St Helena
NORDLYS
David and Annette Ridout
Thu 28 Feb 2008 13:41
St. Helena
15:55S 5:43W
James Town anchorage
28th February 2008
At 0130 on the morning of Tuesday the 26th February
the anchor went down in 20 metres. 1720 nm, ten days
and eighteen hours since Simon's Town. As usual the weather had
conspired to give us a night landfall. Some miles out the wind rose from a
fickle ten knots to a steady fifteen but by this time an early evening
arrival was impossible thus we ran under main only so as to arrive after
moonrise which was at midnight. The end of an easy passage that would have
been fantastic but for the last few days of minimal wind. At least we had
kept the sails full all bar three hours when we motored, charged batteries and
made water.
The island itself has lived up to
expectations. Jamestown can only be described as akin to a small west
country town in the '60s. Quaintly English it is strung out along the
bottom of a steeply sided valley the sides of which are parched brown
rock. However the top of the island has an entirely different climate as
we found out yesterday when we took a tour. Climbing out of the coastal
ravine one comes upon a landscape that is almost as green as that of
Ireland. The steep fields, little of the terrain is flat, have cattle
grazing contentedly. The views, temperature and general ambience are
quite beautiful. A walking holiday here would be bliss, for the fairly
fit! Plantation House, the home of the Governor, nestles in a quiet green
valley and could easily be a Georgian mansion in the English countryside.
The paddock it faces is open to the public and five giant tortoises roam
this field. Coming from the Seychelles they range in age but the oldest
was apparently mature on arrival in 1882. Thus likely to be fifty years
old then and about one hundred and seventy plus now. He likes his
neck stroked and in no way is afraid of humans.
We were luck to be put in touch with a Scottish
Lady who is out here trying to put together an economic case for an airfield
that the British Government have promised to build. Through her we learnt
that the politics of this place are a nightmare of vested interests and
British bureaucratic ineptitude. Some of the problems are: an
alternate will be needed for the aircraft, especially as the top of the island
is often in mist. Ascension with its long sea level runway would be
fine. America rents this airfield from us, the British, but will not give
permission for this use! The British Government simply lies down with its
legs in the air over this. The St Helenans themselves voted to have a new
ship and a quay built. A cheaper answer. However the Government in
its wisdom included the Falklands and Tristan da Cunha in the
referendum thus over fifty percent opted for the airfield. After all this
there may not be the money for the airfield anyway. Due to a certain Mr
Brown the UK coffers are not overflowing at the moment. Finally due to a
very healthy subsidy from the British Government there is no real desire to work
hard on the part of the locals. Thus all eggs and milk are imported from
South Africa. I could go on and on and I am sure that I do not have the
picture perfectly. This would take a week or more of study. What
does emerge however is that the British Government is in no way helping
these people to become self sufficient, which is its stated aim, because they
are allowing the flourishing of local very restrictive rules which are set to
aid a few powerful families.
Nearly a year ago we were visiting Christmas island
and Cocos atoll. What we have learnt here is that it is by no means the
Australian government only that is making to say the least a bit of a mess over
its ownership of isolated islands. None of this has in any way spoilt
our visit. The locals are charming and helpful, the place a visitors
delight and on top of all this there is the 'Napoleonic' interest.
Yesterday we visited the country house he first stayed in. Then one he
mainly resided in and where he finished his days. Finally and in some ways
most movingly of all we visited the site of his first burial. Now just an
unmarked slab of concrete, his body having been taken to France, it lies in a
natural bowl with mature vegetation giving a beautifully peaceful air.
Tall trees tower over the dell. Wild flowers abound and in many cases
climb up the aforementioned trees giving a cascade of colour. I could
think of no nicer place on earth to be buried. The visits to all three of
these places were each fascinating with the first two being conducted under the
auspices of very informative guides. For a statesman to be shut away on
such an island must have been hard and there is no doubt that Longwood, his main
house of captivity, was then and would be now if it were not for the use of
dehumidifiers on many days a very damp spot. He was living his last few
years in much natural beauty however.
Tomorrow I am going to do a dive with a local
instructor, this morning we snorkelled on a wreck in the bay and worked on
Nordlys and her sails to prepare for the two passages ahead. As it stands
we intend to set out on Saturday for Ascension. As I write there are three
other yachts here, all good friends and another two due in any
time.
Happy times
David
The famous steps. All 699 of them. Rising 602 feet
they have
to be climbed. Originally a rail track to raise stores
to the fort
above they have since the late 19thC been steps. They
are so steep
as to induce vertigo and I for one had my hands on both rails
most of the time.
After days at sea we found it necessary to stop and admire the
fast improving view every
fifty steps or so.
View from the top. Nordlys is the white blob in the very
top left hand corner of the photo.
The dots in the square below are parked cars
This photo with a rock called Lot in the middle ground and his
wife in
the distance shows very well the two climatic zones of St
Helena.
The green upper parts and the barren lower coastal hills and
valleys
I would love to put in more
photos especially of the various Napoleonic sites however I am not prepared
to take my computer ashore and brave the leap from ferry to quay with it.
Thus I will have to use expensive Iridium time to send
this.