33.90752˚ S, 18.4213˚ E

Cape Town has been stunning thus far. Granted, we are staying in one of its nicest districts, but everything just feels refined without being exclusive, with a distinct sense of history and place. The waterfront is similar to San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, but less hectic and kitschy. Its restaurants are full of people, all of whom seem engaged in conversation instead of distracted by technology. It’s hard to think how the demographics could any more diverse (we’ve had trouble finding ingredients for Mexican recipes, so perhaps Central & South America is under-represented). And everyone is so well-dressed!

On the north side there is a glittering shopping mall (yes, it’s possible for a mall to be attractive) full of tourists mixing with the locals going about their daily lives (we did some provisioning at a Woolworth’s in the mall; it had by far the best meat department of any grocery store I’ve ever been in). But then just west of us is the ancient Robinson Dry Dock still servicing the vessels that come in and out of Cape Town harbor. The cosmopolitan has not eradicated the local, as sadly so often seems to be the case.

34.19776˚ S, 18.44601˚ E

Penguins don’t actually do much other than stand around and look cute, but if you want your blog to be popular, you have to post pictures of penguins.

33.90752˚ S, 18.4213˚ E

One of the benefits of jet lag is that it makes it easier to be alert and motivated at otherwise strange times of the day. Here is a 5-6:30 a.m. time-lapse series of the area where SV Coda is docked in Cape Town’s Silo District. Coda appears at the far-left edge of the picture (her mast points like a needle into the brightest part of the dawn):

The drawbridge on the right leads to a more posh part of the waterfront, providing moorage for newly manufactured catamarans and a dozen or so huge sailing yachts. Coda is docked in the last vestiges of a working shipyard owned and operated by a guy who speaks English, Afrikaans, Portugese, French, Italian and Greek, and has sailed around the world four times. The facilities are old and a little cramped, but kept immaculately clean.

37.77504˚ N, 122.51056˚ W

With a westerly wind of 15-20 knots, it seemed like a good day to try out the drone in windy conditions without the risk of losing it completely. The drone had to angle itself to hold its position against the wind, which meant the footage wasn’t level. I’m sure fancier drones probably have some way to compensate for this.

Am I a total n00b when it comes to flying a drone? Yes.

Is it a glamorous video? No.

Would you have laughed at me if the first and only drone video from the trip was a splash landing in the South Atlantic? Probably.

We all gotta start somewhere…

37.77504˚ N, 122.51056˚ W

Clothes & Toiletries

1. 1 pair of pants
2. Baseball cap of the most thematically-appropriate team in all of professional sports (Seattle Mariners)
3. Deck shoes that only middle-aged white men would wear
4. The best water shoes ever made (sold at Costco for $12 in 2015 and never again)
5. Knee pads
6. Sailing gloves
7. SPF 50+ Blue Lizard Sensitive Mineral Sunscreen with Zinc Oxide (two tubes)
8. Watch cap
9. Used foul weather jacket ($40 at Blue Pelican Marine)
10. UPF 50+ Fishing Hoodie with UV mask and neck gaiter
11. 2 long-sleeved t-shirts
12. 6 short-sleeved t-shirts
13. 2 pairs of shorts, 1 pair of swimming trunks
14. Laundry bag
15. 6 pairs of boxer briefs
16. Toiletries:
    1. Old Spice Original deodorant (because of the sailing ship logo, duh)
    2. 1 travel-sized sonic toothbrush
    3. 2 travel-sized tubes of toothpaste
    4. Nail clippers
    5. 2 disposable razors
    6. 1 travel-sized can of shaving cream
    7. 1 bar body soap
    8. 1 shampoo bar

Gear & Supplies

1. Cahaya 32-key melodica with traveling case
2. Penny whistle in the key of D with sleeve
3. 80 lemon-ginger chews
4. Holy Stone 4K Camera GPS Drone with carrying case (includes 32GB memory chip)
5. 1 ancient Kindle (containing ~150 books)
6. Exercise bands with case
7. SanDisk 32GB MP3 player with wired headphones
8. 1 notebook for journaling
9. Hand-painted icon of The Most Holy Theotokos “Star of the Sea”
10. Reliefband Motion Sickness Wristband with replacement batteries
11. 2 Canon NB-11L rechargeable batteries with charger
12. 2 pens
13. 2 pairs of sunglasses
14. 1 tripod/selfie-stick combo
15. Nikon FG-20 with:
    1. f/1.8 50mm prime lens
    2. 3 rolls (36 exp.) Ilford HP5 Black & White film
    3. 1 roll (36 exp.) Kodak Gold 200 film
    4. Lens cloth
    5. Red filter
    6. Yellow filter
    7. Polarizing filter
16. Canon SX410 IS (20 MegaPixel, 40x optical zoom) with extra memory chip
17. Kodak Cameo 110 camera with:
    1. 4 rolls (24 exp.) Lomography Color Tiger 200 ISO film
    2. 1 roll (24 exp.) Lomography Black & White Orca 100 ISO film
18. Macbook Air with charger [not shown]

Except for the drone and the jacket, it all fit in the blue backpack, but since I was allowed a free checked bag on the flight to Cape Town, I opted for two underpacked bags in case there is any loot to bring home.