A very Jolly Harbour
Irie
Wed 20 Feb 2008 13:17
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Position Jolly
Harbour
Monday 18th February
Well, Trinidad and Tobago proved too powerful for
the Grenadines, and the ladies eventually tumbled out of a taxi at around eleven
ready for the boatman to whisk them back to their ship. The cricket is really
incidental to the occasion, which turned out to be a great family event, though
extremely partisan. Every run was greeted by whistles, chants and impromptu
dancing from the relevant team, with fours provoking uproar, and every six
a communal state of vibrant, physical ecstacy -
wonderful.
Thursday is changeover day, so the girls repose was
rapidly interrupted as the sheets were stripped from under them, ready for
delivery to Mavis Laundry. Mavis is a little old local lady, attired in a
flowery frock and dark straw hat with 'Mavis' written upon it, who sits all day
outside the marina, gently touting for washing business. The request for same
day return is a bit of a problem initially, but she eventually capitulates and
agrees that it will be left with anther lady in the supermarket for collection
after four. Meanwhile we run the gauntlet of customs and immigration once more,
this time to remove the girls from the crew list, thus freeing them for the
flight home, before returning to the boat for a final dose of sun and sea. The
Keerys arrive around five, so there's an opportunity for an hours welcome and
farewell drinks, before the girls are run ashore, and climb into a taxi for the
airport as we bid them farewell. The time has flown by, and they've been
great company.
John and Marian are lucky to be here, nearly the
victims of BA overbooking. They arrived at Gatwick to be told that there were no
seats and they could fly tomorrow. After some spleen venting, they were assured
hey would fly, but were allocated seats only as the flight was boarding - they
were still seething on arrival, though small something and an Antiguan
sunset did much to assuage the bile. Friday passed gently away, washed
down by some very strong naval gins on Kumari. Saturday started with a
trip to English Harbour for fuel and much needed water. It is a beautiful spot,
the views unfolding as you wind throug the narrow entrance. In the evening -
more cricket, this time little Nevis against the giant Jamaica. Nevis batted
first and fought valiantly, but captain Chris Gale steered the stronger team to
a comfortable eight wicket victory. While we had a modest picnic, a local family
sat in front of us feasted on a large steaming container of rice and beans.
All around a host of tiny children brandished inflatable bats and balls,
climbing all over us in their enthusiasm - very
inclusive. Jamaican banners were everywhere, and as the innings
progressed the celebratory tumult grew with each stroke, a seething mass of
flags and gyrating flesh backed by whistles chants and drums. Afterwards the
traffic was hell, but it was all worth it.
Shirley heights again Sunday, but this time we took
the Apple water taxi across Nelsons Dockyard, and scrambled the steep
halfmile to the summit, benefitting from a variety of views across Antigua and
the harbours. After a stunning sunset, the music started well with some Marley
and reggae, but slipped into extended wallpaper, so we walked outside for a
taxi, where we were pounced on by a driver after a fare. He led us to his cab,
doing a sort of dance and emitting wildly enthusiastic exhortations about
tonight's cricket - Antigua versus Guyana. We then proceeded on a wild ride down
the hill while our driver sang and danced in his seat, and created a light show
with a torch. His finale was to wind up the sound system and Stevie Wonder
to 150 decibels, and we throbbed our way the last lap to the Mad Mongoose,
all heads turning to witness our arrival - whatever he was on, it was
working. The pub was showing the cricket and Guyana had scored 146 in their
innings. We watched Antigua start very hesitantly, and after 10 overs they were
well off the target and needing ten runs an over, so we retired to the
boat. In the morning the radio advised that they had only missed by 10
runs at the end - a nail biting finish. Today we ran into David and Merry from
Whimbrel, another ARC boat. The are heading north, so we swapped stories over an
early beer, then bailed out of Falmouth, and sailed round the coast to Jolly
Harbour, with an excellent late lunch stop off a beautiful beach on the way.
Prim Tease were still here, fixing some last minute electrical stuff before
departing for St Martin, so we gathered in their spacious cokpit for a
sundowner.
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