Sunset at the Dockyard

With the teak job finished and a long awaited visit from the Watermaker engineer we had time to reassemble Faraway ready for sailing south on Saturday. The problem with the Watermaker was still a work in progress but hopefully it would be resolved on Friday. The repaired head sail was also being delivered on Friday so we were basically good to set sail again. After packing dozens of bags of tools, tape and varnish away we settled on deck to watch an amazing pink sunset over the Dockyard with a can of the Caribbean's finest beer. On Friday night we had drinks in the bay with Dave and Lyn on their yacht 'Moonbeam of Argyle'. They gave us a useful guide book on the Leeward Islands and lot's of good tips.

Faraway and Pelekan

Today we said farewell to our Island Packet 485 neighbours Tom and Jos who were heading out of the marina on SV Pelekan. As previously mentioned Faraway is hull number 22 in the factory and Pelekan is hull number 23. It was pretty coincidental that we ended up moored side by side each other in the marina. They were a lovely couple who freely shared their valuable knowledge and experience of owning and sailing an Island Packet. We soon discovered that the problems we had experienced so far were more quirks than major issues and it gave us a lot of comfort. We gained a lot of useful information from them and started to think that we were truly becoming part of the Island Packet 'family'. We wish them well in their adventure and hope to meet up again soon.

Dockyard Cats

It was quite difficult for me to go on a sailing adventure and not have any contact with horses or cats. In true style the cats found me eventually they always do. On my way back from shopping on Wednesday afternoon I heard the cries of a kitten and located the cutest black and white one stuck on top of the roof of the Customs building with adult cats calling from the ground. I spent a long time trying to coax the little fellow down and eventually it found a low spot at the back of the building and scrambled down. All the other cats were waiting for it so I gave them a couple of tins of sardines to celebrate the reunion. I didn't realise that during the rescue process there were a bunch of tourists watching the action from the cafe until one lady came over to see if the kitten had a safe landing.

Jolly Harbour

On Wednesday we hired a car to do our provisioning for the next leg of our trip. We hoped to set sail on Saturday for St. Lucia in time to meet up with Ian's mum on March 1. We took a lovely drive through rainforest and then along the coast passing beautiful aquamarine beaches. The supermarket in Jolly Harbour was well stocked but on the way back we still had space in the boot to stop at a colourful family fruit and vegetable stall. We stocked up on pineapples and delicious bananas which looked a lot better than the selection at the supermarket.

Around Nelsons Dockyard

On Tuesday Ian was busy with the generator engineer for 7 hours so I had time to have a walk around the Dockyard and take a few photos. There was a cruise ship due in so traditional costumes were worn by some of the staff and a band was playing outside one of the cafes which created a very different atmosphere. The photo of the pillars is interesting because in the past ships sailed up to the small canal and had repairs done to their sails in the wooden building which once sat on top of the pillars. There is now a hotel in the Admirals House overlooking the pillars and this makes for a great place to have a drink.

Race Day RORC Caribbean 600

Monday, February 21 was the RORC yacht race in Antigua. We watched the start of the race from the hill at the top of Nelson's Dockyard. Rambler shown in this photo was the first yacht across the line and also broke a monohull race record. A few of the people from local businesses that we had met at the Dockyard were also in the race which made the event more interesting for us. Of course we were not in the race and nowhere near qualified!

Dinner on SV Vimy

Sunday was another work day and scorching hot. The workers were still finishing off our deck teak and Ian and I did odd jobs. In the afternoon we jumped in the dinghy and headed over to the beach for a cool off. When we got back to Faraway we washed her down in our swimsuits then had unexpected visitors Dave and Lynn from Moonbeam of Argyle and Darryl and Denise from Vimy. It was a lovely sundowners with drinks and good company. The next day we were invited over for dinner on Vimy and Denise made us a lovely dinner while Darryl tended to our drinks. This is a photo of Darryl and Denise just after sunset.

Devils Bridge Antigua

We came across an interesting rock formation called 'Devils Bridge'. The Atlantic Ocean is carving out a bridge like formation in the limestone. The seaspray was amazing when the waves rolled in and under the rocks you could hear a strange gurgling noise as the water tried to rush out again. Ian also took the opportunity to model his new 'crew wear'. Due to the excessive heat of the Caribbean Ian had decided to start wearing the white t-shirts he had brought with him rather than donate them to the islanders further south. It was a good move because his cotton polo shirts had proved to be too hot and heavy to wear during the day. Interestingly enough it seemed to be the fashion for men around most of the island and we kept seeing guys in khaki shorts and white t-shirts. Ian had hit the big time in fashion.

Half Moon Bay Antigua

For all the Saudi readers we couldn't resist the temptation of visiting Half Moon Bay in Antigua for a cool off. The visibility was about 20 metres, the water temperature around 27 degrees and the salinity was very low in this aquamarine bay that faced the Atlantic Ocean. There were crashing waves, a long white sandy beach, palm trees and a bar at the entrance to the car park. Here bikinis were allowed but surprisingly no nudity permitted in Antigua.

Antigua Island Tour by car

On Saturday, February 19 we still had the hire car and decided to go for an island tour. We drove up to Shirley Heights and got a wonderful view of the island from the visitors centre. The view down to English Harbour and Falmouth was very impressive and we could just see Faraway moored at the dockyard outside the 'Hot Hot Spot Coffee Shop'. We saw a schooner heading out of the harbour and tried to imagine what life would have been like in Nelson's days.

Seafood Night

We woke up a little later than usual to the sound of Jovita leaving the dock. Ian still had a bit of a headache from the rum but it was wearing off. John was proudly wearing his favourite t-shirt 'Got Rum' to tease Ian as they sailed off. We got a hire car and headed to St. John's to do some business for the day. In the evening we went over for the seafood night which had come highly recommended. We saw the main lobster guests being delivered to the restaurant early in the morning. The lobsters were grilled on an open BBQ and served with salad and garlic bread. Delicious. We sat at an outdoor table with Dave and Lynn who had sailed from Scotland on their yacht called 'Moonbeam of Argyle'. Yes they were Scottish if anyone was wondering and very knowledgeable about sailing. There was also an outdoor beer tent and the barman said he wanted us to visit often which was no problem. We sampled the local Antigua beer and found that to be pretty good. The beer label even had a map of the island on it to help you remember the location of where you were actually drinking from!

Ian wears new boardshorts

After a few complaints from relatives about Ian wearing the same board shorts every day Thursday, February 17 brought a day of change. Coincidently Ian also discovered that camouflage shorts were banned in Antigua and it probably wasn't a good idea to continue wearing them while he was here. We went for a walk in the new shorts up to the fort at the entrance of English Harbour and had a few beers to watch the sun set. The cannons were still in their original condition and all the markings were legible. After the sunset we watched the moon rise over the bay which was really pretty especially after a few beers. When we returned to the boat we were invited for more drinks with Laura and John on the neighbouring yacht called 'Jovita'. They were a lovely couple but we drank way too much rum (well Ian did).

The Deck

Whilst in the marina we decided it was a good chance to get our teak decking re-varnished. A very labour intensive job that Ian and I had intended to do ourselves but probably would never get around to. James a local guy gave us a good quotation and convinced us to go ahead with the work. O'Neill, one of the boat boys that helped us with our lines made sure that other boats stayed off our port and starboard so the work could be done.

Nelsons Dockyard English Harbour

On Tuesday, February 15 we sailed around to Nelsons Dockyard in English Harbour. An amazing historic harbour complete with original buildings and the odd cannon mounted around the marina. We had come in to get repairs done on our headsail and pick up more supplies. We had a stern to berth which was a little tricky to get into but the boat boys were great in assisting us. Ironically we were berthed next to another Island Packet 485 called 'Pelekan'. It was hull number 23 from the factory and our yacht was hull number 22. The owners Tom and Jocelyn were a lovely couple and we went to their well equipped yacht for drinks that evening. It was great to get some tips from them and ask questions about the little problems that we had been having on our yacht. They seemed to have been going through the same ordeals so it made us feel a lot better.

Deep Bay Antigua

We spent two nights in Deep Bay relaxing and trying to catch up on sleep. The weather wasn't the best for snorkelling but we went out in our dinghy and checked out Shipstern Wreck. I took the dinghy for a spin as well trying to find some sheltered snorkelling. In the afternoon we decided to go ashore and check out the view from the fort. It was pretty incredible and obviously wind swept! I was driving the dinghy onto the beach but unfortunately Ian jumped out a little too early and made a huge splash in the water. Completely saturated he was telling me off as resort couples glared at us in the distance. One fellow yachtsmen came over to intervene and help pull the dinghy ashore. I think Ian was madder about the public humiliation of falling in the water fully clothed rather then my coordination of a perfect commando style beach landing.

Antigua

On Wednesday February 8 we woke up early and decided to sail to Antigua. The swell was so bad in the bay that we hadn't really slept all night and even rolled out of bed a few times. I discovered two more words that don't really go together 'sailing' and 'sleeping'. It was another rough journey with no improvement in the weather. As we left Montserrat and scaled the huge swells we discussed the option of turning back. After some thought we decided to press on arriving in Fryers Bay Antigua just before sunset. We could see the 5 islands and Jolly Harbour as the sun set. We had a better nights sleep this time and a good rinse off in the ocean. The next morning we got up early to check in at Jolly Harbour. The name suited the place well and the harbour was really cute with a lovely marina, residential estate and golf course resort development. We did a few of the usual shore chores including dropping off rubbish and buying fresh food supplies. After the visit to land we picked up anchor and sailed up to Deep Bay. This was a lovely little anchorage that was in fact quite shallow and had it's own shipwreck for diving and snorkelling.

Rendevouz Bay

We anchored in a beautiful bay with one lonely house on it. The bay was also a local dive site so we took off in the afternoon to do some snorkelling. The underwater terrain was similar to Saba's volcanic sea floor and very interesting. I wanted to try out the diving but due to the weather we had to leave Montserrat earlier than expected. That evening we had a surprise visit from a yachtsman called Glen and two of his friends Anne and Cal. He was sailing his Catamaran called 'Rocketeer' to Guadeloupe and called in to the anchorage for the night. They invited us over for drinks that evening. The Catamaran was huge with a big open lounge and it was much more stable in the swell than our yacht. Going to another yacht for drinks sounds easy but not in the dark holding a torch and a bottle of wine in a rolling ocean. All my pants got wet getting in and out of our dinghy. Luckily I managed to hold on to the wine which was the most important bit. We really enjoyed chatting to Glen and his crew that night.

Montserrat

The swells and wind on our sail to Montserrat were even bigger than expected. Ian had to go below a few times to secure things and I drove clinging on to the wheel as the boat seemed to climb the waves and then bash down the other side of them while rocking and rolling to the port and starboard. Water was everywhere and sometimes I couldn't tell if it was from the sea or the rain. I gave up wiping my sunglasses in the end. We saw fisherman out in their little boats pulling up lobster pots. Talk about being more insane than us. They were bobbing around on the ocean like corks. As we approached Montserrat we could see the cone of the still active volcano hidden behind the clouds. Unfortunately the island had suffered with most of the population leaving after the last volcanic eruption never to return. The calmer seas welcomed us to the only anchorage available now. All other areas of the islands coastline were unfortunately closed. Ian went on shore to complete immigration procedures but there was a lot of security to get through and we were a bit worried about leaving our yacht.