Vega - Back in the Land of the Living

Back in the Land of the Living

Vega

Hugh and Annie

Thu 28 Jan 2016 00:30

After 11 hours of almost continuous sleep I was back to normal. Steve, who sleeps most of the time anyway, seemed to need less and was at the local supermarket at 0800 Antigua time (AT) and to which VT has now been adjusted and is four hours behind UT (UK time). As a result we had our Otis Spunkmeyer Corn Maize Muffins for breakfast, lots of coffee and another glass of Champagne courtesy of Nick, who left it on board for us some while ago and which has been really appreciated in Antigua.

There are quite a few American boats which is to be expected but it does mean that the conversation is at an even louder level than in a Spanish marina (sorry Charlie). However, there are more Brits (to use the travelling vernacular) and it is very reminiscent of Lanzarote when wandering around the complex. Chelsea seemed to be beating Arsenal on the bar screen on Sunday.

I checked the bottom of the boat when we arrived to see how the Coppercoat antifouling had performed. We were told at one point that sailing would tend to scour off any weed but nevertheless at the end of a season we always had a mat of moss-like on the bottom. Now it is clean as a whistle - cleaner than I have ever seen it other than immediately after a pressure hosing when out of the water! Ditto the rudder for the Hydrovane although this has no anti fouling at all………..

In the pursuit of delayed (and therefore enhanced) gratification we had postponed our trip to the chandlery until today. The water at the marina is metered and as our hose connection leaks like a sieve a new connector and even hose as well has been added to the list - so exciting!! If we could tear Annie away from her laptop we planned to head over to English Harbour and Nelson’s Yard yesterday afternoon to take in some of the history before Steve flew home on an earlier flight. Annie was in blog writing mode and with a good internet connection at a nearby restaurant the iPad has rejoined us as Annie’s inseparable travel companion.

When we passed Falmouth and English Harbours in the early hours of Sunday morning (they are adjacent bays) the AIS was showing a solid block of targets, most of which were well over 100ft in length. At the same time a motoryacht of 144ft passed close by on its way to Falmouth harbour - it would be interesting to see what is over there so we caught the bus from the marina and headed across with a change of bus in the capital, St Johns. By bus I mean people carrier as in Cape Verdes. It is such a brilliant system and we must bring it to George Fergusson’s attention. As you pass Falmouth Harbour the full extent of all those AIS triangles becomes apparent. It is a truly mind boggling array of super yachts that makes Gibraltar seem like small beer in comparison.

Nelson’s Dockyard has been developed out of the original yard buildings that have been restored and are enjoying a new lease of life as a thriving marina. It was our alternative berthing possibility and is where the Talisker rowers are headed. It is located within a National Park which is a beautiful area and it is great seeing the old buildings back in similar uses to the original. Had we berthed there we could have tucked in nicely under the transom of something a little larger. The elegant white Ketch in the photo below is also registered in Bristol. The Blue Ensign is defaced with the emblem of the Duchy of Cornwall which signifies the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club. We don’t think the Duke was on board but the owner was and the crew were hoping he would soon return to his villa around the corner so they could get on with various maintenance tasks. The marina berths are an array of Red Ensigns ahead of some super yacht racing at the weekend. It would be nice to think that those who have accumulated quite so much of the world's wealth had in return made some significant contribution to the wellbeing of us all. Judging by all the UK tax haven ensigns I remain to be convinced. Nevertheless these yachts are pretty awe inspiring and there must be a big industry around building, maintaining and running them. They will be quite a sight at the weekend.