactic worked fantastically and I am so pleased with our result!”

The wind filled the sails just in time for the race officer, Greg Challis to set the cluster of yachts off on time with one start for all the sailors. A gentle 5knots and glassy waters greeted the sailors as they set off flying their spinnakers sailing down to two marks just off Coopers Lighthouse off the Bluff.  The slower, bigger boats in the Cruising Class turned first with the racing classes buoy further down the coast allowing them to stretch their legs and power their way around the course.

On the beat back to the finish, the north easterly got to around 8knots giving the boats a bit more power. The entire fleet finished within one hour after the leader Ladybird with only one yacht retiring. The Durban sailors were treated to a once in a lifetime backdrop as they made their way back to the finish line near the harbour mouth, three Dutch Tall Ships departed Durban continuing their circumnavigation with the next stop in Port Louis in Mauritius made for a welcome and memorable sight.

Ahead of the biggest sailing event in South Africa, four L26s used the race to get some hard earned time on the water for the upcoming Lipton Challenge with the two big contenders finish first and fifth on handicap in the racing class.

Results

Cruising Class

1 Bellissima (James Goss), 2 Caversham Caprice (Richard Crockett), 3 So Basic (Stuart Ritchie), 4 Inside Out (Phil Downing) 5 Cest La Vie DNF

Racing Class

1 Choose Life Coordination (Richard Weddell), 2 Sticky Fingers (Rob Samways), 3 Aquavit (Ross McGill), 4 Majimoto (Jon Marshall), 5 Orion B2G2 (Patrick Harris), 6 Zing (Gavin Smith), 7 Therapy (Gavin Wadsworth), 8 Choose Life Element (Siya Vato), 9 Container World (Michael Dickinson), 10 Flyer (Brad Rayson), 11 Zap (Graham Rose)

Multihull

1 Ladybird (Andrew Dolloway)

Round the World Sailor, Ralf Dominick talks about the Northwest Passage

Imvubu meaning Hippo going through the Northwest Passage and meeting a local. Cartoon done by Lawrence Moorcroft from the Bluff Yacht Club

Royal Natal Yacht Club hosted Ralf Dominick recently where he shared tales to a packed room of sailors

Going to listen to the charming Ralf Dominick, you are in danger of acquiring a few stamps in your passport when he passionately shares tales of his circumnavigation on his yacht Imvubu.

Commodore for the Royal Natal Yacht Club, Richard Crockett, introduced the intrepid traveller as a free spirit, setting sail with no real plan of where he was going.

Manihi Atoll

Dominick stood before us smiling, explaining, “I am going to leave out the tropics as many of you here this evening have sailed in parts of it and a number of you here have sailed in company with Imvubu so you would know if I am exaggerating or lying.”

Continuing with a twinkle in his eye, he commented, “I am going to concentrate on the journey through the Northwest Passage, and it is not because I am boasting being one of only about 150 transits through this passage, but because no one here will know if I am exaggerating slightly.”

Dominick launched Imvubu on the 19 June 2009 at the Bluff Yacht Club, he chuckles, “I got my own back at the truck drivers. I blocked the road for half a day as she was craned from the yard onto a truck and transported to the launch site.”

Departing Durban on 2 January 2010, he sailed south to Cape Town where he packed up his boat with supplies for heading across the Atlantic. Waving goodbye to family, he left Cape Town on 21 February 2010.

Having spent close on a year cruising through the magnificent Caribbean islands, with Imvubu spending three months on the hard staying safe during the hurricane season, Dominick headed north. At the end of April they made their way up the East coast of America with the goal of making it through the magical Northwest Passage.

They stopped in at Washington DC, sailing right into the heart of the capital. Exploring the cultural melting pot that is the capital, Dominick stumbled upon the Rolling Thunder Rally that has a quarter of a million Harley Davidsons cruising through the capital. “After three hours, after watching thousands of HOGs go by, I left, mainly because I had a headache from the noise!”

Next was a stop in New York City, “Since 9/11 I found the residents to be a lot kinder than in previous visits.” he stated happily.

 

“One of the best naval museums I have ever visited was located at my next stop, in Mystic Seaport located on the Mystic River. They have over 35 boats on display including an 1820 whaling ship. The Charles W. Morgan is the only surviving wooden whaling ship in America. It was a treat to visit.”

At Portland, on the coast of Maine, gearing up for the expected freezing conditions further north, another 20,000BTU of heating was added to the 5,500BTU already installed on Imvubu.

From the USA East Coast the journey continued on to Nova Scotia, Canada and onwards to Newfoundland. “A number of the small towns are slowly dying due to the moratorium on Cod fishing. In fact during the 1950’s the government had a forced resettlement program to consolidate many of these settlement. Most adults now work on the oil fields in Alberta while the youth are moving south where life is a lot easier, so in some places it felt like a ghost town.”

“I sailed through a fjord that was 200m wide and was experiencing the worst fog for many years. In the gaps we managed to see the sheer cliffs that surrounded us with tumbling waterfalls cascading into the cold water. Yet another exquisite memory!”

Ralf's favourite pic of an Iceberg. He didn't dare get to near it in-case he dislodged some of the ice.

While in Newfoundland Dominick made the decision to commit himself and his crew to the Northwest Passage:  “I must say, it was the case of right place, right time, right boat and the crew was solid!”

Newfounland Huge Fjord

In 1497, the first recorded expedition to find the mythical Northwest Passage, was undertaken by John Cabot. For the next three centuries there were many expeditions to locate this passage. During the Napoleonic wars the quest for the passage waned. However in 1819, due to reports by whalers that the ice was retreating, interest in finding the passage was renewed. The most famous failure was in 1845 when Sir John Franklin, with his two vessels the Terror and the Erebus, failed to return. Subsequent relief expeditions, launched at the behest of Lady Franklin to determine the fate of John Franklin, are credited with having discovered an impractical ice bound passage by dog sled. John Rae, an employee of the Hudson Bay Company, while on a dog sled expedition in this area is now generally credited with having discovered a navigable passage through the Franklin Strait into the Beaufort Sea.

The first vessel to actually transit the North West from Arctic Circle to Arctic Circle was Roald Amundsen in 1903. The next transit was some forty years later by a Canadian Police cutter skippered by Henry Larsen. By the end of the 2010 season the Scott Polar Research Institute at University of Cambridge had recorded 143 transits by 99 different vessel.

Dominick was approximately the 150th entry into the esteemed list that completed a transit from Arctic Circle to Arctic Circle through the Northwest Passage. Imvubu was the first South African Vessel to have completed the transit.

In 2011, the window of opportunity was better than previous years as the temperatures and ice seemed a lot kinder than in previous years, giving Imvubu and Dominick a gap of six weeks to make it through.

Dominick stopped off at St John, Newfoundland, the last significant town before getting to the other side of the world, to prepare the vessel for what lay ahead.  “There are many details to be considered such as a solution for preventing the engine cooling water intakes from freezing, preventing condensation from forming on windows, provisions for a year and of course charts for the region.”

“You might have heard of St John, the wreck of the Titanic lies some 600km south east of this town. The distress call from the Titanic was picked up at Cape Race, 140km south of St John's, where the Canadian Marconi company had built a station eight years earlier.”

“Before departing St John, I went to collect our charts that I had ordered but they hadn’t arrived. The charts were a vital ingredient for the next leg. We needed the charts! The owner of the company promised me that at the next stop at Cartwright in Labrador, he would have the charts there; they would be at the small airport. We got to the airport a few days later and went to meet the plane, but there was nothing. The pilot defensively even suggested we search the plane, there really were no charts. I contacted the airline and found that the plane that they were on had been diverted due to the weather. So asking around I found a lady who lived in the town where the plane was and her brother was unemployed, so he got in the car and drove the charts up, a return trip of 16 hours. Arriving at 1am, we gave him a cup of coffee, a thousand dollars and then sent him on his way a few hours later.”

The plan was to sail 2,000 miles northwards before turning westwards into Lancaster Sound, which marks the start of the actual passage. A 100 miles south of the turning point they sailed past a tender floating upside down. “It didn’t sit right as it clearly belonged to a yacht and there weren’t too many yachts around so we pulled it on board and contacted the coast guard. “The coastguard requested that we divert to Pond Inlet, a small hamlet in the high Arctic, to deliver the salvaged tender so that they could investigate its origins”.

Meeting the Coast Guard, meant that the planed route altered slightly with a dogleg  down to Pond Inlet, the coast guard on the other hand made sure that there was sufficient diesel fuel available for Imvubu.

On 20 August the direction altered for the first time in ten days, with Imvubu now following a path in a westerly direction. On 24 August, the South African vessel reached her highest point north, with the co-ordinates of 74°19’N, the wind was averaging 40knots and the temperature was 2.5°C.

They turned down to Cambridge Bay where they anchored to refuel. While they were ancored in the bay, Eskimos were shooting at Narwhals, small whales with a single tusk or the mystical unicorn whales. “It was a surreal Wild West situation, after refuelling with 500 litres of jet fuel, the only fuel they had in Cambridge Bay we were at anchor and had bullets whistling past us. It didn’t look like the locals were effective hunters as the bullets were almost hitting us and not the whales!”

The next encounter Dominick had with the locals was at the next settlement of Tuktoyaktuk as a guest at the local school, “I was invited to the school when the new teaches were being introduced. On one of the walls there was a huge sign in English advertising that they should eat more whales because they were good for you! The sign went into great details, talking about the fat content and what it did for you! Fascinating reading.”

Continuing, “This is where I tried whale blubber; I have to admit it wasn’t very tasty. Somewhat how one would imagine it to taste like!”, “a local Inuit hunter however gave me two freshly bagged brown speckled geese, that made a superb potjie”.

The door started slamming on the adventurer, with the pack ice moving in. He made his way through the Bering Strait sailing between Russia and across the way, the tip of America, leaving behind the Arctic Circle.  He made it to Nome, Alaska surfing in in early September, 164 miles from Siberia and just under 2,000miles from the North Pole. Nome is renowned for gold mining and Dominick met a man who generously gave him two nuggets as mementos from Alaska.

A sign post in Nome, Alaska

“I read in the Nome Times that when the cartographer was mapping the area, they hadn’t named the Cape so he simply wrote ‘? name’ down on the map. When the maps got back to the United Kingdom, the chap officially drawing them up read it as C. Nome which promptly became Cape Nome and the name stuck and that is how it has stayed!”

“Crossing the Bering sea we got hammered although it could have been much worse and made it into the safety of False Pass in the Aleutian Islands with hours to spare before the next big storm system arrived”.

When the weather cleared Imvubu pushed on, passing steaming volcanoes, “There are 36 active volcanoes in Alaska, the most anywhere in the world located in one country! As we were sailing on a relatively calm day through the Kupreanof Straits a rocket launch took place from the Kodiak Space Centre on the other side of Kodiak Island”.

The intrepid traveller sat out yet more bad weather in Yakutat Bay on the eastern side of the Gulf of Alaska, here he joined another yacht that had also transited the North West Passage and the two of them waited through gale force winds. “We followed a number of fishing vessels heading out but encountered an unexpected low pressure system with storm force winds and mountainous seas, clearly we didn’t go very far and turned around and ran for shelter.”

“In desperation I spoke to the met guys and their response was that they were unable to forecast the weather because every few hours the weather was changing dramatically.”

In the early hours of the next morning there was a slight break in the weather and Dominick decided this was the gap. Saying a quick goodbye to this fellow yachtsman, who was not at all convinced that there was a break, he left the dock and sailed further down the coast, escaping the weather in a few more coves but made it into the safety of the Alaskan Inside Passage.

“When I arrived at Juneau Alaska I could celebrate as I had made it through the Northwest Passage and got out of the high latitudes before winter set in!  Although I was now through the worst I knew there was still a hard slog ahead to make my way down the North American west coast in winter.”

“My friend got stuck in Yakutat for a further three weeks and by the time he got into the Inside Passage the season was too far advanced and he had to give up and spend the winter at Sitka.”

Showing us a number of gorgeous images, he pauses stating, “Of the thousands of photos that I took on the trip, this is my favourite. Blackstone Glacier was just exquisite.”

Asked if he was ever scared, he smiles, “I used to fly jets for fifteen years so going from a sport of flying at a speed of six miles a minute to sailing  six miles an hour, I would think I coped under the pressures that arose. And I have to say that the boat was superb in all the conditions!”

Concluding he questions, “Doesn’t anyone want to know about the fishing and the fish? The places I visited were not only picturesque but heavenly on the taste buds. I ate like royalty, everything from crayfish to salmon to cod. You name it, I sampled it. I would have to say my best fish would have to be Arctic Char which was just delectable.” 

Imvubu is currently being prepared for her next odyssey when he plans to head down south to Antarctica and then up the east coast of South America before crossing to Europe However, he is plotting to return to Alaska… in summer and not with his boat.

The inspiring story of Ralf Dominick’s lifelong dream to circumnavigate the globe plants seeds for those with itchy feet and a desire to travel to a number of incredible options that lie waiting to be discovered.

RNYC Sailor of the Year returns to Durban

Royal Natal Yacht Club

RNYC Sailor of the Year returns to Durban

Round the World

Epic adventurer Ralf Dominick arrived back in Durban on Wednesday afternoon in breathless overcast conditions concluding his 33 month odyssey circumnavigating the globe on his yacht Imvubu.

Dominick’s final leg was sailed from Reunion, which he departed towards the end of October, sailing in mostly stormy conditions over the 12 days it took to reach Imvubu’s hometown, the last three days the ocean was calm and windless. Stepping onto the moorings, a small group of family, friends and crew welcomed the intrepid adventurer home including his mother who saw him only once during his trip, briefly last year in May when he made a fleeting visit to South Africa. 

In the celebrations, he opened a bottle of champagne that he had received on his 50^th birthday. The bottle had sailed around the world with him, waiting for a special occasion, smiling he stated, “It was well chilled through the Northwest Passage!”

The duo stopped off at 53 countries on their circumnavigation, including the gorgeous mythical Northwest Passage in August of last year. “Sailing my own vessel, I managed to stop off at a smorgasbord of places, be it cities, villages or islands. There were multiple visits to the USA and Canada; some territories have thousands of separate enchanting islands which I was able to explore!”

“Sailing under the Golden Gate Bridge at sunrise and past the Statue of Liberty at dawn are just two of thousands of my most memorable moments.”

Imvubu’s forestay was proudly decorated with flags from various countries he had visited as he motored into Durban.  

The valiant sailor departed from Durban in January 2010, heading down to Cape Town on her first voyage where the skipper tested the sea legs of his 53 foot Barens Seatraders. Asked why he named her Imvubu, which is Zulu for Hippopotamus, he laughs, “Well she is fat, large, ugly and extremely strong!”

Dominick enjoyed the company of a variety of crew throughout the journey, but bravely sailed a number of legs on his own.

Chatting about what he would like to do in the future, he comments, “Next year Imvubu and I are heading down to Antarctica, so I have a year to prepare for that journey. But I would love to do an Ocean Race, perhaps a Volvo in the years to come?”

Dominick was awarded the Royal Natal Yacht Club’s ‘Sailor of the Year’ for 2012 and also received the Gordon Burnwood Trophy by South African Sailing  and the Barton Cup by the Ocean Cruising Club for ‘the most meritorious ocean race or passage’ in 2011. 

Ralf Dominick concluded his phenomenal trip, entering the distinguished book of sailors how have successfully circumnavigated the globe.

Chatting to Epic Adventurer - Ralf Dominick

Royal Natal Yacht Club

RNYC Sailor of the Year returns to Durban

Round the World

To have your name etched in the distinguished book of sailors who have successfully circumnavigated the globe, the Royal Natal Yacht Club, is eagerly awaiting their ‘Sailor of the Year”, Ralf Dominick to arrive being the latest entry into the Round The World Club. 

Dominick, who launched his boat in Durban, tested her sea legs on a passage down to Cape Town before heading off in February 2010 on his epic voyage. His first adventure took him up the West coast of Africa before attacking the Atlantic Crossing, taking him to St Helena in the South Atlantic. After he spent time sailing around the islands of Central America, his adventures took him further north “I sailed into New York, past the statue of Liberty at dawn. The sight was truly remarkable.”

NASA Photo: The Godspeed Sailing Ship and Statue of Liberty

Dominick is not only entering into an elite club of sailors when he arrives this week in Durban but is one of about a 150 people to have sailed through the fabled Northwest Passage. “When asked what my highlight is so far, indeed it is a difficult question to answer as it depends on which facet is considered but overall it would have to be arriving in Nome in Alaska and realising that I had got through the Northwest Passage unscathed.” 

Pictured here is Belzebub, the first monohaul to sail through the Northwest Passage

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Passage

The Northwest Passage is the sea route through the Arctic Ocean along the Northern Coast of North America.  The intrepid adventurer lists three memories from this leg of his voyage, “Drifting in front of the Blackstone Glacier in Prince William Sound on a perfectly clear and still autumn day, the incredible fjords, mountains, scenery and hospitable people of Newfoundland and the Alaskan Inside Passage from Cape Spencer to Ketchikan is just spectacular. To have been able to witness these scenes for me is just completely humbling.”

 Vessel Cloud Nine sailing through the Northwest Passage Pic by David Thoresen

Dominick comments, “Sailing under the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge at sunrise was equally a special moment in my trip.”

His route then took him down the west coast of the Americas, down to Mexico where he then did his longest single stretch at sea, the 16 day leg from Cabo San Lucas in Mexico to Nuku Hiva in the Marguesas in the Pacific where he completed 2,700 Nautical Miles. 

The odyssey vehicle, a monohaul yacht, named Imvubu which is Zulu for Hippopotamus. Imvubu is a 53 foot Barens Seatraders, built for adventure and going to out-of-the-way places which her skipper certainly has tried and tested. 

The Commodore for the Royal Natal Yacht Club, Richard Crocket enthused, “I am not sure who the last RNYC member was to complete a circumnavigation, but whoever it was it was a long time ago.”

Departing last weekend (Saturday 27 October) from Reunion, Dominick is expected in early November in his hometown. Dominick shares, “The one lesson I did learn on this trip was the amount of maintenance required to keep a boat going on an extended voyage. Imagine the result of packing all your belongings into a shipping container including your household appliances, motor vehicles and lawnmower, adding a liberal dose of salt water and shaking for two years. Saying that, I am extremely lucky that I didn’t suffer any mayor mishaps along the way.”

The local sailor has spent the last two years and nine months sailing majority of the time solo, with friends and willing crew joining him for a variety of the legs. His challenge is now to settle back into everyday life.

Asked what lies ahead, he says “Catch up with family, friends and business; renew all the things that have expired such as drivers licence, TV licence and pilots licence; refit the boat and set sail for Antarctica in November 2013.”

Durban welcomes the intrepid pair, Imvubu and her skipper Ralf Dominick when they complete their circumnavigation of the globe.