We arrived St Helena on Tuesday, early afternoon as planned. The island is larger than we were expecting, it's volcanic origins are very much in evidence as the mountainous island appears as one large, barren rock. The settlement of Jamestown is located on the northern shore in a long, deep valley which runs to the sea. It is a charming, historic town and everyone here has been welcoming and friendly. Today we are taking the island tour and based on reports from other Rally boats which have already seen the island, once we leave the coast the island has lush, green vegetation and is much different from the coast.
We had a very nice dinner last night at a Chinese restaurant, joining with the crews from Dreamcatcher, Ruby, 1+1, Gunvor, Beatoo, Working on a Dream, and Umineko. There are only a few restaurants here and we are clearly overwhelming the island's hospitality establishments. Tonight the Yacht Club is hosting a barbecue for the entire fleet so we look forward to seeing everyone.
A good part of each day has been spent at the atrium area of the Consulate Hotel where there is a bar and restaurant. They also have a good wifi system so everyone is using their computers or ipads while socializing. Data service here has been a disappointment, no cell phones and wifi in only a few locations. Also, the wifi access is very expensive: over US$10 per hour.
We were surprised to find a boat and crew we had met in Capetown: 5th Child. There are two young children on board, slightly younger than Kathryn and Audrey, and the four kids had become fast friends in Cape Town. We have a swim-date planned later today at the town's municipal swimming pool, an unexpectedly large and very nice facility.
Our plans are to stay an extra day in St Helena since we are having such a nice time, we plan to depart Saturday morning for Fortaleza, Brazil. The distance is 2,070 nm and we expect to arrive in 2 weeks.