The trials and tribulations of Sailing Africa | Ep107
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
- In the last episode we showed some of the challenges to sailing down the West coast of Africa, so what are things like when you make landfall? Well in a word shallow! There are some beautiful mangrove areas within the delta area of Southern Senegal, and then there's the river Gambie!
Before you even get past the estuary and into the river you have to dodge dozens of sunken ships and boats, you also have to negotiate the African authorities, but once done you are sailing in Africa, there's nothing like it!
Warning: There are references to FGM (female genital mutilation) in this film which some viewers may find upsetting.
Link to 'My FGM Story'
• "My FGM Story" (2020) ...
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Most cruisers crossing the Atlantic go from Europe to Canary or Cape Verde islands with no interest in calling on Africa. This is the first I have seen of West Africa from a cruiser perspective. Great vid, really unique. Thank you.
YES! A first for me too.
The first one I have seen too. And great documentary as well.
My Africa 😊
Great documentary! Very informative
Another great episode, thank you
Must be one of, if not the best sailing episode on UA-cam today! Welldone Guys. Karl (Cape Town)
Thanks for being Excellent.
I never understood why male circumcision is also not called genital mutilation. While not the same, is definitely a mutilation.
Well I think this was your most interesting episode yet. First time I’ve seen anyone cruising into Senegal. Thank you so much for that! Really interesting.
Beautiful country
Great video and thank you for mentioning your documentary on the horrors of FGM, and the good work that many people are doing to outlaw this practice. In my opinion, male circumcision should also be considered genital mutilation and should be banned. Peace and safe journey. Dan ✌️⛵️🇨🇦
I love your videos, I feel like Im watching a prime time Documentary on TV :)
Thanks guys, hope you’ve managed to get far enough South for some warmth
When I grow up I want be like you and sail all the way to my home country 🇦🇴
Fair winds.
Another brilliant video.
Beautiful!
Beatiful film as always!
Well done guys!
A home away from home for Scottish Ospreys no less.. so your not the only UK tourists.
Senegal and Gambia were on the old flyingboat routes The French crossed to Brazil on their Pioneering mail routes.
Love your “Off the beaten path” videos. So informative. Most UA-cam cruises, unlike you guys, go the same tired locations. Safe travels.
Your Broadcast Journalist backgrounds so evident in this most informative episode.
I am enjoying a lot to watch your films. Thank you for sharing your trip and experience
Thank you so much for this video. I am heading South from the Solent shortly and have long considered visiting the Gambia, being African born myself. I have looked for info on The Gambia and Senegal but it is scarce, and your wonderful, well made video is an absolute gem. Best of luck with the crossing, hopefully Rolling Stone will be a year behind you.
Tyvm beautiful place
Hi. Interesting places You visited! Was it safe to leave the boat unguarded? No fear of people coming to Your boat and stealing stuff while You are away?
It was always there when we got back
Beautiful video, powerful message about FGM.
Excellent video! So informative which I love….too bad about FGM. I once saw a Dr who has worked with subject teaching women …and she described what it is like…it’s so sad 🇨🇦 ❤
Hi there. Random person here. An absolute beautiful place, The Creek, so peaceful and relaxed. Few places that secluded, untouched, like Senegal, I think. Bravo, Norway 😊
It is truly horrific that such genital mutilation is still practised in the 21st century. The pain and infection afterwards must be truly agonising. Thanks guys for highlighting this abhorrent practice 👍
Glad to see you having a nice time in the Gambia which I haven’t visited but a relative used to a lot when a flight assistant with an airline many decades ago. I have been to Newtown Creek though as I ended up in the water when the boat suddenly gybed as I was entering the creek during a yachting course. Fortunately we had been practising man overboard the day before so no drama.
Thank you for bringing to light the horror of female genital mutilation. Not the easiest topic to share with a crossover audience. Well done.
Trinidad & Tobago! One of my happy places.
Why not say the same about the male mutilation? Both where shown in this episode, but only one was deserving of protest? Can you explain this dichotomy? I'd be interested to hear the logic.
If Judy answers this you would get the whole thesis, Judy did her Phd on the subject, so I'll spare you that and give the short answer. Personally I think both are wrong, chopping bits off children for no good reason is child abuse, but trust me we've produced documentaries in two countries now and interviewed dozens of 'survivors' as FGM victims refer to themselves. Yes many do die in the process, not something that is a problem with male circumcision. But the 'survivors' are often massively affected for the rest of their lives and have life changing issues of many kinds. Watch the Gambia film, we put a link in the description
Wrong. Males die. Or get herpes from the clerics mouth. Babies Goodluck and Angelo were both killed in the UK.
That skinny bow tube on your TrueKit dinghy did a great job of submarining through the waves and flooding the boat.
Flat bottomed dinghy aren’t the best for surf that’s for sure, but the advantages of having a light dinghy we can lift on deck is invaluable to us.
I spent a lot of my formative years growing up around Africa, although never quite got as far as Senegal or The Gambia, but one thing that does not change are how wonderfully warm the people are. Thank you for bringing back so many memories for me.
You guys are AMAZING with the camera. What a treat for the eyes!
Your videos are among (if not) the best sailing videos on here. Your content could easily be on cable tv because: 1. you two actually talk about sailing and show the ups and downs, 2. You show the sights/sites and sounds, and 3. You two don’t make the videos all about yourselves and you don’t just feature your faces on camera in these videos like most of the UA-cam sailor reality tv videos that we see on here. You two are the best!!
Amazing to find your channel. Hi from Cape Town
When G spoke, my whole being calmed
That is a place not many cruisers visit. Thankyou for the lovely video. On Victron; I also find they are one of the best manufactures of "off grid" equipment. However another thing to highlight is that I, like others have found that their inverters put out quite a bit less than their stated output. If I remember correctly "Lady K sailing" has posted a video on this.
Really a Great Episode, Thank You, Best Regards From Dominican Republic.⛵🌞
Amazing that west propaganda reaches these remote places! But perhaps interviews conducted by left journalist are the reason. The locals have learned to pander to the camera!
We spent 25 years working in some very remote parts of Africa, you're right in that there are not many places in the work unaffected by outside sources now, but I can tell you as someone that has had a camera on my shoulder for all of that time compared to the US and Europe there is virtually no pandering to the camera.
I've used everbright on my bronze portlights after cleaning/brightening and it's holding up great 3 years later.
Good to hear
My favorite thing about awesome-ness……is its awesome-ness. Well done.
I just loved this episode 107. At the end you mention Victron ( Johannes ). I have prove that this day .12;57;39 CET Johannes received your / our complaint about the wrong internet-instruction together with the question to DO something about it. Let's wait and see. Stay safe!
Did I see you moonlighting on Ringway Manchester's UA-cam channel? (Capenhurst tower).
Good grief, that’s a blast from the past. Yes we filmed that for channel 4 news must be almost 25 years ago, fun story actually, they were selling the building and we suspected it may have been commissioned by Margret Thatcher to spy on NI so we posed as prospective buyers and got shown around. Judy kept the agent busy while I sneaked around with Duncan who is an expert on coms and try to film the evidence of what it had been. Caused quite a stir in Parliament at the time!
One of my favorite episodes. I’ve never seen another sailing channel go to Senegal or Gambia and found all of this so interesting. I also loved the update on the intro. Judy the pants and dress you wore had such beautiful colors, obviously obtained where you are sailing? What has happened to the tourists there, is it all really post Covid? The pirogues were painted so brightly such a contrast to the muddy whipped up waters. I’m curious about the sailboats anchored for long periods. Who do they belong? Locals? The villages seem small. I’m going to need to research more where you are. I strongly recommend all who watch this channel to see the link Judy has provided for FGM. It has been done professionally and very educational.
Thank you Beverly. The dress I was wearing to talk to Halimatou was made by her niece Fatou who was in the Kayak with us. That is her profession. 😊
The sailboats are locals and overseas visitors who come regularly
Excellent travelogue! G for president! Outstanding work on your continuing coverage of the FGM horror.
Steve you may be able to have that unit repaired in Mindello - Alex from Winded voyage has had other electronic equipment repaired there - he has been there for several years. He should still be there when you get there.
Awesome video guys. Not many people travel there.
Hi, a great and informative video,thank you.Roly🇬🇧.
Great film as usual, thanks!
The abandoned resort in Senegal was abandoned way before 2017. We sailed the Saloum, Bandiala and Gambiariver in 2017 and at that time the resort already looked deserted for many years. Nice video, brings back a lot of memories.
Interesting, we thought that was the case
We use only Mastervolt
Not a fan of Mastervolt. Fair Isle was kitted out with their gear, the inverter was the first thing to break so I bought another massively overpriced unit that doesn’t perform to speck, is ridiculously noisy (crap fan) and worst of all doesn’t work from the remote even though it has the same plug. I thought it was broken so I rang them only to be told the new units aren’t compatible with the old!
If you're in the Saloum Delta area again, I hope you get the opportunity visit the seashell island/town Joal Fadiouth and it's adjacent cemetery. It's incredibly unique and a beautifulcommunity.
Keep the manufactores on their toe's. Vectron is the best but even they make mistakes.
Congrats from Harare. Love Africa, Never dull, but not for the faint hearted. Sail a fair bit in Mozambique! Similar. Lovely! You've inspered me to do more.
Harare is a whole different story. I haven’t been since 2000. I used to go to Zim alot in the 90s
Glad to see the pair of you actually visiting the African continent on this great video!!! Most ppl skip Africa altogether and treat the continent like it’s the “ghetto” of the globe. Excellent vid! Cheers!!
Really enjoyed a visit off the main routes and the local people, the man you were talking to in the boat very switched on and aware of their environment
Glad to hear that you enjoyed The Gambia. Beautiful video-footage too ! The haze you mentioned is because of the Harmattan; a dry, mainly NE-wind from the Sahara which caries the dust. And yes, the ‘Officials’ over here can keep you busy :)
Enjoyed the whole video especially the drone shots and maps, really puts into context where the ground shots are. Kudos for continuing to support the movement against FGM.
And MGM?
Surf great on a board not so good in a dingy. Sorry could not resist, I have been to South Africa and Kenya but still the bad times in South Africa. But Kenya was great. Long time ago cannot remember the year but early 80s. I love the way you show the life of the people where you go.
Glad you enjoyed the Gamble river. Where did you check in ,in Senegal? Senegals National Park, good choice bye-the-way !
The less said about that the better really! If you saw the last episode you can see it would have been mad to try and enter port in Dakar and we didn’t intend on stopping but also didn’t want to arrive in Banjul in the dark (a very good decision as there are dozens of uncharted wrecks above the surface) so we went into Saloum in the daylight & stayed a couple of nights which strictly speaking we shouldn’t have done.
I see you anchored of the fisherman dock about the same position as me. The ‘Official’ wanted to check the boat arranged to come out. Saw the dinghy and retreated immediately,lol. Did you get to Fort James Island or Kanta Kinta island as the locals call it.? We went up the Bintang river/ creek and anchored off the Bintang village and restaurant with a couple of holiday cottages nearby.
Yes we’re out at sea now, left at 11am after checking out. No problem with the officials until we got back in the dinghy and someone came running down the dock wanting to talk to us, turned out he wanted to fine us for not wearing life jackets in the dinghy! We declined his demand for us to come back and go to his office!
Oh and yes we did go up river to James Island and Jufirere, tempted to go further up river to see the hippos but wanted to get back sailing… and wash the dust off the boat!
Welll done Steve for not crashing the drone into the communications tower!! Great film, as always xx
Ha! I knew someone would spot that. It was complete luck not judgement, I was watching the downlink video not the drone breaking the first rule of drone flying, crabbing sideways the tower just hove into shot & as you saw I backed off quickly. It would have been something to have crashed into the only thing more than one story high in a 500 mile radius!
I thought the same!
@@svfairisle Lady Luck was on your side!!
Nice video. You are having an impressive adventure. Cheers
Your channel is one of the best for teaching boat maintenance and for honest reviews of equipment. I enjoyed the video, as usual. Thank you!
Noraly on her motorcycle trekking channel, "Itchy Boots", has ridden from Spain to Morocco... all the way down through MOST countries in W. Africa and is currently in Congo Republic. You might find it interesting to see her experiences through W. Africa. I did some motor bike trekking 40 years ago Togo, Benin, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon. It was different back then by far.
You are the only sailors that I've seen checking into W. Africa mainland. I will have to go back and binge on your earlier vids. I've watched a few of your vids but I don't remember what and even who you people are. Something didn't catch me then. Your current geography is interesting to me though.
You might like some of the the stuff we did in Turkey, check out Cappadocia, that’s an amazing place
When you guys go into these towns do you feel safe?
Yes very. It’s easy, and probably right to be wary of new environments, but you shouldn’t be put off by unfamiliar cultures and surroundings. We’ve travelled all over Africa for decades for our work and apart from being mugged once in Kenya about 25 years ago when things were very bad there we’ve had no problems at all. Bear in mind as journalists we were almost always flying into places because something very bad was happening and still we were treated well. I remember filming for a week in one of the worst slums in Nairobi carrying about £100,000 worth of camera equipment and our ‘minder’ was a gentleman of about 75 carrying a stick to ward off the kids, he was a village elder, we were fine!
Spectacular
so glad to see you doing something different than other cruisers, Senegal is on my list
Thank you for taking me to this place.
Outstanding ❤
Well that dinghy trip “ to the lagoon on the other side” could end unfortunate quickly,or how fast things and situations can change on the water.
Imagine that the wind picks up during the stay “ on the other side” going back to the boat would be impossible.
I always feel reluctant to do such trips,in remote places, an motor who refuses duty could be also an pain in the ass,i would not be in the situation that i have to row the whole trip wich is an impossible task.
We almost turned back to be honest, but it was very containable. The outer section with the swell was not the open ocean but at high tide the swell gets in a bit more than we expected. If for any reason we could not make it back on the water we would have taken a donkey cart back, it’s an advantage of a light dinghy and outboard
@@svfairisle I recognised that nervous laugh so well…….
😀👍👍👍❤
Amazing film, thanks
I know it’s not though to be an issue but believe me that male GM has it issues too & is more excepted in the US & USA as well as so many other countries throughout the world including countries from the African continent. This is also shown in this video & what is said celebrating chopping bits of yourself to please others should never be celebrated but many women see nothing wrong with it & some women even demand that if the man is not circumcised they would not sleep with a man who isn’t but this is fine because it’s done in western countries as well as others.
Be aware of snakes in trees😂
Very entertaining
J & S, the young tour guide who paddled you around, was amazingly fluent and articulate in English. How so?
English is the national language in The Gambia it’s an ex British colony. They will all also speak a local language depending on tribe but mainly Mandinka. G wasn’t a tour guide he does many jobs, he just offered to take us out with his brother, he doesn’t set any charges you just pay him whatever you think is appropriate
@@svfairisle thanks
Again a very nice film 👍🏻
What is the depth of the Gambia river? Is it possible to sail there with 2,2m of draft?
Yes no problem, we draw 2 metres but in fact you can still do it with a very deep draft there will just be less places to go and you will have to watch the tides and stay in the deep channels. We anchored 100m before Lamin lodge in 5m of water but there was only a metre or so closer to it at low tide. The Saloum area of Senegal would be a different story we were pushing it with our draft to be honest, not sure I would do it again.
The height of your mast is maybe more a problem. The bridge over the Gamba river is around 19 -20 meter. The most interesting part of the river is after the bridge. You can see a lot of hippo,s, monkey and other wildlife there.
Thnx for the info.
My mast is about 19,5m high, so that would be tight. But worth a try.
@@Marcel-J Sure, just plan the passing at low tide and send someone in the mast to check if it is possible. I once did that around 20 times in the ICW with our Island Packet 485.
By the way, cruising the Saloum and Bandiala is also very nice. Not for 2+ meter draft.
The abandoned resort looks like an old club med site
Maybe
Fantastic, thanks for taking us with you to Africa. What an adventure! What a treat! Love the dress in the first 20 seconds.
I think you shd not throw bottles overboard. Have a look at the latest research. For example, nano glass particles are given off. Creatures can get caught in the bottles
Glass can be recycled.
Throwing anything overboard is really littering to the detriment of the environment.
So, leave no trace. Take it all back to a port with recycling facilities as you are doing with your cans, cardboard etc.
In all the years I have been watching, this is the only time that I have not been full of admiration.
I will do more research on this, but there is certainly mixed information. I read just the other day about using hundreds of car tyres on the sea floor as a habitat. Now I would have thought that was a complete no no, in fact 40 years ago we used to carry an old car tyre on the aft deck as a drogue, not something I would do now but it was a great system as unlike the JSD you don’t have to battle with it for hours trying to get the bloody thing back in again! (And usually failing & then having to cut the whole thing free & really litter the environment!) As I say more research needed but thing may not be as they seem at first glance.
You are talking to the converted! If you walk or more like trip, if you can bear the smell, along the shoreline from Dakar eastwards . You literally can not walk without stepping on plastic, car tyres and all manor of detritus. On the sea surface, there’s a layer of grease, which greets you miles offshore, which you try not to get on you, travelling to the shore in a dinghy or small boat.
Thank you for reading and replying. One article I read was about “ No, you cannot throw bottles off cruise ships. It is an offence to litter” Artificial reefs are being made with good environmental results , but a discarded glass bottle is a different matter. Bring back to shore where it can be made into another bottle.
Yes we are all for recycling of course, fact is though unless you have the space to bring glass bottles out of Africa they will not be recycled here. At best they will be landfill but much more likely just dumped on the street it's a real problem.
Just read this... www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2772416622000201 quite interesting, you're right nano glass is indeed a thing! seems more of a problem on land than sea though. Such a shame in the past The Gambia had a local beer brewed here that you returned the glass to get money off, i think it was the only reused glass here. They went out of business though so now beer bottles are dumped with the rest.
No surprise why the costume is red and the need to cover their faces ( fuck me)
Fauci and the Yanks have a lot to answer for Covid..and it s effect on the world ..
Like informing people to wear masks, wash their hands and quarantine as a matter of public health and safety? I seem to recall a similar effort was made in 1918 without the addition of a vaccine.
@@nudgenudge_winkwink Racist much?
Dirk please just stop embarrassing yourself.