Antigua – Feb – March 2017

Goodbye Guadeloupe – Hello Antigua!!!

The anchoring race was on once again. It seems that every time we are approaching an anchorage, another boat slips in minutes before us and drops anchor right where we wanted to go. This particular time it was a dark hulled monohull approaching Falmouth Harbour from the east, right at the same time that we were.  We had seen this movie before.  After hours and hours of open ocean sailing, two sailboats come together from different directions to claim their spot in an anchorage.  It was going to come down to the wire as to who made it there first.  It is unbelievable how often this happens.  We were pulling up the rear and Neil said his usual, “That guy is going to take my spot!”.  As we followed him in, sure enough, the mono pulled right into the spot that Neil was eyeing.  Foiled again!!  It wasn’t until we sailed right past the boat’s stern that we realized that the vessel, who ‘took our spot’, happened to be our very good friends on SeaSchelle from Grenada who we hadn’t seen in months!!  We managed to find a place not too far away and not long after that we were all laughing about it all over a cold drink.

One of the first things we do after anchoring, while one of us is diving the anchor, is hoist the new country’s flag, and the yellow Q flag until we’ve cleared in.

We had such an amazing time in Antigua which included two birthdays and so many new and inspirational experiences…

We witnessed two brothers make landfall after rowing 3000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in the Talisker Wiskey Atlantic Challenge (https://www.taliskerwhiskyatlanticchallenge.com/).  Of course their family was there to greet them.  In fact, the brothers had to slow down their rowing just before getting to Antigua because they came in a bit early and their family’s flight hadn’t arrived on the island yet.  There were also about seven kid boat families, many who had also sailed across the Atlantic, there to cheer them on.  Once all the formalities were done, of weighing the brothers and doing all of the checks to ensure no penalties were necessary, the rowers took some questions.  There were so many questions asked by adults and kids alike but by far the funniest was when one boat kid asked the brothers how long it took them to row across the Atlantic.  One of the brothers answered, “21 days” to which the nine year old boy replied, with a mischievous grin on his cute little face, “We did it in 17”.

Just about to make landfall

Almost taking their first step on land

First task was being weighed

The brothers the following day, after a much deserved burger lunch.

The kids in the row boat

As if seeing these brothers row in wasn’t enough, we got to meet Chris Bertish who had just SUPed (Stand Up Paddleboarded) across the Atlantic!!!  From South Africa, he is a big wave surfer and motivational speaker.  93 days at sea, many times fearing his life, he arrived in Antigua while we were there.  Check out his story at http://www.thesupcrossing.com/

We also got to see the start of the Caribbean 600, a 600 mile off-shore race that takes competitors around eleven (I think) Caribbean Islands.  Boats gather here from all over the world to compete or to watch this amazing race.  We saw some pretty fast looking race boats and an impressive number of mega yachts owned by some of the wealthiest people in the world.

Meanwhile, over in Nonsuch Bay, near Green Island, Neil took his first kite surfing lesson and actually caught air!…

We celebrated my birthday by going for a nice breakfast at Pillar’s Restaurant in Nelson’s Dockyard and then took a small ferry across to Boom – a lovely day.

Millie chose to have a birthday on the boat with just the family filled with games and prizes.  We played family charades, Chinese jump rope, a funny game Millie dreamed about and talked about for months where we had to find candy under someone’s arm while they were lying down and a few more.  Here are some photos.

Other adventures included visiting a Unesco World Heritage Site, hiking to incredible views, beaching with friends, and finding the best book store we have been to in the Caribbean.  So far, Antigua is one of my favourite islands.  I think I say that about every island!