morning light. We were also welcomed by a huge party of dolphins riding
in our wake, heralding An hour before we reached the anchorage at
Jamestown we radiod Radio St.Helena to announce our imminent arrival.
Radio procedure with them is always so correct, repeating your station
and the station your are conversing with three times everytime you call.
A little sing song but always a pleasure to hear a familiar voice on the
other side. They would normally ask one to stay aboard till Monday as
Port Control, Customs and Immigration is only open during weekdays.
Radio St.Helena made a special exception and contacted Port Control.
Barry, the Harbour Master knows me very well and we were granted
permission to go ashore.
Stepping foot on terra firma after nearly two weeks at sea is always
interesting. You sway around a bit and it looks and feels as if the
island is moving until you get your landlegs.Our first stop was at Ann's
Place and we were just one day too late for our friend Richard's 42nd
birthday. But we celebrated his birthday nevertheless again and last
night we had a proper birthday celebration and were invited for a braai
or bbq, whichever takes your fancy. Before we started his first belated
birthday Nick and Eduan had to scale Jacob's Ladder while Steven and
myself were started to get into the swing of things at Ann's Place. Both
newcomers enjoyed doing Jacob's Ladder, Eduan beating Steven's record
substantially and Nick taking just a little longer, steady but sure.
Our first priority was to get connected to the internet so we could
skype,email and do some research. It was also real good to call home
from the call box without the delayed speech and sometimes weak signal
we get on the sat phone. We spend most of the day there and later
proceeded to Donny's, a little establishment on the wharf with a pool
table. I first won Eduan, the Nick and had the pleasure of giving Steven
a whitewash, apparently his first ever. He had to break the pack and
that was his last shot. Some signs of a misspent youth on my part you
may think, perhaps. We had a special arrangement with the ferry and 9pm
we were ready to go back to the boat. Behaved a bit like hooligans and
had a midnight swim in the ocean. The next morning we made our
apologies to our neighbours at the anchorage.
I also tried to arrange for a tour of the island for Monday but both my
friends were otherwise committed.Instead we hired a car from them and
explored the island ourselves. A map of the island from the tourism
office came in very handy. Before we could start our tour we first had
to clear in and pay our dues to the queen. The immigration officers were
in a meeting and delayed our tour for some time but at about noon we
could start exploring. Three hours later we had covered all the main
attractions which included a meeting with Jonathan, our 200 years +
friend and made our way back to Jamestown again. At Ann's Place we could
once again skype etc. Richard impromptu decided to have a braai and we
were all once again treated to the incredible hospitality that is always
bestowed upon us when we visit. We arranged for the ferry to fetch us at
10pm and soon we were all sound asleep.
This morning a quick last run to the island to fill all our water tanks
and drums, say our farewells to all our friends and at 11am we have
lifted our anchor. As predicted we have a good breeze from behing and
sailing off into the sunset. As I look back St.Helena is growing smaller
and smaller. Looking ahead we should reach the Brazilian coast in two
weeks. Looking up the sun is shining bright on us and looking down the
deeppurple blue of the ocean is mesmerizing. We feel a bit sad for what
we leave behind, excited for what lays ahead, thankful for our blessings
from above and great to be back on the big blue.
Monday the 23rd was also the beginning of the Chinese New Year so happy
new year to you, again. Thanks for sharing a little bit of our doings
and undoings with us. Take care.
Captain Paul
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