Ships Log Star Date 2007 – Cape Town to Tenerife
We sailed from Cape Town as the sun dipped over the horizon in the west with just the top of table mountain still basking in the glowing sunset reflecting the last dying embers of the day, like the back of a glorious winters night log fire; the lights of Cape Town twinkling as if sending a message wishing us god speed and a safe journey as we left the spectacular Victoria & Albert harbour quay and slipped out into the barren wastes of the vast South Atlantic. Our guests gathered on the upper decks gazing back on Cape Town lost in their thoughts, some probably and momentarily reliving the old colonial days when the lilac coloured hulls of the great ships of the Union Castle Line sailed regularly from Cape Town to Southampton, taking home ‘Ex Pats’ filled with eager anticipation of the voyage to come with the knowledge that they were at last going home to ‘Blighty.’ A damp foggy place Nor’ Nor’ East of Cape Finistere! Steaming out of the harbour passed Robben Island, sadly recalling man’s inhumanity to man and Nelson Mandela who was incarcerated there for years because of the colour of his skin and his then unfashionable belief that we are all equal, yet on release he rose to become one of this century’s greatest world statesmen.
Up the coast we sailed, swept along by the powerful Benguela Current northwards abeam the aptly named Skeleton Coast of South West Africa, where many a shipwrecked mariner had been washed ashore in days gone by and some not so far back, first having suffered the trauma of foundering in heavy storms marooned at sea on the ‘flotsam and jetsam’ remains of their sunken vessel and then to sight land thinking of survival only to find that this landfall meant yet another barren wilderness, this time the huge deserts of South West Africa without shelter from the baking hot sun.
Meanwhile we were safely cocooned aboard our luxurious air conditioned little vessel with good food, wine and pleasant company with all thoughts of shipwreck far from our minds.
Our only reminder of the vastness of the South Atlantic being the lone Albatross that gently glided to and fro in the slip stream of our ship, amazing us all and bringing out the closet ‘twitchers’ amongst us, as for hour after hour it delighted us with its display of aerobatics to the point we almost expected it to do a loop the loop! Gliding high above the ship hovering on the thermals, followed by high speed low level passes near our stern just inches above the turbulent cauldron created by our twin propellers wash.
During the day we surfed along northwards atop of the huge Southern Atlantic rollers producing a gentle rocking motion as we steamed on towards our first port of call, Walvis Bay in Namibia. Whilst at night we stared up in wonderment at the spectacular show in the heavens with the millions of stars sparkling like diamonds on a backcloth of velvet, we observed a waxing half moon, Saturn, Venus, the Seven Sisters, Orion’s Belt, and the Southern Cross to name but a few whilst the Milky Way Galaxy dominated the night sky like a huge scarf of glittering stars.
Whilst astern our lone Albatross glided along coming occasionally into view from the shadows created by the ships lights dancing over the glow of the phosphorus wake like a ghostly guardian angel watching over us on our voyage through the southern ocean.
As we neared Namibia as if welcoming us to their shores we were greeted by a pod of several hundred dolphins, surrounding the ship escorting us safely into harbour.
During our brief stay here our guests enjoyed a boat trip into the Walvis Bay lagoon to observe the abundance of wildlife there, Cape Fur-seals, Cormorants, numerous species of Gulls and so many other birds just too numerous to identify. They passed colonies of Fur-seals and were able to see distinct groups of females, each attended by large dominant ‘Beachmaster’ males. No equality or political correctness there, the males were men and the females, well females! On the return journey they viewed the guano platform where a German entrepreneur made true the great Yorkshire saying ‘where there’s muck there’s brass’. He built this guano platform and collected the droppings of roosting cormorants turning it into one of the world’s foremost fertilisers.
And so we steamed further north towards our next port of call the beautiful little island and one of the last outposts of the British Empire, ‘St Helena’.
Our guest lecturer briefed guests from the Panorama Deck in the art of looking for wildlife that indicated ‘Land Ahoy!’ Just like the ancient mariners did it in the days of sail, when radar, chart plotters and Global Positioning Systems were just science fiction! From as far as 120 miles out we were able to spot the signs of approaching the landfall of St.Helena.
One of the great highlights of the cruise was here in St.Helena anchorage when a Whale Shark was seen just off the stern of the vessel as the crew prepared to lower the tenders. It was longer than our tenders, occasionally its tail fin broke the surface preceded by the dorsal fin some five metres ahead, all in all it was about 7 metres long with a head of a width of about 1 ½ metres. There were three large pilot fish in attendance along with a medium sized Manta Ray. A very rare sight indeed.
Guests were also treated to Napoleon’s House at Longwood and a visit to the National Trust of St.Helena’s millennium project – the reestablishment of a native Gumwood Forest which was destroyed some hundred years ago. One of the sections of about 500 saplings was sponsored by a previous visit of our ship last year and consequently named after the ship in honour of the guests who contributed to the purchase of these saplings.
Without a doubt this amazing little island captured our hearts, so we raised a glass or two and bade farewell, thoughts of the sun setting on this small last outpost of the British Empire, as we watched St.Helena slowly slip beneath the horizon with the words of that famous 70’s song from the ‘Three Degrees’ echoing in our minds, ‘When will I see you again’?
So it was, we continued northwards once more but with an additional 16 guests and five large bags of Royal Mail safely onboard, which we had collected in St.Helena for the 2-day voyage to Ascension Island. Unfortunately the R.M.S.’St.Helena’ the vessel that calls there regularly, a lifeline and the only contact the islanders have with the outside world had sadly been delayed back in the UK with engine trouble.
Approaching Ascension was one of great excitement with the Mizzen Deck packed with our guests, many in dressing gowns and night dresses as they eagerly expected to see rare birds as the Captain took the ship in for a slow steam by Boatswainbird Island, an uninhabited bird sanctuary island. The morning sky darkened as thousands of Frigatebirds flew over the ship like a massive squadron of aircraft flying off to war. Coincidently almost to the day 25 years ago then the sky had then been filled with the buzzing sound of British helicopters storing the ‘task force’ anchored off shore getting ready for the long sail south as the ‘Empire prepared to Strike Back’ and re-take the Falkland Islands. Only on this occasion these birds were heading out to sea at first light for a days fishing, a rare sight indeed that few people have had the privilege to see but then that is what-our superb ship is all about, taking our guests to unique remote locations such as this to observe sights unseen by other mortals.
Our sojourn on the island included sighting a few Green Turtles, including tracks from some very large females that had hauled up onto the beach during the night to lay their eggs. The trip ending with a snorkelling surf-ari at Comfortless Cove.
By now the weather was hotting up as we approached the equator with intrepidation as we knew that there would be no way we could just sneak across into the northern hemisphere without being spotted by the ever watchful eye of King Neptune’s sea creatures. The guests pleaded with the Captain to cross during the dead of night when it’s known that King Neptune slumbers in the deep of Davy Jones Locker, they even tried to bribe him with a year’s supply of champagne but he was having none of it, he couldn’t be that easily bought, mmmm…………!
‘Argg ha me hearties I canna noo afford the wrath of ta greeet man, otherwise eee’ll curse me to sail the seven seas in eeternity ooh arh me luvvlies’ growled the grizzly white bearded Captain at dinner that night, demanding more champagne as he squeezed the passing thigh of a voluptuous waitress. Conjuring up a scene more reminiscent of a pirates bar on the old Spanish Main than the dining room of a luxurious cruise liner.
So it was we steamed slowly towards the equator and on that fateful day after partaking of a sumptuous Buffet lunch on deck, strident screams followed by hollow echoes of blood curdling voices from the deep were heard coming over the tannoy as terrified guests looked for means of escaping from the open after Deck. The Captain despite his advancing years of experience, having seen it all before stood quivering at the head of the aft deck companionway anxiously pulling his white candyfloss beard, as he waited nervously to greet the supreme maritime commander from the deep. When the King arrived he was greeted with glees of delight and a twinkle in many an eye of our elderly male guests as they feasted their eyes on the closely following skimpily clad sea nymphs, observing more bare young female flesh than they’d probably seen in many a year. The experienced Ship’s Doc had knowingly put the resuscitator on hand, just in case!!
This was soon to be followed by screams of terror as Doctor De’ath and the Executioner followed dressed all in black armed with menacing axes and saws! King Neptune’s Court was now complete and as he bellowed out his intentions with lots of gesticulating with his fork towards his chosen victims, accompanied by sickening bowl wrenching, fear invoking inhuman growls from Doctor De’ath and the Executioner who were lusting for blood.
So the chosen miscreants were led screaming and kicking to kneel before the great one and pay homage before being duly lathered in a slimy potion concocted from the remains of the ‘swill bin’, something really horrible, resembling the regurgitated seaweed meal of some revolting monster from the deep! Then it was into the pool to complete their oceanic baptism into the Kingdom of Atlantis. Once the ceremony was completed King Neptune led his motley bunch whooping and screaming as they flung themselves into the pool closely followed our Captain in full uniform crying out,
‘Champagne all round’ as he launched himself making a spectacular if somewhat undignified arrival into the melee, joining the happy throng splashing around in the ship’s pool which rather resembled a cross between children in a paddling pool on a hot summers day and a bunch of holostic Hollywood celebrities enjoying an afternoon of debauchery. Good order and discipline was in serious danger of completely breaking down, as they all fought with the Captain to be first to assist the nymphs from the pool!
Yes, it was all there on the Deck – lawyers would have had a field day, sexual harassment, intimidation, and infringement of human rights. Thankfully the Cruise Sales office had cleverly filtered out any possible Legal Beagles from the guest list!
And so it was we sailed merrily on with a brief call in Cape Verde and then onwards to journey’s end in Tenerife, where finally and gratefully we arrived safely having braved the South Atlantic, King Neptune and even each other having been cooped up together for 21 days, bringing home the reality of that famous quote by Samuel Pepys ‘Going to sea is like going to prison with the added risk of drowning’!
So it was with emotional good-byes and tears in our eyes that our motley bunch of South Atlántico’s bade each other fond farewells with promises of doing it all over again another year!
(c) HM Stevens, Somewhere in the South Atlantic, April 2007
