Ascension Island - by Gary

Our visit to Ascension Island was unusual – hardly a visit at all really!

Ascension is one of a string of oceanic islands that are still British: i.e. Burmuda, Virgin Islands, St Helena, Falklands, South Georgia, Tristan da Cunha, and Chagos.  But these last remnants of empire are available for rent if you’re the right sort.  In this case it’s the Yanks who are the major leaseholders, maintaining a major military base on Ascension.  But American servicemen and women hold a singular advantage over yachties – they can fly in on a B52 or Phantom Fighter or whatever.  But for us a landing entailed braving ocean rollers in our tiny rubber ducky, at a waterfront little changed since Captain Cook’s days.  It was a trifle challenging to say the least!

We spent three days anchored in the island’s lee, bouncing up and down waiting for the swell to settle sufficiently to make an attempt.  Finally on our last morning it was calm enough to give it a go.  Vicki, Zeke and Nina managed to scramble ashore – while I stood off in the dinghy.  They spent all of 30 minutes ashore purchasing important provisions.  Returning to Mojombo with the wind rising there seemed little chance of the swell continuing to abate in the immediate future, so we put to sea once again.

We spent three days waiting for the swell to settle – not really a waste of time though.  Large schools of small fish, apparently related to Piranhas, made fast work of our hull growth – by the time we left Mojombo’s bottom was slickety slick clean.  Vegetable scraps thrown over the side created a feeding frenzy.

Every morning the beaches were criss-crossed with fresh tractor tire tracks, evidence of Green Turtles hauling out under cover of night to lay their eggs.  Huge turtles were constantly swimming past the boat – we even saw two mating!

Ashore nature jostled with military installations.  Vast arrays of exotic antennae bristled in the distance.

The military presence was hard to escape – if not always high-tech.

Capturing a sense of the swell in a photo was difficult because of the long wavelength.

A wave breaks as we approach the town wharf.

This is the landing area.  Note the ropes for grabbing hold of.  As you can see the distance from the top of the ladder to the water is about 1.5 metres.

Now it is about 300mm.  In a big set the whole lot would go under.

Nimbleness and fine judgment offer distinct advantages

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Here is the proof, at least some of the party made it ashore –  for a whole thirty minutes – long enough to buy some bread and chocolate bars.

Then it was back to Mojombo and out to sea again.  As I said, one of our more unusual visits!

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