Thursday April 19th
It’s a great morning for the 15 mile sail from Jolly Harbour to Falmouth Harbour. We are on our way to join our friends on Memory for the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta. The festivities start today with 4 days of racing starting tomorrow. Rick was a little anxious that we weren’t going to make it but HEY we are good at making deadlines. Something I thought we were going to leave behind with our work life. Oh well. Life is about commitments no matter what situations you find yourself in. This was a commitment we have been looking forward to since last Labour Day. We first met Rick & Carey in Georgetown in the Bahamas, February 2006. Rick & Carey own a summer cottage in Burnt Coat Harbor, on Swan Island in Maine. We had visited this harbour a couple of times on our summer vacations so when we met we immediately had something in common. Rick had wanted to enter Memory, a Block Island 40’ Yawl, in the Classic Regatta so when we visited them on Swan Island last September the plan was set. We agreed to meet them in Antigua to crew for them.
Today, along with PJ & Tom from Conch’d Out, we are excited about tomorrow. Unfortunately there was no time for PRACTICE/ not only were we late arriving in Falmouth, but Memory’s engine was in a state of “not working” despite the local mechanic’s valiant efforts to get her running.
Tonight we find ourselves at the Mount Gay Rum Party... You buy 3 rum drinks and get a free hat. Guess what? I don’t drink rum but Pat got a hat anyways.
8:30 am Friday morning we find ourselves being towed out to the middle of the harbour by Hutch and Linda in their dinghy. Hey we feel like the America’s Cup boats, they don’t have engines either. Now it’s time for a shakedown sail before a 10:15 start. We blew the start this morning but all we cared about was having FUN. Not only fun, but it was pretty incredible to be out there amongst some of the most beautiful sailing yachts in the world. We really felt it was a privilege to participate in one of the most prestigious yachting events around.
Day 4; Monday morning, April 23rd we find ourselves tired and wondering what are we doing out here. 3 days of racing a 20 mile course each day in light winds and 4 -6 foot waves leave us disillusioned when the forecast is for less than 10 knots of wind. Well never believe a forecast. We HAD AN INCREDIBLE DAY. Wind was 12 – 15 knots with 1-2’ seas. We really came together as a crew and were only 8 seconds after the gun to cross the start line. We really pulled it together and felt we were finally competitive. We couldn’t catch Eddie on Moonshadow, a 40’ Hinckley but were able to stay ahead of Lazy Leg, both local racing boats. I must mention that the 6 of us on board Memory are diehard cruisers not racers but as they say, practice makes perfect and by Monday we all had learned how to make Memory go faster. And we still had fun!
There were a total of 60 boats divided into various classes. We were in the GRP class with 7 other boats. Check out
www.photoaction.com for some awesome pictures. Follow the link to Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta 2007, look under boat name Memory, and you’ll see us. Also look under the heading of BEST and you will see a shot that is pretty awesome. Memory looks like she will T-bone Heron, but we’re not really that close. Incredible photography by this guy Tim who goes out there in his inflatable dinghy to take photos... Awesome! Also check out Belle Aventure. She won the Concours d’Elegance award and she certainly was number 1 in my books.
The overall winner was Galatea, a 66’ Yawl, she was first over the line each day, first in class and the oldest boat participating. Built in 1898 & refit in 2003, she was beautiful & sleek and it’s important to mention that her skipper and crew were very friendly, down to earth, average people. (like us)
Now that the parties are over for the Classic Regatta, the heat pumps up as Antigua gets ready for the Antigua Sailing Week. There are 204 boats registered for 6 days of racing. This is serious racing, not the Gentlemen’s race of the Classics and it is also serious party mode with competition between Mount Gay Rum of Barbados and English Harbour Rum of Antigua. Pat & I were still recovering from our Bermuda trip so did not party as much as a lot of our new friends but we still managed to put in a decent effort. Free rum goes over well with everyone except me. No matter how hard I try, I do not like the taste of rum, so no worries for a designated driver here.
Racing started Sunday April 29th, with the Racing class going one way around the island to Dickenson Bay while the Cruising Class goes the other way. We missed the start
but then we were trying to get ready to leave Falmouth. It is time for some R&R on our own boat. Rhiannon was starting to feel neglected and was complaining that it was time for a change of scenery.
Monday April 30th we cover the 50.2 miles to Barbuda in 8.5 hours. I love sailing in these waters. A beam reach or close reach in 12 -18 knot winds is the order of the day. There’s nothing more enjoyable than that… Barbuda is an island North of Antigua and is considered part of Antigua but it is very very different from any of the other islands in the Eastern Caribbean. She is 14 miles long by 8 miles wide and is very flat, almost featureless and very dry. In comparison, the other islands are very mountainous with rugged coastlines. We visited the west coast which has 11 miles of uninterrupted beach. Nothing but gorgeous white and pink sand. I’ve never seen pink sand before. It is unique. Needless to say we basically did absolutely nothing but relax for 4 days, enjoy the snorkeling, swimming and Bocce Ball on the beach. On the other side of the sand dunes is a mile wide lagoon. On the opposite side of the lagoon is the town of Codrington, which houses the majority of the residents of Barbuda. Wednesday we took a water taxi across the lagoon and needless to say found a very sleepy little town. This is the most laid back place we have visited in a very long time. This area is one of the best kept secrets of the Caribbean and I hope the residents will continue to keep it that way. On the 11 miles of beach, there were 9 boats anchored on one night, but averaged 5 boats a night. Talk about solitude. This is a real paradise, only 1600 people live on the island (which is considered part of Antigua) and they do not allow very much development, so no fancy resorts or marinas to spoil the view. Truly an exception in the Caribbean!
Friday May 4th it is time to be moving on. We have other islands to explore while heading south. There is the endless concern that hurricane season is coming and we need to be out of the hurricane “box” by July 1st. So Friday afternoon we are back in Jolly Harbour. It is beginning to feel like home, but it is a great spot to reprovision and prepare for our next journey.
Fair Winds.
Miriam
