Stephen and Estelle were married in 1990 and lived in Cape Town in a small coastal town known for it's stunning beaches and spectacular view of Table mountain. Estelle was a fashion designer and had a successful business manufacturing swimwear while Stephen's trucking brokerage company was thriving. They had good careers, a nice home and cars and lots of friends. They loved their carefree lives but their sense for adventure and Stephen's dream to sail around the world kept nagging at them.
They decided to do something about it and set the plan in motion. Stephen and Derek, Stephen's best friend, went scouting around the South African seaboard for the perfect hull and deck which they found in Durban. The hull was trucked to Cape Town and deposited in Derek's backyard where it spent the next two years being built. The boat was partially finished but like with most boats, the project was abandoned for lack of money and enthusiasm. "Royal Salute" was no exception and because the finishing and layout was not up to standard, everything was ripped out and they started with a bare shell. They drew up new plans for the interior layout and redesigned the electrical and plumbing systems, deck layout and sail plan. Derek, being an engineer, worked tirelessly to make every system in the boat perfect while Stephen was the driving force behind the project. They knew every inch of that boat. They even hand made the lead ingots for the keel. They found old car batteries, melted the lead and poured it into castings and the finished product, one kilo ingots, was packed into the keel, five tons worth it.
Together they built a masterpiece and the 45ft Bruce Roberts sloop was launched two years later amid a lot of fan fare. Few people (including Estelle) ever believed that the hulk in the Derek's backyard would ever see the water. The traffic department gave her a safe escort to the harbor on the day the boat was loaded by crane onto a truck to be driven about 20 km by truck to Cape Town where she was launched.
Everybody who was involved in this project for those two years, including friends and family, all gave a collective sigh of relief when "Royal Salute" was declared safe and dry and that she was floating to her lines in Cape Town Harbor. It was simply the most beautiful sight! Royal Salute was bobbing in the blue water on a clear day with Table mountain in the background and a lifetime of incredible adventure ahead for the two sailors. "Royal Salute" was christened in proper sailing tradition and Royal Salute Scotch was passed around to all for the celebration.
A few months later Stephen and Estelle left Cape Town and started the adventure of their lives! They sailed to Madagascar, East Africa through the Red Sea and Mediteranean Sea. They crossed the Atlantic at the end of 1995 and finally settled in Sint Maarten in the Caribbean. They owned and operated a yacht charter company and did sailing schools for 3 years. During hurricane season every year they trekked down south the island chain south to Trinidad and Venezuela. On one of these trips they were erupted on by the volcano on Montserrat. The cloud of ash settled on Royal Salute like a grey blanket.
In 1999 they relocated to the USA to take over the reigns at the charter company's head office in Virginia. With operations in the USA and all down the Caribbean Island chain, there was no time for extended sailing trips. They were limited to a few day sails in the Chesapeake or on charter boats in their Caribbean bases. They did manage to sail Royal Salute up as far New York and sailed by the statue of Liberty and on to Long Island. It was a glorious trip! When the opportunity arose for a stake in a factory building Catamarans in South Africa, they grabbed it and established the Island Spirit Catamaran brand in the USA. That is when they finally sold Royal Salute in 2005 and acquired "Siyaya", an Island Spirit 401 which they sailed from Cape Town to St Helena, South America to Trinidad, up the island chain and Miami.
"Mythral" was an interim 31ft monohull before they built and sailed "Siyaya" (40 ft Island Spirit catamaran) from South Africa to Miami in 2004 and served as the sea school boat for catamaran sail training in the Bahamas for two seasons before they replaced her with a Prout 45 called "Zuri", the current love of their lives. They now live and work in Miami and catamaran "Zuri" is patiently waiting for the their next big adventure to places unknown. Estelle and Stephen's partnership is born of the same passion for the sea and all it's creatures, exotic cultures and the exploration of far away lands. They seldom follow the 'pack' and have no schedule...they both believe that their boat is their passport to freedom of the planet.
