Page 44 - 2003 - Atlantic Islands

How special it is to sight land after 4 ½ days at sea without seeing anything but waves

and clouds and very occasional birds. It is not difficult to extrapolate these feelings

into what the whalers and merchant seamen of sailing days must have experienced

when they would catch sight of a mountain in the distance that was solid and not

moving after months on the briny.

We got our own first look at land about 5 PM today and it was startling because it

looked much larger than I had expected it to do. The mountains are about 2000+ ft.

high and they do ride their island raft well above the waves. They were at first

shadowy and purplish as they floated about 25 miles off our bow. But they were

substantial and real and we knew that we would be able to walk on them and among

them and feel terra firma under our feet!

As we got closer to our anchorage, we could see more colors than just mauve - now

we could see red cinder cones and the lush verdure of Green Mountain, the highest

on Ascension. Buildings and NASA radar stations and wireless communication

equipment soon swam into view as well and added white and steel gray and brown

to the palette. The town buildings and homes are not colorful like the Cape Verdes or

the Canaries, however. The buildings are made of concrete and have been

whitewashed. We are all eager for a landing tomorrow.

We did learn an interesting factoid about the Island at Recap tonight - for many years

the island was treated by the Royal Navy as a ship of the line. Whatever law, rules,

and regulations prevailed on Her Majesty’s ships also prevailed here on Ascension.

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