To St John's to Check In
Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Sun 22 Mar 2020 23:57
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To St John’s to Check
In
 After Bear had enjoyed his
celebratory cup of tea and piece of Christmas cake he set about pumping up and
launching Baby Beez. On went the little
outboard but it didn’t want to play, meanwhile the rain came down so
heavily the skipper was soon soaked to the skin.
 When the wind blew
at 23 knots with higher gusts, Bear gave up and came in.
 The big outboard played nice after
Bear had given it a seeing to. The rain was lashing down so we waited for half
an hour. The picture should be one of a Caribbean
scene under a blazing sun.........instead.......
  Just after we left Beez the heavens
opened once more, soon we were wet through to the knickers – anoraks not up to
the deluge. We passed Sleeping Indian which gave me
an idea of how to pull onto the dock on the morrow. Sooooo looking forward to
stroking an upright fridge and freezer with ice machine and water in the door.
Sad, but let’s face it I do need to get out more. We clambered out dripping at
Customs where Officer Brown told us that she could not check us in as everyone
has to go to St John’s. As Beez only has fumes in her fuel tank the
lovely lady gave us permission to get a a couple of jerry jugs filled. Back to
Beez and with Baby Beez in tow, we set off for St Johns. The
tide was against us so it took an hour and a half.
 So gloomy we could barely make out
Hawkshead Rock.
 At the entrance to St John’s Harbour Bear radioed the Harbour Master for
permission to enter and he bade us “anchor at the end by the other yachts and
dinghy in.” Just as well we had Baby Beez in tow and hadn’t hoisted her back on
deck....
 An elderly working
girl to our right.
 Three o’clock local time and how grey
everything looks. The old fort shrouded in
rain.
 Rare not to see
any people working as St John’s is the main port of Antigua.
We were politely welcomed ashore and
were bade to wash our hands in an outside sink. Mmmm. Walking in to the office
we were met by Health Department workers all wearing masks, the first came at us
with a thermometer a foot from our foreheads....... Why ??? “Because of the
pandemic.” Pandemic, we both cocked our heads to the side, after explaining a
little of what is going on the world we felt like we had stepped into an
apocalypse.
Next, we filled in Eseaclear, a drop
down and type-in series of check-in questions. I couldn’t make it understand St
Helena but when the Customs lady came to help she wore purple rubber gloves and
waited for us to step back. The machine liked her Saint Helena and once
completed we went to the helpful lady who sat in a big booth. We explained that
we had been at sea for thirty-five days and Immigration in the next booth roared
laughing but sympathised at our lack of current knowledge. Once cleared, Bear
had to nip to an ATM so we could pay the EC$ 80 for our cruising permit. All
done, we wished everyone the best of health and set off once more in Baby
Beez.
 As we left St John’s Harbour we could
barely make out Ship’s Stern Rock.......
 ........but at least we could make out Hawkshead Rock on the return journey.
 Just then the radio chirped with a
small ships warning. Well, that will be why it has been so rough over the last
couple of days. Still raining over Jolly Harbour with
plenty more by the look of the sky.
 A splendid sunset
sky though.
 Coming in to anchor we couldn’t make out Sleeping Indian Hill at
all.
 We anchored just
a few feet away from where we were this morning. Cooked chicken and rolls
(picked up in the supermarket) washed down with cheap fizz and several
congratulatory toasts, then we fell into bed relieved and
exhausted.
ALL IN ALL A STRANGE
EXPERIENCE BUT VERY FRIENDLY
WEIRD BUT VERY
EFFICIENT |