Our port of entry was Jolly Harbour,
the clearance charges are a lot less here as you don't need to pay
environmental fees. We had heard you are meant to motor into the
marina and dock alongside the customs office but with the wind strong
and more boats coming in behind us we opted to drop the anchor and
dinghy in. The usual bureaucratic hurdles ensued. Customs,
immigration and port authority are next to each other and we
proceeded to fill in countless pieces of paper all with the same
information for multiple people. Well I say we....Dylan found
something particularly interesting to look at by the berths so left
it to me to do all the admin. Took us about 30 mins which OK isn't
that long but we just wanted to jump behind the desk and set about
improving their processes to make them more efficient. We had filled
out eseaclear online which is the new 'quick' way of checking in to
multiple countries in the Eastern Caribbean, unfortunately, the
ladies were not up to speed with this so we needn't have bothered.
We have heard since that the process is in its early stages and
should be rolled out properly in the next couple months – that will
provide a vast improvement to the customs experience!
Jolly Harbour is surrounded by gorgeous
blue water but looks can be deceiving. We were anchored in 12ft water
yet couldn't see the anchor chain, the fine bottom sand was churned
up meaning visibility was almost 0. With that said though, the
waters around Antigua are a beautiful turquoise colour. When
dinghying into the bay we marvelled at the amount of houses lining
the water, each with their own berth. Despite the facilities here the
marina and surrounding property were almost empty. We were told that
this is most unusual at this time of year, especially with it being
so close to the regattas. Suits us fine though, the less people
around the better!
Checking out the facilities ashore I
was delighted to find FREE FRESH water showers (although they were
probably for those on the Marina not very yachty and his dog). One of
my first tasks was to take a bag full of all my toiletries that I
haven't used in months and spend a looong time in the showers using
each one. Heaven. Squeaky clean I headed off to the supermarket with
great expectations as this was flagged as a good place to provision,
I wasn't disappointed. Compared to all of the other food shops we had
been to so far, this was outstanding. A huge supermarket stocked with
everything you can think of. Sure in the UK thats what you expect
when walking into a Tesco's but in the Caribbean we always walk away
with only half (if we are lucky) of our shopping list. Gourmet
sections aside, the produce was reasonably priced and we came away
content – although that could be to do with the fried chicken we
treated ourselves to at the deli counter...
After a day in Jolly Harbour we wanted
to head over to Five Islands Harbour for some seclusion prior to
getting to Falmouth Harbour in time for the Classic Regatta. Five
Island Harbour is only around the corner from Jolly and is a huge bay
that had only one other yacht in it. Wanting to use the free wifi
from a posh hotel ashore, we anchored near the beach. That evening,
we sat on the foredeck on a beautiful moonlit night with a gentle
breeze swaying the boat to and fro to the sounds of a live steel drum
band playing at the hotel. Drinks in hand we admired our almost
secluded surroundings. Life is pretty darn good!
Forecasting 25 knots on the Monday
before the regatta we chose to sail anyway so we could get a good
spot to anchor in prior to the event as we expected Falmouth to be
busy. A gusty 15 mile sail to Falmouth dodging the odd reef and
shallows along the way kept us on our toes. We did make excellent
time though and the sun was high in the sky when we entered the bay,
wide eyed at the tons of mega yachts we were going to call our
neighbours. We were the last of our group of friends to get to
Falmouth Harbour so we spent the rest of the day catching up on their
adventures since Dominica where we had left them.
Exploring ashore we mingled with the
crews of the mega yachts and Dylan had his ear to the ground, hoping
he would get the opportunity to race on one. Walking around the
marina we were able to get up close and personal with these 140ft+
beasts. I'm not envious of the crew members that have to polish the
stainless steel! Dylan spent forever looking at each of the boats and
I entertained myself by eaves dropping people's conversation. Always
fascinated with how the 'other half' live, it was great fun hearing
the trials and tribulations of middle aged rich men and their toys.
Time for domestic duties and we went on a mission to find a
laundrette as I wasn't feeling like hand washing and then airing our
clothes in such a busy anchorage. The laundrette in the bay charged
US$40 for a large load...as if!! We quickly exited that establishment
(which was little more than a lean to shack with a couple of washing
machines) and headed for English Harbour.
English Harbour was completed in 1745
and looks much the same today. Fully restored, this is the yachting
hub of Antigua and managed by Nelson's Dockyard National Park. Old
sail houses and sail loft pillars still stand giving it a look very
similar to Greenwich, London. It has the atmosphere of a small
village complete with Dockyard Bakery and a few little restaurants
overlooking the marina and the mega yachts. The day I wore a maxi
dress and flip flops was the day I was presented with a trail leading
up to Fort Berkely. Never one to turn down an opportunity, we walked
it anyway and I just hitched my dress up to my knees, navigating in
my gripless flip flops rather unladylike up the hill. Only a short
walk away we reached the Fort and were rewarded with a spectacular
view of English Harbour and out to sea. Noting this would be a great
place to watch the Regatta we started our descent on the look out for
another laundry. We eventually found one around the back of the
dockyard in a small shed. This place is run by Baby and Elizabeth and
we were greeted with 2 mangoes complete with napkin for our custom.
At US$12 /load it was totally worth the walk.
The day the regatta started, Dylan
hadn't succeeded in finding a boat. I keep a diary every day and an
exert from this sums it up nicely:
- Ate refried chickpea curry leftovers for breakfast
- Read our new books – Dylan now seems to take after me and refuse to put a book down until it is read all the way through. Makes for a most delayed getaway when we want to leave the boat!
- Had my weekly shower which is always something to look forward to. Went for a snorkel first to check just how shallow the reef is behind us. Put it this way, I can stand up and the water comes to about my chin...don't want to be dragging onto that! Then I went to see Laani on Kadoona and swam past La Luna who hailed me over for a chin wag.
- After a lazy day and 1 ½ hours of our life wasted watching 'Dinner with Schmucks' – just don't watch it...ever, we got our arses into gear and went ashore
- Aim was to get bread and respond to emails (yawn). Necessities done we took advantage of happy hour again and got some supplies so we could go back to the boat and make pierogies. They now seem to be Dylan's top request.
- On getting back to the boat we bumped into Kadoona and Libertine who were going ashore to check out the events at the yacht club. Not wanting to miss out we had a quick dinner of eggs, beans and bread (Dylan was denied his pierogies) and we went back ashore.
- The dinghy dock was rammed, 3 dinghies deep in the yacht club area so we opted for our usual spot, a short walk away
- We arrived just as the concourse d'elegance prize giving was starting. Bumped into Miss Molly and sampled the free breaded chicken satays that were doing the rounds.
- Nothing much happening apart from toffs comparing crew t shirts so we made a hasty departure and went to find Ian etc in case they had any luck finding a boat that needed crew so Dylan could race too
- Found them in Mad Mongoose and they hadn't had any luck. Had a quick chat, didn't stop for a drink and made our way back to boat for some more reading. Yep we are that rock n roll.
And thats how we are more than capable
to while away a day!
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