Near disaster at sea! We are ok.

Friday, March 9, we drove to the eastern part of the island and did a walk to Great Stone Top.  The trail is relatively safe, except for the final 20 yards or so.  It starts at 555 m, descends to 370 m and finishes at 494 m at the very edge of the sea cliff.  Great Stone Top is reputedly the highest sea cliff in the South Atlantic Ocean.  If one creeps to the edge, one can look down a 1,500 foot sheer drop to the sea!  We simply hadn't the nerve to make it to the very end of the path.  Some of the boulders along the trail are made of phonolite, i.e., "sound rock."  They ring with a distinct pitch when struck with a fist-sized rock! Saturday, March 10, we joined 18 other passengers for an around the island boat trip with a crew of three.  Being just offshore enables one to see the steep cliffs dropping directly to the sea that comprise almost all of the island's circumference.  (There are only about four places on the perimeter of about 24 miles, none suitable for anything larger than a 50 foot boat and only two are presently in use.)   It was supposedly a moderately calm day, but our 40 foot boat was pitching and rolling severely.  Thanks to doses of meclyzine, Jack was not among the three passengers who were soon "honking" over the side!  Meg gradually began to feel sick, but was saved, ironically, by an unfortunate incident.  About two-thirds of the way around the island, the boat suddenly and rapidly started taking on water.  Then the vessel lost all power.  The crew quickly dropped anchor and started bailing out water, gallon after gallon.  It was then found that a rope, improperly stored in the hold, had floated to the propeller shaft, been wrapped around it many times, catching a hose pumping sea water to the shaft to cool it and tearing the hose off at both ends.  With the hose gone, the pump had filled the engine compartment full of water, killing the engine.  The crew struggled for two hours trying to recover while we bobbed in the sea, in full sun, just off the rocks, but somewhat sheltered from the full swell.  This is what seemed to save Meg from full-blown seasickness!  The captain then gave up and decided to radio for help to be towed back to Jamestown.  The captain was then surprised to find that no one responded to his call because his FM radio couldn't reach anyone.  We were disabled and unable to make radio contact.  The passengers were mostly Brits, so it was "Keep calm and carry on" time!  After another hour and much bailing, we started for Jamestown with the captain lying on his stomach on the engine block, his hand reaching under the engine with a rag plugging up the output side of the pump so the engine wouldn't be swamped again.  We limped home three  hours late.  In compensation, any passenger who would still be on the island the following Saturday was offered a free dolphin-watching sea-trip.  We doubt there was much enthusiasm for it!  Those of us who would not still be on the island the following Saturday thought it would have been nice to have our £15 refunded, but then again... we did get our around the island trip!