Day 15 - Arrived St Helena
Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Tue 11 Feb 2020 10:07
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15:55.48 S 05:43.54 W Day Fifteen, Safely Arrived to St
Helena    Yesterday we had a cracking sail from
14:00, winds steady between 21 and 24 knots with the odd naughty gust to 28
which prevented any game playing. Beez Neez was heard to shout “Yipee”
as she surfed down the bigger swells with pretty white caps. Todays ‘Happy Pictures’ with a gorgeous blue
sea.
We enjoyed corned beef and cheese salad
and I went to bed with the idea of getting up at five for a game – should have
stayed in bed as ‘my friend’ beat me five three, yes,
but you had the cheek to go up three dollars....... Huh, is all I
can think of.
  Overnight a pleasant sail and at five this
morning (Cape Town time, we will fall back two hours and be the same as England
for a little while). I saw the red lights of St Helena, on
the AIS the island is a small blob at the top left of the screen. On the chartplotter thirty miles to the top with five
around the corner. Still dark when I went for as long a sleep as I could,
Now chucking it down........
  Bear’s
first look at St Helena as day broke.....
 ....and as the sun clipped the hill.
  Heading around the top of
the island.
  Bear woke me this morning
at 09:15 with two nautical miles left to do. Flag
Ceremony and with the ‘Q’ flag
(Quarantine).
 My first impressions of St
Helena under an overcast sky was a bit austere. A small (new looking) breakwater
and beyond some sheds, a crane and a few bits and bobs. Jamestown snuggled in the valley and further right high
cliffs with a line of houses going over a gently sloping peak, the old fort at
the front. Note abandoned house on far left (mid height).
 The old
buildings mid-way up, we would later find out are called Munden’s Battery - one of the earliest fortifications after James Fort, and one of
the last to be armed and manned. Mundens was built immediately after the British
had taken over the island from the Dutch in 1673. Munden’s Battery was named after Sir Richard Munden, who helped
the British regain possession of the island from the Dutch in May 1674.
During WWII machine guns were used to command
the landing steps. The abandoned house seen in the
picture was used to house three Bahraini princes who were political prisoners
from 1957 to 1961.
 We passed a couple of boats we know (Jaga II third from left
and the catamaran second from right, Starry Horizons) and picked up a
yellow visitor buoy toward the back of the mooring field at ten o’clock- Cape
Town- exactly. Bear radioed in to the Harbourmaster and he said there was no
rush to come ashore. A water taxi (call ten minutes before needing) runs on the
hour from 06:00 until 19:00 at two pounds return journey per person, paid on
departure. Odd to be quoting in GBP....
 Lots of empty buoys ready for the next
influx due in on Monday. Yellow buoys are two pounds a day, red three pounds
with the first day free of charge. Bear prepared his own breakfast, under supervision, as I began to type this.
Most delightful sight and soooooo appreciated was a CUP OF TEA. Yehaa. One more
journey to go...........Double Yehaa.
At ten this morning we had covered 136 nmiles
and now nestled on a yellow buoy.
Total completed 1799
nautical miles.
 Totals for journey: 14 days and 17:05 hours (97 nmiles extra - not bad
considering the zig-zags we had to put in) 353:05
hours of which we had to motor for 106:00. Charged up for 46:30 hours. More than
we would have liked but the wind is still a fickle mistress.
ALL IN ALL LOOKS
SO INTERESTING
ALWAYS WANTED TO VISIT THE
ISLAND |
