Entry Number: 7
THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME…
And so it starts. Wil Neethling, a game and peach farmer, having lived in the Bushveld his whole life, decided that it is time to buy a boat and brave the unknown. I suppose he must have some saltwater in his blood, as his great-grandfather, Joan Mees was the owner of the shipyard in Katendrecht, Netherland during the 19th century. Back to the present…
Wil bought the boat Unwind earlier this year and started doing his sailing courses with the aim of circumnavigating the globe with his family, wife Jeanette, daughter Marinette and son Pedri. They are planning to take three years off for this adventure. Wil is currently busy with his coastal and yacht master courses, Pedri has completed the competent crew course, and wife and daughter are clueless so far, but on their way to also start training and spending time on the boat.
In preparation for their world tour, the very green Neethlings (hopefully just because they only started sailing recently, and not because they all suffer from seasickness!!) are planning to compete in the St. Helena race starting on the 29th of December. They can never even consider doing it alone, and therefore Nicholas Moss, and his friend Jodi Geldenhuys, agreed to accompany them. Nicholas has been sailing for years already, the last few as a delivery skipper and instructor and that is how Wil and Nicholas met. Nicholas was the instructor for Wil’s competent crew course and they became friends. Jodi has been sailing for two years and has recently completed her day skipper training. She has done multiple coastal and bay races and crewed on a couple of coastal deliveries and is looking forward to giving offshore racing a try. This will be a great learning experience for the Neethlings but luckily they will be in very good hands.
Preparations are in full swing and the Neethlings are looking forward to starting their new life as a family, unwinding and just spending time together in nature, without any distractions (and loadshedding!). They are grateful to be part of the community at RCYC and know that in time they will be one big happy family.
