I radioed the ferry service
to pick me up and take me to shore to do customs, immigration etc. The ferry
landing area is challenging and requires; good timing, a deal of fearlessness
and agility. The ocean swells crash against the sea wall raising the little
ferry metres at a time. The pipe work and ropes at the landing area looked
ominously like gallows. It was recommended to use the ferry instead of dinghies
and I could well understand why. The ferry service runs every two hours
starting at 0700. The formal procedures were pleasant other than prices had
increased on April first. The people generally were amazingly friendly.
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| Jamestown Ferry ramp |
I met up with Ollie and
Merja on "Fagal Bla" who recommended the Napoleon day tour (12
pounds). Mac and the crew from "Moonbeam" were on the same tour. I
confess that I knew very little about Napoleon Bonaparte. Even the two French
crew from "Rhapsody" admitted to knowing little about their famous or
infamous countryman. It was a fascinating tour with Robert, who like most of
the St Heleneiens', otherwise called Saints, had the most unusual accent. When
you listen to the Saints talking to one another it is hard to believe they are
speaking English.
Seeing the island from the
sea it looked to be a large, hard, barren, volcanic rock. The interior of the
island was picturesque with forests, verdant green pastures and small English
like villages. This small rock in the middle of nowhere certainly has some
history, having been visited by the likes of: Duke of Wellington, Captain
Bligh, Edmund Halley, Charles Darwin, and Captain James Cook.
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| Sandy Bay and the St Helena crater |
Supplies to the island are
delivered by the fortnightly mail ship from Cape Town the "St
Helena". There appears to be some contention over the proposed airport
that is being constructed on the island at an approximate cost of 3 hundred
million pounds. The population of the island is around four thousand.
The blog was not updated with
pictures in St Helena as internet access costs nearly 7 pounds per hour.
Ollie and Merja told me of a
solo sailor, recently arrived in St Helena, who had had a fracas with a big
ship near the South African Namibian border. He appears to only have sustained
damage to the rigging and spreaders - a lucky fellow. Apparently, he had
observed the ship, saw it was not a threat and turned off the AIS to save
power. The ship then turned across his bow toward shore.
The new mooring field was
fantastic bearing in mind that the island rises rapidly 5,000 metres from the
ocean floor. The swell around the island and clapottis waves from the sheer cliffs
led to a few sleepless nights.
All to quickly it was time
to prepare to leave St Helena. This was a totally unique and pleasant stop
over. It reminded me of a bygone era a nicer, slower time with no mobile phones
- people actually talked to one another - novel concept.
Scuba diving.
While waiting for the ferry
back to Sadiqi after clearing out and doing some shopping I spoke to Craig who
runs the ferry service and scuba diving tours (30 pounds all equipment provided).
I thought it would be too good an opportunity to miss and decided to do a scuba
dive on Saturday. Fortunately, I managed to find my Naui dive certification
card, otherwise no card no dive. It had been a good few years since I last
dived using scuba tanks. The dive was pleasant - good visibility, some soft
corals and many fish.
