A send off by Whale Sharks

15’28.1S 006’20.2W course 283′ speed 4,6kn

Three amazing days on Saint Helena have gone by in no time! Skeleton crew on board for anchor watch and maintenance and the rest off to explore the island! We enjoyed hiking a few of the Postbox hikes, some went snorkeling, most made it up the 699 steps of Jacobs ladder, we visited the residence of Napoleon while he was in exile and enjoyed the audio tour explaining all the rooms, paintings and significant artifacts left behind. We had a beer in Anne’s place, which seems to be a must for the sailors and we were amazed by all the friendly people greeting you, giving us lifts and organizing tours for us. Saint Helena is a special place. The 4000 inhabitants live on a piece of paradise and they know it and are happy to share it! Internet is spotty on islands like this, a lot like in the Falkland Islands, so we were able to send through some pictures, but not all.

Photo of the day by Tom

All in all, it was an unplanned and unexpected, but perfect stop over! We left on Friday as our weather report was saying the Tradewinds will be picking up again on Saturday, so today. So in the morning of the 19th we had a full crew working on the last rig jobs and getting seafastened, while I went on shore to clear us out. After clearing out I took the ferry back to the ship, chatting with the ferry operator is always nice. He has many stories on the wrecks in the harbor, on the boats at anchor, about the weather, really to much to mention. All of a sudden he hands me the vhf, for you he says! As I look at the Tecla, I see part of the crew swimming. Strange, we did not have any jobs in the water… When I respond to the caller on the VHF I realize its Joel, he is up in the mast and has spotted Whale Sharks. Our ferry driver is excited and takes me on a tour around the Tecla, finding two middle sized Whale Sharks, they were around 5 meters, but the Ferry driver told us they can get up to 10 meters! We were already impressed with this size!!

Picture by Joel

Once back on board I ran downstairs, got my swimming gear on and jumped in! We swam with the Whale Sharks (which are plankton eating animals) for over 45 minutes. They circled the ship, Alice dove underneath the Tecla together with one of them and it was an amazing sight!
What a special send off present! I think I speak for the whole crew, when I say that we fell in love with the island and its sights!

Picture by Noel

And now we are under way again, using sail, but going slow. During the day, the wind should pick up and within 2 days the trade winds should be at their regular strength, 20 to 25 knots. It does feel good to be out sailing again. A small breeze, a settled ocean and 5.588 miles to go.

All is well on board, Jet

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