17:00.97N  61:46.43W

 

Distance Run 35 nm

 

Tuesday 29 April to Thursday 1 May 2014

 

 

We set off just after 7.30am headed for English Harbour which lies on the south coast of Antigua.  We motored for the first hour until the wind filled in and then had another very good sail with a nice wind strength coming from a good angle.  We were glad again that we had reefed in preparation for the wind building.

 

 

Tramping along in a moderate sea:-

 

 

 

We were surprised to arrive in English harbour only 6 hours later.  The distance for the trip was 43 miles but our log only showed we had run 35.  We had some tidal assistance but I think our speed log is reading a little low.

 

We had heard two horror stories where skippers had been fined EC$18,000 (£4500) for technical infringements during clearing in.  In one case the captain went in to town and left his crew to clear in (it should be the captain) and in the other the skipper and crew found Customs closed so went to lunch whilst they waited.  You are not allowed to do anything or go anywhere ashore until Customs and Immigration have cleared you but it is unusual for infringements to be spotted and punished especially in islands where there is a high volume of yacht traffic.

 

I normally go ashore alone to do the formalities in any case and we certainly weren’t going to make an exception this time.  I docked the dinghy in Falmouth Harbour Marina and walked over the Customs which is in Nelson’s Dockyard in nearby English Harbour.  Antigua operates ‘eSeaClear’ which is a computer system designed to make clearance in and out of the various Caribbean islands easier.  Unfortunately only 3 or 4 countries initially installed this and all, except Antigua, have since dropped out.  I was able to access Antigua’s system from Guadeloupe and enter all our details which made things much simpler on arrival.

 

Expecting the worst I was relieved to find all the officers pleasant and welcoming.

 

 

A courtyard near Customs in Nelson’s Dockyard:-

 

 

 

 

 

Nelson’s Dockyard was restored in the 70’s but had fallen into disrepair again by the time we last saw it about 10 years ago during a short visit.  Much more has been done in recent years and it is now a lively place with several restaurants and bars, a small supermarket, sail loft, museum, yacht charter base and marina.

 

 

 

The museum:-

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Theses pillars used to be part of the old sail loft:-

 

 

 

 

And again:-

 

 

 

 

Very British:-

 

 

 

It is Antigua Race Week this week which explains the activity.  Apparently everything will be dead next week and many places will shut down until the autumn.

 

On Wednesday we both walked over to Nelson’s Dockyard for a look.  It soon became clear that the boutiques were aimed at the ‘superyacht’ fraternity, most of whom have now gone for the season.  We had a nice lunch at Hamilton’s Wine Bar and refrained from the wine but liked the atmosphere so much we came back to the Dockyard in the evening to another restaurant for dinner.  As it was the last day of the lobster season we thought we would try that.  We received confirmation that the lobster was fresh but the waitress later modified this saying, effectively, it was fresh before it was frozen!  This explained the lack of taste.

 

On Thursday we dropped off some laundry and checked out a boatyard in Falmouth Harbour to see if it would be suitable for the hurricane season but were put off when we then had the most expensive coffees we have had so far in the Caribbean.