Goodbye Ascension!

I managed to land at the pier yesterday, which was quite a challenge! We had persuaded the authorities to sign us in and out at the same time, just in case we were unable to get ashore when we wished to clear out, but I wanted to reload water, and my crew said "over to you skip". When I arrived at the pier it was 4ft below the landing ledge, but within 20 secs, it was 4ft above the ledge, with a surge from hell trying to dump you on the beach! The art is to approach throwing one rubbish, water bottles etc up onto the highest ledge, and hope they stay there, while you simultaneously kill the engine and leap ashore Tarzan style , grabbing one of the hanging ropes in one hand while hanging on to the extra long tender tether in the other hand! You then
tie up the tender onto a rope or rail, allowing the backsurge to carry the tender away from the landing. You then swear loudly, get down on your knees and try to rescue your rubbish and water bottles which are being washed over the edge. Getting oneself plus the 2 25kg water
bottles back on board was another challenge, calling for leaps of faith, frantic rowing to get away from the wash, followed by pleas to the outboard.
In all seriousness, the seas in European winter make the landing in Ascension trickier than normal, but we had a particularly rough week. Would somebody please alert JC (Taniwa) of the situation in Ascension, because I think he intended to come here, and it would be very , very awkward for a Mom and small baby to contend with as well!
Today the anchorage was as rolly as ever, so we decided we might as well clock up the miles and leave for Rio, or, Angra dos Reis. We will make that call when we reach Cabo Frio , where I have plotted an turning point round the oil fields, abot 110nm from Rio. We upped anchor at noon, with that point 1792nm from Ascension bearing 253 . We have now done 33nm of that, and are chopping along on a tight fetch, in 20knots, doing 6.5 to 7.5knots. The wind is expected to ease up a little tomorrow, but this is a very comfortable point of sale in a Shearwater. Fast and dry, and we are operating with a single reef, and reduced headsail. Makes a change from running and rolling! Pos at 17.00utc 8.11S,14.55W.
Tomorrow we will change to UTC -1, as we cross 15degs west. Cheers all!