ROYAL DELIVERY
02 April 2012 | On the way to Ascension
Lyn Rattle
In January of this year the St Helena RSPCA charged me with the task of raising two VIPs (Very Important Pussies) who were bound for Ascension Island, one of three tiny British Islands in the South Atlantic, to live with Her Majesty's Representative there. But how to get them there? The answer came in the form of a very sleek catamaran called Shearwater and her handsome skipper, David. He offered to transport me and my two very important passengers the 700 miles across the Atlantic so that they could take up their new life at The Residency and catch the rodents who were eating their way through the Crown Rations. But an American? To be entrusted with such precious royal cargo? Surely not. I decided to take the risk. And anyway, David has the redeeming feature of being born in one of the Colonies and carrying a British passport ...
We've now been sailing for 5 days and have 200 miles to go. Apart from being seasick for the first couple of days, the pussies have coped remarkably well. The weather has been perfect - warm with gentle trades from the south-east. Shearwater is amazing. David has been the perfect skipper and I am so lucky to have had the chance to experience sailing as it should be. In two days we will meet the Administrator of Ascension and hand over our important cargo - we will have done our duty and had a jolly fine time doing it!
Lyn Rattle - Official Caretaker of the Ascension Pussies