St Helena Island and my Strange ties to the island

[Mongoose]

A few nights ago I was sent a document from an Aunt, she had been researching our family tree and it was discovered that My Great Great Grandfather was incarcerated and held as a POW on the island.

I was extremely lucky to have visited the island 5 times, and it’s only now that I have realized this strange family history. High Knoll Hill Fort is were many POW were housed and I would presume this is where my Great Great Grandfather was held. I have read only one document so far listing his name on a register of POWs.

My Previous job was, the First mate on Sailing Catamarans that were manufactured and built in Cape Town, Our Job was to get these brand new sailboats to the owners who were all over the world. The Boats would have a Skipper, a First mate ( me ) and one crew Member. All trips would start in Cape Town, and we would sail to exotic destinations like Tahiti, Rio De Janeiro, Greece, Annapolis, Panama, Singapore, Sanya, Hong Kong.
@LeeBee-SA @Perneo @user_not_found @DeniGu @HUMBERTO_V @Giusthelion

My Other St Helena Post → https://www.localguidesconnect.com/t5/General-Discussion/St-Helena-island-remote-and-extremely-isolated/m-p/1248164#M265978

[AbdullahAM]

Thank you for sharing your post with us @Mongoose

[shantanu-kaizen]

Hi@Mongoose

Thank you for sharing these nice pics.

Best.

[TsekoV]

Hi @Mongoose ,

All those view there must be simply breathtaking, aren’t they!

You have traveled to many places by water, what was the feeling to be living on a boat for many days and weeks maybe even weeks?

You mentioned Sanya, the Chinese most famous resort. Did you get the chance to visit there? Hainan island is still for me a destination I would love to see. While I was living in China, I would even think to move and live there, but never did it, hehe.

So many great memories…would be great to learn more about them through your posts and shots!

[Mongoose]

Let me tell you one thing , you either love the feeling of almost leaving the planet , or you hate it.

When you sail from Cape Town and you are heading to St Helena Island , it takes around 2 weeks. You can sail for a whole day and most of the night and then when the sun comes up , you notice no land behind you. Cellphones stop working ( The coverage ) almost as soon as you stop seeing land. The local radio station takes about 2 days to fade away. And then it can make some people very unhappy. There is no Cellphone Signal , no Radio station , No Internet , you cant even call for Help on the VHF radio.
And then you sail , day and night . We do shifts , The Catamarans are around 48 Ft , There is the Skipper , Myself ( First mate , and One Crew Member/
Only 3 of us , We would work 4 hour shifts during the day , then at night we switch to 3 hour shifts. This way the shift times rotate , so that you don’t always have the same shift . ( Eg 6 pm → 9 Pm )

Remember you are sailing for 2 whole weeks , there is no turning back , if a storm comes , you sail with it , if there is no wind , you wait for the wind .

What I loved about sailing is the solitude , you don’t hear any news , the world could have ended for all you know and you would be out there sailing.

Let me break down the Trip times an estimate for you.
Cape Town - St Helena Island - Aprox 14 days
St Helena Island - Caribbean - 20 Days
Panama - Tahiti - 32 Days
Cape Town – > Mauritius 10 days
Mauritius to Thailand -3 to 4 weeks .

Been based in Cape Town , some trips we would be away from home for over 120 days , We would deliver the Catamaran to the client , Then fly back to Cape Town , have 1 to 2 weeks rest , then take the next yacht , I did that for just over 5 years …

I loved it

@TsekoV

[TsekoV]

I just loved reading this, @Mongoose !

This must have been a very interesting part of your life. You had chance to travel to many places and at the same time find time to “disappear” from the world and enjoy those longs moments of solitude. I guess we all need that at a certain time of our lives. Can you imagine that most of the population live in the hustle and bustle of megalopolises, yet you got the chance to discover our planet.

I am curious during those long days and nights what would you do? Contemplate at the void ocean, maybe read books or share stories with your colleagues there?

And at those unfortunate moments when storms rise, what would you do?