St Helena Island

St. Helena is reputed to be "the most remote inhabited island in the world."

We've been here a week, and will now sail on to Brazil....St Helena Island rises out of the ocean so abruptly that there is no safe place to land a dinghy.  A small open ferry shuttles visitors to shore, where we land at a concrete platform, grabbing a hanging rope for balance and timing our leap to shore as the surge swells up and down, reversing the same on the return trip.  The harbor has changed little in 100's of years - a fortified port, protected with thick walls.  In more recent years the cannon have been relegated to the scrap heap but the moat, thick walls, and sturdy gates remain in place.  (See the long stair case up the hill in back of the anchor - more about that in the following post.)

Napoleon's Years on St Helena Island

St Helena is perhaps best known because it is the place where Napoleon was exiled and died (1815-1821).  We visited the two places where he lived and his wooded grave.  (His remains were taken back to France in 1840.)

Ashore on Saint Helena Island

The main street has changed little in the past 100 years.  We each spent one night in the Consulate Hotel, a colonial hotel on the main street.  Chuck had his night onshore, and then we spent our night ashore while he watched the boat.  In one of these photos you can see themast that supports the Consulate's dining room.  The mast was salvaged from one of hte many wrecks that have taken place in the harbor...many ships have been lost there because of changeable winds and exposed coast (or attacks by enemy ships). 

On one night in the 1800's, 16 ships were lost in a single night when the winds changed.  We were told that when conditions of wind and sea are optimal, you can snorkel the clear waters and see timbers of hulls extending up from the bottom.  The little museum has artifacts from a Dutch wreck in 1613, including china and cloves that have lasted 400 years.