Daily report #86

Dear fellow travelers,

We can call you that for a while! You have been sailing and sailing with us for over four months. See us struggling through the red areas, ask why we are sailing across the ocean like drunken pilots and welcome us to the harbor we have just entered. It gives us a warm feeling. And we need that because even today, although the day started out blue, it was coats and hats. Spring doesn't want to start yet. We set out early this morning to arrange the wedding cake, do some shopping, have T-shirts printed and stock up on some local spirits. We now know most of the retailers in Jamestown and today we added the Arts and Crafts store. A wonderful 'English' shop with art expressions from the local artist group where a spirited lady talked about the 3 countries and cultures whose genes were in her and that she felt 25 with 54 years of experience. The 5,000 souls on this island are a mix of European, South American and African cultures. People don't think much of the government, as an old lady said: "the brains are in the castle but the wisdom is in the street". Over coffee in Ann's cafe, Tara and Steve were able to tell us that in addition to the wedding, their next job (bringing a ship from Turkey to Tanzania) had now also been arranged. The future smiles upon them! In the afternoon we were able to join them again to explore the island for the second time. Destination Sandy Bay. It is located to the south-east of St Helena and the winds from the south-east have created a desolate erosion landscape halfway between the Tibetan highlands and the moon. It is a bay where a raging sea arrives with a black beach surrounded by bare red and black unvegetated hills. The wind is always strong there, so nothing really wants to grow, although here and there a small succulent plant seems to have no chance. Here too an old fort with the necessary cannons. He must have been very afraid that Napoleon would be freed from exile again, something he himself longed for. Dustin our guide thought it would be a dream to turn Sandy Bay into a beautiful amusement park with roller coasters and swimming pools. Still amazed by the beauty of the landscape, we were not immediately enthusiastic but understood the underlying message. There is nothing to do here for the growing youth. There is one beach where you can swim, the bar where you can also dance is only open on Friday evening and Saturday evening and then until 1.15 am. The fort where big parties used to be organized is closed due to the risk of collapse. The island sleeps on Sunday and the first real city is a £900 flight one way. If you finally want to make mischief, the next day the entire island will know that it was you, with all the consequences that entails. By the way, the prison here is currently full with 15 places, so expansion is necessary, the building materials have just arrived with some delay. The main crime is driving under the influence because the Saints are very strict about that. Rightly so.
We averaged Dustin's plan that one valley could become an amusement park and the other valley would remain intact for the nature lovers for whom the island is a paradise. Then we left this fantastic place to drive back to Jamestown, bumping, bumping and honking over narrow roads with the typical English grass banks along the side. Lovely island. As far as we're concerned, we can't do anything about it anymore. But yeah..

Regards,
Ton and Mark