We are sailing, we are sailing (sometimes)......or adventures in Antigua Race Week

Well, we suggest you get a cup of your favourite beverage or whatever takes your fancy and settle down to a fairly long blog detailing our adventures racing in Antigua Race Week. Some of you may already know some of this if you have been following Facebook, but here is where all the gory bits are exposed!

We had two practice sails on Wings, the second of which had the full crew on board. So who are the crew you may well ask? Well, Fred and Judy are skipper are first mate, the grunts are Andrew, Susan, Marco (Holland), Per (Norway), Phil and Karel ((Australia), Chris and Sharon, from bonny Scotland, and Malcolm; Sue(UK) and Fred’s sister and her husband, Jan and Howard(USA), provided the shore support, with Sue providing lunch each racing day – a well travelled crew indeed, with Marco flying in from Cambodia. For the sailors, Wings is a Peterson 43.

The practices were sort of ok, with a couple of spinnaker hoists to exercise the foredeck crew – Andrew, Marco and Malcolm and a chance to iron out some of our kinks. On our return to Falmouth Harbour we saw Fai Tira, a yacht we had looked at before deciding to buy Andromeda; Fai Tira was on the same Blue Water Rally as Ian and Glenda. We were going to go over and say Hello but before we could they had left, you never know we may see them again though. We also took delivery of Fred and Judy’s solar panels which were being stored aboard Andromeda along with a few boxes of bits and pieces.  They had already offloaded about 1500lbs worth of stuff that had gone up to a storage area further inland.

We went to the last Classic party which had a very tasty lobster bisque to try and a few free drinks and a fairly good band so Susan managed to jig about for a while. There was a crew barbecue on Pigeon Beach which also doubled as a crew briefing by Fred. Our ‘cob’ barbeque did a sterling job as did the gas one Phil and Karel bought over and after some delicious food we received our ‘Wings’ t.shirts from Judy and Fred. It was a gorgeous evening with a beautiful sunset and Susan hung one of her hammocks between two trees and had a great loll, there are some lovely spots here in Antigua.

 The following evening we all went to the last Mount Gay Red Hat party and there we met Linda and Andy from “Coromandel” who have just finished their  circumnavigation as have Ruth and Angus from “Do It”.  It was a very lively evening at a well established event.  If you were lucky enough to have an ‘invitation’ you were able to queue up to receive one of the coveted red Mount Gay Sailing Week 2013 hats – some friends had extra tickets so we were able to get one each.  Just as well, as in the first few days of racing, 3 hats were blown overboard (not ours for once though). There was also a free bar (if you wanted to drink Rum) for an hour, so by the time the DJ started playing ‘old school’ stuff everyone was ready to party and we got down and boogied.  We stayed until they turned the bass up so far it felt like your insides were turning to jelly and anyway we had a practise the following morning so headed for our bunks at not too late an hour.

Somehow it seemed a good idea the previous night to arrange to go for a breakfast tea and chat with Ruth and Angus before heading off for more sailing practise but hey we get up with the sun and Susan even got in 40 minutes of water aerobics before we headed over to Do it and an hour or so of none stop chatting during which we discovered to great amusement that speedo swimming trunks for men are also known as ‘budgie smugglers’ in Australia.

 On one of our trips in and out with the dinghy we suddenly spotted ‘Calypso II’ and headed over to take a photo. Those of you who have kept up with our blog for a while might remember that we spent a night on Calypso, when she was moored in Trinidad, due to a mix up with our hotel booking. We were really pleased that we had gone over to see her as we then spotted Nick, from Peakes in Trinidad, who was here to race in their fast yacht, Slippery. A brief chat ensured where also found out that Clint, who had been due to join in the races on Idea, had gone back to Barbados because all his family had contracted dengue fever and had been hospitalised.  Dengue fever is something you do not want to get and Laura, Clint’s wife, said that after 15 years in the Caribbean they had almost thought that they were immune, but obviously were not. Fortunately we have heard since that they are all making a full recovery

Saturday night was promoted as a ’Welcome to Race Week’ and we all donned our new t shirts and headed over to English Harbour for the event catching up with many different folk at the same time. We didn’t stay very late (got to pace ourselves) and soon headed back for some rest before the start of the races the following day.   The next morning however we were greeted with the news that Fred’s sister Jan, (who was in some lovely accommodation in the Copper and Lumber store for race week), had gone out dancing after dinner and fallen over and had broken her arm. At first they thought she had only dislocated it but having gone to see a doctor, discovered it was broken.

Sunday dawned and it was time for the first race, having absorbed the news about Jan we left the dock to see what awaited us. The winds were fairly light, certainly lighter than forecast. Fred had to make the call on which sail plan to use and went for the No. 3, rather than the bigger No.1. The advantage was that choosing he No.3 reduced our handicap, but if the winds were too light we would lose out by having a smaller sail plan than other yachts in our class. We were anyway the smallest and slowest on handicap in our class, CSA 5. Race No. 1 was a 20 mile course out to the east of the island. After a pretty good start we had and enjoyable race and were passed by the King of Norway on the way to the finish line, where we finished 7^th of 11, Fred already rueing the decision not to take the No.1 genoa.

Race 2 started well after a visit from a pod of dolphins, but on the last upwind leg to the finish line, having dropped the spinnaker, we found a split in the mainsail, quite near the top so we had to reluctantly abandon the race. Just prior to this we found a split in the luff tape on the genoa so Andrew had to get some spinnaker tape on the luff to stop any further spilts, whilst bouncing up and down in a rolly sea. This also meant we couldn’t be in Race No. 3. We motored back to Falmouth Harbour and tied up alongside Quicksilver, as Chris had a usable sail makers’ sewing machine on board – Fred’s being in storage. Several hours later the seam was serviceable and we were ready for the next race. During race 3, we heard that our friend Ray, who was sailing on Jaguar from Trinidad, went overboard. Jaguar turned round to pick him up and he was only embarrassed – a couple of yachts passed him as Jaguar turned round and asked whether he wanted a Gin and Tonic!

That evening there was an earthquake 25 miles northwest of Antigua that was 5.4 on the Richter scale – we didn’t hear it, however Jan and Howard were nearly thrown out of bed! Race 4 saw   another good start with much excitement on the line as we were being squeezed between Scarlet Oyster and Jaguar and at one point according to Marco on the bow, we were only 10cms from Scarlet Oyster’s stern. However all was ok and we set off in the middle of the fleet but after a small hiccup dropping the spinnaker we had a tear in the No. 3 genoa. Andrew  and Marco were re-packing the spinnaker at the time so immediately  they had to get the No. 4 up from below, set it on the forestay, drop the no. 3 and finish re-packing the spinnaker – exhausting stuff this racing lark and especially in the very hot and sweaty conditions down below. However the No. 4 didn’t last long and split, so we had to abandon the race and we were therefore unable to start race 5 and once again headed back into Falmouth. The man from the local sail loft was quick to respond (he also had to pick up a sail from Milantro, another yacht in our class and moored  next to Wings) and the sails were back in time for the next race, the sail makers having worked through the lay day. On the lay day there was no formal racing – a chance to relax, chill and unwind, listen to the music, watch the RS races and recover! The Maltese Falcon also took the opportunity to leave the harbour with all sails flying, a sight we have waited to see.

The next day (4) of racing was in even lighter winds and though the repairs held, and we had no breakages, we only managed a 7^th and an 8^th.  We had another two really good starts, but the light winds meant we were never going to be able to get really good results. Indeed the winds were so light that we finally finished race 7 doing only 2 knots over the finish line. As keen observers will note in the photos we did at one time (on the first race) reach a speed of 10.21 knots, but even so the King of Norway went passed us

The final day of racing arrived and with it more news, the previous evening after we had all gone our separate ways after a crew dinner, Sue from Piano, who had been providing all our lunches, slipped as she got into her dinghy, and as it happened, chipped a small bone in her left wrist....somehow we did not seem to be attracting much luck.  We left the dock for the last race and once again in light winds, so we were ready for a long day. We finally started after two other classes had re-starts due to the changing conditions. The increased delay had us worried as the wind was becoming ever lighter. A good start and a shortened course gave us another 7^th place with some excitement as we managed to recover some ground on the other boat during the downwind leg only for the wind to die again as we approached the finish line, so we ended the regatta with 3 x 7ths, 2 x 8ths – the races we abandoned and were unable to start meant we had too many points to win anything. We were serenaded as we came into Falmouth Bay by a piper on the bows of a large Oyster – Scotland the Brave no less. By the way, the King of Norway came second in his class – the yacht he originally charted motored over its anchor chain doing some damage to the prop and this was the day before racing started so instead he charted Whisper, from Ireland – pretty good result we thought under the circumstances, and he wasn’t surrounded by umpteen bodyguards. Our friends on Jaguar came third in our class, CSA 5 and Slippery came second in CSA 4.

With the early finish to the final day there was the opportunity to help Fred and Judy get Wings back into cruising mode again.  The racing sails were taken off and carefully folded and stowed away, the solar panels went back to their rightful home and all this before the final party of the week and the prize giving.  Here the whole crew were together for the last time.  Sue, Jan and Howard also joined us and we had a pleasant few hours celebrating the success of the other boats before most of us went off to find something to eat at one of the little cafe’s that had been set up just outside the dockyard.

All too soon our week of racing was at an end we were all getting ready to go our different ways.  But first there was the quiz.  Now some of you may remember us mentioning that had won the last quiz and as part of the prize we had to set the next one so we had made a big effort to do it before the racing started and now we had to face the music. At first it did look like we would have a reprieve and would be able to leave our quiz with the commodore but enough people (including the some from the crew) turned up and there were 4 teams and we took our places as quiz masters. We got a very positive response to the whole thing from everyone (and weren’t keeled hauled) and as we intended all the teams amassed quite a few points but the team that won were the ones who knew most of the Caribbean nation’s flags and capitals that we had as our picture round, they managed to get 30 out of a possible 42 points – and went into the lead and will now set the next quiz.

Sunday and it was Alice’s 8^th birthday and we thought we were going to have a relatively quiet day working out when we were going to ring up and sing to her.  We had invited Angus and Ruth over for lunch and had just got all the preparations done when we received a call from Fred asking for a bit of help. Passing Do it on the way we told Ruth and Angus what we were doing and they decided to come and help too and in no time at all we had assisted Fred in getting the truck load of stuff back on to Wings. The self steering gear was hoisted back onboard, along with the 2^nd anchor and a small mountain of other stuff stowed below and on deck.  Then it was back to Andromeda for a quick refresh before we entertained Ruth and Angus and swopped adventures. Do it is now up for sale as Ruth and Angus make their plans to head back to the UK. All in all it was delightful lunchtime/afternoon chat and no sooner had they gone back to Do it when Per arrived to have a look round.

Per currently owns a small steel boat and is looking at what else was about and was very keen to look round Andromeda and we were only too happy to show him.

And then after a very busy day we met up with most of the crew to share a bottle of rum, give Judy and Fred a signed photo of Wings in all her glory on one of the races (you will be able to see the photo in the Wings photos post)and then go to dinner at the Admirals Inn.  Walking up to Nelson’s Dockyard we were struck by how empty and quiet it has become.  Jan and Howard had left the Copper and Lumber store to return to their original hotel before their flights back to California on Tuesday.  Most of the restaurants were now closed and the docks are emptying fast as everyone leaves at the end of the season.  This was the last night that the restaurant was open and  we had a jolly last meal together before we all head off for different places although a few of us should catch up again in Trinidad.  Fred and Judy’s plans are to head down to Colombia for this hurricane season and then who knows.....Fred is tempted to come back up again next year....we shall see.

Antigua has been so different this year and we have had tremendous fun watching the Classics, with so many beautiful boats, it has been a joy to see so many of them still racing. And as for race week, we wouldn’t have missed it for the world. We feel so privileged to have been invited by Fred and Judy to take part, especially as we were racing along in their only home – thank you guys for such a wonderful opportunity and we will be keeping our ears open in case you would like us to join you again.

As for Andromeda and her crew, after an early morning dinghy trip to retrieve our visitors’ book and get some photos Angus and Ruth had taken of Wings from the cliff tops, we have now gone round to Jolly Harbour to the marina for a few days where we will fill up with water and fuel, enjoy the lovely showers and walking to the Epicurean and then (at the moment - Friday) leave Antigua and head south, making for Trinidad once more.  We are not sure where we will be stopping, it will all be in the hands of the weather gods, but we are sure it will be lovely wherever we are. Co-incidentally we got chatting to the people on the boat next door here in Jolly and they also had been at the Admirals Inn when we were there... and then there was the French guy (he was from Paris) behind us who having heard that we had lived in Reading proceeded to have a small harangue about the traffic system..small world sometimes

In the meantime we are making our plans for the summer having booked our flights back home and we will also be listening for a phone call at the end of the month/beginning of June to let us know what is happening in Phil and Ruth’s household........

More in due course,

Andrew and Susan

Andromeda of Plymouth,

Jolly Harbour, Antigua