Blue Water Sailing - June 2018

http://www.bwsailing.com^21

it was the only ticket on or off the
island for residents.
Local self-propelled lighter
and service vessels complete the fi-
nal link in the island’s supply chain
for inbound or outward freight.
Passengers, ships’ crews, and local
stevedores are collected by ferry
launches, the oldest of which is
reputedly over a hundred years old
and was mentioned by Hiscock in
one of his books.
The larger ships anchor well
out in the bay for safety and the
reduced swell in deeper water.
Goods are off-loaded and brought
to the seaside commercial offload-
ing area, the Landing, and are
hoisted ashore by a large crane.
This system can be carried out
even in rough swell conditions and
has worked well over the island’s
history.
An efficient and cheap ferry
service operates in the Bay, running
yacht and commercial personnel
to and from their vessels. The

Landing, the only practical way to

get ashore, can be tricky or even

dangerous in a dinghy, depending

on the size of the swell. The ferry

service was accordingly well re-

ceived. In Hiscock’s day, the same

crane used to unload the lighters

was used to pluck dinghies directly

out of the water.

JAMESTOWN

Customs and immigration

seems to operate in a last-century

time warp, but the compulsory

health and evacuation insurance

you have to buy is a modern de-

velopment brought about by the

increase in visiting yachts. This

requirement has less to do with

hordes of wealthy baby boomers

cruising down an increasingly

beaten path, than it does with the

effective closing of the Red Sea

at the hands of pirates; today the

sailing routes around Africa have

reverted to the pre-Suez Canal days

when all yachts and ships had to

round the Cape of Good Hope.

The steep valley in which the

original town was built constrains

and preserves this place, redolent

with maritime Empire, in another

time warp. Jamestown extends

some three miles along the glen

floor, above which a one-way

lane built into the hillsides creeps

skyward; the road was originally

intended for horses and carts, and

today, other than some paving, it is

very much the same. The buildings

the Saints live and work in are a liv-

ing museum of Georgian and Vic-

torian architecture. Around town

and in cobblestone back lanes you

find centuries-old refurbished can-

nons and ships’ anchors.

The fortifications across the

valley mouth are still original,

although the entrance gate “the

Arch” built in 1832 replaced an

earlier moat defensive system.

The “Castle” adjacent the Arch

now houses the police station, the

courthouse and some municipal

The oldest Anglican church
south of the equator