1

NSRI Vaal Dam 1

Clewless’ First

Night Sail

2

Sailing Safety Tips 4

Updates from

Ntombi

5

Ramblings from the

skipper

6

Inside this issue:

The following letters were in response to the quick action of Vaal Dam crew following a request for assistance from the private resi-dences at Club 40, situated 30km from Station 22, after reports of a house on fire. The roof of one of the houses caught alight during an electrical thunderstorm in January. Crew assisted in saving many of the house owner's valuables, and protected the two adjacent houses from also catching on fire. When the fire department arrived, the main double-storey house had been mostly levelled and completely destroyed but ongoing fire-fighting efforts saved the two adjacent houses. NSRI volunteers departed the scene at 04h30 after the fire had been completely extinguished.

I commend and applaud Dick Manten and all the volunteers of Station 22 (Vaal Dam) - such an amazing team that works as one. So very proud of all of you! Not only do you guys attend to water-related issues but assist with any and all calls for help whenever and wherever! Your utmost commitment and dedica-tion in trying conditions do not go unnoticed, and once again you all did every-thing in your power to avoid further losses. Dijane (via email)

Your dedication is something you all can be so proud of. I have yet to come across a team of such amazing volunteers. Your involvement and help stretch

far beyond the call of duty. I have seen you guys put your lives in danger to help others. Those youngsters in your team are a perfect example of what

young people could be. They are all well trained, responsible and respected by all. Well done, guys, we are so proud of you.

Thank you. Petra Minutelli (via email)

Vaal Dam NSRI helps to fight house fire

All the news, all the sailing action,

from the ‘only’ yacht club on the Vaal.

May 2012

Did you know ? Did you know that you can

keep up with all the

news and information

on the Vaal Sailing

scene by going to

www.inlandsailing.co.za

Compiled and run by PNYC

sailors for all Vaal

inland sailors. The

best place on the web

for up-to-the-minute

detail about cruises,

races and sailing in

general on the Vaal

Dam.

PNYC Needs your help

Ron Roseveare Night

Race

Contact: Lynda 079 514 9315

For regular updates

on the good work

done by NSRI Station

22 you can visit their

website

http://www.nsri.org.za/

stations-crew/gauteng-

stations/vaal-dam-

station-22/

http://www.nsri.org.za/stations-crew/gauteng-stations/vaal-dam-station-22/http://www.nsri.org.za/stations-crew/gauteng-stations/vaal-dam-station-22/http://www.nsri.org.za/stations-crew/gauteng-stations/vaal-dam-station-22/http://www.nsri.org.za/stations-crew/gauteng-stations/vaal-dam-station-22/

2

I’ve been wanting to get down to Oranjeville ever since I started sailing the Vaal. Having visited by land, I can

safely say that there really is nothing much to this little village, so I suppose the attraction is sailing as far as

I can on the dam, more than just seeing the place.

It’s approximately 16 NM from LDYC to the low level bridge at Oranjeville, so a normal 2-day weekend doesn’t

really give enough time to get there and back comfortably and still have time to potter around the town for a

couple of hours. The 4 day Easter break looked like the ideal opportunity to do this, but as usual plans change.

The entire crew decided they were coming with, but the thought of spending 3-4 days aboard a 20-footer

with a 4 and 6 year old is just plain scary. With only 2 days allowed by the Admiral for sailing, another desti-

nation was needed. The little town of Vaal Marina looked en-

ticing. After a long afternoon spent on the water, it would

be good to to get the kids out on land and have them shake

the beans out ashore.

As usual, we had a late start – around 13h30 on Friday af-

ternoon. As is typical, the wind forgot to show up, so we

threw all purist thoughts of proceeding under canvass to the

wind [or should that be calm] and motor-sailed. Heading

east, we made good time, leaving Mistral Point off the star-

board quarter and rounding Villian Point at about 15h00. Any

hopes of the wind picking up were dashed as we continued on through the Confluence, giving the tree stumps

south of Cruiser’s Cove a wide berth.

Now, after a couple of minutes of motoring, the going gets tedious and having made it as far as Big Bend,

there was no way we were sticking to the south of the river as is recommended by the charts. We decided to

cut the corner over the shoal spit that extends out SE from Fools Point. Thank goodness for shallow draft.

Rounding Fools Point with the last rays of afternoon sun glinting off the water on the port beam, we laid

course for Pennant Nine YC – our final destination, the northern-most corner of PNYC bay.

By now the crew were getting fidgety, so we beached the yacht and wandered about the town for an hour or

so. There’s a little cafe about 10 minutes walk from the bay, ideally placed to stock up on Cokes and ice-creams

for supper. Suitably refreshed and burdened by our new provisions, we ambled back down to the water. Clam-

bering back on board by way of the pulpit requires a bit of agility, so once up, I decided to lend the Admiral a

hand. As she began climbing up, I over-balanced and oops, my grip slipped and she was nearly flat on her back

in the water. Good thing she has lightning fast reactions and a sense of humour…… Oh, yes I forgot, this was

after she got a fishing hook almost stuck in her toe. Shame on all you careless fishermen out there.

The laughter and merriment eventually subsided and we anchored 20 meters off-shore in 3 meters of water.

As the last rattle of the anchor chain faded into the night, we huddled around the cockpit braai watching a

blood-red moon rise in the east. Soon after supper, the wind that had been absent all day, freshened and then

changed direction. The anchor reset by itself and with the bed-time tales of Peter Rabbit and friends, we

drifted off to sleep. […./ continued on p3]

“EVERY TRUE SAILOR HAS TWO THINGS IN COMMON - NATURAL OPTIMISM AND A SHORT

MEMORY” - Tom Cunliffe

Clewless’ First Night Sail

3

[…..continued from p2] Clewless’ First Night Sail

At 4am, I woke for the second time that night to check our position. Everything was still as it should be. The

wind was blowing quite steadily from the north-east, and the night was brightly lit up by the full moon. I sup-

pose I could have gone back to sleep, but the lure of the wind and the water was too enticing. I further rea-

soned, that if we got underway at 4am, we could all be happily back at Lake Deneys YC by the time the kids

were awake.

Fumbling around in the dark, I managed to tangle the anchor chain and the genoa sheets, which I only discov-

ered once I wanted to sheet in the headsail and get going. It took some nifty work to undo the mess and get

going in the right direction, before the wind had chance to run us aground.

Quite obviously of course, the water looks very different at night. With only the nav-lights and the moon for

company, I set sail for a cluster of distant lights. Navigation wasn’t as tricky as I imagined it would be, the

features of the shoreline faintly discernable in the darkness. Keeping a close eye on the depth sounder, we

again rounded Fools Point over the foul area indicated on the chart. I had flashes of how unhappy everyone

would be if they were awakened and told the boat was sinking, so I doubled checked the surroundings and the

depth, and gave the shore a wide berth. By the time the sun started showing through the cloud, we were al-

ready through the Confluence. I was surprised at how quickly the time had flown.

Back on the jetty at LDYC by 9am, with the crew sleepily emerging from their bunks to the smell of hot cof-

fee and porridge, I had time to reflect on the voyage. Oranjeville still remains as elusive as ever,

but Clewless and the crew had racked up yet another exciting journey. You know you’ve had a good time, when

you’re not even off the water and you’re already planning the next trip…….

4

Sailing Safety tips

The prevalence and ease of mobile communication has largely replaced VHF as a means of communicating on the Vaal Dam but while there are regulations guiding VHF communication there is none for mobile users.

Suggestion: keep a list of emergency numbers displayed in your nav station where the VHF Mayday guide would normally be.

Herewith a suggested list of numbers for PNYC members:

PNYC Clubhouse: 016 372 1018

PNYC Manager: 072 913 3697

NSRI Vaal Dam: 083 626 5128 / 016 371 1301

Vaalmarina Police Station: 016 372 1390

Vaal Dam weather on your mobile phone: http://www.windfinder.mobi/wind-cgi/mobile/forecast.pl?STATIONSNR=vaal_dam

Anyone on passage from PNYC toward the confluence and the main dam will have had to make the choice –

follow the deep water around Big Bend or cut across Fool’s Point and shave 45minutes off the journey. An

easy shortcut when the water is high, but definitely to be treated with respect otherwise.

At high water levels (>85%) it’s very easy taking the short-cut. Coming from the PNYC side sailing west you’ll

want to keep the trees off the northern shore fairly close at about 150 – 200m off the beam, crossing the shal-

lowest part in about 3.0 – 4.0m of water. The trick is to stay closer to the shoreline than you feel comfortable

with since further offshore there is less depth and the potential of rocks or mud fouling the keel.

As the water level drops it becomes more and more dicey to take the cut. This is what the underwater land-

scape looks like at very low water levels. Obviously, as the level drops (

5

….eMail from Johan and Francina Botha

“We want to thank

PNYC for all the cour-

tesy and friendships

formed. Thanks also to

Peter Watts for going

out of his way to com-

plete my boat, espe-

cially his calm demour

when things started

going wrong. Thanks

Peter and may you have

fair winds.

We wish PNYC all the best for the year ahead. I also would

like to thank the Bayshore staff for the time I could spend

there to prepare Ntombi for the voyage.

I inspected the work being done with a crow eye and all

work done was up to standard. Cutlass bearing, seacorks,

propshaft seal - no leaks.

Final touches of no-mosis, antifouling with the necessary

primer and ye, the boat was ready. Started up truck on 4

January, everything tightened down to high standard and

ready to roll.

Driving down did go well in beginning but poor selection of

roads caused very high rattles/vibrations. Near Pongola,

whilst coming down the hill the truck had an electrical fail-

ure and just cut out. We waited 5 hours for a mechanic to

arrive and the problem was solved within 10 minutes. The

cause was due to road surface. The electronic controls of

box came loose due to vibration. I was furious, the club was

closed when we finally arrived. Next day we moved in and

Eddie and myself painted the scratch marks with antifoul-

ing. I made a tiller for the simrad and it seems to be work-

ing very well. The guys where we offloaded in Richardsbay

charged me R1000 for overtime the previous night when

they waited for us to arrive.

The boat was put in slings. Eddie and I slept in the slinged

boat. The following day whilst waiting for the tide, we were

repairing the auto pilot. At 14h00, the tractor came and

led Ntombi to the water. By 16h00 Ntombi was in the wa-

ter, inspected and no leaks found. A tear ran down my

cheek for bringing the young girl back to where she came

from.

The riggers attempted to put the mast back on. They

struggled but eventually it was fitted. We discovered in

Cape Town that the tension & position of the mast was still

wrong. Vince put on radar reflectors. I would like to

thank Vince and Eddie for the time spent with me in Rich-

ardsbay to prepare the boat and to sail it down to Cape

Town.

Sunday at 13h00 we kissed Richardsbay goodbye after one

last hamburger and chips. All on board was happy.

See Richardsbay getting smaller until it was just a little

dot, full sails were hoisted and Ntombi got alive like a wild

horse when the sails opened up.

We had a royal time. The trip took us 7 days and Ntombi

was at RCYC for 2 months.

First month, we went back to Johannesburg to greet all our

friends and family. We had a few good beer festivals ac-

companied by burned sheep and oxen.

Very soon our relaxing time came to an end. The final days

in Cape Town, we had to start the last bit of prep for the

journey.

By this time we have sold my bakkie, houses and my white

Tata. We had only the silver Tata left. We arrived in Cape

Town to find that the yacht club had a power failure which

led to all the meat in the fridge on Ntombi to go rotten. It

was time to feed the dog fish. We had a couple of very

happy ones around.

We started stocking up on meat again at very expensive

Cape Town prices. We had a bimimi and spray dodger to be

fitted and canvassed. We find very good people but exor-

betant prices and the service is very laid back, Cape

Townian style. The quality is also not the same as what we

are used to in Gauteng. Whilst moored in Cape Town, I was

next to a 34 ft van der Stadt. I found out from the owner

that Sea Charm was the first built in SA by Henry Vink and

mine was the last out of the same moulds, but by Coplan.

What a coninsidence!

We spend the last month in Cape Town with last minute

preparations like pension funds, new spectacles, painting

tinned food and battery problems. Very soon the 14th

March arrived and we waved Cape Town good bye on

Francina's birthday.”

You can follow their progress and adventures at: www.sailblogs.com/member/ntombi

Updates from Ntombi.

http://www.sailblogs.com/member/ntombi

6

Banking Details:

Account: Pennant Nine Yacht Club

Account no. 022 537 724

Bank: Standard Bank

Branch: Bedford Gardens

Ramblings from the Skipper […..I mean editor]

The calls of the fish eagles in the early morning re-

minded me again why sailing the Vaal is not the worst

anyone can do. For those of you who were thinking of

joining in but couldn’t make it - you missed one of the

best cruises ever!

For some photos of the cruise you can sail over to:

http://inlandsailing.co.za/dtmblog/some-photos-from

-the-recent-power-line-bay-cruise/

As always, please feel free to send me your stories,

feelings, gripes, comments and opinions.

I’d love to include them in future editions:

david.marx@inlandsailing.co.za

Looking forward to seeing you out on the water soon !

Regards, Dave, s/v Sole sUrchin, PNYC, Vaal Dam

It’s deep into Autumn and we’ve yet to have any real

cold and miserable weather. The wind over the last

couple of months has been good and it’s been great

getting out onto the water. As threats of the first

real cold front of the winter season loom on the

news, I dial up windfinder and check the forecast for

this weekend. What I find has me thinking “It’s good

living in South Africa in the winter if the worst it can

do is 15deg during the day”

Three yachts turned out for the Power Line cruise

over the weekend of 19 May and what a perfect

weekend it turned out to be.

Saturday afternoon brought forth excellent sailing

breezes which died away to nothing in the early eve-

ning, leaving the anchor yachts totally secure during

the night.

Pennant Nine Yacht Club

- Sheltered Moorings, Great Clubhouse, Great Facilities, Friendly People

The ‘only’ yacht club on the Vaal !!

We’re on the web

www.pnyc.co.za

Pennant Nine Yacht Club

620 Sailfish Street Vaal Marina

Vaal Dam PO Box 310

Vaal Marina

1945

PNYC Needs your help for the Ron

Roseveare Night Race.

We still need marker boats for the 6 points – i.e. DAC, South

Bay, North Bay, Tombstones, Big Bend and Game Breeders

http://inlandsailing.co.za/dtmblog/some-photos-from-the-recent-power-line-bay-cruise/http://inlandsailing.co.za/dtmblog/some-photos-from-the-recent-power-line-bay-cruise/mailto:david.marx@inlandsailing.co.za