Let me start by apologizing to all my faithful readers, I've let my blog lax for quite some time now, and I am sorry. It has not been for a lack of interesting doings on our part. On the contrary we have been having a grand time. Here's a quick synopsis and I will try to get back to it and write proper blogs soon. We have been back to Kruger National Park with David's brother, spent a week surfing on Muizenberg Beach near Capetown South Africa, well Zack and David surfed, it was too cold for me! We sailed around to Namibia and had a lovely time there. Thanks to Mary Hellen for sending us a bit of cash which we promptly spent, rather frivolously on sand boarding and renting quad bikes to drive around on the sand dunes with. Zack had his own quad bike and totally rocked it, no fear at all. On our way to Namibia we anchored off of Dassen Island in South Africa and found ourselves in a huge pod of whales. There were about thirty very close to us and another thirty or so that we could see in the distance. We were so close, basically surrounded by them that the fish smell was overwhelming. It was amazing and we spent about 2 hours sitting and watching them. We left Namibia with plans for a quick stop in St Helena and then home. Our autopilot gave it up 3 days out of Namibia. Three days is a fair investment into a passage and we decided to carry on hand steering to St. Helena. It may not sound so bad, but trust me, it is horrible. Seven days of steering is a lot, 24 hours a day someone needs to be at the wheel. Zack, as always, was great, taking 10 to 15 minutes every hour or so, and even longer on occasion. He steered for an entire hour once so I could make him some nachos. We made it to St Helena and were able to source the parts we needed. It was difficult to find someone to send the parts to Ascension Island which was now going to be our next stop. We contacted some old friends from the yacht Galavanter and they volunteered to sort it for us. We haven't seen them since New Zealand, and they were ready to help. One of the reasons I love this cruising community, everyone is always there to help each other. David did find a company to ship the parts directly so he ordered them and had them sent to Ascension. No problem, a plane comes in from the UK twice a week, so 5 to 7 days and we should be back in business. We had to hand steer to Ascension, 6 days. Not so bad and certainly better than the 30 it would take to reach Trinidad. So here we sit, 23 days later, on Ascension Island. Two days after we arrived on Ascension we learned that the airport was closed to large planes due to runway damage. There has been one small plane but our part was not on it. It is a small part so we had big hopes. Nobody knows when the next plane will arrive, but definitely not this week. We met Tom on a catamaran passing through. David speaks to everyone we meet in hopes that they may have the spare parts we need. Tom had planned to put in the same steering unit we have and had spare parts. He came over with the exact belt we needed and promised to come over with the rest of the unit. He did, but the one piece we needed off of the unit was missing. So here we sit. What we need is a small cog of specific dimensions. We brought it in yesterday to see if we can get one manufactured. It's a long shot as there is not a machine shop here. The Harbor Master took the part and said he will try to make one for us, but no promises. So, that is our update, we may be here a while. The people of Ascension could not be nicer, so that is good. The landing to get onto the island is a nightmare so we have spent a lot of time on the boat. The water is lovely but there are sharks everywhere, most in the 2 meter range. We are not swimming! We did watch turtles laying eggs and baby turtles hatching and making their way to the sea, where most are promptly eaten by the sharks cruising the beaches. There is a large public pool here and we have been several times. Zack has met some of the local kids and had some good kid time. We will keep you all posted on our progress here and if anyone is planning a visit to Ascension Island let us know so you can bring the part we need. Laugh if you will, but this was the actual suggestion of the local post office. Cheers!