Ascension Island – the land of turtle porn

5 1/2 days sail from St. Helena and we find ourselves in what has to be one of the remotest islands in the world. Or, at least, it ranks with places like the Galapagos, Tristan de Cunha, the Falklands etc for being out in the middle of nowhere. 

However, like all the remote islands in the world they have been taken over by the military/industrial complex and here on Ascencion the place bristles with aerials of all sizes. It started out as a BBC world service Atlantic relay station. It still is. However, amongst the BBC aerials there are RAF and USAF antennaes all watching and listening to the world. There are in fact areas where the signs indicating it would be very dangerous to walk out in the landscape due to extremely intense HF waves! Okay so what am I doing driving along this road amidst all these wires?

I’ll backtrack a minute and just mention some incidents on our sail north to Ascencion.  First off, through a satellite phone (Inmarsat) we have onboard for receiving weather information and a few emails  we learnt of some friends, Ann and Chris, onboard Silver Girl, were about to abandon their boat due to a lost rudder. We got one message and managed to send off a reply of support. One day later our sat phone refuses to connect to the required network.  What! Yes, just at a critical moment we have lost contact with our fiends in need. It’s now almost one week later and we have no idea what has happened and if they were able to safely get onboard the ship that was heading their way to affect a rescue. 

It’s minor to say we are pissed off at our network server. This is the first time in 5 years of use that we have not been able to connect to the sat phone server. If we manage to make contact with them from Ascencion I would not like to be the person on the other end of the line.

Obviously we are very worried about our friends. We were both headed the same way and had future plans that meant spending time with them in the Caribbean and if everything worked out anchorages further along the route. We are desperate for news of their safety but may not hear anything until we make it to better served internet location. 

Other than the above the trip from St. Helena was spent changing sails, checking weather, eating, reading, sunset and bird watching and finally fishing. And yes, we were successful. Having changed my fishing line from 35kg test line to 135kg test line I now have not lost one lure and we caught one 15kg bluefin tuna!  So what do two people do with 35kg of tuna let alone 1kg? Feeling very guilty I threw over 1/2 the tuna and then we gorged ourselves on the remaining 15kgs. Tuna sashimi, tuna steaks, tuna spaghetti, tuna, tuna, tuna. I think we eached turned blue after eating it all!

Ascencion and the part you have all been waiting for – turtle porn!  Yes, it’s the season. Here away from prying eyes and hungry inhabitants the turtles are cavorting in the bay. Flippers are flying, water is flying everywhere, turtle bellies are exposed, eyes are glazed and the turtles are .ucking their way to heaven! The sea around us abounds with turtles in lust. Are they hungry? I think they have only one thing on their minds and that’s how to fertilize those eggs before the females head to shore in the evening to lay their eggs on the beaches. It’s a marathon. Essential to survival and these guys are big. Apparently there is no food soirce here for them. Instead they leave their feeding grounds 4 months prior to arrival here having had little to eat with only one thing on their minds and it ain’t food!

Of course, the turtles provide us with hours of entertainment. They are all around the boat and the bay. We sit in the cockpit and encourage them along in their endeavours with cheers of support and ablutions that keep us in a merry mood. It’s a wonderful sight and all played to a backdrop of one incredible island that combines a lunar lower elevation landscape with a towering (818metres) mountain, Green Mountain. The mountain is the source of the water for consumption of approximately 800 non-permanent residents. Although recently a desalination plant has been added and as a result at the peir the water is sold at the rate of 1GBP/40 litres. The mountain also houses the Chief Adminstrator from the UK who looks down from his kingdom on high and makes proclomations, such as the one in the mid 1990s, that segregation on the island is now finished!  Yes, folks in the 1990s.

We are here till Thursday. The anchorage is again an open roadstead and a north swell is upon us which means I have to chase the keyboard as it slides over the other side of the dining table and with my foot hold on to my cup of coffee. It’s a balancing act and we are looking forward to a smooth and peaceful anchorage somewhere along the South American coastline. It’s a long way, 2100miles to Forteleza and about 2800 to Trinidad!  It’s a long way and am sure adventures will abound – more books, more pasta, more rice and perhaps a mahi-mahi or tuna. 

Hope everyone had a great New Years and fortunes for the new year are in the offering. Just remember to share those fortunes with others!

Ascension Island – wildlife and heritage – YouTube