The worse night ever....boat was rolling beam to beam. Neither of us could sleep. In the morning we went ashore and found a few provisions. The story of St. Helena is a sad one. They are very sweet people, but they have no economic engine, As far as we could see they had very little to export, and seemed to import everything from UK and South Africa. Up until recently they had a mail/cargo ship of their own, but she has been decommissioned and not replaced. Some weeks there are two airline flights into the country; one each from Johannesburg and London, but not every week because the way the runway is constructed, the wind is usually in the wrong place and too strong for air traffic. We were told the landing here is so difficult that there are only six pilots in the world that are certified to fly in and out of here! Even the small cruise ships that ply these waters( like the one we passed on the way here) cannot always make landfall due to inclement weather. This is really bad for the economy. We went provisioning and learned that there were no potatoes on island anywhere. It quite sad because in the valleys the soil is rich and well watered, there is plenty of sunshine, but they have imported so much for so long that they are out of the habit of growing food. On Saturday morning at 10:00 I bought the only package of beef, and could not buy potatoes. I did find both eggs and yogurt for the next two weeks, and one enterprising chap grows lettuce, tomatoes, peppers onions and green beans. Coming upon his little Vegs on the Run van in the parking lot by the ferry landing was like finding a treasure! After checking out the souvenir shops and finding our traditional hiking patch and ankle bracelet, I took my few groceries home and stowed them away. I tried to nap...but so much noise and rolling made it impossible. Captain is the real hero...he put the alternator back together with the spare one and it charges now!!! Then he grilled the very delicious steaks for us which we ate with a big crunchy green salad.
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