Daily report #82

Saint

Helena. It was a boring trip. The first 11 days. Nothing broke. Excellent sailing conditions. Engine out engine by engine. Engine in, engine out. Engine out.
Engine won't start. Three more days to St H. No problem. Anyway, it's all been said already. We were eventually able to repair it and reached the mooring for boats heavier than 20 tons without any problems. In James Bay.
Now I understand that this island in the South Atlantic Ocean was formed volcanically in the Miocene together with other land in SE Spain. And once you know that, you look at that layered rock in a different way. Hoping to discover something that is completely different from the table mountain in Cape Town or all those other rocky countries we have seen. The one with the plates pressed upwards. Suddenly I am interested in geology and understand that it is a science. I have no answers to my questions. And no data available because this island is so remote that there is no mobile network! Internet by satellite! You can then use the internet at half strength for half an hour in a hotel or a pub here on the island via WiFi. Very expensive. So we are all but deprived of the conveniences of modern life. We cannot take a beginners course in geology now that our interest has been aroused by G. Postma. Thanks George!
Having a beer on Sunday also turned out to be difficult; no internet, no credit card. Everything must be paid in cash in English pounds. So we just had one beer on account. In any case, confidence here can still be described as good.
We have to do customs and immigration tomorrow. They were too busy clearing the plane that had landed after five attempts to land as the airport that recently opened is located in a place where weather conditions can often throw a spanner in the way of food flying in and out. And so he did today. The plane did not take off anymore so all the people on the plane had to go back to their hotel. They must have forgotten that they sent Bonaparte here for a reason. His weird hat seems to have blown off his head here too.
Now the harbor master told us that modern internet would soon be available, so I suggested that we had arrived too early and he said that we should not leave anymore. That is of course not an option. It was nice that he asked us to stay, but this island is really too small. And English. In the harbor we also saw a sign on a restored building that had been subsidized with European money. We will soon unscrew that sign and take it home. What are they thinking? Have you left the fantastic European family and want to show off your feathers? I do not think so.
So we haven't seen much of the island yet. Arrange formalities, diesel, water and supplies tomorrow. Have a look around on Tuesday, leave again on Wednesday.

Oânt Moarn and See you tomorrow. (That's Frisian and Dutch for bis Morgen!)

 

Mark and Ton