2nd - 24th November, 1999

Having a leaky time of it!

Chapman's Peak Caravan Farm

Our time in Cape Town has been as eventful as ever, we had the inevitable vehicle problem (some of which can be put down to the expedition mechanic's magic touch!), we invested in a rather smart tent which turned out to be of the permeable variety - this was collected by the manufacturer and we were given a temporary replacement which leaked so badly in that our therma-rest matresses became lilos and we were tempted to don our drysuits for the night! We have since been given a brand new tent, only time (and the rainy season) will tell. Our next bit of fun involved Charlie's leaky drysuit - after replacing wrist and neck seals (thanks to Mike Bradley of Stingray Marine, Cape Town), we discovered that the dry zip was was also leaking badly. Faced with £120 bill to repair that we improvised with marine sealant and then lots of vaseline, neither worked and it was decided that Charlie must continue to get slightly damp in the name of 'divethedream'. Mark's spent his birthday cleaning out the truck for our northbound trip. His birthday present was a much needed £5 kettle as we were fed up with digging out the saucepans and cooker every time we wanted a cuppa. Our original buy for this purpose had been a superior £50 volcano kettle from England which was stolen from the campsite 2 weeks after arriving in SA! In amongst the various jump starts and semi-inebriated push starts we met some fascinating, knowledgeable and informative individuals who gave us a great introduction to the diving around the Cape. Go to Diving Cape Town page.

Truck Update

Go to statistics and costs for Phase I

"LandRovers are great. You can get the spares anywhere!"

What they neglect to tell you is that you NEED the damn spares!....

After the fuel pump was fixed, and the fuel tank replaced, we have been noticing that the engine just dies when in low gear and when manoevering out of parking spaces. We bled the system, found air in it but this unfortunately did not solve the problem. Dr. Muddy Trax has since informed us that we probably didn't fit the fuel pump on properly and we'll have to take it off again to check all the connections. Thanks Phil, we'll let you know how we get on.Second problem this week was down to human error. We have not been checking the electrolyte levels in main battery. (We forgot to include it on our list of checks!) The battery subsequently died and is under resucitation by an auto-electrician who said its got a 10% revival chance. Before ringing the electrician, we thought we should try our hands at first aid. We disconnected the split charging system and rewired the 2nd battery. Problem occured when we realised, we'd forgotten which way the wires connected. Result - ignition light remained on both with engine running and after keys were taken out. Mr Auto Electrician diagnosed a blown diode in charging system. While he was under the bonnet, he gave our alternator a quick once over resulting in new bearings. Luckily, our battery recharged OK. Total Cost was a very painful £70.

Dive The Dream Day to Day Costs for Phase I

We have now reached the end of Phase I and for those that want to know how much day to day living has cost us. Please find below stats for the last 80 days.

Phase II has now begun. This will hopefully take us from Zimbabwe through Malawi and Tanzania to our next major diving destination Kenya where we will begin our slow southbound diving safari. Our next report will however come from underwater Chinhoyi Caves in Zimbabwe where we have been told the visibility is so incredible that you can see birds flying across the surface from 30metres under. Speak to you all soon. Fingers crossed for the communication systems as we cross the South African border.

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