Blogs from Atlantic, Oceans and Seas - page 69

Saturday July 23rd You will of course wish to know about the Tea Dance and how well I disported myself – my laptop Thesaurus suggests ‘posed swaggered and flaunted’ as appropriate alternative words but, I’m afraid, I failed to live up to any of these suggestions. Perhaps ‘loitered’ might be a better description as I found that tripping the two-step or a waltz was a challenge too far for this explorer of the South Atlantic. Needless to say the dance was as charming as everything else found so far on the island. I rejected the occasional suggestion that I might take to the dance floor with the usual unspecific wound and injury collected at a previous time. I know – what a wimp! Saturday was a busy and interesting day that took us to new parts ... read more

Monday 18th Firstly, I need to confirm that ST Helena is only 1 hour behind UK time – not one day as the blog entry above suggests! What a good day. First of all the business meeting seemed to go extremely well with a good agenda for development work agreed for the rest of the day. Planning to complete a development plan I was seduced (once again) by the weather to have an outdoor lunch (Tuna Pasta and salad) and then go on an exploration in the old car. Barry in Farley will not be pleased to hear that it was a French-themed visit. Firstly, to Bryce Pavilion where Napoleon stayed for 4 months whilst his house/prison was being prepared. Although the house was closed to visitors (in my anxiety to get going I failed to ... read more

Friday July 14th Well, three days in to our work project at St Helena and we are all building up different responses to being here. I am deliberately pacing my judgement of this wonderful island – I know that first impressions can be tempered by later experience. What can I be clear about? Well, obviously the island is spectacularly beautiful – and so varied. You can be travelling along and move so quickly from landscape a little like a tropical Shropshire that changes rapidly to spectacular and open countryside which is clearly sub-tropical in its vegetation and bird life. Today I saw a donkey grabbing fruit from a tree with a strange wooden saddle. Anyone know about this saddle – are donkeys used for transport here? The people who we have met seem very open, communicative ... read more

Busy making preparations for the trip to St Helena making sure that I've got everything I need but travelling as light as possible. Leaving Birmingham to Cape Town via Dubai @ 2:40 Weds 6th July 2011. Should have a chance to see a little of Cape Town before catching RMS St Helena for the 5 day ‘cruise’. Limited internet on board so next blog might be from the island.... read more

Today is like a full-on fall day - windy, clouds with spots of sunshine. Last night's watch was pretty fun. We had a deck surfing competition, told ghost stories. There were high seas and wind so we pulled lookout back ot the bridge. One swell hit the hull so hard we felt the vibration back on the quarter deck. Cody came running out of the salon for a look. His bunk is right against the part that got it worst. Lots of people got doused yesterday. Man ropes were rigged at midships and the quarter deck and 1 day away from full moon showed brightly. This morning I had first helm and 3rd lookout with a moderate amount of sail handling and no ship's work which meant lots of hanging out on the quarter deck, surfing ... read more