Antiguan Waters

I always feel a bit like a pariah of the hard core cruising society when I admit that I like modern conveniences. I enjoy the romantic notions of setting out on the open sea to explore new places, but I also enjoy it when we find a place that has a bit of both worlds. I found this in Antigua.

Our arrival into Antigua was welcome as Jason had single-handed it overnight from St Barts in the worst transit since we had first set off with Two Fish. We were excited to see Zooropa, another Antares, for the first time and we anchored 100 meters astern of her. Ian and Philipa had been in Antigua for a couple of weeks, so were well-versed in all the ins and outs; this was especially nice, given our general lack of energy at that point.

Jolly Harbour was one of my favorite anchorages, because it is so large that most boats find their own patch of sand, keeping my heart rate down. Especially at this time of year, a lot of the anchorages are a bit

too crowded for my taste.  Monsieur Captain, why do you need to be 5 meters away from me? Can’t you see I am giving you the “don’t anchor there” glare? It was an easy

dinghy ride to the fuel dock to purchase some oil for our engines. We couldn’t find our Volvo brand so instead bought Shell Rimula 4X; the VDS-3 on the label meant it was okay for our engines.

Ian and Philipa took us on an awesome hike near English Harbour – dramatic vistas and interesting flora. English Harbour contains Nelson’s Dockyard and there are a few commercial enterprises and a museum capitalizing on the association. However, Nelson was only there for three years, before his famous career accomplishents. If you believe the history books, he found it a bit of a bore.

We were intrigued by a non-Nelson interesting fact we learned from some vacationing Brits; there is a BBC series called Death in Paradise that is filmed in Guadeloupe, our next island. We made a note to track down some episodes (available on Netflix).

We enjoyed the quiet bay and another fun hike along the mountain ledge back to Falmouth Harbour. The official Antigua trails are easy to follow because someone has painted white spots on the rocks every 20 meters or so to keep you on the right trail. See, civilization is not such a bad thing.

Once we had mastered the white spot trails, we decided to branch out on our own and climb to the not-so-

popular Mt McNish, where the radio tower of the Observer radio station is based. Interesting items spotted along the way were multiple donkeys and aggressive looking cows (they still had their horns). As we approached the summit, I thought I could detect the

distinct odor of recently applied citronella bug spray. However, the two radio tower maintenance guys, who had raced up the somewhat steep track in their jeep, pointed out the fields of lemon grass that they were harvesting for their tea. On the way home, some of the horned cattle and donkeys had decided to graze on the path. Being the animal expert, I told Jason to follow my lead. Later, he asked me what my plan would have been, if they had charged us. I told him it was to run;  he responded, “I could have thought of that myself”.

We weighed anchor and sailed over to Falmouth Harbour. We decided not to anchor in nearby English Harbour for a few reasons. First, the lack of breeze in the bay was known to result in bumper boats with every boat following its own float pattern. Second, the holding was supposed to be just okay, but not great. Lastly, one had to also avoid large chains that had been fastened on the sea floor. When the old English sailing ships used to enter the harbor, they would hook their anchors on these chains as a way of staying attached. This might have looked like a slow motion version of fighter jets landing on aircraft carriers.

We watched a few Lasers racing in the harbor, and when we were ashore, stopped at the Antigua Yacht Club. The people there were super-nice and for a modest charge, Jason signed up for a monthly membership, which allowed him to take a Laser out and participate in the weekly racing. The Yacht Club restaurant also served iced teas and salads – can’t ask for much more than that. We saw Phaedo 3 at the dock. The last time that we saw her, she was racing past St Maarten at 37 knots.

Just a few hours away from Falmouth Harbour, we found one of those perfect, sometimes elusive spots. Nonsuch bay is a quiet, protected anchorage with beautiful water and snorkeling. We picked up a mooring ball and immediately spotted “Seabattical”, another Antares, not too far away.  Our neighboring boat housed

expert kite surfers and we enjoyed watching them foil across the flat waters. Some day I will try that. We saw a few megayachts in the distance and once again wondered what their life was like. A few clues: they were dinghied to the snorkeling beach along with coolers and umbrellas; they seemed to have a VHF that you could talk into and lunch would instantly appear; and, they had no motor oil stains on their clothes.

On our further afield trips from Jolly Harbour, we took a few local taxis. On an early morning drive with Gene, he was listening to the radio. A bit sad as the local broadcast was airing condolences and funeral parlour ads. More commonly, the radio would be airing the local minister. There are many churches on Antigua; they are mostly small community buildings except for the Seventh Day Adventists who hold services under large tents, accommodating several hundred people. On Emancipation Day, 1st August 1834, the churches were the main gathering spot for celebrations. We enjoyed a history lesson at the Museum of Antigua and Barbuda, and gawked at the giant statue of the first Prime Minister, but we found St. Johns to be a bit crowded with Cruise Ship shopping sprawl.

We also drove by the Antigua Cricket Grounds, “Sir Richard Vivian Stadium”, known as “The Viv.”  Of course, some of you might be more familiar with the old Alan Stanford stadium that hosted the 20/20 West Indies match right before his pyramid scheme came tumbling down. Unfortunately, the winning team was forced to hold their prize money in his fraudulent bank and they lost it all.

 

I enjoyed my cooking class  at Nicole’s Table. I even brought home a few leftovers for Jason. I am looking forward to making Coconut Chips. If you

want to try it yourself, just find a dried coconut, cut it in half and remove the hull. Then make shavings using a vegetable peeler and bake them in the oven for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees F, turning every so often. Salt generously and enjoy.

 

We spent over two weeks in Antigua and we still had a list of “must do’s” that we did not do including golf, climbing Mt Obama (previously known as Boggy Peak). As they say, “We’ll be back.”