First Saturday and Sunday

I spent the weekend shooting and interviewing Saints and sailors. On Saturday, the Governor’s Cup racers invited Saints out on their yachts to sail around the harbor. I joined a yacht from South Africa and shot the three Saint children onboard a sailboat for their first time. The children were accompanied by their fathers, and sailors and Saints alike seemed to have a great time.

Sundays are completely dead in Jamestown. Shops are closed, no cars are in the lot—even the birds don’t seem to move. People are out picnicking, riding motorcycles or swimming in the bay. I did some shooting and much needed editing, as the photo folder has been expanding to unwieldy proportions.

I also saw Oakland cottage where John Thurlow stays. The house is ancient, but no one knows how old. At one time the house was made into a small hotel with toilets, sinks and showers thrown into previously large bedrooms. In many cases the new en suites were enclosed by wooden panels--it was a bizarre decorating concept and one that should avoid being duplicated. The house has some wonderful traits, but I’m afraid to think how much investment it would take to bring the place to its former glory, and the roof is made of asbestos. Yikes.

Monday I caught up with Sally and her children as well as Tara and Tom. Sally seems to be doing well and is enjoying her time at home with her mom. Her sister has been reunited with her 8-month-old daughter after four months, so she’s been having a ball with the little one.

At Sally’s mom’s house, I met two ladies. One is an older lady who seems to be a little different from most Saints. She wears all black and has long dyed black hair. Some call her Frenchy and I see her sitting next to Jacob’s Ladder, across the street from Sally’s mom’s house. Her voice is rough and she says she spent nearly 20 years living in South Florida—everyone on St Helena seems to have a family member living in Florida. One can tell from her face and voice that she’d had a rough life.

Today I saw Frenchy by Jacob’s Ladder and she and her boyfriend were drunk. I guess this is what they do everyday when he gets off work.

The big thing that I accomplished today was shooting video b-roll of passengers and the RMS leaving port again. Last week the ship left for Ascension and it has come back before going to Walvis Bay and on to Cape Town. The RMS will then return again on Feb. 8, which is when I will say goodbye.

The supplies in the stores are looking pretty barren. Imported vegetables are looking a little rotten and shelf supplies are getting low. I can’t seem to buy any decent batteries on the island. I was going to switch to rechargeable ones, but all the stores on the island are out of chargers.

I bought some refrozen vegetables the other day out of desperation. They were in about a 2-pound block of ice as they’d been frozen and refrozen perhaps several times.

Don’t misunderstand, the island life is great here, but one has to have less expectations. Battery chargers will probably be on the next ship, as will vegetables. It won’t do me any good, but that’s fine. It’s all part of the life here, and part of the documentary.


TDx