We departed Saldanha Bay on 12 March in fog which didn't lift until mid-afternoon by which time we could no longer see South Africa. In fact, we would not see the coast of Africa again. For the next 10 days the wind stayed generally in the south and for the most part blew consistently between force 4 to 6 and this would remain the case until Moonbeam arrived in the tropics having clocked up over a thousand miles from Cape Town. The watch system that we had used for all of our long passages together worked well. Sarah took the midnight to 0400 watch after my stint until midnight. We were pleased that the outside temperature was steadily getting warmer which reflected the sea temperature which by now was 26°.
In the first few days we were surrounded by seabirds but as we got further away from the land, we had the ocean to ourselves with only a very occasional ship appearing on the AIS. During the entire trip we only caught two fish, a lovely bluefin tuna and a dorado, with only one other strike. This was in spite of trawling a line continuously. It was either my fishing technique or maybe using pink lures!
By the time we had reached 20° south with Moonbeam back in the Western Hemisphere the wind steadily abated, and we decided it was time to fly the cruising chute for the first time since we were last in the Atlantic. After several hours, we were able to set it and pole it out so that we could sail goose-winged for two days before I managed to wrap whilst endeavouring to jibe the boat on my own before Sarah got up at 0700. Happily, it only took the rest of the morning to unwrap it and re-fly it, where it stayed until St Helena appeared over the horizon.
We motored just for the last 50 miles in order to arrive by lunchtime on the Friday because we knew that Immigration and Customs would be closed over the weekend. As we approached Jamestown, we could see 13 other foreign boats including ‘Nautibuoytoo’, ‘Listerwell Lady’ and ‘Zebedee’ as well as some others last seen in Mauritius. As I was coming around to close ‘Nautibuoytoo’ to say hello to Paco, I got caught in the current unexpectedly and Moonbeam kissed her which would be the last time that they met. Happily, no damage was done other than to my self-esteem.
Customs and Immigration duly came aboard to clear us in, and we had to pay port fees and visitors tax which amounted to about £60. This enabled us to go ashore at Jamestown which is absolutely delightful. It was just like walking up a village High Street at home in England. There were Georgian houses on either side of street and arches and little alleys that were very pretty indeed. We had a few beers in the Consulate Hotel which was designed like an old coaching-inn but returned to Moonbeam early because we were not used to drinking! Our reward was in watching the sunset to see the green flash, which was probably only the second time we had seen this in the entire time that we had been away and watching countless sunsets!
The following evening, we had a farewell supper with Rebecca and Graham off ‘Listerwell Lady’ and Paco because he was departing the following morning and it would definitely be the last time, we would see him as he was heading for the Caribbean via Ascension Island and Brazil. Paco and I had sailed together for many, many months and had consumed copious quantities of wine and beer and had enjoyed endless conversations so it was indeed a case of “Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow……..”. I wonder if we will ever meet again.
We hired a car and toured the island which proved to be quite beautiful: the stark tall cliffs all around led to verdant country lanes and fields with cattle grazing and quite stunning views. One side of the island to the south was dry and desert-like and very sparse and then into the centre it was lush and fertile and very green. We visited Blair House which was Napoleon's first residence for the initial six weeks he was here and until Longwood House was completed where he spent his final six years before his death in 1821. The English gave him the rank of General and as a result he was incredibly well treated. He had an entourage of 20 along with his personal valet. It would appear that he lived in a considerable degree of luxury and locally they believed that he died of stomach cancer rather than arsenic poisoning, because both his parents and sister were similarly affected. We visited Plantation House which is the Governor’s residence to see the giant tortoises in the grounds and went down steep hairpin bends to find Sandy Bay with its disused lime kiln.
We found a local seamstress who undertook to repair the Bimini with some sunbrella strips that I cut up for her. I was able to successfully download the electronic charts for the next part of our passage and we did some last-minute shopping for supplies for our journey so that we were ready to leave on the last day of March. We had had a wonderful stay here in this very pretty island with lots of history and a delightful population. It was remarkable that at this time the island was only connected by a ship that did a round trip from Cape Town to Ascension and back every two weeks, although an airport was being constructed albeit with a runway direction that was not aligned with the prevailing winds!