Ile St Paul

PSN: 38S77E
Date 17 Jan 2012 Day 31
I have learnt with sailing that nothing is guaranteed... Sasha and I have not really had much luck on our side weather wise... After days of deliberating as to whether we should make our way back North to visit Ile St Paul, or save a couple of days on our journey, we decided that we need a reward and having come so far and so close we thought it is something that we shouldn’t miss. So with our decision made, we headed North to make our way to up to Ile St Paul.

Naturally, with very little wind on our side, our estimated time to arrive in ST Paul would be after sunset... Again, our luck! That being pointless, we decided to motor for a while to get the wind in our sails and try to make up time to get there before sunset.With time dwindling and fast approaching nightfall, we spotted a ghostly image on the distant horizon which was the small landmass - Ile St Paul. We were so euphoric and excited. It is quite an extraordinary feeling to see land after so long at sea.

The weather was not great, and neither was the light, but we manage to get to it before the sun set. The photos we took will never to justice to the beauty of this incredible feature. It looked like a tapestry of texture and colour. Something truly amazing to witness. The colour of the water in the approach to the island changed from the most incredible aqua blue to a sea of emerald green. The birdlife was prolific and small little seals danced about our boat curiously. The rock strata was clearly displayed in levels of colour and curves, one could almost imagine the flowing lava. Many caves had been made at the foot of the landmass. It is so difficult to put into words the absolutely beauty of what we saw. The life (moss and grass), and colours just took my breath away. We could not go into the Atoll as we were nervous of the shallowness of the entrance and also the time we had before dark was running out. We wouldn’t have seen much more even if we had gone in, so we decided our safety was more important. One part of St Paul looked like a mini Sugarloaf Mountain. The rocky outcrop was spectacular; it was black with bits of yellow moss growing on it. Plenty of birds dotted around it and aqua blue water lapping into the small craters where the water had corroded away at the base.
To celebrate the beauty of what we witnessed and to reward ourselves having come this far, we popped a bottle of champagne and sipped away the sunset with St Paul slipping away in the distance.