VOYAGE of the MARCY: Fitting Out and Having Fun

When we depart Cape Town, we will head north to the coastal desert of Namibia. Then we cross the Atlantic to Brazil, turn left and head down the coast of South America. Marcy needs to be fit and ready for a lot of miles, so we are working long days to prepare.

Our inflatable, Sniffy, died the death of a thousand leaks, the fate of many inflatables that spend too much time in the tropics. The PVC became porous. We traded outboards also, leaving the 15hp here in Africa and moving on with a nice little light 5hp Yamaha. The tinnie will live on top of the aft cabin, and we've had a cover made so we can carry it upright.

The outboard will fit inside the tinnie (along with fuel) as well as a few fenders or whatever. The outboard can either run from an integral tank for short trips (most of our usage) or draw from a remote outboard tank. Peter enjoyed one of our test runs in the dinghy.

We've found that for our type of tender use, a big fast rig doesn't make sense. We tend to stay quite close to Marcy. After all, everywhere we go is new to us! Also, in deserted anchorages, there is a safety factor - never go further than you would want to row. And the tinnie rows much better than Sniffy did. We like to fish, and a rigid dinghy is the best way to handle that action. Sniffy was so big that we needed to deflate it and stow it down below, sometimes an unwelcome job. Beaching an inflatable is a delicate exercise to avoid punctures on some nasty beaches and we could barely lift the rig to move it up the beach. This rig is light and we can drag it if we need to! Ginger enjoyed yet another test run, a sunset cruise really.

Of course one negative to a rigid tender might be swimming - it won't be as easy to board the tinnie from the water. We'll have to figure something out, maybe a rope ladder. Also, we still have Red Dogfish, the inflatable kayak that is a dream to board from the water. We first came to appreciate tinnies in OZ. There rubber duckies were scorned as croc toys - literally. We envied the dinghies that were rated as safe to explore upriver.

Peter continued with various projects. No, this is not a toilet seat. It's a holder for the pressure cooker as it cools....

Peter worked on a box for the propane tank as a lifeboat drill goes on behind him. We are moored next to a Maritime Academy.

In the still mornings, Ginger worked on her yoga.

Our cushion lady, Jo Fensham, came through in the nick of time with a beautiful set of cushions for Marcy.

Now we can retreat down below and lounge in luxury in Marcy's saloon. Our salt soaked ratty old cushions are history.

This area in Marcy is called the saloon, in spite of general usage today calling it the salon. An interesting little bit of history is that “wild west” saloons were called so in a bid to invoke the ambiance (varnished paneling and brass) and class of a ship's saloon of that era. Yacht ad writers and brokers today call it a salon to get away from the wild west connotation...and bring to mind, at least to us, of some sort of gathering of artists in Paris. So saloon it is on Marcy. But no spitting on the floor allowed!

Also completed in time is a new dodger. The canvas guy, Adrian, fitted Marcy with a dodger complete with an awning that extends from the aft edge. The favorable exchange rate of US dollars to SA rand has been a blessing, allowing us to replace this key part of the boat. Years of harsh sun and a big hit from a wave in the Indian Ocean had all but destroyed the original.

Our last days in Cape Town were not all spent working on Marcy. New Cape Townian friends Kate, Patrick, and Hei Won took us out to a delicious lunch at a wine county restaurant.