The gout is nearly gone, just some residual stiffness in the left knee from keeping it immobile for almost five days. This was a short bout and I’m very thankful for that. No more Coca Cola for me, I guess. When I made landfall, I drank four ice-cold cokes back-to-back on the dock in my exuberance of being on terra firma again, and I think that’s what set this latest attack off. Bloody hell. One more thing to mark on the growing list this old bastard can’t have any more. It’s like a reverse bucket list. Don’t laugh, you all will have one someday. No wonder I’m becoming such an old bastard. The Irate Pirate.
I’m thinking about giving my boat over to the yard at Georgetown for repairs and maintenance and taking the Royal Mail Ship to St. Helena instead of sailing the 850 miles solo. It would be nice and relaxing. It’s a medium-size cargo ship with passenger accommodations. It’s reminiscent of the old tramp steamer days, but with more modern cabins and better food, I’m told. It has facilities for about 120 passengers, but I’m told that rarely more than thirty ever make this leg of the trip (between Ascension and Helena). She leaves on March 14th and arrives at Jamestown, St. Helena, about 72 hours later. It would take me ten to fourteen days to sail there. Then the RMS St. Helena goes on to Capetown, SA., then returns St. Helena on the 30th and will get me back to my boat on Ascension by the 4th of April. I and my vessel should definitely be ready for the trip back to the little farm St. Lucia by then. Yeah. I’m gonna do that.
St. Helena has no airport. The only way to get there is by mail ship or to sail there under one’s own power. It’s one of the most isolated populations on the globe and that’s my attraction to it. A few years ago the old mail ship that had been in service since just after WWII had a crippling fire at sea and floundered for a couple of weeks along with badly needed supplies for the island. The island was under great hardship by the time relief arrived. They are quite dependent upon this ship.
So, there has been agitation to get the UK administration to put in an airport since then and the Brits have finally agreed to have it finished by 2016. That will radically change the character of this island and it’s population, open up tourism, and it just won’t be the unique little place it’s been since long before Napoleon’s final exile there in 1815. I really want to spend some time exploring the island and meeting it’s people before it’s dragged into this modern world and all that that will mean.
Sounds like a plan. And, for me at this moment, having a plan is a positive thing, for sure.