Crtd 06-03-26 Lastedit 07-06-16

To Jinja

Sunday 060326
05:30 hrs. In the dark I leave the "hotel" (sorry no food) I was lucky to find 5 km from Kasanssero and head on my bike to the beach. At dawn my bike and me board a heavily bouncing canoe. Since navigation software had been in the dhow I had not yet been able to install it in my new Dell. But I had managed to take our course from the uncalibrated map.

Photo: departure from Kasanssero

Photo: Commander seasick

On board, I dug in down to find a GPS and navigation installation software the wet chaos. Found both, but with a price: seasick.
My course impressed nobody on board. One man was hired because he "knew". From his finger pointing to empty horizons I inferred that he intended to go right through the Sese Islands instead of, as I had envisaged, leaving them all port. Being the newcomer, I resigned.

Photo: on our way to Sese Islands

Photo: Mzungu miracle: GPS. Captain Philemon's finger gives the arrow direction. Nobody considers for one moment to follow it.

Not that the GPS was ignored. Especially the speed in km/hrs. had a constant attention of the crew.

Photo: One of my pirates. Reaching Sese Islands [¹video 060326 2.5 MB]
 

Photo: Gibing at Sese Islands in the late afternoon

Monday 060327
Sese Islands - Kome. The next morning we sailed between two thunderstorms, one from the lake, another on the land.

Photo: Rainstorm in sight

Photo: Rainstorm about to arrive. We use our UNHCR fugitive tent, brand new from Mwanza market

Photo: Rainstorm arrived. Cooking on charcoal in the rainstorm [¹video 060327 1 MB]

After the rainstorm the wind went down and the rain stopped. My crew showed no sign of ending the after lunch nap.
Can't we go?
It's coming back.
And indeed, one hour later, the weather turned as bad as it was. I think the two storms somehow merged, but I am not sure, the best way to avoid boredom and sea sickness anchored mid sea under a wet tent in a rain storm for hours and hours is to sleep.

Photo: "Malima" having a sip in the hold. End of "Malima" [¹video 060327 2.5 MB]

One of our food shopping items was walking around in the hold looking for food and water. A chicken I chose to call Malima.
 

Photo: in the hold: view up to the uncaulked deck. Every drop of rain or lake water gets right down in the hold.

Photo: Another one of my pirates, Makamba (an unknown, recruited at Bwiru beach Mwanza on the side rope after he gave some sound judgement on how to correct our rig). Osama Bin Laden [audio 060327 200 KB]
 

Tuesday 060328
Kome-Buvuma. The weather pattern repeated itself: a rain storm morning at nine. After that: wobbling on the waves left by the storm in doldrums. Late afternoon some wind came and we reached the channels between Uganda mainland and islands, leading to Jinja and the source of the Nile.

Photo: Channel to Jinja and Nile source in sight

An aigrette crosses the 3 km wide channel from one forested island to another carrying a little branch. I am ready to resign in my laymanship and to wellwillingly believe this is a very special branch, crucial to prudent aigrette nest building and not available on the nest island, no doubt a carefully chosen place where for some reasons aigrettes ought to dwell despite the lack, or extreme scarcity of this particular type of branch in its own extensive forest. I mean, I do not want to give the bloody bird any reason to ask even vaguely similar questions about my 450 km journey to bring this dhow from where I decided to build it to where I want have it.
With Jinja in sight at nine evening we decided to stop for safety. Many rocks there.
No waves. No wind. Silence. That was a difference with the previous nights! Only the rudder squeaked a little. Unlike the previous nights I could not sleep: the bloody rudder kept me awake for hours.

Wednesday 060329
With ultra light airs we arrive at Triangle Annex, formerly the dhow retrieval head quarters.

Photo 060329: Reaching Jinja, the large building is Hotel Triangle Annex

Friends had been invited by SMS for free drinks on the hotel's terrace (my sister, The Netherlands, apologized she could not make it). One made, of course, pictures of us sailing in:

Photo 060329: Free drinks on Triangle Annex terrace offered through SMS (dhow sailing in on background)

Photo: Arriving! (taken from Triangle Annex Terrace by Zero Point One Ton Club President Jouko TAHVANAINEN)

Photo 060329: Mooring. (taken from Triangle Annex Terrace by Zero Point One Ton Club President Jouko TAHVANAINEN)

My agenda for the next months:

	Finishing the dhow
	Strangling all Tanzanian thugs one by one. Slowly. Unless they pay.