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Exody - Days 371-373 - Little England, Whale Sharks and 699 steps



Having arrived here at St Helena Saturday 16th at lunchtime, we are already
at sea again headed for Brazil after our stipulated 72 hour stopover at this fascinating place.

Half the size of Arran, St Helena has 4000 of a population with a fair chunk of expats, including Thais helping to build the new airport. It is a steep-to dramatic volcanic island rising to 800 metres with resonances of remote St Kilda but then the 19th century Jamestown is more Channel Islands or Scillies, and the racially mixed population appear blended from a range of migrants. All UK services are right here: HM Prison, Immigration, Customs and Police with familiar vehicles and uniforms. The currency is sterling but specially minted for St Helena and Ascension. It is a cash- only economy until ATM's are demanded by the increasing visitor traffic the about-to-be-opened new airport assures. The commercial output of the island appears to be limited to frozen tuna, with most employment derived from UK funded public services.

We were moored to one of the 23 large buoys provided for visitors, a bit rolly though not uncomfortably so. Access to shore is by water taxi only and requires some agile antics hanging onto ropes to leap on and off due to the omnipresent heavy swell at the jetty. There were no late water taxis on Saturday night after our meal out at Annie's Place so we joined three other World ARC crews, with Exody taking up the last two rooms at the charming Consulate Hotel. We watched the passenger mail ship RMS St Helena loading on the morning of Sunday 17th- everything (including a medical evacuation of a premature infant) craned in a container or cage onto a motorised barge which then drives to the anchored ship for its load to be craned on board.

Colin drove us in his well worn open top 1929 Chevrolet jitney for our island day trip. We have become used to steep roads up vertiginous slopes- these ones were netted to protect from the crumbling volcanic rockfall for the first few hundred metres. But the barren landscape soon gave way as we climbed to a green and pleasant land with a mix of introduced trees including pine and eucalyptus, gently (and not so gently) rolling pastures with cattle grazing. But for the occasional banana plant and cacti amongst the rich green foliage, this could be rural England, especially as the rain rolled in. This fortuitously whilst we were indoors exploring Napoleon's House, having walked to visit the unmarked tomb where he briefly lay before being repatriated to France. We saw the virtually complete new airport - an impressive four year civil engineering feat that is still to be finally calibrated and certified before going operational in the spring. The impact on the island of weekly flights from Johannesburg, and also potentially direct from Europe, will be interesting to observe!

Monday 18th saw me ashore early to the bank so as to be able to settle my weekend's tabs and debts. We also scouted out the several shops - predictably limited fruit and veg but otherwise well stocked. Orchestrated by Makena, Craig took 14 of us out by boat to the north of the island to view and snorkel with whale sharks- an amazing experience- five at a time we jumped in and swam to within a few feet of this large (7.5 metre) plankton eating and hence harmless fish. Related to our Scottish basking sharks with the characteristic flopping tail fin and apparently totally independent dorsal, these wide mouthed creatures are spectacular with their grid iron pattern of white spots. Our guide Katy is researching their behaviour - some are satellite tagged and named. The day ended with a convivial barbecue at the Yacht Club where the hardworking officers of the club have made us most welcome. All thirteen of the fleet were in port by mid afternoon.

Today Tuesday 19th, we climbed the 699 steps of Jacob's Ladder elevating us steeply at 45 degrees to about 200 metres for a great view of the town , the surrounding mountains and out over the calm blue sea towards South America. Someone kindly gave us a lift back down the zig zag road to the hotel where our essential internet tasks were completed with coffee and scones - internet here is £6.60 per hour and skype appears barred - it clocks up fast! David checked out from his three nights ashore, we did our final shop and slipped the mooring at 15.00.

As I write at 11pm (same time zone as UK) we have only just lost the lights of St Helena behind us 40 miles away, and those of Garlix and Tulasi ahead - seven of the fleet left St Helena today. The winds are forecast light for the coming week - 10 to 12 knots but we are making more than 5 knots over the calm seas. The two thirds waxing moon appears to have dispersed the earlier cloudy sky and it is great to be sailing under the stars with visibility at night again! We dined earlier on St Helena pork curried by Marian - so altogether it is already shaping up to be a fine passage after a fine stopover - only 1890 miles to go !

Peter (Skipper)


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