All quiet again.
Oriole
Sun 10 Feb 2013 12:56
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Falmouth Harbour,
Antigua. 17:01.04N
61:46.37W
Harrison and Katy wanted to return to the
fleshpots of Falmouth and English Harbours to rub shoulders with all the
superyachts, so here we are again back in our usual slot in Falmouth
Harbour. The superyacht docks were full and they had a fine time oggling
the billions of dollars/pounds of marine hardware. It is inconceivable
that the owners of these (mostly) magnificent yachts are not enjoying their
luxury facilities and are happy to have them sitting on the docks at around
500US$ per day just for the marina charges. The crew for even the smaller
ones must be in the region of 500US$ per day and then there is the hardware
maintenance which is a constant battle to pour enough dollars down the drain to
keep everything running in tiptop order. Anyway it keeps hundreds of
people employed and allows a certain young relation and his
fiancé
 Harrison enjoying the last sail back
to Falmouth......
 ..........while in crystal visibility
Monserrat's volacano continues to fume 30 miles away.
Then it was all over, we delivered our guests to
the airport and returned to a very subdued and quiet
Oriole, where in the light airs of
the evening you could have heard a pin drop. It had been a very
entertaining two weeks for us and we have thoroughy enjoyed their company and
contributions to a very happy ship.
However it does not stay quiet for long and that
evening some very close friends, currently on a brief trip to Phuket, emailed us
to say they were desperately looking for their brother, cruising in his
yacht in this area, to inform him of the sudden serious illness of the third
brother in the US. Emails had been to no avail, so the old technology of
the long range SSB radio and our Ocean Cruising Club Net came to the
rescue. By 0745 the next morning various regular contributors to the net
were scouring anchorages up and down the Eastern Caribbean. Calls for a
"Boatwatch" were put out on two other nets and by 1000 contact had been made. So
the early morning 0730 net is not just a chore which gets you out of bed on
time.
This weekend of course there is more of the Six
Nations Rugby and in the cause of marital harmony we are searching for live
coverage! |