I originally wrote the strapline for this piece as Hakuna Matata, what a wonderful phrase, as a nod to the distinctly African named boats that the lovely family of Harvey and Sue Death and their now older daughters (holders of the Finest Sunbathing Regatta Award), have loved and sailed for many years. First up was Sarabi, named after Simba’s mother and the Queen of the Pride in The Lion King, when his daughters were still only 4 and 6, and whose demur visage adorns the back of their latest yacht, named, many years after the Disney predilections, as Safiya, meaning pure loyal friend, which seems perfectly fitting.
Simon Relph and I had been down at the private Oyster viewing when the Oyster team mentioned Harvey and Sue, how wonderful they were, and the fact that they had done the last Oyster World Rally, something which for me would be number one on my bucket list ever! So, unable to catch up with them that afternoon, which meant I sadly missed the opportunity to meet Sue, instead I headed down later in the week to catch up with Harvey and his skipper. Harry.
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The first thing that strikes you with Harvey is that his first thought is to put you at ease onboard his sometime home. Thoroughly charming and funny I could see how they slotted right into that fabulous of families, the Oyster Family. And so we settled down for a couple of hours and a couple of beers, to hear all about their experience sailing around the world.
Harvey, an avid mini enthusiast, who holds the record for the Fastest Mini in the World at Brands Hatch and who bought his first road car for 15 pounds, that he did up to do sprints in, has upgraded to a 6 speed touring car with a V8 360HP Radical engine that got up to 152 MPH, clearly still has plenty of adventuring in him. It was a real shame that I didn’t get to meet Sue, though I feel I have met a little of her personality from talking to Harvey and reading her blog posts as well. I’m told they will be back here at some point, so hopefully we’ll get to share another beer or two a few more of their amazing stories.
In fairness, if I was to tell the whole story it would be a very long hardback, as they seemed to have some incredible adventures during those 28,000 miles. In fact, looking at their blog, which I encourage you all to do, there are over 80 blog entries covering such subjects as close encounters with Tiger Sharks, traversing the Panama Canal, being stranded in paradise and the Lombok earthquake, all of which lead you on an incredible journey that perhaps should indeed be made into a book.
Below are a few extracts from Harvey and Sue’s blog because I feel you get a fantastic insight into their trip, their personalities and their unwavering sense of humour. The full blog truly brought their journey to life and highlighted to me not only the beauty of the scenery and the teeming wildlife, the sheer excitement of the places that they visited but also the community spirit that comes along with being a part of the Oyster World Rally family.
Sat 14 Jan 2017 22:39 – Safiya ready to start 2017 / 2019 Oyster World Rally
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After 2 years of planning and preparations, it’s now less than 24 hours before we set sail on our big adventure!
The fleet of 30 Oysters has gathered in the beautiful old port of Nelson’s dockyard, English Harbour in Antigua ready for the official start tomorrow at 1pm.
We arrived on the island a week ago and it has been a frenetic few days of preparations. We shopped in the huge supermarket in St Johns where they even have a Waitrose aisle! We filled 4 trolleys including 60 bottles of water and some beer, then to Dominica (just in case the watermaker fails!).
The freezer is full and every conceivable space on the boat is filled with cans and tins including under the floorboards.
Oyster have organised a number of events during the week including a seminar on tropical weather and passage planning, and a course on yacht safety and security which have been really useful. The start party on Thursday was great fun, typical Oyster style – wine flowing and dancing till the early hours!
Fri 27 Apr 2018 23:23 – Safiya supports 575 Callioipe with major rig failure!
“during last night Calliope lost part of her rig as 4 spreader diagonals failed at approx. 2400 hours. Charles and team have made temporary repairs and are currently heading into New Caledonia , as closest land fall. They will be escorted by Safiya and then handed over to Unconditional later today who was visiting NC in their plans. The NZ coast Guard has been informed under Pan Pan advisory. All are safe and well and the rig was renewed in Auckland just weeks ago! Weather a bit uncomfortable and worse than forecast. Calliope has email coms, SSB and VHF but very limited AIS due to damage . Charles and team have completed amazing repairs in 2.5m seas and 30kts of wind up the rig to prevent total rig loss!”
Fri 15 Sep 2017 05:58 – Close encounter with Tiger Sharks
Now if you had told me 9 months ago before we set off on this trip that I would be diving with tiger sharks, I would have said absolutely no way in the world. This morning not only did I dive with tiger sharks but there was a whole bunch of reef and bull sharks hanging around too! We went with a specialist dive company who in a very controlled manner took us down to the dive site about 20 metres. We stayed behind a low coral wall, while in front of us the dive captain fed the sharks fish scraps. There ensued a mad feeding frenzy between the bull sharks and then the tiger sharks glided in for a piece of the action. There were 4 in total and these guys are huge, the largest was about 4 metres long and weighed approx 400 kilos. We went eyeball to eyeball with him but we felt completely safe, they were curious, but more interested in fish food than human food!!
Wed 31 May 2017 16:36 – Stranded in Paradise
After a couple of days in Ahe our friends from the Oyster Altair joined us and we decided to move on to the atoll of Rangiroa. We sailed together through the night the 80 miles to the largest atoll in the Tuomotos, measuring 40 miles in diameter and 100 miles circumference with a string of tiny islands encircling the lagoon. Getting through the pass into the
shelter of the lagoon is quite hairy as the water tends to surge. It is very tidal and narrow so you have to pick the right time to cross. As it was, we had standing waves going through and we surfed into the lagoon, the dolphins loved it though, one jumped right across our bow!
Inside the lagoon, the water is crystal clear and turquoise blue and teeming with wildlife. It is also very sheltered which was just as well as a few days ago the wind picked up to over 25 knots and changed direction coming from exactly where we want to go next so we decided to stay here until it abates which should be mid-week, to make our journey more comfortable. Luckily we’ve chosen a really lovely place to stranded with just enough
civilisation to make it comfortable. We were able to buy lettuce and tomatoes for the first time in 6 weeks so we have had a real salad fest.
Sat 6 Apr 2019 16:43 – All the way around the World!!!!!!
Dominica marked the end of our circumnavigation as this is where our journey started 27 months ago when we left the Caribbean and headed west towards Bonaire. We celebrated with Alice and Matt and friends who were anchored nearby.
We made our way round to Nelson’s Dockyard to take up our berth. This is where we started our round the world trip 27 months ago and coincidentally we were put in exactly the same spot. It felt very strange and a bit of an anti-climax to be back after 28,000 miles, 801 days, 27 countries and over 85 different islands. What on earth do we do now…………?!
Our circumnavigation is now officially ended, we’ve got the parties to look forward to and then the hard bit, saying goodbye to the people that we’ve been sailing with for the past two years who have become very firm friends.
As you can see, this is only a tiny taster of not only the blog itself, but the blog posts and the adventure. They are full of fun and sailing, of amazing scenery and nature beyond belief. They hold the monotony of playing I-spy again. I mean how many Ss are there in the middle of the ocean? Sun, sea, sails, sailboat, sky, stars… They tell of friendships forged, families growing, of times of loneliness and of great wonderment. They are stories that we dream of and that Harvey, Sue, their friends, family and crew (who were described as 33.3% friend, 33.3% employee and 33.3% son) experienced, sometimes together and sometimes vicariously. Of experiencing the abject poor and the ostentatiously rich. Of fond farewells and warm welcomes. Of a lifetime of memories that only grow more colourful in the retelling. What an adventure indeed!
By Victoria Pearce
Blog by Sue and Harvey Death – http://blog.mailasail.com/safiya
