Tag: South Atlantic Ocean

We departed the Royal Yacht Club in Cape Town in February 1982. None of us are entirely sure of the exact date; I have as yet to locate Scally’s logbook amongst my father’s stuff at the farm. We had stocked up on provisions, Scally was all ready and prepared, and were headed off on what was for me, my first long sailing trip on Scally. (My father, mother and oldest of my three younger brothers, who was fourteen at the time, had sailed Scally alone from Durban to Cape Town in January).

None of us knew what was in store of us on the south Atlantic, on what was expected to be a fourteen-day journey to St Helena. Well, maybe my father did, but he didn’t share much with us. Not long out at sea, we all got to experience the unpredictability of the ocean, its unwelcome and highly changeable weather patterns, dark grey and threatening skies above, gales and high winds, heavy rain, stormy and violent seas, and for me, severe sea-sickness.

After about ten days of this, the weather finally calmed and cleared, the sun came out, literally and figuratively, and we set about getting ready to sight the island, taking turns sitting on the stanchions on the bow to see who would spot the island first.

After fourteen days, she was in sight, and we anchored, safely, in the bay at Jamestown. Scally, and my father, had brought us safely to our first port of call.

Dates: I left Cape Town in early January 2026.