When we set sail on the newly renovated Trekker II, I know I speak for everyone when I say, we were eager and anxious, but ready for the journey ahead of us.

After months of preparation, it was only normal that we would be excited to be sailing all the way to Rio, and for such a great cause as well. So you could only imagine how shocked and disappointed we were to have to let her go; to let her sink into the dark, unknown waters – just two days after the start of Cape to Rio 2017.

We feel a deep loss that Trekker is gone. We hope that all the legends that have sailed on her will remember that we brought her back to shape, so that she could do the thing that she was designed to do – race – rather than remember us for losing her! To let her go in this manner before we could get her racing more and working as a development racing boat, was difficult.

Shaun and I had planned adventure sails and racing where two of the crew were to be development slots. We had dreams of developing an on-the-water theory and practical course. One of the big observations we had noticed from when we did our certification was that we did a land based theory and then a water based practical, which should be one in the same in our minds!

The crew are extremely thankful and relieved that none of us were injured during the sail, or the rescue and we will always appreciate the skill of the captain and crew of Golafruz in the rescue operation.

We were deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Captain Amir Janbod while we were on board and we extend our condolences to his wife, son and family. He, along with his crew, will always be a hero to us.

We were overwhelmed from our arrival on board Golafruz with the hospitality shown to us by all on board, and for this we will always be thankful.

As a crew, we are grateful for the support we’ve received over the past month from all over the world. What started as a race from Cape Town to Rio de Janeiro, with challenges in its own, soon changed completely and turned into a new adventure for us – the same destination, just not on a yacht.

With the loss of Trekker II, the unthinkable happened to our crew – we had to accept the unfortunate reality that we would not be finishing this great race. But with that said, we are happy that we made it to our destination after all, that we survived, we are all safe and we even have a great story to tell about this trip.

Our crew were privileged to be acknowledged in the Cape to Rio prize giving, even though we were not the only boat to suffer troubles and disappointments during the race.

For some of the guys it was not only a matter of losing the boat, but losing an opportunity as well. A tough position to be in, but unfortunately that’s how things turn out sometimes. What is important is to keep moving forward and look to the positives – there’s always Cape to Rio 2020…

Saturday morning the ship started heading in around 7 am and we were joined by 2 tugs. We pushed alongside the key and were nearly ashore.  First, we needed to wait until the health officials had inspected us as they did to the entire boat, and this took some time. We were then escorted off the boat and to the waiting transit vans. We said goodbye to some of the crew, but not all of them as they were very busy. The new captain greeted us in passing, but he had not spoken to us. It was strange to leave in such in inauspicious way, considering the way we had got on board. Captain Amir Janbod and his crew will always be our heroes for our rescue and we will never forget your hospitality.

We passed through customs quickly and we headed into town.  First dropping Mike at the airport, as he was heading straight to Rio. The rest of us stayed a night or two in Vitoria and then headed to Rio. I officially got here in 17 days and 21 hours and a few minutes.

Quote of the day: “Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory.” Mahatma Gandhi

Mark, Wesley, Richard and Peter decided to wake very early at 4 am, to be able to see the moon and the sun in the sky (as it was rising at the same time).  The moon has been waxing since we left and is due to be full tonight.  After waking and looking out our cabin window, I realised that they probably did not get the spectacle very well as it was cloudy.  All morning we had rainy weather, so it will be quite difficult to see the first land form a distance.  At approximately 1pm, we could just make out the outline of land in the clouds, although it was very faint. Two little boats were visible in the surrounds.

It’s 14:30pm and we have just entered the anchorage area. Mike has risen from the dead and is out trying to grab the first cell phone signal. He gets one and phones his Mom, It’s her birthday today. She burst into tears at hearing his voice.  After that, a short call to Jolandi, his wife. Signal is not very good and my phone seems to be struggling to get one.  It’s the middle of the night in Australia anyway, so I must wait a while. I sent an SMS anyway as the signal comes and goes. Shaun and Mike are talking excitedly about beer and coke.  It’s amazing what you crave after a journey, all be it that we have been well looked after.  We are so spoilt in normal life – being able to get what we want, as we want it. There are 10 or so ships at anchor, and we are hoping to be close to the harbour so that tomorrow will be a quick trip to the key side.

The land is still shrouded in clouds, so it is hard to appreciate the beauty of the Brazil coastline.  As we get closer, a yellow speed boat approaches us and a gang plank is lowered. The pilot and new Captain climb on board, as well as an agent to sort us out. He explains that he needs our passports and that Golafruz will come into harbour early tomorrow morning and that his driver will drive us to the airport or hotel as we require. He then heads back to the boat.

In the meantime, the others are busy getting the captain’s body ready to be taken ashore. They all left a little later and the crew was very quiet for a while. One, because their beloved captain had been taken and two, I think they were aware that they had a new captain on board and did not know how he would act towards them.

At lunch Shaun Verster gave his head lamp to the 2^nd officers son who was travelling on board. We did not see him much but when we did he would come and shake our hands and I am sure found us fascinating given that he is 5 years old and probably had not met foreigners before. In the evening, another ceremony took place, where Peter dressed up in his red wet weather gear and took a small sail bag into which Wesley placed an Ucayali he had brought with him and salvaged from Trekker. The crew had informed us earlier that when Peter had climbed over the railing after being rescued that the little boy also named Amir had said “oh look its father Christmas” because of his read coat and grey beard. Peter pretend to rummage in the bag and pulled out some socks first and shook his head before reaching and pulling out the Ucayali and giving it to the boy. A nice touch to end our cruise!

Quote of the day: “Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

I woke this morning feeling like the wind was whistling through my head. The wind had picked up and we had changed direction slightly. It blew into our cabin through the port hole window and caused such draft round the cabin door in its path, that there was a strong whistling sound throughout the night. In some ways, it was an enjoyable noise but it was just too loud to sleep properly.

I had a proper hot shower, the first one for me, as Sean had discovered we had it on the cold setting throughout the trip thinking that the tepid water temperature was as good as it got. Meanwhile it was just the warm cold water – character building as they say! Breakfast was boiled eggs and toast.

Mike, Sean and Myself walked to the bow after breakfast for our daily stroll. On returning I found Peter and Shaun sitting on a bench outside the regular mess staring out into the big blue, a pose they seem to take up a fair amount of the day to pass the time. Not a word is spoken but they seem to understand the unspoken words. Time to get off this ship now!

Dinner was pizza and Pepsi, quite a different meal from any others we have had before. Mike was very excited and proceeded to eat as much of the leftovers he could lay his hands on.

Later in the evening we kept hearing conflict stories about when we will anchor, dock and clear form the ship. But it seems likely sometime late Saturday or Sunday. We should anchor sometime late afternoon tomorrow.

In the evening, I spent some time with one of the crew showing me pictures of Shiraz in Iran which is home to a lot of historical sites and a place to visit by tourist. King Cyrus, about 2500 years ago, who ruled there, was one of the original spokesman on Human rights and seemly his proclamation is still visible on a stone at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York – stating that all men on this earth should be free, no matter religion, race, and colour.

Richard spent some time at the Bridge with first Engineer and was told that the journey to Brazil from Iran round the Cape Point and back again is one of the most taxing on the crew and having the Captain dying and stored in the fridge could have been extremely hard, if it wasn’t for our presence. He feels having us on board has made it easier on everyone as well as distracting them from this situation.

Seemly also some of the crew are young and superstitious and in the first few nights after the Captain died they were hearing noises and seeing things. The second Engineer said he was awoken a few times to check if the Captain was still in the fridge. The mind does have a way of its own.

Quote of the day: “We must allow ourselves to be adorned by lessons derived through hardships and challenges.” Tony Narams

This morning we are now UTC -2, so we could sleep in for another hour before breakfast. This morning’s breakfast consisted of toast with Feta and cream. A somewhat unusual combination, but the guys made the most of it by using flat bread with jam and cream. The new breakfast waffle! After that I spent the morning sorting out photographs and videos. I am collecting from everyone so we have a complete set of our adventure.

One of the crew brought out his videos of the night of the rescue and he has some excellent footage. It brings back the drama of that evening, but for me it reminds me of the great boat we had the sadness of losing here so soon. The afternoon Shaun and myself played solitaire on my PC, something I have not done for years.

It is really boring at present and I can’t wait to get off. We have just heard that we will not go directly into port but will probably lay anchor while the captain’s body is removed and statements are taken. The suggestion is that this will take a few days, so it seems we will only get ashore on Sunday or Monday at this rate.

My quote of the day is somewhat ironic:

“What a ship is, you know, it’s not just a keel and a hull and a deck and sails, that’s what a ship needs.  But what a ship is… is freedom.” Captain Jack Sparrow

This very true if it’s of your own choice I assume – but when you are through onto an island like we are, one spends the day like caged animals pacing around the ship trying to imagine a way out.

Today we started to see some life out here in our soup bowl. Early afternoon a ship on the horizon and in the early evening another one. The sightings seemed to excite everyone including the crew of the Golafruz. The crew have become our friends and I am sure that they will miss us when we leave. It’s amazing the comradery that has built up over the few days we have been here. Out here everyone is equal, and country and politics have no place.

The latest is that we will go into port straight away and they claim that they will load and be back at sea in 3 days. It’s a tough life as a merchant seamen. We had some further pictures taken with everyone, as has become the ritual daily. I can’t wait for a beer and steak!

This morning I was woken by Sean’s alarm clock and we headed outside to see the sunrise. We also tried to see if the satellite phone would work as for the previous two days we had been unable to get signal. At first it seemed that this would be an issue again but finally we managed to retain the signal by leaning over the rail in the very awkward position ensuring that we did not move the aerial very much.

I managed to talk to Karey and it was great to hear her voice even if it was very briefly. After a breakfast of scrambled eggs some of us headed to the engine room for a tour. The engineers on board seem to be the heart and soul of a ship like this and they were very keen to show us the many compressors, generators and the main engine of the ship. It is very noisy and we are all supplied with earmuffs to protect our ears from the constant turning propeller working at 82 revolutions per minute.

The engine room covers five floors within the superstructure and is extremely hot, even though we did not get it at its hottest which we are told gets up to 60°C. The ship still has a steady roll from side to side but the speed is a steady 12 to 13 knots, so we are making good progress and we are told that we will be making Brazil at around 8 to 8:30 AM Friday morning.

The good news is that they hope to have us taken directly to the wharf and have been asked to provide a time for when the pilot should be ready. This is very positive news for us as there had been some speculation that we would be put to anchor outside Vitoria Harbour for several days or even months and this would have made it very difficult for us to get ashore in a quick time.

We are now hopeful that at the very least we won’t be on board for more than 2 to 3 days and some are very hopeful that we might even processed through customs and passport control on Friday, which would be brilliant if that is how it turned out. The expected arrival and whether we’re going to need to anchor or not, as well as the expected process, keeps changing though, so we’re never sure.

After visiting the engine room, it was time for coffee and then off to the bow for a walk and some exercise. We are still trying to ensure we get a tan by the time we get to Brazil, so we spend our time finding ourselves with our shirts off. Looking over the bow the big blue ocean ahead speculating what it be like if we were still sailing has become a habit for all of us.

We are hoping to be able to see some of the yachts from the Cape2Rio race as we get closer to Brazil but we are not sure where they are and whether that will happen. The route we are currently following is not taking us past any ships apart from the very first evening after coming on board.

I relaxed in the afternoon writing a bit of the blog and then after tea we head off to “swim”. This consisted of sitting under some pipes that push water out from the ballast in vast quantities at various points around the deck like small fountains. The ballast tanks need to be continually emptied and refilled with new sea water as they cross the Atlantic for environmental reasons. Sea water from South Africa must not be moved to Brazil in case it brings foreign organism.

After showering it was time for dinner again. After dinner, we decide to have an early night. I spent some hours reading.

Monday morning Richard was to wake us up at 5:30am to see the sunrise, but I think that damn monkey came on board and put a sleeping pill in our flavoured water. We only woke up at around 11:30AM which left us enough time to shower and head down for the 12 o’clock lunch. After lunch, I read while some slept.

Supper was soup followed by rice and chicken. At both the lunch and after dinner the 2nd Officer talked to us for long periods about Iran and life in general. It was obvious that he was enjoying the conversation as much as we were! We all took an early night.

The clocks went back another hour at midnight and we are now on UTC -1. I slept well after last night’s proceedings. I woke up just half an hour before breakfast, and Sean who had just woken up, managed to get to the bathroom first for his early morning shower. I had to chase him out eventually as I thought I might have to go out the port hole in desperation but felt that it might well be considered inappropriate.

He made up for making my desperation worse by offering Mark and myself one of his special expresso coffees from his portable expresso machine, a nifty device for camping but ideal for yachting and camping on a bulk carrier I guess. After that we headed down to breakfast in the officer’s mess where we have been eating since the second day aboard.

I am always hoping that it will be an egg dish now as I prefer not to eat the porridge, since it is heavy and starchy. This morning I was lucky as it was scrambled eggs. There are four groupings of tables in the mess hall, although they are made up of two single and two double tables. Each group has a selection of condiments, spices, jams and pickles on them, which makes for interest choices of how to complement each meal.

I am partial to spice and hot sauces so inevitably one of these are added for my enjoyment. With most meals, flat bread is served as an extra and one can use this to support your meal or just as an additional bite with a bit of honey or jam. Sean is a bit partial to it with honey. He claims it is carb free in the hope that the body metabolism gods are listening!

After breakfast, we head for the regular mess for coffee and a bit of fresh air on the outside deck a journey of no more than 15 meters. As we talk about the sea state and consider the wind as well as where the other boats in the Rio race may be, we are approached by the 2nd Officer to ask if we are alright and whether we need anything.

I can immediately sense a difference in in his demeanour from the previous two very hard days. He is relaxed and proceeds to tell us about calling the Captain’s family and explaining to her what happened with her husband and what the procedure would be before she can expect the body home. He said it would have been very difficult to call her the previous day as he was very close to the captain and that they had spent many nights on the Bridge talking about private and personal matters apart from business and he was too emotional to make the call.

He then talked about his country and how the rest of the world perceives Iranians. Because all Iranians are of the Muslim faith and live in the Middle East, he says there is a general perception outside the country that they are terrorists or mad zealots. In fact, they are normal people that hate violence after the 8-year war with Iraq and in fact life amongst the average man is determined by their own belief system.

The examples he used were that some may go to the mosque and others may not, some may drink alcohol a little and some not but more importantly there are Jews living in the country that have always been Iranian. His main point is that they are not forced into being fanatical stereo typed individuals by the regime nor are they anything like the stereo types being thrown around by the politicians of USA and the West.

The moral of the story is that humans are humans – whatever their culture, religion and colour in general and it is politics that mess up this fundamental. Whether it be cultural, tribal, religious or just looks (colour) – politics! It was a very sincere and unforced discussion that we all appreciated.

Shaun, Sean and myself then decided to head to the bow for our daily walk and exercise. I have worked out that if I just stayed in the super structure for the day and moved from the room to meals and on to coffee and mess room and then to bed I will not even do 2000 steps in a day! So, all you step measuring fanatics you know what that means! By the end of the 10 or so days I might start looking like one of those whales we were hoping to see on Trekker but didn’t.

So, every day we have decided to walk to bow and do some exercises even if it is minimal. Wesley and Richard were already there playing with ball they made of cloth that did not bounce. I guess it was called “one bounce not”! After watching for a few minutes I decided that it was not a game made for a gammy-legged one footer like myself.

I was hoping that my wife would be jealous of me by now (I guess she might be already! Who climbs a ship in the dark from a moving yacht J). I am talking about the wonderful tan I would have been working on daily on Trekker. Even oiled up daily with sun tan lotion I was going to be more brown and crispy like burnt bacon (which by the way I am craving – no bacon on this carrier I am afraid). No worries though, each day we are taking our shirts off, (Girls be careful! Oh, if only there were girls, only kidding darling!) so that we become tall dark and handsome by the end of the trip. Okay, I will leave out the tall bit.

After an hour of tanning, some press-ups and meditation (there is nothing like staring over the bow down at the anchor for 10 minutes because you can- try it sometime!), We head back to the super structure for lunch.

Heading into the mess room there was laughter and happiness the pressure of the captain’s death was being accepted. Life was moving on! Seemingly Sunday is the company day aboard ship to have mince kebabs and a fizzy drink. Well the kebabs are delicious have been always partial to this type of food. I did however not eat the masses of rice presented as usual. The mess hall was busy including the 2nd Officer, his wife and son. Amir, his 5-year-old, did his usual handshakes with us. This time we taught him the South African hand shake.

Afternoon is rest time and all aboard seem to disappear to their cabins or work areas. Our guys try to read and sleep to move time on. Shaun plays Sudoku on his phone in the hope that he will prevent Alzheimer’s. He plays a lot of games so must be really worried about this. Nothing to do but eat sleep read and contemplate!

Of course, I am writing this blog and thinking about our next campaign – Rio 2020!  Now, I am not aware what is happening with the 55Hundred campaign for the IMAGINE charity goal in Underberg. It is very frustrating not knowing what the situation is now that Trekker II and communication is gone.

Dinner at 17.30pm was soup and a noodle Brianne. I ate the soup only as I am trying to avoid the Carbs. The surprise was a magnum ice cream as dessert – double chocolate. The first desert since we came on board and obviously related to the regular Sunday food programme.

After coffee in the regular mess hall and standing on deck for a while and chatting, we slowly made our way to our cabins. Some of the guys had found a deck of cards and were playing rummy. Sean and myself, chatted and listened to music while sipping on flavoured water to well after midnight. No bar on this cruise! The rules of the company on the ocean liner was that no alcohol is to be consumed on board by the crew.

Quote of the day: “Any damn fool can navigate the world sober. It takes a good sailor to do it drunk.” Sir Francis Chichester

We woke in the morning feeling rather shell shocked with the proceedings that went down the night before. The crew were obviously very shaken and no one really talked too much. People walking around in a daze doing the duties as previously instructed by the company. Sometime near lunchtime we were asked if we had a body bag or something to put the captain in as he needed to be secured on the crate and wrapped in a bag and put in the fridge until we get to Brazil.

Shaun remembered that there was a large piece of plastic in one of the grab bags which was for emergencies to lay across the deck so that we could be spotted from the sky. They gladly accepted this and I believe the captain (or Master as he is referred to on board) is wrapped in this in the provisions fridge.

We were informed that the captain’s body would be taken into Brazil for autopsy and then transferred to Iran so that his family could bury him. Later in the day, 2nd Officer informed us there would be a get-together in the officer’s mess to pray for the captain and said that we were welcome to join the ceremony and even welcome to bring our ‘Holy Book’; a sign of how tolerant and embracing the crew were.

We were all a little unsure as to what would be involved but we were all in agreement that we wanted to attend given that he had saved our lives. We all donned our number ones i.e. long pants and the smartest shirt for the occasion. In the beginning, they played along spoken lamentation on a recorder, followed by different crew speaking good words about the captain while others said a prayer.

Although we had not known the Captain long (all of 3 days) we had seen that he was well thought of by his crew and was a very caring person. It was a surprise that emotions ran high amongst some of the Trekker crew who were unable to hold back tears during the ceremony. Quite an emotional hour. The acting captain proceeded to tell us a story about the captain’s life.

The captain had 15 years previously been involved in a life and death situation aboard another ship. He had overseen the team of people that were to enter a hold where there were gases. He had recognised this and told the bosun not to enter the hold while he went to fetch gas masks to use for the entry, but while he was fetching them someone else ordered the men to go in and two of them died and one was permanently disabled.

As he was in charge, he needed to take full responsibility for the actions of the men that reported to him even though he had not given them the order to go in to the hold, the company had suspended him for a year and a half after the action happened. He said that he still thought about those men every day. He said that the captain had told him the night after saving us that he had slept peacefully for the first time in 15 years since the incident.

He said he raised his arms up, took a deep breath and said he is “Amir” again. Amir being his first name. The most interesting thing though was that the incident that happened previously had happened in the same area in the Atlantic where we were saved. The captain had requested to change the route to come this way and do this job rather than the one that he had been requested to do in Ukraine.

Shaun now had his answers to the question about why we were on board this ship. It was not to save the captain but to give him redemption before he died. Wesley and Richard said a few words about our feelings and thank you to the captain at the ceremony. The whole get-together only lasted about an hour, but was very draining for all of us. Not long after, we headed to bed for a well-earned sleep.

Quote of the day: “Nothing is more powerful than allowing yourself to be truly affected by things.” ~ Zooey Deschanel

I awoke this morning feeling a lot better than the previous day, the drain on my energy seemed to have lifted and I felt well rested and no longer stressed about what had happened over the previous two days. We had breakfast and chatted a lot over coffee. Shaun and myself now discussed what were the next steps for Imagine Sports’ business after Trekker II. We also had meetings with Mark, our skipper, to discuss what was required of him once we got to Brazil.

The day passed by quickly and after supper we were out talking with the crew on the outer deck. The Captain came by and asked us how we are doing and seemed very happy with life. He told us how life at sea had changed over time and that a sailor’s life was dying out. He explained that he was considering finishing his career at sea soon.

He asked us all what we did for a living and seemed genuinely interested. He left us and a short while later the alarm rang. Early in the day we had been given forms to fill in and sign, covering the safety instructions on board and on this form, it said that we need to gather or muster on the port side B at the deck exterior.

Thinking this was a drill, we all headed after the crew to the muster point. One of the officers from the Bridge suddenly appeared and said the Captain was sick. He asked if there were any doctors amongst us. We replied that there wasn’t. Everyone realised that this was no drill and the emergency was up on the Bridge.

We all filtered back to the mess. Wesley and Mark headed up to the Bridge. I decided that I would go up and see after a while. At the door, I could tell that there was a serious problem. The Captain had had a heart attack and they were trying to resuscitate him. I went down back to the cabin and told the other guys. Soon after he was declared dead.

We were wondering how the crew would react to us, as we felt that the stress of the rescue could have put unnecessary stress on his heart causing his death. We were approached by some of the crew who informed us that the captain had been a chain smoker and that a few days before meeting us he had an incident which he claimed was a problem with his stomach but they said they believed it was possibly in hind sight a mild heart attack.

They explained that it is God’s will that he was gone. We all went down to have some coffee and were wondering why we were aboard the ship if it wasn’t to save the captain’s life. Later we headed to bed feeling rather shattered. Life works in mysterious ways.