Day 6: What’s cooking?

/in , /by
It turned into one of those cooking show my wife so enjoys.
 
For breakfast, I decided to try something different. It was one of those last-minute, so why not pop into the shopping cart moments a few days before leaving? It’s been many, many years since I have had breakfast cereal.
 
I added powdered milk to the cereal and poured water over it. It was pleasantly tasty, but I suspect it’s mostly due to the sugar.
      
 
I followed this with a cup of coffee while watching the sunrise. Almost immediately, I felt the kids tugging for a trip to the pool. I believe a routine is developing.
 
Now that the salami sticks are finished, I was pleasantly surprised that I did not have to look for too long for the biltong. Sometimes the housekeeper surprises me.
Usually, it’s “Mr. Rich, Que!”
 
Today I felt a little sun shy ☀ but I did a good number of paddling hours in the afternoon and evening after it had somewhat clouded over and cooled down.
 
Great news from the shore team. Got the go-ahead from Albert to make a little extra water 🚿 but only after the battery is charged and the sun is full on the panels. This means I will smell lovely when Santa 🎅 brings me all my gifts.
(PS I was particularly well-behaved this year 😉 oh! Do you think he will mind powdered milk with his cookie 🥛🍪)
 
The day’s highlight was a very short visit by a school of dolphins 🐬. My pace is way too slow for much “bow-riding fun,” so they moved on before I could get any snapshots for you. 📸
 
Co-ordinates: S 28°45.33 E014°00.86
Breakfast – Cereal with milk + coffee
Lunch – popcorn, biltong, energy bar.
Dinner – creamy parmesan chicken & Noodles
Bird of the day: Cape Petral
Sea life: Dolphins
**
🛠 A little watermaker maintenance on the brine exit pipe was required today. I spotted it leaking (on the biltong hunt), and it’s in the same locker where most of my food is kept. Nobody likes soggy snacks.
 
In my wisdom, I have used a larger diameter pipe than I should have, and the hose clamp cannot give it a decent seal.
Solution:
I removed the pipe and wrapped several layers of insulation tape around the outlet, increasing its size to suit the larger pipe.
💯 fixed.
 
**
Last night I went out for a fancy meal at the restaurant at the bugging of the Atlantic. To make you jealous, this is what I chose off the menu.
 
CREAMY PARMESAN CHICKEN
with basil pesto
 
A rich and creamy dish made with free-range chicken, In a garlicky mushroom, sundried tomatoes and basil pesto, with a touch of parmesan. It was served on a bed of noodles.
 
Eat your heart out. These freeze-dried meals from Forever Fresh have been incredible. 
**

Day 5 :Good, clean and fresh tra la la la

/in , /by
This week’s salami stick rations are finished already. That’s the problem when you can reach them from your bed, galley, lounge and even the bathroom.😔
On a positive note, I still have some biltong and droewors. I just need to find where the housekeeper put them.
📢”MANUEL”
 
Slow day today. Very light SW wind. Trying to keep an NW direction which is almost across the wind. No need to paddle hard. I keep on telling myself it’s not a race. You have missed the Carnival (17th Feb) already. 😭
 
Currently, I am only consuming about 10% of my battery capacity (200Ah) per day, and by 9 am in the morning, they are fully charged again.
 
So I am considering running the watermaker for 20min longer, giving me about 2L of fresh water that I can use for a daily shower. 🚿
Over the top luxury, but how lekker would that be? Need to get permission from the shore team first. 🤞
 
I got slightly sunburnt from taking a long freshwater wash. “Good, clean and fresh tra la la.”
 
Note to self: introduce the suns 🌞 kiss to the paler areas a little bit at a time. Don’t rush the relationship.
 
One of my viewing pleasures is the YouTube channels that I follow. Quite a range of topics, from aquaculture and sailing to travel adventure. When I train using the paddling ergo, I usually watch one of these to help with the monotony. I downloaded the last few episodes of “ITCHY BOOTS.” A Dutch girl is riding her motorbike around the world. Healthy and real viewing pleasure.
 
Co-ordinates: S 30° E015°
Breakfast – apricot yogurt with mixed seeds & nuts
Lunch – junks snacks
Dinner – Tuscan Chicken, rice & fresh sprouts
Bird of the day: Shy Mollymawk (best guess)
Sea life:  Flying fish

Day 4: Forehead warning

/in , /by
Just before sunrise, the AIS alarm screamed at me.
Acting right away like a diligent seaman, I sat up and knocked my head on the deck head (yes, that’s spelled correctly and means the “ceiling.”)
Recovering from that, I adjusted by crashing my forehead against the fan.
Beep beep beep 🤬 said both the AIS and I out load.
 
The fishing vessel “Lucerne” was on a dangerous heading with Osiyeza.
 
I decided to use my fancy VHF radio to call and check if they had spotted us on their systems.
 
Why are the knobs and buttons on my radio all sticky. Grrr. I tried three times with no luck. Bastards are sleeping, I thought, as they are only a few miles away.
 
Again the alarm goes off. We are still on converging courses.
Ok, I’ll just call them up on channel 16.
 
“Fishing Vessel Lucerne, Lucerne, Lucerne this is Osiyeza, Osiyeza, Osiyeza. Do you copy?”
 
Zip, nada, bugger all.
 
I feel a drop of water run down my face. I wipe it away, thinking, “I should have replaced the hatch seals before I left”
 
Lucerne and Osiyeza were now less than a mile apart and still on converging courses.
 
Typically other vessels would be required to keep clear of a vessel engaged in fishing for obvious reasons. However, I was drifting with the wind and could not actually steer one way or another to avoid the upcoming oopsie.
 
I called him again, and this time, I got a reply. No, he can not see my lights or hear me very well. I keep on breaking up. A little while later, my AIS position appeared on his screen.
Every time I was in the trough of a swell, my coms would cut out. That’s because VHF is line of sight only and cannot transmit through or over a swell. The AIS uses the VHF antenna as well.
Was the swell BIG, or is Osiyeza small? 🙃 It was a little of both today.
 
It was a South African flag fishing boat, and we had a quick chat, and he promptly turned to keep us apart.
 
Remember the sticky knobs.
I switched the red cabin light to white light to see my GPS and VHF radio had turned into a murder scene. Blood smeared everywhere.
The hatch was not leaking. It was the scratch on my forehead from the fan. I guess a daily aspirin does make the blood thinner and leak longer.
 
PS I am unsure if it was due to the head trauma, but the kids boycotted their pool session today! That is all I am going to say about that.
 
In the afternoon, I paddled over a pinnacle. It went from 2000m deep to 200m. The current was phenomenal. I was doing 10km/hr at some stages. Bonus!
Lots of fishing boats about. I received a call from the fishing vessel “Boetie Bert,” wanting to know all about Osiyeza. He sounded just like you imagine Boetie to look like. Local is lekker!
 
I made 🍿 popcorn for lunch.
 
I fed the wildlife.
No, not when I fed the fish on the first night but today while padding over the pinnacle. The bird life increased dramatically. I suspect mainly due to the number of fishing boats. Why would I think that?
 
The Southern Giant Petrals started to consistently swoop low next to me and land in the water as soon as they had passed the stern. They would then put their heads under water obviously looking for fish scraps from the fishing boats.
 
At this moment, some popcorn blew out of my hand and into the sea, only to be picked up by the next swooping Petral. I wonder if it liked the Perri-Perri spice?
 
 
Co-ordinates: S 30°20’53 E015°12’52
Breakfast – Jungle Oats bar
Lunch – salami sticks, a biscuit & popcorn
Dinner – Lasagna & noodles
Bird of the day: Southern Giant Petrel
Sea life: more blue bottles
Amount raised for Operation Smile: R148,657
No of smiles changed: 27 😀

Day 3: Surfing the Atlantic

/in , /by
Started off very civilized. I even managed to get some good shut-eye during the night. Feeling positive.
 
There was not much to report for the morning other than all the elements had lined up and we were cruising. Not hard paddling but consistent.
 
One thing I wanted to check today was the airtight rear compartment. This is where the back solar panel wires live and where water leaked into that caused the corrosion and termination of attempt #1.
 
A few days with waves washing over the stern should reveal if the leak had been repaired.
With much trepidation, I unscrewed the inspection hatch and ran my fingers around the inside, feeling for any moisture. 🤞
When I pulled my hand out, my fingertips were covered in fiberglass dust. Yes, dry as bone dust!
Whoohoo! Not a drop of water. 👍
Around midday, I was checking in with the shore team when this happened.
 
Me: Oh wow. Osi just surfed down a 🌊. Pretty exciting and scary all at once.
Albert: 😮 how big a wave was that…
Me: No idea. I was lying down on my back texting you. Going head-first down a wave is an odd feeling.
The cockpit flooded, and I almost lost my black 💩bucket. No, it’s not tied on, but one would think it should be!
 
TWO critical things learned from that experience.
1)The bucket stays inside tonight.
2) no more paddling today until it calms down. It’s getting a bit dodgy to be outside.
3) I guess I will have to spoon my paddle tonight because it must also spend the night safely inside.
3) Osiyeza is the champion and I possibly a hindrance. 😜
Oh and that reminds me of a silly joke.
“There are three kinds of people in the world. Those who can count and those who can’t” 🙃
 
Hatches battened down; I plan to ride this out with the building wind and sea. If it gets out of hand, I can turn face into the wind and deploy my “series drogue” (similar outcome but different to a sea anchor). North sails have made me a cockpit bag that sits behind my seat and keeps the series drogue ready for action, blocking some of the water that washes up and over the back deck and down my neck.
 
Had a relatively close overtake with a small ship. I chatted with him on the radio to ask if he could see me.
“Yes on AIS”
Can you see me on the water?
“No”
Please let me know when you do eventually spot me.
When he was a beam to me, he called to say he had spotted me.
“Very low in the water. Waves hide you.”
Happy to have a working AIS on board. Even if MarineTraffic sometimes shows me in the Indian Ocean
 
Co-ordinates: S 31 12.57′ E015 55.13
Breakfast – yogurt and nuts
Lunch – salami stick & Jungle Oats bar
Dinner – Lamb Tangine with noodles
Bird of the day: Can’t remember 🕊
Sea life: a lonely blue bottle
Amount raised for Operation Smile: R138,157
No of smiles changed: 25

Day 2: Cold, wet and tired

/in , /by
Having not eaten anything since dinner on Saturday (48hrs) I unconsciously followed a trend.
The fasting diet thing.
Tell you what!
I can already feel the difference. I am unsure if it’s how I’m supposed to feel because I feel shattered and weak. Certainly not rejuvenated and youthful.
I tried to break the fast last night with a little Butter Chicken on rice. A spoon full at a time until it was all down the hatch. For the next half hour, it would be anyone’s guess whether it stayed down or not. I am pleased to report that the fast has been successfully terminated.
One would think that not eating for two days, the morning pool party, would be poorly attended by the kids. 💩I obviously have extra kids stored someplace. I wonder what the bathroom scale would read now?⚖
 
I passed a cruise ship quite close by late yesterday, and I first wondered if at all they could see me and, secondly, if they could, what would they make of the tiny craft with clothes flapping about on a washing line (wet bedding ☹) and some guy standing with his head out of the hatch.

Red sky in the morning, paddlers warning

Ok, let’s get serious for a moment.
So far, life on board Osiyeza has been wet, cold, tiring and all-round frikken unpleasant. Before you point fingers at Osiyeza, she has been the beacon of hope. Many a breaking swell has tried to roll her over, but she has managed to shrug them off so far.
 
Her modified rudder seems to have made a wonderful difference in her ability to track with little input required from me and make it less heavy to turn.
In fact, I suspect Osiyeza would be able to cross the ocean on her own and much faster than that dude who crossed the North Atlantic in a big barrel.
I have picked up a good current of about 1kt, and with the following sea and strong tail wind, we are making good miles. I have been doing nighttime paddling to try and make even more miles because there may be a tail of a frontal system arriving later in the week. The more North the better for me.

Strong NW current in my favour. Note: current name is give in the direction they are going unlike wind which is named for the direction it comes from

 
Later today and tonight, it’s going to gust well into the 30kts with a building swell. It’s going to be full-on. To ride with it or ride it out on sea anchor?
Time will tell.
 
Bird of the day: White-chinned Petrel
Three of them chilled in the water, chirping away. The sound was similar to a high-pitched rotor blade of a helicopter.
 
Co-ordinates: S32°15’42 E016°44’54
Food: Butter chicken and rice
Sea life: 2 x sunfish
Money raised for operation smile: R129,086
Smiles changed: 23

Day 1: Deja Vu Take 2

/in , /by

Deja vu. Take two.

Too many to put down here but you get the idea. It was the start of my second attempt. Almost a carbon copy. If anything it is a great way to get all my family in one spot. Not to mention so many friends on and off the water. There were even a handful of school mates.

Thank you to everyone who came down to see me off and to the fleet of paddlers that escorted me for the first few miles. Priceless!

Eventually I was all alone paddling towards the horizon with Cape Town’s  impressive Table Mountain slowly fading behind me. Slowly being the operative word. A head wind had started building. The forecast was for a Southerly wind to build. Not cool.

Eventually the forecast conditions started to build and I tried my best to put distance between Osiyeza and the shore. The swell was now getting a little out of my comfort zone. Crumbling peaks would wash over and flood the cockpit. I had to hold on to Osiyeza with one had and the other on the paddle.

Cold and very wet. Speeds improved but I suspect that was much to do with currents than my padding skills.

I popped down into the cabin to switch on the Satelite communication. I managed to down load my WhatsApp messages. By the time I had typed two messages and pushed sent a wave crashing came over me.

Not what you were thinking. A different wave. A dreadful wave.

It came from the pit of my stomach.

It was if a witch had cast a spell on me and turned me into a dog.

I flung open the hatch and stared barking like a dog. It probably sounded more like a dog in pain than a scary type of bark.🤮

After the dog spell was over I decided I would had to paddle through the night to stay out of the cabin and avoid any more spells.

I managed to get to about midnight before I could do no more. I slipped into the cabin and just lay down and shut my eyes. Wet and cold I got a few half hours of rest. The other time was spent turning off the AIS alarm for ships around me.

Kind of feels just like day 1 last year.

Deja vu

Coordinates: -33.226900° 17.593400°
Amount raised for Operation Smile: R113,086
No of Smiles changed: 20

Richard Kohler prepares to depart for Ocean X kayak adventure from Cape Town to Brazil, solo and unsupported

/in , /by

This is a story about endurance, courage against the odds, and the indomitability of the human spirit. It takes a man of unique vision to be the first person to paddle solo on a kayak unsupported for 7 000kms across the Southern Atlantic Ocean.

Richard first attempted the crossing in December 2021 but had to regrettably make a detour to Walvis Bay after being out at sea for more than two weeks. This was due to corrosion in his solar panel wiring and resulted in Richard not being able to charge all onboard batteries, which would seriously compromise his own safety. He is now ready to depart again this weekend on Saturday 17 December at 9am from the Radisson in Granger Bay.

After becoming the first and only person to paddle solo the entire circumference of the South African coastline in 2012, Richard Kohler has been training for Ocean X – his ultimate solo mission. After Covid delayed his departure in December 2020, and the corrosion of his solar panel wiring curtailed his first attempt, the 53-year-old Capetonian is raring to go solo on a kayak from Cape Town to Salvador in Brazil.

Richard is the first person to attempt to paddle a custom kayak across the Southern Atlantic, unsupported, and alone. He will be reunited with “Osiyeza” – his home for the next 60 to 80 days. The name deriving from SA music legend, Johnny Clegg’s 1993 song “The Crossing,” the literal meaning “we are coming”. The song is about a dream that’s within reach, the possibility to cross from darkness and suffering to prosperity and a reminder to Richard that his dream is within reach.

Richard intends surviving his “Crossing” and not just to acquire bragging rights for the latest outlandish watersports adventure. He is motivated by raising funds for charity, Operation Smile, which he has already raised over R112 000 for the charity. His aim is to raise enough money for 70 life changing cleft pallet operations, giving 70 kids new smiles.

To help Richard achieve his goal, please donate to his fundraiser here.

Follow Richards journey on www.richardkohler.co.za or @richardkohleradventures on social media.

Family First

/in , /by

Little did I know that the failure of Osiyeza’s solar panels would give me something special yet heart-breaking.

Little did I know that getting Osiyeza back home for repairs would give me a wonderful opportunity in such a dark time.

The universe works in mysterious ways. I could have been in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Without family or friends. All alone.

I do not know how I would have coped.

It was the day, more than a week ago when I put Osiyeza onto the trailer in Walvis Bay that my father was rushed to hospital.

The silver lining is, I got to sit by his side to talk with him.
To tell him I was OK.
To tell him he was going to be OK.
To tell him how much I love him.

My time and focus is with my family as we walk together along a path of uncertainty.

Osiyeza is safely tucked up on her trailer and will patiently wait until I can give her my full attention again.

Thank you for your incredible support thus far.

Pause, reset.
“NEVER GIVE UP”

Oziyesa on the rocks

/in , /by

⚓ Oziyesa on the rocks ⚓

It’s a message you never want to get.😱

Plan “C”!

Unfortunately, the truck ride for Osiyeza to Cape Town fails to take shape as hoped. The backup Plan “D” is initiated on Wednesday. My brother-in-law, Kevin, and mate Ralph are going to drive up to Walvis Bay with a trailer and so we will tow Oziyesa home.

Sounds simple enough!

Get an affidavit from the owner to take the trailer across the border. Get the new license disk printed from the traffic department. Have your nostrils scraped for the PCR test at least 72 hours before crossing into Namibia and quickly check and grease the wheel bearings.

All items get sorted with great effort except the traffic department. They are offline!

For two full days nothing can happen.

The 72 hours’ time limit is starting to run out. Final option is to get the disk on Saturday morning on the third day and rush up to the border with a few hours to spare.

Stellenbosch traffic department, who apparently are the only department that can issue the license, decide not to open. No reason given. They must have decided that if they were offline on Friday why open on Saturday?

Plan “D” is still in the making.

Kevin and Ralph have gone for another nasal probe and are waiting for the results. Monday morning, fingers crossed, they can get the license disk and start the two-day trek to Walvis Bay.

In the meantime, I have been getting prepared on this end for their arrival. With the help of John Woolf, a local surfski paddler from Swakopmund, and Michael, a local yachtsman we moved Osiyeza under one of the jetties. We do this so I can suspend the keel using the jetty. Once lifted a few inches I can remove the bolts and drop the keel out through the bottom of the keel box. It was a smooth operation and with the help of a small chain block we retrieved the keel from the seabed and hauled it ashore.

With the keel removed Osiyeza can lie flat on the trailer. We also managed to collect ten old car tyres from a local fitment centre on which Osiyeza will rest before being strapped tightly down onto the trailer. We then moved Osiyeza back to her mooring buoy.

I spent the weekend with John and took in the sights of Swakopmund. I had a grand old time. Meeting so many wonderful people. A chance stop at the Namib Dunes Craft Brewery that filled most of Saturday afternoon if you know what I mean. 🍻

We did the local coffee houses, Slow Town and Two Beards. Both excellent.

In the evening it’s a family affair at the Woolf’s to play cards. I have not played a card game in more than a decade, but you can’t not join in. It must have been beginners’ luck as I ended up coming out tops. The reward was a Sunday treat to Ice & Spice, the local ice cream parlour.

It was on the way here that I received the message.

“Urgently get hold of the Yacht Club. You kayak has come off its mooring”

Oh crap!
How?
Faaak!

John and I rush off to Walvis Bay and to the yacht club. We manage to get hold of the Commodore, Theo, and he says Osiyeza has been towed to the club jetty. You can imagine what thoughts were racing through my mind.

When we got to the club, I found Osiyeza almost high and dry on the beach in front of the clubhouse. The line that was tied to the buoy had chaffed through.

The kind people who rescued Osiyeza explained that they saw her drifting from the mooring and then onto the rocks. They went with their boat to see what they could do. The one lady said she jumped in the water and swam between Osiyeza and the rocks to push her off. She successfully managed to do this but got quite a bruising for her efforts.

Inspecting Osiyeza I could not see any structural damage, so we eventually pushed Osiyeza off the beach and towed her to another mooring. This time I tied her up with much thicker lines courtesy of Michael’s yacht.

I shudder when I think what would have happened if she broke loose during the night when there was no one there to see or rescue her!

A close call but “all well that ends well.”

I have been here for seven days and am no closer to solving the issues with Osiyeza.

Feeling so frustrated but give thanks to the amazing folk looking after me which makes it all a little more tolerable.

Plan C: What now?

/in , /by

So, what now?

Yes, a very good question! Let me try to answer it.

Warning: This may be a little technical and boring.

Let’s call this PLAN C.

1) By now you know the reason for the hard right hand turn to get to Walvis Bay was triggered by the failure of the main solar panels, on the aft deck, to charge the batteries.

When I was doing my research on what was the most common issues on ocean rowing boats (very few kayaks that have crossed an ocean) a thread that repeated itself was the lack of power from the batteries for a variety of reasons.

The power issues are almost always a knock-on effect of too little charge from the PV panel from a fault or corrosion, like I have, or too little sun light or just not enough solar panels for the boats power consumption.

We had to redesign the back deck of Osiyeza to take the massive panels. I did not want to be in a situation as described above. I have 470Watts of PV Panels which is a LOT. I also chose the best flexible marine panels in the market and imported them from Italy. The Super Rugged Solbian panels are completely waterproof and tough enough to walk on. They are glued to the back deck with pre attached 3M peel and stick.

The wiring runs inside a watertight buoyancy box.  Basically, the top half of the back deck, so “should” have no contact with sea water. The wire connectors are also waterproof so if water does get in then it should still not be a problem.

For them to fail means that both defences have been breached.

We know water got into the sealed buoyancy box. The second defence breach I am yet to identify. Is it the connectors or the panel junction box?

To access the wires an inspection hole will need to be cut into the side of Osiyeza that is big enough to get hands and equipment inside. Then it’s to identify where the leak is and seal it. Once that’s completed the inspection hole that was cut out needs to be bonded back in place making sure that the hull is still structured sound.

And that’s if it’s not a problem with a panel. In that case I would have to remove the faulty panel and find a replacement. Not a small job and let’s not forget Osiyeza is constructed out of carbon fibre so a little more skill and material is required.

2) From discussions over the past two days with several experts it seems the autopilot system will need to be redesigned, manufactured, installed, and tested. Not a small project.

The autopilot cable inside Osiyeza.

3) A solution to stopping the air that is being sucked in through the water maker intake needs to be found. With Osiyeza being so light the water intake is only 200mm below the waterline and with all the rocking and rolling air bubbles get sucked in along with the water. I did install a small sea chest to remove the air bubbles but 200mm is just not enough height for it to work in anything other than flat water.

4) The solution to the chart plotter GPS signal is to find and install an external antenna.

Chartplotter hanging by strings to get better GPS signal.

5) The rudder had a loud knocking noise which I think is the movement between the pin and bush. How serious an issue this is I don’t know but it needs to be looked at.

6) My floating bridle is cunning design but a practical failure. It needs to be redesigned.

7) The seat is super comfy, but it’s not made to be used 24/7. I need to find someone who can make up a new cover.

8) The canard cover was ripped off while on sea anchor. This needs to be replaced and hopefully the modified bridle system will avoid a repeat.

With all these items to attend to we have made the call to get Osiyeza back to Cape Town where the marine industry is best equipped to assist. We hope to have her on a truck and in Cape Town this weekend. I plan to fly back on Friday after loading Osiyeza onto the truck.

Hopefully it’s a quick turn around with no major hiccups.

Plan D

Right now, is to get Osiyeza back to Walvis Bay ASAP to continue the crossing to Salvador.

Fingers crossed 🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞🤞

No of smiles changed: 20. Thank you to everyone who has donated.