Teepee For My Bunghole

Yes mutherbitches I finally it made to Cape Verde. At 2 Euro an hour for internet I’m going to have to be very brief but first a note on vomiting…

Some people can do a polite spitting or mild little spew on the side, me, I don’t vomit much but when I do, I tend to go for the gut wrenching, tear-your-soul-out wretch. That’s exactly what my body decided to do just as we left Dakar behind our stern and settled down to relax. My body decided this was much better than trying to cope with wildly swaying horizon and tossing seas. I stopped the vomitting and went to lie down… for two days.

Third day and I recovered a bit and actually helped when we sighted land and had to pull into the anchorage that night. Strange how cognitively I liked the trip but my body rebelled.

Anyways, Sal Island is where I am (there are 9 islands and each one distincly different) and it’s pretty fucken cool. The vibe is more South American than African but with a unique flavour of its own. Things are actually pretty developed because of all the tourism but that also means pricey prices. As usual, I’m struggling with the currency change and sometimes dunno if I’m paying a lot or a little for items.

Yesterday, quite by chance I managed to check out the Winsurfing World Cup Final. And it was unbelievable! Let me add some exclamation marks so that you really check how great it was!!!!! I dunno how big the waves were but the windsurfboard mast is about 6 meters and the waves were higher by a meter or so. I reckon about 18 foot. The local legend, something Angula, won and he is a Legend (capital “L”). He rode the waves in huge conditions and harsh offshore wind like… like… like a bird skimming above a lake. Respec’!

Anyway, gotsta run, laters. Boa Vista island next which is less developed so expect to hear very little from me – except maybe if I catch a huge fish.

I cruised the shallows or our melifluous language the last time I wrote. Even going so far as to massacre the ‘ek sé’ factor by substituting the ‘e’ with a little cap with an ‘e’ with an apostrophe. Let me this time vary my delivery with higher regard for the correct use of words. We shall sail into the deep blue ocean of eloquence.

There is big difference between me now and me after I will sail to Cape Verde. I don’t know what the difference will be but I am at the cusp of finding out if there is a lifestyle I wish to adhere to or pursue to some sort of degree. There is a perspective to be gained from being a speck in the mighty ocean and I will be forever after have a different appreciation for the physical elements of our existence. How this will effect me, and my philosophies on life, I don’t know – but I’m want to find out.

For someone who is as terrified of something so boringly inevitable as death, those of you who only approach the outer edges of marine life, will wonder how I managed to engage such a dangerous venture. But those of you who have been out sea (literally, I mean, of course), know that it’s only our comfort zones that hinder such ventures. Our cordoned imaginations blinker all things new.

We sail soon. The day after tomorrow is the latest departure date and I already have the exit stamp in my passport to show our seriousness. But I’ll add a day because that is often the reality when sailing. I’ll try to staunch my deathly fear of a salt water accident and take my new camera out of my bag and it’s triple wrapping and take some pictures.

Now’s a good time to wish me Bon Voyage!

Ja, ja, I’m still in Dakar – la dee daa – se mase ma. Okay, so the last sentence had a bit of Akrikaans slang so I’ll throw in a bit of French commé ça. Notice how I managed to get the ‘c’ with the little beweging at the bottom in there. I finally looked around and found it on these French keyboards. Only took me all of 9 fucken months.

But the off-shoot of this is that, much like a raver, I also figured where that elusive ‘é’ is. This means that I can throw in an ‘ek sé’ [ek sé = I say] or two, of hoe? Yep, things can get real slangy around here, ek sé. I could also gooi [throw] in a ‘jy jou ma se…’ [‘hey you, your mother’s…] but I leave that for my nightime dialogue with the mosquitos.

I had a point I’m pretty sure but it got lost in trying to throw in a swearword to tick my mother off. It’s pretty hard to throw in swearwords because I hardly swear nowadays. Every Capetonian misses swearing a bit when he travels, I’m sure. Nothing quite like Kaapse slang to vloek some baastard out, ek sé.

Yesterday I went sailing. It was my first time as crew. It was good to hold the tiller, scramble around for winching sails and pulling on ropes and doing all the stuff you don’t notice as passenger. I still have a lot to learn but enjoyed the buzz. I need to get the feel of the tiller and be able to check the sails out for the best position for catching wind and such goede. Also this switching tack thing seems to always catch me by surprise.

And it’s hard to watch what the other guy is doing when you’re missioning as well. I either need eyes in the back of my head or more experience. And actually… mmm… I don’t know which would be cooler.

[By the way, my new digital camera arrives tonight inshallah]