Still in Antigua

Latitude 17°00.98’N
Longitude 061°46.39’W

We are having a blast!!!
Our friends Syd & Liz joined us March 2nd for a week. We were in Jolly Harbour, Antigua when they arrived. It was really windy the whole week but not a drop of rain. There was lots of time for swimming, snorkeling and enjoying the scenery and time for a little excitement as well. While sailing from Jolly Harbour to Falmouth Harbour on March 4th, the fitting at the foot of the Genny disintegrated and the head sail blew out of the furling track. Our first instinct was that the forestay had let go and we were all looking to see if the mast was next. Fortunately, the forestay was intact, the sail was still attached at the mast head and we were able to haul it all in on the deck, with no harm done, except a few missed heartbeats.
Falmouth Harbour is a big, protected bay full of Mega Yachts, both sail & power and just a short walk to English Harbour and Nelson’s Dockyard. (We will have to learn how to post pictures on the Blog). The Antigua Yacht Club is based here and home to The Antigua Classic Yacht Race mid April as well as the gigantic Antigua Race Week the last week of April. We are planning to crew for our friends Rick & Carey on their yawl Memory in the Classic Boat Races.
Sunday night we took a taxi to Shirley Heights for a Bar-B-Q and some great music with a local Steel Drum Band. Probably the best we had ever heard. The panoramic views from the top of Shirley Heights were breathtaking, looking out across the open water of the Atlantic Ocean in one direction, then looking down into a very picturesque English Harbour with Falmouth in the background, then looking across the mountainous island. WOW! Shirley Heights was used as a signal station to warn the navy of the enemy approaching. This whole area is a national park, filled with forts and ruins from the days when the English and French were at war. Lord Nelson was based here. The history is quite interesting.
From Falmouth, we beat to windward up the East Coast to Green Island and Nonsuch Bay. We anchored in a tiny cove protected from the waves by a network of coral reefs.
On Friday, we enjoyed an afternoon at Harmony Hall in Brown Bay, a restored Sugar Mill now housing a restaurant, art gallery and gift shop. After ordering drinks, we climbed to the top of the old sugar mill and enjoyed the view, including watching a race around the buoys by the local yacht club. As all good things come to an end, we said goodbye to Syd and Liz on Saturday morning.
It was great to have company but then we needed to relax. Green Island was the place for that (it is uninhabited). We read, snorkeled and generally did nothing for a couple of days. Sunday night was perfect as we enjoyed home made pizza and a movie in the cockpit. Life does not get any better than that.
Monday morning came & it was time to move on, as we were expecting more guests on Wed. (the 14th) We wanted to return to Jolly Harbour Marina as it is a great place to reprovision and meet quests. We had an incredible 4 hour downwind sail to cover the 20 miles. It was so much better than the beat to windward of the week before.
The 14th arrived and so did Steve, Gerry & Sean. More fun in store. Jolly Harbour is on the West coast of Antigua, and we decided to head north. We spent a night in Deep Cove, and then went into St. John’s for the afternoon before moving to an anchorage in Dickenson Bay. Saturday we beat to windward, again, to head east. We covered 49 miles before arriving in Green Island. I think we gave the guys a real good idea of what ocean sailing is about. Now Pat & I can say we have circumnavigated the island of Antigua. Today we arrived in Falmouth after a nice short 9 mile run. Pat, Steve, Gerry & Sean went up to Shirley Heights tonight to enjoy the Bar-B-Q and the steel band. I decided to stay home for some quiet time and to get caught up on the blog.
We are able to pick up Wi Fi on the boat, so it is a real treat to sit at the nav station and enjoy the benefits of the internet instead of sitting in some café or bar.
Take care everyone and please keep in touch.
Fair Winds,
Miriam