Wobbling in Antigua

MALARKEY
Jo & Trevor Bush
Wed 20 Feb 2008 00:31
 
Yes.....we are still in Antigua waiting on parts for our ****!!!!*** generator. But hey, there is always a silver lining to every cloud.
 
We have felt in the past that we haven't stayed long enough to get to really know some of the islands we've visited. There was no fear of that here, 'cos we were destined to stay in Antigua for at least a month.....and that, in actual fact, proved to be our silver lining. We cruised, partied, explored, built and wobbled. What, wobbled, I hear you say. Well wobbling has nothing to do with my ample love handles, which incidentally are fuel tanks for my sex machine...And I have 2 tee-shirts to prove it, thanks to Adrian & Jan and Brian & Sue who quite aptly rammed the point home by buying me a 'THIS IS NOT A BEER BELLY BUT A FUEL TANK FOR MY SEX MACHINE' printed tee-shirt each. But this WOBBLY is something completely different and I will get to that later.
 
Well we cruised around some lovely anchorages discovering the likes of Nonsuch Bay and Green Island killing time by snorkelling on reefs and having barbeques....just like being on holiday really....very nice. Had my birthday bash in Jolly Harbour, thanks for all your best wishes, and then moved back to Falmouth Harbour where it all seemed to be happening.
 
 
 
The first few entrants to the 'Woodvale Challenge Atlantic Rowing Race' were beginning to arrive. They were racing from the Canary Islands across the Atlantic to English Harbour, Antigua, only some 2935 miles, taking from approx 50 to 75 days. They were all raising money for charity and the crews varied from teams of hairy arsed men to angels from one of the foundation hospitals. It's a tough enough event for even the ruffty tuffty male crews to take part in but nurses off a hospital ward....I take my hat off to 'em. We thought we suffered enough on a 47ft yacht laden with good grub and drink for 17 days, lounging about letting the autopilot do most of the work. I cant imagine what it must have been like for them.....well I can really that's why they have my total admiration and my best advice.....get your flippin' heads checked, you loonies!!!.
 
They had a great/emotional reception with calypso bands and cheering crowds...quite touching really. Right, I am going to move on now, I can feel myself welling up.
 
Last year we had the good fortune to visit the World Cup Cricket competition here in the West Indies. But by golly gum drops, it paled into insignificance compared to the Stanford 20/20 Cricket Competition.
 
 
 
Unlike the world cup competition, the 20/20 tournament was affordable for all and consequently the stadium was full to the brim with local Caribbean noise & colour. Everyone got up and danced around a bit when a four or a six was scored and drums, trumpets, cheers and many other noises filled the air. And there were a lot of opportunities to do your little Indian style dance 'cos as it was only 20 overs for each team, it was just like school boy cricket. The batsmen were either slogging the ball or they were out!. And typical of the Caribbean, a major prize was won for the batsman who hit a six at the newly installed stadium glass clock tower. This clock tower cost $64,000 to build and the batsman would get $100,000 to smash it.....cool.
 
We did a lot of other stuff which seemed to revolve mostly around happy hour or three at the 'Mad Mongoose' bar, listening to the various local bands. Our favourite was the 'Itchy Feet'. The lead guitarist was pretty good and with a few years more practice, may acquire the dizzy guitar playing heights just recently attained by sailing pals Adrian & Neil.
 
Shirley Heights was good too. It was a spectacular location relatively high up and overlooking both English and Falmouth harbours.
 
 
Our boat is the blue speck in the middle of the three blue specks just in front of the furthest bunch of bigger white specks. Cant see us? not surprising 'cos most boats in Antigua range from 60 to 360 feet long and we are generally regarded as being only small beer. It really is a playground for the rich & famous and therefore begs the question.....what on earth are we doing here?.
Ho hum, Shirley Heights turned out to be quite a surprise, not only because the view over the harbours and the sunset were quite spectacular, but a bar, barbeque and a local band were also laid on. It was also a good opportunity to spend some time with friends we met many moons ago back in Turkey. It was great to see Ulrike, Thomas and Urs again and although we are heading in different directions, I am sure we will see them again soon in some faraway and exotic place.
 
And now to the 'Wobbly' bit. A drinking club based in the Catamaran Marina decided to host a BYOB race. Yes, a Build Your Own Boat race. And as we were just kicking around waiting for genny parts to arrive, (best not linger on that subject), we thought we would have a go. Aid & Jan (S/Y Squander) were here too and so the old race partnership was reformed for this unique and challenging event. Well actually, as the name suggests, 'The Wobbly Club' BYOB race isn't too serious and in fact it is an excuse for a bunch of boaty-types to booze all afternoon, not that we need an excuse. So, all in all, we thought we were fairly well qualified for this event and tackled it very seriously.....not. We allocated tasks to each member of the team. The girls had the pretty bits to do, after all, there was a Concourse d'Elegance prize to win. They decided that a team uniform was in order and a funny hat was decided upon. 
 
 
 
Aid didn't seem too happy with his rather fetching shower cap but my hat suited me perfectly..... being a bit of a dick head. I thought I would get that one in before anyone else.
 
Aid & I were charged with the role of designer, builder and sailor. We each contributed equally to our tasks except the sailing bit because as Aid quite correctly pointed out and I quote, 'I was unlikely to get my fat arse in the boat'. Thanks buddy, the truth hurts you know!.
We were given the required boat building materials but had to supply our own tools. We had 2 off 8'x4' sheets of 1/4" ply, some batten, mastic, gaff tape, a bag of screws and some spinnaker sail cloth. And we had two and a half hours to build it starting at 2.00 pm. We started at 1.00 pm in the bar.
After several drinks and a quick gander at the building materials, we decided on a complete change of tack....back to square one. We would build a pram-style dinghy and use Aids' wind-surfer mast to rig it. The plan sounded good but the execution.......well I was glad it was not going to be me who was going to sail in it.
 
 
 
We named the boat 'Bendyteau' which seemed to get changed by the Wobbly Officials to the 'Bendy Team', which I didn't like the sound of, and then to the 'Bendy Tenders', which sort of stuck.
We didn't quite finish the boat in time and were still screwing things together on the way to the start line. We even had to steal bits of wood & screws from our competitors, which we thought was all in the spirit of the event, but the unfortunately the others did not!. Any how, we got the boat to the start line, via a work boat. Thankfully we weren't asked to sail to the start line otherwise disaster may have struck before we even started.
The race officials obviously decided on the race course having had a look at the boats & competitors first, as a short downwind leg of only a couple of hundred metres was regarded the only viable option. The start line was a mud bank which Aid and the others squelched about on bare foot trying to hold their crafts upright in fairly blustery conditions. The omens were clearly not on our side. Firstly, I noticed the most important piece of our equipment go drifting off (the bailer) just before the start and secondly, Aid was having serious trouble keeping the stick pointing skywards without even sitting in it.
The race was eventually started and within the first minute we had won our first prize. Yes, the omens were correct. Aid jumped into the boat. It listed heavily to the left then violently listed to the right and then more violently to the left again. And then the inevitable happened...he capsized and sunk. I must say that it was the funniest sight I have seen in years. Aid tried in vain to rite the craft and refloat it. I was of no help of course, just a jibbering wreck in the work boat. Fortunately for us, there was a prize for the boat that sank first. We won that hands down and the girls were pleased to learn later, that we had also won the Concourse d'Elegance. 
 
 
 
We collected our prizes at the prize giving ceremony and we got a bottle of fine rum, a polo shirt, a radio, ice cream vouchers and free beer. Not bad for a bunch of losers. The whole event cost $60 per team and that included all the materials, 4 wobbly club tee-shirts, and the prizes. Not bad. A really enjoyable afternoon out.