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Hello. This site will, I guess, always be undergoing slow construction. Please enjoy what is on offer and return in the future for updates.
The most recent picture of Nini, taken 17 August 1997, ready to hit the water after three months on the hard.
Why Nini?
I suppose buying Nini was the logical conclusion to our problems. We were tired of the ratrace and our lives were going nowhere (not really, professionally we were and are doing quite well. Our futures didn't look too rosy, though, or rather, looked too rosy. We were secure, moving steadily up, but there was something missing. We figured there must be a whole lot to do and learn and see in the big wide world, and we were slipping steadily into monotony and middle age. It was time to break free and roam and do and learn and see what was on offer in the world.
We're probably a bit set in our ways and a bit too full of shit to bum around the world, and not quite rich enough to tour the world in style ( a few million short, actually). So we would have to see the world on a tight budget, be self supporting, not living in gutters, not get caught up in another ratrace, and have fun: the only option seemed to buy a yacht, and this is the story of the good yacht NINI.
A bit about NINI
Nini is a 32-foot ferrocement yacht, of Hartley design. She has half a full keel and is almost 12' foot wide. She is sloop rigged, with a main and roller-furling jib. The hull was built by (I believe) the previous owners, Chris and Chrissie van Wyk, who rigged and fitted out and finished Nini in East London (South Africa). Nini has seven berths, though I would consider four people on board to be enough, or rather a comfortable amount. For Leanne and myself there is ample room, with junk piling up on the other berths. Nini has a 25hp Farymann Diesel engine (very old) inboard, gear controls that are pretty hit-and -miss and enough room for me to stand inside (6'4") . Power is supplied by 4 x 96ah 12V batteries, which are charged by solar panels, and there are lights, VHF radio, radar,radio, electric windlass. The tiller and the home-made steering vane both connect to the Autohelm for easy sailing. Cooking is by gas- there is a 2-plate stove but I have bought an oven subsequently. We don't yet have a fridge but there is an icebox installed. There is a myriad of charts on board and a GPS to navigate by- in fact, if we wanted to we could have stocked up on food and left for our round-the-world trip. Wish we had, but........
NOW
I suppose now our motivation has changed a bit. We have both been as sick as we could get and got over it. Since we now have Nini and good jobs we can afford to have a weekend yacht. We have also seen people buy and build boats, only to sail a bit and decide it's not for them, or not what they thought it would be like, and put their boats up for sale on the spot. I think now we're just very determined to go, come hell or high water. We have put our money where our mouth is and are devoting all our efforts to readying ourselves and Nini for our Atlantic crossing late 1998. The way I see it, we're determined not to be able to tell the story of how we were going to sail round the world; rather stories of our voyages.I also guess that now the whole world will be expecting us to go and I will not be letting anyone down.
This is becoming a very interesting story, but I guess Rome wasn't built in a day...
Come again soon! You can also check out our history page: link below
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Email: nini32@hotmail.com
