I know it has been a while, life has been crazy with work and we haven’t been able to spend as much time on the water as we would like.
Back in July I got this crazy idea to go to the Volvo Ocean Race. Mike has been talking about it for a few years, and we love to travel so why not! We like running from cold weather as much as we can, so Cape Town in the beginning of December seemed like the perfect leg to go watch. Neither of us had ever been, so it would be a new city we could check off our list and the timing fit perfectly with work and of course the start of winter in Asheville. Next thing we knew we had our tickets booked, Airbnb reserved, all we had to do was lay out the trip.
It seems like ages ago when we booked the trip, so when it was finally here we were extremely excited. Cape Town was not a location Mike and I had on our bucket list of places to visit, but we are adventurous and always love exploring new places. The travel was going to be long and we prepared as best we good for the two 10+ hour flights that we were about to take.
We landed in Cape Town at midnight, found our hotel and tried to get some rest. We didn’t want to waste a single minute dealing with jetlag for fear of missing out on something spectacular, so our alarms were set and the next morning with tired eyes we were jumping out of bed to start exploring. Our friends Hendrik and Helma were meeting us later in the day, and while they are Belgian and Dutch respectively they are Cape Town locals. They showed us around the V&A Waterfront, took us to Paarl for some amazing winery tours (the South Africans love their wine and aren’t afraid of heavy pours). Mike and I hiked up Lions Head for a challenging hike that included ladders, ropes and chains to get to the top. Our Table Mountain hike offered absolutely stunning 360 views of Cape Town and beyond. We were absolutely in love with the culture, the scenery, food and wine (well I enjoyed it, since Mike doesn’t drink), the hospitality. There was so much to see and do and we simply did not have enough time in this beautiful country. We had barely scratched the surface. Oh and I can’t forget about the penguins we got to swim with!
But as I said the real purpose for the trip…The Volvo Ocean Race. Having run professional cycling teams for most of Mike’s life, he was very interested in learning more about the inner workings of the logistics of the teams and how they pull off such an amazing event. We spent lots of time walking around the expo areas, admiring the one design 65ft boats all the teams competed on, and seeing how the crew and racers worked seamlessly together. Admittedly Mike and I know nothing about sailboat racing. We are cruisers, and still learning a lot at that. We decided to watch the in port race from a beach hotel, the wind was howling thanks to the Cape Doctor, but the sun was shining bright. We found some Dutch fans who gave us a little guidance as to what was actually happening once the race started, but it didn’t matter to us we were happy to just be there and soaking in the entire experience.
Two days later was the start of Leg 3. The teams were going to be leaving Cape Town after 2 weeks and head to the Southern Ocean to Melbourne, Australia. We were able to find a power boat that we could go out on and follow the boats as they left Cape Town. Talk about incredible. These racers are so incredibly athletic and talented. Watching them move around the boats, changing sails, grinding the winches by hand, make some very skilled maneuvers was very enlightening. We were right there, seeing the intensity in their eyes as they raced around the Cape bay. We followed along with them for about an hour and I was exhausted….they still had another 2 weeks before they will be seeing land. Every day, hour and minute is important, one little mistake and they could go from leading to last in the blink of an eye. To be that checked in, with little rest and sleep for 6,000 NM and dealing with some of the conditions they are expected to face (50 knot winds and 11 meter seas) all while they are traveling at speeds of 18-25 knots is intense and I definitely have a lot of respect for them as fellow athletes.
Sadly our trip has come to an end and we are on our way home to snowy North Carolina, but I can promise you we are already planning our trip back. This will be one we never forget and will be hard to top for a very long time.
