Bye bye St.Helena

We arrived at St.Helena at 12:30 on Monday 31 may.Raising our Q flag we
waited till about 14:00 hours before the doctor could board and declare
us healthy.Dr.Albie Coetzee from SA who has been here for five years now
very much enjoyed talking in Afrikaans,he seldom gets this
opportunity.We were well prepared and ready to take the ferry back to
shore with him.Walking on terra firma was quite an experience for
Malcolm after ten days at sea,the island seemed to sway under him as he
gained his landlegs again.Gareth seemed fine and I hardly notice any
difference.We first cleared immigration,then port control,paying our
dues to the Queen.12 pounds per crewmember at immigration and 27 pounds
at port control.Customs was closed for the day due to training and I did
customs yesterday.We arranged for a tour of the island and set a time
for 09:30 on Tuesday.

After the paperwork was sorted we went to Ann's Place for a refreshment
and eyed Jacob's Ladder towering above us.I have done the ladder a few
times and were not planning to do it again.My daughter however had
different plans and requested that I go and look for her name we
scratched on one of the steps about a year and a half ago.I had to find
her name and place two of her dolls she sent on this crossing next to
her name and take a photo.I also had to scratch mommies name next to
hers.The names on the steps are very faded and I scratced their names
anew and took the photo.A few steps later I did find her name,faded but
still visible and took another photo.We ascended the ladder by resting
every thirty steps or so and both Malcolm and Gareth made it to the top
with me and the view from up there makes a wonderful sight.The yacht is
about matchbox size from where you stand with the whole of Jamestown at
your feet.Descending was a bit faster,I prefer to run down holding onto
the handrails and stopping every now and then to slow down and catch my
breath for a minute before "falling" further down.Our legs were like
jelly afterwards,yesterday a bit stiff and today positively paining,but
a pleasant pain in a way.

After conquering the ladder we sat down to some burgers and chips and a
beer or two.Not long before our friends learned that we have arrived and
we had a pleasant evening till about 20:00,making plans for the
following day.The Attorney-General,Ken,you will either see at the court
house or at Ann's Place and we have spend many a pleasant evening in his
company.A lawyer from London was also on the island to assist with some
cases.Joe is quite a character himself and we were really laughing at
some of his adventure on a sailing vessel where evrything possible went
wrong.He had us in stitches at times.Our old friends Paul and Sally were
also there and they are considering buying a catamaran some time.I
invited them all for an hour sail the next day and would have enjoyed
more time but with the kids at school,everyone of our friends running
their businesses we could only make it for 5 pm and having to be back at
6:30 pm.Joe and Ken could unfortunately not make it but we had
Richard,Jane and their kids Brian,Jessica and Michael,then Sally and
Paul who also run a few businesses with their two kids Thomas and Hannah
on board.There was a little breeze and we sailed with the genoa for half
an hour before returning to our anchorage.18:15 we were back on land and
18:30 back at Ann's Place where we planned to have a braai.Ken and joe
joined us and we had a fantastic time which went on till about 11
pm.Fortunately I know the ferryman well and he had no problem taking us
back to the yacht at that time.The ferry normally run from 4 am till 7
pm but I did make arrangements with Craig for a later time.Throughout
the years we have all built great friendships and some biltong from my
side to say thanks for his trouble is always welcomed.He normally takes
us for the island tour as well but he broke his ankle about 15 weeks ago
and still recovering from this ordeal.His brother Keith that permanently
moved to the island about nine months ago took us on the tour instead.

We had the privilege of visiting all the usual sights,a tour of
Napoleon's House and a first for me was a visit to Sandy Bay,the only
beach on the island.We were fortunate that the weather was great and
Keith decided to take us down to the beach.The road down is extremely
steeps and the bends impossibly sharp but we made it just fine.The way
back up also went without any problems.The tour was about four and a
half hours and costed us 15 pounds each,worth every penny.

I am leaving some details out hoping that Malcolm and Gareth will also
relate their experiences on their first visit to St.Helena.We planned to
leave early this morning but first went to visit Ann in hospital.She is
the lady that started Ann's Place more than thirty years ago and have
had countless yachties come and go through her doors,always taking care
of the sometimes nearly starving yachties,nursing them back to
health,doing their laundry and much more than I can imagine.Her memoirs
will make a great read.What Mother Theresa was to some,Ann is to all our
yachties that come this way.She fell and broke her hip about three
months ago and at 69 years old,this was really bad.Being bedridden for
so long she also contracted pneumonia and nearly passed on.She
fortunately recovered from that but is still in hospital.We insisted on
paying our respects to her and it was wonderful seeing her,lookin not to
bad.She only complained that she can't do anything for us.Her legacy
will live on.

So on this note I will end this little posting and dedicate it to Ann.We
left at 10:00 this mprning and are about 70 miles WNW of St.Helena and
will post our position etc on our next posting.

Take care