Unfortunately, things quickly go wrong again after a good night’s sleep. My vestibular organ does not seem to be able to get used to the power of the Atlantic Ocean. The sea laps against the boat, causing the boat to go up and down considerably. Just like a wooden roller coaster, where the cart goes up and suddenly crashes down, turning your stomach upside down. So take a pill and lie in the sun on the Sunnydeck.
I haven’t eaten much yet, but the fruit will go in. The people on the boat are nice. We have already met several people and all with their own story. Today we had lunch with Andrew, a Birmingham lawyer. He has a number of court cases on St. Helena and told us that the only person who ever managed to escape from the island was a Dutchman. That happened about 20/30 years ago. This Dutchman smuggled drugs and when he was caught he could not much later escape by boat. He sailed to Brazil where he took a plane to the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, different rules apply and he was not convicted.
A daily program is placed under the door of our cabin every day. Today it starts at half past three with a documentary about Tristan da Cunha. Almost everyone is present and listens and watches the interesting story about the way of life on Tristan da Cunha. I am curious if we can come ashore, but that is still the question.
The sea is calm today and it just keeps popping into my head what it’s like to jump in. I am terrified of deep water but somehow it looks attractive. The water is a beautiful dark blue, it doesn’t look cold but it will be solid. What will all be swimming underneath? We have not seen any animals except birds. Although I think I see a flying fish jump out of the water every now and then. Anyway, luckily we have a swimming pool on board.
The boat is one of two RMS ships in existence and the only one specially built for the Cape Town – Saint Helena – Ascension Island route. The ship was built in 1990 but, according to Brian, this ship was already written off after 20 years. The boat will now stop, not because it has been written off, but because St. Helena has an airport. Until recently, this airport was the most useless airport in the world . About 300 million euros had been earmarked for the airport to make more tourism possible. When the runway was ready, however, it turned out that large aircraft would not be able to land due to the treacherous wind shear. But in October 2017 the first plane landed. We will therefore also take the plane and not the boat on the way back.
By the way, we met Brian at lunch. A nice man from London who is now retired. He used to earn his money as a social worker. He travels as much as he can, does French folk dance and enjoys theater and going to the movies. Enough to talk about.
Many people on board think it is a pity that the ship stops with this route and are therefore now sailing along. According to Andrew it is a work vessel and therefore so different and unique compared to other cruise ships. The RMS – St. Helena can accommodate 150 guests, half of the ship is used to deliver mail and other goods to the islands.
The ship does not creak and rush through the waves too easily, yet I understand the grief. The ship has a certain atmosphere, it evokes a certain feeling. What will happen to this ship later? The island of St. Helena would like to buy it but does not have the money. According to Brian, that is an eternal sin. The ship is a piece of the island and it will soon be lost.