53FEBRUARY2016cruisingworld.com53FEBRUARY2016cruisingworld.comIt
was just past midnight on
Friday the 13th. Anasazi
Girl, our family’s Open
40, was rounding the Cape of Good
Hope in the dark.
“Are you superstitious?” he asked
me.
Our lines were now lying on the
dock of the False Bay Yacht Club in
Simon’s Town. My partner, James
Burwick, liked to do this — depart
at night and leave the lines.
We were setting out on a nonstop
passage from South Africa to West-
ern Australia. James was driving the
boat. The kids were in dreamland,
tucked into one sleeping bag in the
quarter berth. I was lying next to
them, trying to rest.
“No,” I answered.
I was not superstitious, but mixed
with the usual excitement of leaving
was an elevated sense of apprehen-
sion. This was not our fi rst voyage.
However, we were beginning our
most challenging journey as a family.
It’s always such a mind trip to
leave port, especially after being
on land for a long time. Nearly four
months had passed since we’d made
landfall in Cape Town. Our son, Rai-vo, was now 1, and our daughter,
Tormentina, was 3. We had split our
time in South Africa between Cape
Town and Simon’s Town, and had
rounded the Cape of Good Hope
three times prior to this.
The preparation for departure
was the standard: high-intensity and
high-stress, with long and detailed
work lists compiled and completed.
The watermaker membrane was re-
placed; all systems checked; food,
fuel and water provisions stocked;
everything packed and stowed. Un-
necessary items were purged or giv-
en away. Our bicycles, boat spares
and shore clothes were on a freight-
er. Bills had been paid, emails sent,
passports and boat documents
stamped. We were cleared to leave
the country.
More than anything, I was utterly
exhausted, and relieved that at last
we were underway. It was such an
irony to be so tired before we had
even left port.
The entire time in South Africa,
James and I had agonized, out loud
together and silently in our own
minds, about the upcoming voyage.
We went back and forth countlessUnder the watchful eye of their father, James Bur-
wick, Tormentina and Raivo explore the running
rigging in the cockpit of Anasazi Girl. Despite
enjoying the rugged landscape (above) and the
cultural experiences during their stay in South
Africa, the family was eager to get back to sea.
Adventurous parents tackle a crossing in their Open 40 fr om South Afr ica to Western Australia — with two kids.
[Story & Photographs by Somira Sao]SOUTHERN
OCEAN,
FAMILY
S TYLE