Jolly Harbour

Ile Jeudi
Bob and Lin Griffiths
Mon 5 May 2014 18:23
17:04.24N  61:53.16W
 
Distance Run 10 nm
 
Friday 2 to Monday 5 May 2014
 
We left Falmouth Harbour this morning to go around to Jolly Harbour Marina on the west coast of Antigua.  Things were a little busy as a lot of yachts were also passing through the narrowish entrance to the racing start out in the bay.
 
 
 
Pigeon Beach near the entrance to Falmouth Harbour:-
 
m_Sail to Jolly Harbour
 
 
 
We kept our eyes peeled to avoid the boats reaching up and down near the start line.  It was like sailing on the Solent again but with sun.
 
 
A view back to the start line we just crossed:-
 
m_Sail to Jolly Harbour-005
 
 
 
We took a course along the south coast in a channel between a 2 mile long reef and ‘mainland’ Antigua.  The sea was much more peaceful inside there and we were able to get a close view of some of the bays to check out the anchorages for the future.  The channel is about half a mile wide and a careful lookout is necessary because some of the reef is underwater and not easily visible.
 
 
 
Looking out to sea, you might be able to make out some waves breaking on the outer part of the reef.  The inner part is this side of the light blue water.  More difficult to see is the island in the distance (on the horizon, centre to left) which is Montserrat:-
 
m_Sail to Jolly Harbour-007
 
 
Most of the islands in the Caribbean are volcanic with the main exceptions being Barbados and Antigua which are coral.  The volcanic islands have steep sided shorelines whereas the waters off Antigua are relatively shallow for some distance offshore.  The shallower water is a much lighter colour, turquoise in places.
 
 
Passing Morris Bay:-
 
m_Sail to Jolly Harbour-009
 
 
We dropped sails and motored up the dredged channel into Jolly Harbour Marina which is built inside a lagoon and picked up a mooring buoy (no anchoring allowed in the lagoon).
 
This is the view back out to sea as we entered the lagoon.  The foreground is sandy water being swept out of Jolly Harbour:-
 
m_Sail to Jolly Harbour-010
 
 
 
Jolly Harbour Marina in the distance.  The large building was a casino but has been empty for years:-
 
m_Jolly Harbour Marina
 
 
 
Jolly Harbour is a waterside development which has never really taken off.  Much of the lagoon is bordered by 2 bedroom villas which were reasonably priced when new but many were unsold for years.  There was a large refurbishment programme a few years ago but this didn’t seem to entail much more than fresh paint. Large parts have not been built on at all and the original houses now look tired and dated.
 
 
This photograph makes them look much better than in the flesh.  Many are empty:-
 
m_Jolly Harbour Marina-001
 
 
 
 
m_Jolly Harbour Marina-004
 
 
 
There are one or two more recently built houses which stand out but these are so few that they don’t seem enough to overcome the air of abandonment about the place:-
 
m_Jolly Harbour Marina-003
 
 
It’s a shame because it seems to us to be a winning formula but it just hasn’t been popular.  There must have been an underlying reason (it doesn’t help that the water in the lagoon is not good for swimming) but it is probably too late now as I imagine the cost of renewal or rebuilding is probably prohibitive.
 
We bumped into Chris and Penny Manley from the boat ‘Karma Daze’ who had arranged a Cruising Association get together in Grenada last May.  We met again in the evening for sundowners at the ‘Castaways Bar’ on a nearby beach.  This rolled into a meal and the food was OK but when the karaoke started things deteriorated.  It seems that some people don’t have friends close enough to tell them they REALLY cannot sing.  Usually karaoke is just for ‘a laugh’ but these people were taking themselves very seriously.  Encouraged by applauding friends one man assaulted our ears on at least 4 occasions but seemed oblivious to the fact that people were walking out.  We did the same as soon as we had eaten.
 
Saturday and Sunday were spent getting our hair done, doing laundry and shopping.