CAPTAIN'S LOG July - September 2003

It has been a while since our last Captain's Log, so we apologise to our regular readers who have been asking for news. As I sit here on the deck writing this I am watching yet another stunning Tanzanian sunset. One of our favourite parts of living aboard are the sunrises and sunsets across the water and recently we have been kayaking in the early mornings before breakfast. It really is the most pleasant time of the day and for us being ashore is no comparison.

The charters in July & August were varied with some corporate & day functions and some overnight charters. All were very successful and very different. The corporate charter was a relaxed day out to Mbudya with most people enjoying the day, despite a few casualties on the trip. Once again the Royal Palm Hotel put on a superb spread for the guests and Eric, their chef, having completed his duties in the galley turned out to be quite the DJ. Consequently back on the mooring some of the more 'delicate' guests sparked up again and joined in with the rest of the party, which culminated in a Full Monty performance on the cabin roof, courtesy of the Captain and the host of the day! We would like to thank Barry Sullivan, who instigated the Vodacom charters, for his support and we wish him all the best in his new posting back in South Africa. We'll miss him on board "Amarula".

Another day that started out as a 5 hour champagne breakfast cruise turned into a full day out from 8am to 5.30pm. Again it was a great day with swimming at Mbudya and a happy, relaxed group of guests. The trip had originally been planned to return for 2 of the party to fly back to South Africa later that afternoon, however they decided not to go home & to have a 4 day charter with us instead. So after we had all recovered from our Sunday, they joined us on board the next morning and we set sail for Menai Bay in the south of Zanzibar. We enjoyed a few days sailing and fishing around the southern part and also visited Stone Town and some of the islands close by. Eric took Steve for a couple of dives and he was absolutely thrilled by this experience. Meanwhile Shelly and I enjoyed the snorkelling and just hanging out relaxing on board. As Shelly has a beauty salon in South Africa she treated me to a massage on board with Zanzibar spiced oil. What a life!

A couple of days after returning our 2 very happy clients to Dar es Salaam to catch their flight back to South Africa, we had a delightful American family on board with the ages in the 3 generations ranging from 5 years old to 81 years old. It is a special privilege to share in our guests' enjoyment of their holiday aboard with us. It is also very satisfying when the food and atmosphere we provide ensures our guests have a memorable time with us. On this trip we were treated to a small group of dolphins swimming with us whilst we were in the kayaks and dinghy after having gone ashore on Kwale Island in Menai Bay.

Two days after the American family disembarked "Amarula", we embarked Emirates airlines and flew to Australia, our first trip back since we sailed out of there in May last year. It was good to see family and friends and buy a few items that are unavailable in Tanzania. On the morning we arrived we were taken straight for breakfast at Eric's daughter's new cafe. Whilst we were enjoying the delicious food and coffee, a friend called to say they were on the first leg of their cruise out of Australia, so we hopped aboard with them from Sydney up to Pittwater. It was great to share this experience, as we had all worked together back in Yamba a couple of years ago getting our boats ready for action. Unfortunately we didn't have a camera with us, but we just heard that our friends are now in New Caledonia having covered the passage in just under 7 days.

One of the reasons for our trip to Australia was for Eric to continue working on his marine consultancy projects. As a ship builder/ designer his mind is never far away from projects which challenge his skills and expertise in this field. So in Australia Eric was busy meeting with a design company with whom he is working on a project for Tanzania. I won't go into too much detail at this stage until we know for sure that it is a goer, however in conjunction with this, he has also just made trips to South Africa and Holland. It is an exciting project, so more of that later.

I joined Eric on the trip to Holland which was wonderful. We were entertained on board a private canal cruiser on the Amsterdam canals. We sailed through the canals for about 3 hours picking up a starter at one restaurant, main course at another, dessert at another and finally ending with drinks at the bar of the luxurious Amstel Hotel. What a delightful way to spend an evening.

In between all these trips we found time to go out fishing on a friend's sport fishing boat. We had planned to got to Latham, but it was a bit choppy, so we went across to Bedford banks instead. Gordon & Pippa's boat "Vigorous" is available for charter either separately or as an add-on to ours for the more serious fisherpeople. If some members of your group are interested in fishing charters alongside a more relaxing charter aboard "Amarula" please contact us for more details.

October promises to be a busy month with various activities at our Yacht Club, plus the 1,000th Run of our Dar Hash and a couple of extended charters slotted in between! More of this on our Cruises & Itinerary page.

Click here to view our 4 page full colour article in the UK publication "Country" (the magazine of the Country Gentleman's Association)

Why not read our Guest Book page - Enjoy!

Check out our Itinerary for more details.

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Click here for the June 2003 Captain's Log (land-based safari trip)

Click here for the March/ April 2003 Captain's Log

Click here for the December/ January 2003 Captain's Log (Mafia - Kilwa trip)

Click here for the October/ November 2002 Captain's Log (Aldabra & Cosmoledo trip)

FOR OUR 2002 AUSTRALIA TO TANZANIA LOG & PHOTOS - CLICK HERE