Solo
but not Alone! ![]()
Newsletter
22: 5 January
2008
Day:
Finished!
Position: 18:24.943N
64:36.853W
Approx Miles from San
Sebastian: 2818
Approx Miles to go to Road
Town: Finished!!!
Hello Friends, and Supporters,
Firstly,
sorry for the 'long sleep'....I did plan to get back to you with my wrap up
sooner than this, but to be quite honest the whole thing has taken me by
surprise in the way it has overwhelmed and disorientated me!
Secondly,
I'd like to take this opportunity of wishing you and your families all the VERY
best for 2008.
It
maybe worth taking you back to the last 8 hours leading up to me anchoring in
Road Town:
'Someone'
decided to just give me a last set of challenges, just so
I'll never forget this crossing. All was going well till just after sunset when
I was about 30 miles off Road Town but in amongst the smaller islands, and lots
of shipping around. (Cruise liners, other motor vessels, and yachts). I knew
there would be no moon for at least 3 hours so I thought I'd check all the
navigation lights etc. Yes, low and behold the main tri-colour navigation light,
the same one I had fixed and had worked every night since then, decided to not
work on this critical evening. I was so confident it was fixed that the day
before I had taken of the emergency light attachments that I had secured on the
day I first had the problem early in the trip. Fate has it...the day you take
them away ids the day you need them!! So I went about re-attaching them,
in the pitch black only to find that two of the globes were now useless, so now
I had no navigation lights. To make things worse my sentimental headlamp (Its
shown me the way on 3 years of adventures!) decided to break, and the spare I
had bought in the Canaries lasted 10 minutes before it broke too! At the same
time the wind picked up to 25 knots and we were screaming along in a REAL pitch
black night with no navigation lights, and with the depth meter showing
15-18m! Not that I didn't know where I was or didn't expect the depth to
be this, it was just the change from being 'out there' with depth off scale, no
islands or shipping around! Its amazing how things escalate when basic
light and visibility issues are compromised. Eventually I made a plan with two
torches and using the red and green lenses from the emergency lights. It just
meant I had to change batteries every two hours. Eventually things settled down
and I had a perfect trip to customs house in Road Town. Dropping anchor was a
special feeling, and I immediately got onto the satphone to tell Ruth I was in!
We
agreed to meet on the shore at a place we thought we both new..... Well I was
running up and down shouting for her with just my speedo on and at 2 am! I had
rowed ashore to a place that was miles we she was, and after more phone calls I
finally got the hug I was waiting for! The rest is for my private diary! But I
can say it involved a surprisingly nice chilled bottle of Californian Sauvignon
Blanc!
One
of the first things that hit me was the tropical feel of the atmosphere.....hot,
humid, with lots of cricket noises around. I really did feel like I was on a new
continent. Also I was swaying like a drunken as I walked down
the streets anticipating its rocking like the deck of Solone.
We
slept on board that night and then I managed to steal 'the best bath' I have had
in years at Ruth's hotel room just before checkout time. My skin just shrivelled
up all over as the fresh water soothed it. It was then off to customs, and have
my first experience of the now common, surliness of the local people here. A
long process with no smiles, welcomes or thank you's! I have come to
realise that these people are just sick and tired of cruise liner tourists.
There is probably a lot of anti-colonialism involved too!
New
Year's eve was spent at Trevis bay, where there was a full on reggae, fire
and fireworks evening...quite special. Ruth and I cycled the 20km from the boat
to the party and then slept in my one man tent on at nearby
'secluded' beach, right next to the water. We had two lots of romantic
couples seeking a quite place, then a crew from one of the yachts anchored off
the beach came back drunk and disorderly, then a lovely stray dog found us and
sniffed its way into the tent.... And finally Caribbean birdlife showed us what
its all about with a parade of perfect roosters and hen couples past our tent at
sunrise!
I
have to admit to feeling very disorientated at the moment, and because so much
has changed and is foreign and I am sure spending 18 days isolated has
something to do with it, I am not sure exactly what is causing it. I felt a bit
like this after the 'big cycle trip' and I think a few more weeks will see it
all 'straight' again!
Today
I completed my circumnavigation of the island. When Ruth was here we took
a few days off to cycle around about three quarters of it, and yesterday I
paddled my kayak around the last quarter. From a cycling point of view, the road
around the perimeter of the island is largely flat, but then to get 'over' the
island there are the steepest roads I have ever seen in my life. The have
violent switchbacks and the locals drive like hell, hooting at each sharp bend
forcing any oncoming traffic to come to an abrupt stop to let them
through.
I
have been living on the anchor since arriving, but tomorrow Solone goes into the
marina, as I am flying out for an 8 day cycling adventure in the Dominican
Republic. On return I'll be doing a 5 day sea kayak of Anegada Island just near
here, before heading off for Antigua.
On
thinking about the past year and my sailing and cycling trips it hit me how they
have given me a REAL feel for the size of the earth! Sounds silly, but
when I fly I don't really get a feel for the actual distances, whereas sailing
and cycling made the distances comprehensible. Its amazing how small the world
feels to what I though it
was.
On
the issue of what being isolated for 18 days does to one.... I am still
reflecting on this, but there is no doubt that for me and where I am at, its had
a big impact, and I have a need to be part of social interaction! I think
Ruth initially felt the brunt of this need!
Finally,
thanks for your support through this very special adventure of mine. I have
really enjoyed the interaction with many of you and hope you received something
too!
Till
next time take care.
Howard
