Kraalbaai, Langebaan

Kraalbaai, Langebaan Lagoon

The fog was hanging heavy around the Langebaan Marina, and all aboard decided that it will be a good time to test our Raymarine equipment for the future sailing experiences in thick fog. At least we know that we are safe sailing around the Lagoon.

Kraalbaai was our destination, about an hour from Langebaan. It was a relief to see the islands and rocks popping up on the screen, and we slowly cruised to Kraalbaai. Some places got quite shallow, but with all looking out we reached our also foggy destination....and immediately relaxed when the smell of the first pancakes on Catlyn filled the saloon.

The next morning, Johan enjoyed the tender on a solo misty trip before sunrise!

Catlyn sat herself gently down onto the sand when the tide was very low, and we had the opportunity to rub and scrub her belly, at places usually untouchable.

Marco was the tour guide on Kraalbaai and took all of us on sightseeing trips...and we came upon the most beautiful stranded coppery Octopus.

With a sadness Marco left him on the beach after trying to get him back to sea. Luckily two good luck bees appeared ( one for me with the bright t-shirt and one for him) but he sent his good luck bee away to share his luck with the stranded Octopus.... half an hour later the coppery sea animal disappeared back safely into the water!

After enjoying the splendid sunrises painting colours on Catlyn, Johan had to do his first engine repairs! All I know is when two Johan's put their heads together studying a Yanmar, only good can come of it... and an impeller later ...the engine was singing again.

I tried to make chicken pies for snacks, and realized that the Captain Morgan bottle has the best curvy body to roll the doe with..maybe that's why the pies were so popular!

But sooner or later we had to run into plumbing problems! Luckily it was the children's heads, and I could take the photos and enjoyed the moment of two teenagers doing serious plumbing.
There was just not enough fresh air in Catlyn for the tempers or the smells. After opening up all the pipes and investigating everything for the blockage, they still couldn't find the problem. Dad helped them to take off the whole pumping mechanism as the last resort....and there they found the 4 culprits! Sitting snugly in the little pipe was four little sea animals! Another lesson learnt: when the tide is so low little things can be sucked in.

We loved Kraalbaai,

and didn't want to leave, but our water was running low. We decided to show our Skipper that we can really save water! We did the army style shower...wet-soap-rinse-dry, and the next day we proudly left with a quarter tank still full of water!

But reality struck!!! Johan and Janlie are writing their first Matric exam paper in only one week! We decided to go back to George where they will be taking their exams, while Dad and Marco will look after Catlyn and sort out little things to prepare us for the big day!