Final Day

Sadie
Mon 23 Dec 2013 19:28
17:04.400n 61:52.590w
 
 
Distance to Antigua     0 miles
 
Distance Run today     126 miles

Total distance          3258 miles
 
 
Sailing update 
 
The wind died away a little just to make us sweat as the speed dropped off to 4.5 knots but as the GPS showed 24 miles to go to Jolly Harbour, Ricky saw the first trace of Antigua in the skyline.  It grew rapidly enough and we were soon running in with the beaches and bays opening up as we went by. 
 
The super-yachts in English and Falmouth Harbours were clear to see but there were also plenty of small boats moving about between anchorages and for the first time on the trip the AIS was going crazy with the volume of contacts ( so we turned the alarm off and ignored it ).  We had a close pass from a millionaires plaything called Eileen which was really impressive as it roared by towards English Harbour,
 
Our first encounter with a reef was interesting and we stayed a couple of hundred metres off, in deep water, as we navigated past and towards the Channel and finally picked up the buoys into Jolly Harbour.
 
We would have liked a band and ceremony as we tied up but what we got was a couple of chaps on the fuel dock who told us we could moor there but only after we had been back to customs to check in.
 
This was done soon enough and there we were, alongside in Antigua !
 
After 27 days at sea and everything from flat calm to 45 knot gusts we expected to be unsteady on our feet, but actually had no problems.
 
Tim went to sort out the Marina, Jez and Ricky climbed the mast to start fixing the forestay back in place ( we finished this the following morning ). 
 
And that was that – Sailing over and 1 day spare to explore Antigua.
   
 
Domestic 
 
Preparing a boat to be left on hard-standing for 4 months takes a bit of effort but we found time to get a taxi to English Harbour, walk round Nelson’s Dockyard and have a meal in Falmouth Harbour. 
 
There we met a man over dinner who maintains the comms and electronics on the superyacht “Twizzle”.  We exchanged stories about the differences between crossing the Atlantic in a 10m Sadler and 58m superyacht and had a great time.
 
Finally, we took a tour of the millionaires yachts in the harbour (including Twizzle which is up for sale at £68m ! ) before going back to Sadie for our first un-interrupted sleep in a month.
 
Natural History.
 
Pelicans, turtles, Frigate birds – Lovely place here with wildlife everywhere you look.
 
  
Sadie

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