Captain's Log Page 2

Tideline Yacht Sales
17 Lockwood Drive
Charleston, SC 29401

PHONE: 843.813.3711
FAX: 866.467.8840
Email: glen@tidelineyachtsales.com

      St Helena is most famous for having imprisoned Napoleon Bonaparte until his death. The British navy secured the southern Atlantic by holding Tristan de Cunha, Ascension Island and St Helena. With a presence in the Falkland Islands off the coast of Argentina, this ensured that the French would not attempt to rescue Napoleon. Visitors today can see the house where he lived, the bed he slept in, and some of his personal belongings, including his letters. Across the road from the house is the site where Napoleon was originally buried. He was later reburied in Paris.

The island rises up and has a small area that is very lush and green. Coffee is grown at the high altitudes, and is of such a superior quality it is only sold to Harrods in London. Needless to say it is very expensive, and no doubt very good.

As one arrives in St Helena one would notice stairs going up to the top of a cliff that overlooks the bay. This is known as Jacob's ladder, and consists of 611 steps, each step being 11 inches. By the time I reached the top I was ready to slide all the way down! The British garrison was housed there, and they certainly had a magnificent view. It is easy to understand why this was done, as any vessels would be easily seen from many miles away.

There is no airport on the island and anything and everything on the island is brought in by ship, RMS St Helena. Even cars are ferried ashore from the ship. Consequently there are very few tourists, which is a nice change from most places one visits. St Helena has the distinction of having the second worst golf course in the world. I never found out where the worst is purported to be, and not being a good player I have to take other people's word. I was assured that the 9 hole course high up in the mountains was pretty bad! continue to page 3 >>