No Rum Punch in Antigua?
Bamboozle
Jamie and Lucy Telfer
Sat 30 May 2009 10:52
17:00.678N 061:46.628W
From St Bart's we have moved on down to Antigua with a quick overnight stop in Nevis. We are anchored in Falmouth Harbour which along with neighboring English Harbour is the home of Antigua's well known yachting fraternity. It is four years since we were here with Savoir Vivre and it is just as wonderful as last time. Antigua has had a rough year in the news starting with the awful murder of a young English honeymoon couple in their hotel room and continuing with the shooting of a super-yacht captain during a street robbery which drove away a number of the big spending yachts. In addition although obviously not as serious the Island was then dragged back into the headlines by the Sir Allen Stamford bank collapse and embarrassingly the test match at the new Viv Richards ground had to be stopped after the first over because of the appalling state of the pitch. Despite all this most the people we have met so far are as friendly and relaxed as ever, possibly even more so as the busy season is drawing to a close. This is not a place to get things done in a hurry but if you want anything with a smile this is the spot!
We will probably only be here a few more days. Our mainsail is having a bit of work done to sort out the leach tape which had suffered a bit of damage during our uphill leg to Bermuda. The sail makers loft is in one of the beautifully restored old buildings in Nelson's Dockyard, a 18th century British naval base where Nelson spent some time early in his career. It is great to see the old stone wharfs back in use with gleaming modern and classic yachts lying along the same dockside that was once home to part of the Royal Navy's presence in the Caribbean, and the buildings, many of which were derelict until recent decades, now house not only the normal plague of tourist shops but also active rigging and sail making businesses that provide a more tangible link to its history.
It is lucky there are a few interesting things to do on land as I am banned from the water at present following a particularly nasty ear infection. It is also keeping me off the rum punch! My symptoms (a head that felt like it was about to explode) provided a fantastic opportunity for a bit of self diagnosis with the Ship Captain's Medical guide. I am now on a course of fairly meaningful anti-biotics which finally seem to have got the problem under control. Not only is my head feeling better but on reading the full drug information sheet I have discovered that the Amoxicillin is also used to treat dental abscesses, endocartitis, typhoid, gynaecological infections and gonorrhea. Frankly I am now feeling better all round!
From St Bart's we have moved on down to Antigua with a quick overnight stop in Nevis. We are anchored in Falmouth Harbour which along with neighboring English Harbour is the home of Antigua's well known yachting fraternity. It is four years since we were here with Savoir Vivre and it is just as wonderful as last time. Antigua has had a rough year in the news starting with the awful murder of a young English honeymoon couple in their hotel room and continuing with the shooting of a super-yacht captain during a street robbery which drove away a number of the big spending yachts. In addition although obviously not as serious the Island was then dragged back into the headlines by the Sir Allen Stamford bank collapse and embarrassingly the test match at the new Viv Richards ground had to be stopped after the first over because of the appalling state of the pitch. Despite all this most the people we have met so far are as friendly and relaxed as ever, possibly even more so as the busy season is drawing to a close. This is not a place to get things done in a hurry but if you want anything with a smile this is the spot!
We will probably only be here a few more days. Our mainsail is having a bit of work done to sort out the leach tape which had suffered a bit of damage during our uphill leg to Bermuda. The sail makers loft is in one of the beautifully restored old buildings in Nelson's Dockyard, a 18th century British naval base where Nelson spent some time early in his career. It is great to see the old stone wharfs back in use with gleaming modern and classic yachts lying along the same dockside that was once home to part of the Royal Navy's presence in the Caribbean, and the buildings, many of which were derelict until recent decades, now house not only the normal plague of tourist shops but also active rigging and sail making businesses that provide a more tangible link to its history.
It is lucky there are a few interesting things to do on land as I am banned from the water at present following a particularly nasty ear infection. It is also keeping me off the rum punch! My symptoms (a head that felt like it was about to explode) provided a fantastic opportunity for a bit of self diagnosis with the Ship Captain's Medical guide. I am now on a course of fairly meaningful anti-biotics which finally seem to have got the problem under control. Not only is my head feeling better but on reading the full drug information sheet I have discovered that the Amoxicillin is also used to treat dental abscesses, endocartitis, typhoid, gynaecological infections and gonorrhea. Frankly I am now feeling better all round!