Falmouth & English Harbours, Antigua and return home
Gaudeo
John and Prue Quayle / John Quayle
Tue 19 Feb 2008 16:05
"You can tire of Paradise!"
After a wonderful extended holiday in the Caribbean, we may agree as we are
looking forward to returning home.
My first terrestrial bed for 3 months was on our last night in Antigua at
The Admiral`s Inn which is the old officers` quarters in the now partly
restored, attractive Nelson`s dockyard at English Harbour. Gaudeo has been
hauled out for a scrub, antifouling, etc.having accumulated a considerable
covering of barnacles.
On reflection, our stops during the 300 miles passage up through the
Windward Isles to the Leeward Isles have been full of surprising contrasts
ranging from lush yet relatively poor, and sparsely populated Dominica which
lacks beaches to attract the lucrative tourist market, to the chic and more
populous Franco-Euroland of Martinique. Antigua was no exception
especially in the small area of Falmouth and English Harbours where we spent
the last 4 days. The sheer opulence manifest by numerous large, luxurious
and heavily manned yachts is quite staggering, a place where average
megarich may seem only minor players as some of the yachts appear almost as
large as our Navy`s modern fast Frigates and a helicopter on deck is fairly
standard. It is hard to escape the feeling that with such complex toys,
pleasure may be inversely proportional to size. Certainly amongst the
gorgeous masted variety which should be harnessing wind power, sails
appear less frequently to be hoisted as size increases.
Apart from the pleasure of gazing at the yachts in all their finery,
exploring the historic English Harbour, and taking in the stunning panorama
from Shirley Heights, it was especially moving to be at the reception
area for the transatlantic rowing race as the last 4 of around 20 or so
boats came in during our stay. Next to last was somewhat emaciated, solo
rower Paul Attalla,from Calgary, Canada who had only used a rowing machine
before entering the race. He had had to pump around 40 gallons twice daily
from buoyancy tanks which should have been water tight. A girl pair who
arrived just before him were rolled over during the gale which we had faced
2 days earlier; all the rowers of the last 4 boats incidentally, said this had
been their worst experience of bad weather during the two and a half month`s
passage. Shrewsbury`s Niall McCann whose mother Anna is a friend, had arrived
with his rowing partner in "Komale" before we reached Antigua - we have
been told that their blog on www.atlanticrowers2007.co.uk makes good
reading - but we were able to inspect his and a number of the other boats at
the dockside. These weigh in at around one ton including equipment, so rowing
is hard work, even more so this year since the West going tradewinds and ocean
currents which are so important for progress appear to have been less
favourable.
Before our departure we lunched with Richard and Pat Burbidge who had just
arrived in Antigua - Richard had been one of the 4 on Gaudeo during her
Transatlantic passage. After lunch I helped Richard sail his Sparkman
Stephens Swan design, "Pavlova" - one of the best sailing and prettiest
Swans ever -
to Curtain Bluff where they are staying. This, followed by a swim out to the
anchored yacht from their hotel beach, could not have been a more pleasant
way to spend the afternoon before
our evening flight home; a perfect end to another over 60`s outing.
I shall be returning with friends on 12th April for two weeks` sailing in
the Leeward Islands, then a week with Richard on "Pavlova" for Antigua Race
Week, followed by a further week sailing Gaudeo to the British Virgin
Islands
where she will be loaded onto a freighter and be brought back to Southampton
for the start of the UK sailing season - perhaps another gap year!
