Ascension Island - March 6 days at sea
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| Sunsets continue to be stunning |
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| Buddy Boats |
I would like to say that the trip from St Helena to Ascension was smooth sailing. However, nothing is smooth on a boat! When things go wrong they feel catastrophic. There are no shops close by to pop to, to buy spare parts or run to Woolies to buy food. We had a few mishaps on the boat, some felt more catastrophic than others but we managed to overcome each one and fix the repairs underway.
I don't know if you know this about me but I need glasses to see far away things, like stars, ships, and friendly boats passing too close to us. This didn't happen often, as Andrew ensured that we were usually ahead of the fleet - two other boats! I digress, the problem with having far seeing eye glasses is that I can't see close up with them on, so they spend a large proportion of time on the top of my head. One night, on night watch, nearing midnight, I leaned out the cockpit to see the stars, or moon, or whatever, forgetting that my glasses were still perched on the top of my head and not in their rightful place, and they slipped off my head. I managed to grab them as they fell but also managed to pop one lens out. I looked frantically for the much needed lens, but I think it flew straight overboard, into the sea. I do have another pair of seeing eye glasses that are mulitfocal, so I'm not completely blind at night.
You may be asking yourself why on earth I needed multifocal glasses as well as other ones. Well, I hated the multifocal ones so I got the others, thinking it would be easier to wear them at night on the boat. What I didn't realize at the time was that I would spend quite a bit of time on night watch writing emails and reading my book so that I wouldn't fall asleep. I must add that I enjoyed every single email from home, no matter how mundane the news. On a boat in the middle of the ocean, you feel totally isolated from the world. We had no access to internet, so all our information and news was conveyed by the Iridium Go.
One evening, we decided it was time for a shower, not having had one for a few days. We don't have an indoor shower, only one at the back of the boat. I showered with Laura to make sure she didn't fall off the back. After our shower she was walking back to the cockpit and she slipped and fell, wedging herself between the stantion and Nick's locker. Thank goodness for our thick, solid life lines that we have at the back of the boat as she didn't fall overboard. She also didn't break anything but had some lovely bruises to show for it.
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| Much needed weekly wash |
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Laura's bruises
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We have been struggling with maintaining a charge with our batteries. We have had to run the motor at least once a day to keep the batteries charged to full capacity. The sun does recharge the batteries as well, but if there is too much cloud cover or the sun is not directly on the solar panels, it does not charge well. The brand new batteries also started degrading quite quickly and could not hold a charge overnight. At one stage we were starting the motor at around 3am. Early one morning Andrew tried to start the motor but it wouldn't start. It wouldn't even turn over. Mild panic ensued. I don't think Andrew even knows what he did - guardian angels on our side - but he did something and the engine started. At this stage Andrew was supposed to be sleeping but he sat up with me and we brainstormed what could be wrong and how to fix it. We ran the motor for about 2 hours and when the sun came up - along with Laura waking up and coming up to the cockpit - he realised that the house batteries and the starter battery were connected. Don't ask me for detail on that but he launched into the engine room with spanners and other tools and reappeared a short while later with a short, red wire. He told me that the two batteries were now not on the same charge. The starter battery is separate from the house batteries. The only trouble is the solar panels will only charge the house batteries and not the starter. Thank goodness my husband is a whizz with a spanner!
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| The Lune - a familiar sight |
The last few days of our journey to Ascension got bumpier and rockier each evening. The final evening was the worst. We would be lulled into a sense of calm and then three or four waves would come out of nowhere, knocking us from side to side. I felt like an octopus holding onto pots and pans whilst cooking. I do try to cook in one pot, my beloved pressure cooker, but that night we were having mince wraps. The pressure cooker was in the sink so it wouldn't fall over. Plates held in place with one hand while hanging onto the frying pan heating the wraps with the other.
Maybe I should have taken out one plate at a time, I am learning! Andrew scurried down below after the fishwife yelled for help. Much cursing later we had delicious wraps for dinner.
Side note: We have since learnt, from Sandy on our buddy boat, to fill the wrap, fold it up and then cook it in the pan. A much better way of cooking wraps!
We finally arrived at Ascension Island at about 2:30am. Far too early to enter Clarence Bay so we hove to and drifted until sunrise. Both Andrew and I had had about 3 hours sleep, so Andrew napped while I made sure we didn't drift into the supply ship, Helena. The Helena had sailed from St Helena after us and arrived before us!
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| Ascension at dawn |
At first light we made our way towards the mooring field where one other lone yacht was anchored. All ready to drop the anchor, I decided to test it just before we got to the right spot. It is dead, no movement whatsoever! We turned around and headed out again, leaving Reve de Lune and The Kraken to anchor ahead of us. I was double checking everything, windlass was on, but still no movement of the anchor. Another panicked brainstorming session and nothing came to mind, so we resorted to Plan B. Plan B entailed me releasing the anchor by hand. Andrew yelling for me to lower it slowly was pointless. There was no slow mode, only really fast or stop. We did it! Anchor down and we have finally arrived. Andrew spent a few days trying to figure out what was wrong. A simple solution: the switch in the forepeak had been knocked on the passage over and was loose. Easy to fix and the windlass was working again.
On arrival we radioed port control who told us that they are very busy unloading supplies from the Helena. We were not to launch our dinghy as there was no space at the dinghy dock, but a ferry would come and fetch us. A quick breakfast, shower and change of clothes and we were ready. The ferry arrived at our boat and both people on board greet us in Afrikaans. They are both South Africans living on Ascension.
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| Terra Firma!! We all wobbled a bit. |
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| Steps leading down to the ferry dock |
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| Look closely |
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There are sharks down there!
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| Or just piranha type small fish |
The ferry dock here was worse than at St Helena. The surge was huge and made any vessel you were on bounce around. The dock is a concrete platform with ropes hanging down, very similar to St Helena but a smaller space to embark. You have to grab the ropes and pull the boat alongside as close as possible before jumping off. We were worried about Laura getting on and off the dock. We should not have worried at all as she was a star and managed well. The biggest worry was falling in the water. We were told many times during our stay not to swim as there were sharks in the water - man eating sharks!! Not to mention the small black fish that seemed to eat everything including the dead flying fish we found on the deck.
After checking in with Customs and Immigration, we found a restaurant called The Saints Bar where we could get a beer and expensive Wi-Fi. While we were sitting there, some of us on the Wi-Fi, others just taking in the new surroundings, a woman arrives and says, "Are you the yachties from South Africa?" It turns out that her husband, Herbie, was the ferry driver. Tanya and Herbie Meth have been living on Ascension for the past 7 months. She was super friendly and willing to show us around. We chatted to her for a while and she agreed to meet up with us in the morning to tour the island.
Thank goodness for Tanya and her Tinfoil Tour!! We would not have seen any of the island without her help. There are no cars to rent and busses and taxis are non existent. Herbie, her hubby, actually runs Sea Rescue on Ascension and is not the ferry driver. Apparently when the supply ships are in and they get very busy, everybody helps out no matter what their actual job is.
Sadly, Tanya didn't manage to borrow a car, so Justen chose to stay at The Saints Club while we went for a drive around the island in Tanya's car. Tanya took us to all the various beaches. It was interesting how each beach had a slightly different color sand, ranging from golden brown to dark volcanic, almost black sand.
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| Laura looking for land crabs |
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| Hot |
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| Turtle tracks in the sand |
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| Hot, barren and desolate |
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Volcanic rock and sand
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| Beautiful views |
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| The industrial side of town |
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| Volcanic landscapes |
At Comfortless Cove, formally known as Comfort Cove, there is a burial ground of sailors who died of Yellow Fever in the 1800s. Many of them arrived here ill and died on board their boats. Some died before they got here and were buried here. It has the most beautiful view from the shoreline but as you walk through the volcanic rocks towards the burial ground, it becomes eerily quiet.
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| Comfortless Cove beach |
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Beautiful blue sea
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| View from the rocks |
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| Remains |
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| The walk through the rocks to the graves |
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| The graves of sailors |
The landscape on Ascension is moonlike, with huge volcanic rock and black soil all around. I found it quite unsettling, almost depressing. Some people believe that they filmed the moon landing here. We looked for land crabs but only found shells. Ascension has the second largest nesting population of green turtles in the Atlantic Ocean. Both male and females leave Brazil and swim to Ascension. They don't stop or eat along the way. Females are believed to return most often to the beach from where they hatched. There are large next pits all over the beaches. We saw a few turtles swimming in the sea past our boat and one night we saw a baby swimming around the boat. There are large Frigates flying around the beaches, obviously looking for an unsuspecting baby turtle to have for dinner.
There is a pipeline that floats in the bay that supplies jet fuel to the island. When we arrived it was quite far off and we anchored where we thought we would be far enough away from it. However, during the night it moved and bumped against our boat. The first time wasn't too bad but the second time our anchor chain kept getting caught on the pipe and was yanking us as it moved. Andrew and I sat up for a few hours trying to keep the pipe away from the chain. At first light we upped anchor and moved away from it. Thank goodness Andrew had fixed the windlass so he didn't have to pull the anchor up by hand.
When there is activity on the dock, they don't like yachties to take their dinghies to shore. Once they had finished offloading the Helena, they started offloading clinker from the ships in the bay. They import the klinker from Canada and were using it to build a new runway for the airport.
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| It is a working harbour |
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| View from the top of the dock platform |
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The platform raised up level with the dock
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They have a big ferry type boat called The Klinker, that is used to ferry people from the working boats and back, that we had to use to get ashore. We were told that it will only pick us up at 8:00, 12:00, and 16:00. As we had missed the 8am pick up, we tried our luck to get a ride earlier than 12. I am sure they weren't supposed to, but they came past us and took us to shore.
There are three restaurants on the island and they are all called Clubs. There is The Saints Club which was nearest the dock, Two Boats Club which was further away and up a steep hill, and then The Volcano Club which is an American style diner on the US airforce base. Tanya took us to Two Boats for lunch one afternoon where we had a lovely meal and Laura swam in the swimming pool.
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| Saints Club |
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| The Saints Club |
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| The town square |
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| Two Boats Club |
On Friday evening we took our dinghy ashore and went to Tanya's house where we met the rest of her family. She and Herby have two daughters and Tanya has her grandchild living with her as well. Herbie ferried us the The Volcano club, where we had supper. The options to eat were typical American style food, as were the portions. We had a lovely evening. Herbie and Tanya are lovely folk who were very interesting to talk to.
On Saturday morning we managed to get the Klinker to come and fetch us at about 10:30. They had stopped operations on the dock because the swell was too big. We popped into the museum which was very interesting, but I thought the one on St Helena had much more historical information. This one was more about communication and very US oriented.
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| The platform raised up level with the dock |
You would think the centre of the town would be jam packed on a Saturday morning. There were a few more people around but not a teeming amount. We did a bit of provisioning as the shops shut at 14h00 on a Saturday.
We hopped in Tanya's car and headed up to Green Mountain.
There is not a lot of natural water on Ascension. Most of the island is arid and dry with rocky, volcanic sand. Darwin decided that Ascension needed a natural water supply, so decided to import plants from Kew Gardens and plant them on the highest peak.
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| Beautiful rolling green hills of Green Mountain |
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| Laura, Tanya and Andrew at the top |
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| We made it! |
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| Laura, Siobhan, Andrew and Dave |
The plants have grown into a lush, tropical forest over the years. There are several walks around Green Mountain called Letterbox Walks. Tanya is doing them all. Andrew got a stamp in his cap to prove he did it. We managed two of them. One was very short, only 1km long. Dew Pond walk was amazing. The view was stunning. Even though it was cloudy and misty, we managed to see a lot. Near the top there is a bamboo plantation. The wind blowing though the bamboo was quite spooky, making the bamboo clash together. We had to catch the Klinker at 16:00 so we couldn't do too much more.
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| We finally saw land crabs |
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| Tanya getting photographic evidence |
After a quiet night and a good night's sleep we upped the anchor and headed out. Andrew started the water maker while heading out to sea, but Laura soon discovered water on her floor in her cabin. The water maker is below her bed. We switched it off, mopped up the mess and looked for the cause. Andrew discovered a hole in the high pressure hose. He didn't think it would be an issue to fix, so as soon as we set sails he went down below to fix it. As he tried to take the pipe off the connector sheared right off. Andrew came up, white as a sheet and feeling ill. Now we can't make water at all. We had a family meeting to discuss the pros and cons and what we could do. If we headed back to Ascension we weren't sure we would be able to find someone to fix it, plus it was a Sunday. We would have had to wait until Monday to start the search. We have four 25 liter jerry cans on the deck and we thought we had at least 200 liters of water in the tanks, so we decided that we would be okay. We would just have to be careful and use salt water more than fresh. It is amazing how thirsty you get and how dirty you feel when you know that water is scarce!!
Andrew sat at the helm ruminating for a while and cutting off the holey end of the pipe. Next thing he was rummaging through all the boxes of spare parts and eventually found the spare connector. By this stage it was quite late, so he decided to leave the final part of the repair until morning.
Early the next morning, Andrew attached the pipe to the water maker. And Voila! It was fixed! Well done, Andrew. Another good repair while under way. We were able to make water and fill our tanks.
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| Tanya gave Laura a turtle |
In the next installment, Calypso and crew reach Fernando de Noronha, Brazil.
