Arrival on Ascension Island - 700 mile leg completed
02 October 2017 | Ascension Island
Linda
After a delightful several days on St. Helena, and getting more diesel fuel, fresh water (all via jerry jugs) and buying as much fresh fruit and vegetables we could find, we departed St Helena for the 700 mile voyage to the next remote British island in the south Atlantic: Ascension Island.
As we approached the island, we slowed down to avoid arriving in the dark. From cruising information, we knew that we needed to anchor outside the mooring field for local boats and that the anchorage had some debris on the bottom. We successfully dropped anchor which held well at 7 am on Monday, October 2, having sailed 6 days from St. Helena.
Ascension Island is volcanic and quite barren looking from the anchorage. It has a small UK military base and small US military base. We launched our dinghy, tied up to the pier and found the small office which processed our customs and immigration paperwork. We were surprised to learn later how many planes in support of WWII landed and took off from the special airfield on Ascension. Unfortunately the current airfield is badly in need of repair so commercial flights can't land. Small military planes still arrive but the island is entirely dependent on the RMS St. Helena, a cargo passenger ship which arrives every 3-4 weeks.