St.Helena on the horizon

On the distant horizon, the familiar contours of St.Helena is busy shaping. We are approaching out of the South East, and we have a gentle south easterly breeze pushing us along. We will be arriving before sunset, and with the full moon, it will be a spectacular site. I have arrived at all different times at St.Helena and this will be my 48th visit to the island of the Saints. It is a sunny, warm day out, and one can sense an excitement between the crew. It will be a first visit for the other three crew aboard.

We won't be staying for long, probably two days at most. We want to get to Annapolis before the hurricane season starts, and we will have about 6300nm to go when we depart from St.Helena. This time of the year, the trade winds are less consistent, but we will find the best winds and currents, and make the most of it.

Not sure what the exact procedures will be when we arrive at Jamestown this afternoon. We will radio in, and tie up to a mooring bouy for the night. We will raise our yellow Q flag, indicating that everyone is healthy on board, and that we seek free pratique. In the morning we will possibly be visited by health and port authorities to do a covid swab, and we may have to wait a day or two for the results. We also expect a few other visiting yachts, and hope to meet up with some cruisers we know from Cape Town, and who departed around the time we departed, give or take a few days.

We will most definitely have a burger and a beer at Anne's Place. Before that we have to visit Port Control, Customs, get local travel insurance, then walk up to Immigration and get stamped in. A visit to the Consulate Hotel is also a definite. I have brought the Cape Argus and Cape Times newspapers for Pete. Him and Hazel owns and runs the hotel. An incredibly historical place. He is an ex physics professor, and besides other places, lectured at UCT. He still enjoys sitting back after a busy day and paging through a newspaper. Even if it's two weeks old. Just to get a feel for how things are back home. Hazel is a collector of art, artifacts, books, Persian carpets, statues, antiques and the list goes on. Sharp as a razor blade, and enough make it happen energy to power a city. On the balcony is a life size statue of Napoleon Bonaparte, the Emperor. The balcony looks out on Main street below, and a lovely place to sit a while. I always catch a slight shock or surprise when I
walk
out on to the balcony and see I have company, the statue is very life like. I have been to the house he lived in and also died in, to the grave site where he was buried, he has quite a presence on the island. And at times we would quietly sit and sip on a cognac and observe the fair down below. The road also splits here, Napoleon Street to the left, and Market Street to the right.

Another have to do is to climb Jacob's Ladder. My first time was in 2006, and 699 big steps running up at 45° and even up to 68° incline. It is tough, not extremely, but also not easy. My daughter did it in 2008, when she was five years old. She has always been seriously tenacious. We engraved her name on one of the steps towards the middle, and every time I visit, I climb the ladder to freshly engrave her name. I then take a picture or two of her name on the ladder and send it to her. She will be finishing school this year, and will be visiting St.Helena again next year.

The island has now grown much bigger, the wind has increased slightly, and we will possibly arrive at about 4pm. I will be sharing some pictures and videos of our journey thus far soon. Got some beautiful shots. I hope on your side that things are well, and moving along nicely.

See you at St.Helena

Paul

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