Jade Bennett

Hi all!! Welcome back to pt. 2 of my time in Cape Town. Gosh, it feels like forever since I last posted, right? Sorry ’bout that, I have definitely been overloaded this semester in the area of my academics. Ugh, we’ll get into that trauma later. For now, let me tell you about what’s been happening for the past six months or so. Get ready, set, and action!

As you have probably guessed, I have some news regarding the plans of the Fam to share with all of you. The first is that, as of a couple of months ago, Dafne and her crew have decided to stay in Cape Town, South Africa, until 2023!! Yay! That is so exciting for all of us, as we have loved staying here and can’t wait to spend until February/March 2023 here in CT. Another announcement is that last year, Cleo has been applying to colleges in the US. She recently got accepted to ED (early decision) at Pomona College in Los Angeles! So exciting, and I finally get her roo- oh um…I mean um…just so exciting, Cleo! Anyway, I also have some news of my own. I’ve been accepted to the summer camp psychology program at Oxbridge!!! AHHHHH! OMG, I’m still reeling, and I found out more than two months ago. The program takes place in July in London at one of the Oxbridge colleges. I applied to the two-week program, so I’ll be staying until early August. Also, I applied for a scholarship and received a 50% discount on tuition. Thanks so much, Oxbridge!! I’m ecstatic to attend your program! Ahhhh!!

Well, now that I’ve addressed some of my most exciting and cool news, let’s have just a basic rundown of what the past six months have looked like.

During the last six months since I returned to South Africa from my summer back in the US, I’ve taken up a couple of extracurricular activities and hobbies. I’ve started contemporary dance at a local program in Cape Town, as well as playing tennis with a private teacher. I have also, recently, begun a recreational theatre and dance program at a theatre school near the boat. All of these things have been super fun and challenging, and have allowed me to meet some friends here in CT. The crew and I also have other connections that have led us to a town I’ve mentioned before in another post about two hours outside of Cape Town called Hermanus. We’ve visited Hermanus a couple of times in the past half-year, and I’ve grown to be quite good friends with a girl there. All these things, I realize, I have been missing out on while sailing around Southeast Asia during those couple of years. Now that Dafne and her crew are anchored (well, not literally) at a marina, we’ve been able to enjoy “land life,” as we call, it with all its perks and enjoyments.

Hey? Remember in pt. 1 when I *casually* mentioned that Dafne’s crew would be buying a house in Cape Town as a rental property and summer house? Well, that came true!! We have bought a lovely house about forty-five minutes outside of the center city in a town called Kommetjie, and we’ve been giving it a complete renovation these past few months. The house badly needed to be redone, and we also have been adding things like a pool, hot tub, and a large deck. However, though the past few months have been exciting getting to see the transformation of the house, it’s been a nightmare for my mother. Seriously. She’s had to deal with so many architects, plumbers, and more, who don’t listen to her plans for the layout and inevitably get the design wrong. Ugh! What a shitake show! Anyhow, it’s still progressing, and my mom thinks that it will be finished by this summer. So exciting!

Finally, this school year has definitely been eventful. The last time I posted, I was talking about all of the fun and partying I’d been getting up to in the summer of 2021. Well, this school year is a far cry from that Candyland. I feel like I’ve been swamped with a massive amount of assignments and papers, and it’s just getting deeper. The only good that has come of this swamp is that I finally have a valid excuse for the absentia of my blog. I’m sorry guys, I wish it was anything but, but I have succumbed to academia and its demands. Please pray for my salvation and rescue. Amen.

Anyways, all in all, the past six months of the year have been eventful and exciting. From trying out new activities that I continue to fail wondrously at, to lots of new friends, I assure you, I’ve become really accustomed to life on board Dafne II at the V&A Waterfront Marina in Cape Town, South Africa. Thanks, tons, you guys, and I hope you’re having as many adventures as possible! Mwah!

Good day to all! Or good evening, completely your choice. (Why am I writing/talking like this? Ugh, I’m just gonna start with my usual intro.)

Hey, guys! Welcome back for the second part of my exhausting summer – as you can tell by the title. In the last post, I told you guys about the first half of my adventures this summer, talking about visiting family members and friends, getting vaccinated, and going to a sewing camp (eek!). In this post, young Padawan, I will continue the summer from where we left off last. Uh, where was that?? Ah, yes, I was just getting back from my trip to Washington, DC, with my grandparents on July 3rd.

When we got back from DC, I stayed with my grandparents in Connecticut until July 8th. Then, my parents came to pick me up and bring me back to Philly. Like Cleo, I also had a summer camp that I was going to attend. However, this one would only last two weeks and would be in New Jersey. I stayed only a few days in Philly, getting ready, then left for my camp on the 11th. My camp specialized in the arts, and I took theatre, technical theatre, and slam poetry classes. They were all super fun classes, and I performed at the end of the camp session. So fun (and exhausting)!!

Then, in late July, my parents picked me up and brought me back to Philly, again. We stayed there until Cleo arrived back from her camp in the first few days of August. We also had a small family reunion with my mom’s side of the family, and it was so nice to see my great aunts and uncles. Then, on August 4th, we drove back up to Connecticut to take another extended trip with my dad’s side of the family.

My family and I stayed with my dad’s parents for about 2 weeks, spending quality time with my grandparents and aunt. On the 13th of August, Stella and her boyfriend came up and spent time with us. Stella had had a summer job, and now that it was finished, we could go on one last big trip with all the five of us, plus Stella’s boyfriend, who is a nameless side character for my plot. (Just kidding, I know his name! *Mom!*).

Then, on the 18th, the whole crew drove/flew up to Boston, where we met up with family friends. We always met up with them sometime during the summer to go on a camping trip in Baxter State Park, Maine. Once there, we all went camping for about 4 days. It was so beautiful up there, and we went to a part of the park where we had never been before! After our trip, we spent a few days at our family friends’ house, then drove back up to Connecticut. This was just the regular crew minus Stella, who, after camping, had flown to Ohio to meet her boyfriend’s family. The rest of the crew all stayed in Connecticut for about four days, where we celebrated half of my birthday. (The other half I celebrated with my mom’s family).

Then, we all drove down AGAIN to Philly – I hope you’re all still with me because this is getting tedious – stopping at my grandparents’ lake house in Pennsylvania. My grandmother’s birthday is a few days after my own, so, after celebrating with her (and lots of cake!), we finally, finally, plunked down onto an airplane and left our home country, snoring.

Thank you so much for bearing with me during this two-part saga of my looooong summer. (My brain is dead, I swear). Even writing these posts was overwhelming and tiresome, so I can barely imagine what you – my reader – have experienced. I know that these posts have delved maybe too much into detail here and there, but I only hoped of giving a full account of the goings-on in my life, as always. For now, take a rest, and I’ll see you in the next post! Until then, young sirs! (Still not working? Dang).

Hey there! This is not my usual post, which usually specializes in the exciting places I travel to aboard Dafne. However, keeping in the norm of posting once every never, I decided to update you guys on Summer 2021 for the Dafne crew!! Last summer, we didn’t take our usual trip back to the US because of COVID-19. So, this summer, we had so many trips planned, it seemed like the summer would never end! As I’m writing this, I realize that this trip was so packed full of stuff, that I have to split it up into two parts, the endpoint of this post in early July.

The first part of our trip started in late May, when we packed up all our suitcases, locked Dafne up, and hopped on a plane. Well, actually, a couple of planes. Our destination was Chicago, as that was where Stella had been for the past year. We arrived jetlagged, and, after dropping our bags at our friends’ house, we went to a health center to get our first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. It was quite an eye-opener to have literally just landed in the US from a place that will not see vaccines in quite a while, to actually getting our first dose.

We spent a week in Chicago, catching up with Stella and some family friends there. However, this summer was going to be busy, and we already had a trip planned for the five of us. Our next stop on the summer’s adventure was a 5-day backpacking trip in the Grand Canyon! For 5 days, we followed our guide down into the breathtaking canyon and back out again. The views were spectacular and the wildlife was next-level! It was also super hot! I really think that that trip was one of the best I have ever experienced…yet!

After our days in the Grand Canyon, we hopped on another plane in early June and flew to New York. Why you may ask? Well, Stella had a summer job lined up in New York, so we went to drop her off and then stayed a night at a friend’s apartment. Then, we drove up to Philly. Yay, Philly!! My birthplace and home to my mom’s side of the family. We stayed with my grandparents for about a week, visiting family friends, and such. I also went to a day camp during this time, where I learned to sew. Not one of my finer moments, I have to tell you! 😉

This is where the timeline starts to get confusing because Dafne’s crew starts to split off on different trips. I will do my best to make it less confusing. Remember how I told you that Stella was in New York? Well, she was, but she also took a train up to Connecticut for my grandfather’s 80th birthday in late June. Stella’s 19th birthday was only a few days after his, so we celebrated both with her. Then Stella went back to New York, while the rest of us all stayed in Connecticut.

Now it gets even more complicated. See, Cleo had a 4-week camp lined up in Barcelona. She had to be there in the first few days of July, so she left Connecticut with my parents around July 1st. I stayed behind in Connecticut with my grandparents and we took a trip to Washington, DC for a few days. My grandparents had to attend the funeral of a friend, so they took me along for an educational trip to our nation’s capital. I had been to DC before with my grandparents, but that was years ago, and it was exciting to visit the monuments for a second time!

There is more to my summer coming soon, however, I am still in the drafting process. Please stay tuned for the second pt. Or don’t. You tooootally won’t hurt my feelings. Enjoy your summer and peace out!!

I’m back! Yep, I’ve been livin’ it up! For the past 5 months, Dafne & Crew has been parked at the V&A Waterfront Marina in Cape Town, SA. The crew has been exploring South Africa, starting in Richard’s Bay, and rounding the Cape of Good Hope into Cape Town. Along our journey, we’ve been constantly debating the next steps in our circumnavigation; crossing the Atlantic Ocean into the Caribbean. This post will explain exactly what I mean, and the conclusion that Dafne has come to.

For most of November, Dafne was on the East Coast of South Africa, exploring places like Richard’s Bay, East London, and Port Elizabeth. During our time in those places, we went on multiple safaris and saw the stunning beauty of South Africa’s wildlife and landscape. We rounded the Cape of Good Hope in early December and sailed into Cape Town on the 13th. We immediately went on many trips, going to places such as Hermanus, Eland’s Bay, Kirstenbosch, and more. We celebrated Christmas and the New Year before going on an epic five-day hiking trip along the coast with a group of friends.  

Like all cruisers, our travels depend heavily on the weather, especially if we are making such a monumental step as crossing an ocean. The best time of the year to cross the Atlantic Ocean from South Africa is in January or February. However, another component of our crossing has to do with the wishes of Dafne Crew. The Fam is loving South Africa for several reasons; the amazing landscape, the friends that we have made here, and the variety of activities to do. My mom has also been looking at houses for sale around Cape Town and its neighboring towns. I know, I’m just casually mentioning the possibility of buying a house here, but if we did buy a house, we would not move into it. It would be like a summer home basically, and we would continue to inhabit Dafne. In conclusion, we have fallen in love with South Africa, and have decided to wait a whole year to cross our final ocean in 2022!!

In the end, Dafne will be parked at the V&A Waterfront Marina until February 2022! The Dafne Family will instead be flying to the US during the Northern Hemisphere summer to visit family and friends. We’re ecstatic to be parked in such an amazing place!

Ok, I’m sorta tired of everyone giving me the side-eye because they think I’m not updating my blog. I’m sorry, Jennifer! Get back to your casserole! Seriously, though, I am updating as frequently as possible due to minor fun going on around where I am… So I would appreciate it if y’all weren’t so rude, Ok? (I’m joking, Mom. Chill.)

Anyway, onto the subject of this post: The Seychelles! The Seychelles were great and I loved our time there. It was amazing to be back in civilization after a month and a half of passage. My family and I were able to get things like stationary, t-shirts, wifi, and good, but overpriced, food. To be honest, though, the Seychelles weren’t one of the best places for underwater activity, because the water was a bit murky. However, I definitely enjoyed the abundance and variety of fish while free diving. And, I know, you’re going to roll your eyes and groan at my lack of self control, but OMG, they had Salt & Vinegar chips!!! {Drooly face}.

For a quick geography lesson, lead by yours truly, there are 115 islands in the Seychelles, however there are only 3 or 4 that are of relevance to you readers. The biggest and most populated island is Mahe, and the capital of the country, Victoria, is located on the Northeastern side of Mahe. We spent most of our time in Victoria, or, more correctly, Eden Island Bay, because of wifi, food provisioning, and flying Stella back to the States for college (!!).

All in all, we spent about a month in the Seychelles, 3 weeks in Victoria, and 1 week exploring Mahe’s neighboring islands, Praslin and La Digue. During our time on Mahe, we went on lot’s of hikes and to a few restaurants. But mostly, Cleo and I were tied up with the beginning of our school year. On La Digue, we biked around the island and visited one of their famous beaches.

I loved the Seychelles and it’s abundance of tall mountains and dense jungle. In my opinion, Mahe is one of the leading 5 on “Jade’s Favorite Places” list. I was sad to see it go, but also anticipating our next stop: SOUTH AFRICA!

Still alive! Yep, I’m still here. You may notice if you have eyes, that the date of this post is far from the date of my last post. Be not confused, dear readers, for Jade never lies and I shall not lie on her behalf; I am not currently in the Chagos Islands. {Gasp}. I know, I know, I’m so sorry I haven’t been posting regularly, but I will try my best to bring up memories of our few days in the Chagos. And yes, I said “days”. Why, Jade, would you post about a place you were only in for a few days? Well, I believe that experience outweighs time, and my experience in the Chagos very much outweighed the time I spent there. I will now let you in on my precious time there.

For those of you that failed geography, the Chagos Islands are smack-dab in the middle of the Indian Ocean. If you do not know where the Indian Ocean is, I suggest you leave this site. Thank you. The Chagos have one amazing defining feature: they’re abandoned. Absolutely no native Chagossians live on any of the islands. However, on the main and biggest island, Diego Garcia, there are people. Military people, mind you. Actually, a fun fact, the US military.

Diego Garcia is part of the British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT), which means its owned by the UK. In 1973, a joint US/UK air force was established, but the air force feared that native Chagossians, for whatever reason, would shoot their planes out of the sky. Because of this, between 1967 and 1973, the US and UK relocated all 1500 Chagossians to the island of Mauritius and the archipelago of Seychelles. This may seem like an interesting historical fact, but it actually affected me, my family, and Dafne as we planned to set sail across the Indian Ocean. 

If we wanted to stop in the Chagos, which we did, then we had to request a permit from the BIOT, which we did. Mind you, we sent our request in later than other boats, so we were at the bottom of the list. Then, because of COVID, even before the BIOT got to our request, they decided to not let any other boats into the Chagos. Their reasoning was this: they didn’t think we would infect any people, obviously because the islands were deserted and we weren’t allowed on Diego Garcia. They just didn’t want to have to deal with our medical needs if we got sick. To be fair, I can see their reasoning, but still, come on! We had already taken a test before we left the Mentawais, and we had been at sea for 2 weeks, so we almost definitely didn’t have COVID. I and my family explained those reasons and how we just wanted some safety from the open sea, so they relented a little bit. They said that if we had any emergencies, we could call them.

No coincidence, guys, I swear, we did have to stop in the Chagos. We had a couple of problems with our water maker and other things…..nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Anyway, a woman named Yolanda, who was policing fishing on a steamer in the area, came to our boat, looked at our passports, and cleared us. The next day, September 1st, we were out and about. We went to a few of the islands around us and we saw a ton of amazing marine life. There was an abundance of fish, rays, and black-tipped sharks. The islands were also super cool; tons of crabs and plants, and there were ruins of a town and cemetery; which was pretty creepy, even though the day was sunny and warm. And yes, I am admitting that I am scared of cemeteries. Don’t look at me like that, Claustrophobia! I know you feel it too!

So, props aside, the Chagos Islands were astounding. They were one of the very few places left on this Earth that show how breathtaking a place can be when there are no humans around. Of course, when I say no humans, I mean that there were no humans on land. Many cruisers pass through, and there was the steamer stationed there that cleared our entry. But other than that, I thought it was super peaceful being in a place that was surviving, and even flourishing, by barely being touched by people. I thought that was cool, but my family was excited to get to Seychelles, and on to South Africa. 

Some info about me; one of my favorite things is being surrounded by nature. I absolutely love being in any type of wildlife, whether marine, jungle, forest, or other. I feel super at peace and happy when I’m in these places, and, I kid you not, I’m even more at peace when there are little to no people around. OK, OK, I concede; there are a few crowds of people that I also love to be around, but for the most part, I don’t really love being in groups or crowds of people. This includes parties, and, if I haven’t given you enough information yet, being the center of attention at a party is even worse. So, I was elated when the celebration of my 13th birthday coincided with our time in the Chagos. 

Well, that’s not exactly true. Oh, no, you’ve got it wrong. I loved that we celebrated my birthday in the Chagos, but my actual b-day was during our next passage to Seychelles. We weren’t in the Chagos for my actual birthday, on the 3rd of September. We left the Chagos on the morning of the 2nd. However, we did celebrate my turning of age on September 1st, with a chocolate cake and my first viewing of Die Hard (Dad picked). The next day was even better: presents, cinnamon rolls (courtesy of Stella), and my first-ever legal cappuccino (On Dafne, you cannot have your own cup of coffee until you are at least 13). And let me tell you, I was relieved, positively blessed, to be in the company of my family, and only my family, for my smashing 13th.

Adios, amigos! Ciao! I promise to write from my travels while you’re stuck in your house, eating cold lasagna. I hope you get to go to all the places I’ve been to and see all the amazing things I’ve seen. And now, end scene. That’s it. The show’s over. Roll credits.

Since we’ve been in Thailand for such a long time, I’m going to skip the small talk and get to the point: I thought Thailand was amazing. My family might not agree with me on that, because we spent so much time in Phuket, and Phuket isn’t the shining star of Thailand. In our time exploring Thailand, we went to Chang Mai, Bangkok, and of course, Phuket and its surrounding islands.

Chang Mai was our first land travel, and it was such a cool little place. We spent about 3 days there, not really going to museums and temples, but just walking the streets. I think that’s a great way to explore places. If you’ve ever been to Bali, you would really like Chang Mai. It’s super compact and small, and each day you don’t get run over is another day to pray to God. The last activity we did on our trip was a cooking class, focused on the Thai culture of Lanna, which is up in the northern tip of Thailand. We had the most amazing food in the entire world! It was so good, especially the dessert. It was thick coconut cream, ground with rice to be made into cream, then put in little egg ring things, and dipped in brown sugar with scallions. So good!

Bangkok. Wow. Bangkok. Just Bangkok. There’s nothing else to say, besides Bangkok. It’s a booming megacity. Beautiful and amazing, dirty and sweaty. It’s balance. It’s the Force. It’s Bangkok. I loved it. So did Stella. The others weren’t so hot on it. We met my grandparents and explored the food temples and just the street. Bangkok is also one of those places, like Chang Mai, that you can explore just by walking the streets. The only con was the air pollution. I loved Bangkok all the same, but I would’ve loved it even more without the air feeling like it was clogged.

And finally, Phuket. Don’t try to pronounce it, because you’re definitely saying it wrong. It’s PUU-ket. The H isn’t pronounced in Thai. Anyway, we spent so much time in Phuket. Most of it was exploring the island and exploring the mainland, but a full week was spent hauling* our boat out and cleaning it. My mom doesn’t like Phuket, my dad isn’t for it either, and I’m neutral. We loved staying in Thailand as a whole, partly because of the food and amazing things to do, but Phuket wasn’t the greatest (so much traffic!). The only ones who were fine with staying in Phuket were Stella and Cleo. Even they were just there for the Muaythai. (Muaythai is amazing!! Look it up).

*Hauling your boat means taking it out of the water to do any maintenance that is needed on the bottom of the boat. There’s really only one thing you need to know: that it’s not fun!!

After heading off from Thailand, we aimed for Sumatra, a large region of Indonesia. Our first stop was Sabang, a small town to check into Indonesia and take our temperature (we’re all fine!). After Sabang, we headed to the Mentawais, a large group of tropical islands bordering the Indian Ocean side of Sumatra.

First stop, Banda. The Banda Islands were one of the major regions that suffered severely from the earthquake in the Indian Ocean in 2004. When we visited Banda Aceh, we went to their earthquake museum. Also in Banda Aceh, we picked up 2 friends, my aunt, and a crew member.

Next, we stopped in the Telos islands. The Telos islands were nice, with sweet water, but it rained a lot while we were there, so we moved on quickly. Alright, I admit there might have been a bit of pleading from the kids to see their friends, because they haven’t seen them in so long, and you wouldn’t understand, Mom. Well, it worked, ok, so don’t roll your eyes at me.

After that, the next stop was Nias. Nias was beautiful, with amazing water, and we went on a fun trip while we were there. There is a small village at the top of a mountain on the island that we stopped at (I can’t remember the name, stop yelling at me!), and the houses there are designed in a very odd way. They are built to withstand earthquakes, and, since they are on top of a mountain, they can withstand tsunamis. We took a truck to the top of the mountain and walked around the little village, admiring the houses. It rained a lot, so we took the truck back down and visited the fresh market, getting lots of fresh fruit.

Now we are in the lower Mentawais islands, anchored around a group of islands that we should love to explore and move around. Sadly, the Indonesian government is banning all movement of boats, and, even worse, most of the countries that we were planning on visiting through the summer and all next year, are closed to boats. So, for now, our plans to cross the Indian are on hold. We’re swimming here and doing school and watching lots of movies. Our quarantine is not so different from our regular life. Well, I hope you’re all locked down and following healthcare rules. Peace out.

So sorry, guys! It’s been so busy lately, and I’m serious this time. We spent almost 2 weeks in Langkawi, doing various boat jobs that have been put off throughout the last year and a half due to minor engagements such as admiring the view. We did jobs such as acid washing the deck, waxing it, and most importantly and the pride and joy of the entire family, installing our new hardtop bimini! It’s our Christmas present to ourselves.

Well, Langkawi was not our main station for getting a ton of things done, but there was a lot of back-breaking work that was done in those long 2 weeks. We swam in the pool in the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club (totally back-breaking work), had more than one 20% off dinner at the numerous restaurants lining the water, and visited marine cloth shops, looking for the right material for new cushions that were never found. Washing the boat with acid was probably the most fun because we got to watch as the rust marks faded away. Well, they didn’t go away completely. If you press your face really close to the deck, you can see slight discoloration that will never fade. Just don’t do that, and it will look totally fine.

Our crew, Paolo, left us the day before we left Langkawi, and we were sad to see him go after nearly three months of company. I won’t end this blog post by saying that we had a good time in Langkawi. Let me rephrase that. We didn’t really have a good time at the Royal Langkawi Yacht Club. Marina’s in general aren’t great. The water is usually not swimmable, and most of the time you can’t make fresh water for drinking. We found ourselves taking showers up in the public bathrooms and borrowing water filters from our neighbors. Yeah, marinas aren’t great. Langkawi was fine though and it was good to pull into a resting stop before moving on.

I’m actually very proud of myself. I have not made you angry, I’ve updated the blog quite a few times, and I’m actually doing it by choice. Like, my mom’s not forcing me to do this. I do it on my own. So you should all kneel before your queen. Ha, no.

Well, I expect you’ll be wanting to hear all about Penang, Malaysia. That’s what I thought. We might as well get cracking. Penang is a small island off the coast of mainland Malaysia. It’s absolutely beautiful, with its third-largest reclining Buddha in the world, and the great hike we went on that left our legs feeling like jelly. While there, we eat delicious din tai fung, bubble tea, sushi, high tea, and much more. Penang was a beautiful place and there was so much more to do. But there was one slightly uncomfortable matter.

The marina we parked the boat at was loud as heck. From 8:00 pm to 11:00 pm, you had all ranges of music blasting into your ears. Everything from Latin American to punk rock serenaded us to sleep all night long. It was a massive pain in the neck, but there was nothing to be done.

Well, that was only at the night. We partied in the daytime and then snoozed when the partying really went on. Ah well, we tried our best, but our schedules just don’t line up. Penang was beautiful. Except for the music.