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Date: 07 Mar 2011 13:13:39
Title: From Russia with love
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17:00.48N 61:45.85W

 

 

Saturday 5th and Sunday 6th March

 

Lovely clear blue sky first thing this morning, but it clouded over before too long and became a quite mixed day with the weather.

 

We made our way out of Falmouth Harbour at 1100 hrs and headed east round the island to a big area on the south east corner of Antigua called Nonsuch Bay.

 

This involved sailing upwind and so we had a long tack out to sea before turning through the wind and beating back up towards our destination. We agreed that as we were back offshore for a while we should try our hand at getting fresh fish for supper and so the trusty lure was pressed into action for the first time since we were crossing the Atlantic on our way to Barbados. Sure enough after about 30 minutes, the rod bowed and the reel screamed and an magnificent Mahi Mahi leapt clear of the water to signal what we had caught. We furled the staysail and let the main fly to bring the boat to a standstill while we brought the fish in. In hindsight this was probably a mistake as we ended up with a big Mahi Mahi at the back of the boat and this fish was anything but exhausted! Mick took a photo at this point which was handy because before we were able to land it, the fish finally broke free of the hooks and swam to freedom and we lost an excellent supper. Undeterred we set the lure to work again and just before we arrived at Nonsuch Bay we reeled in a perfect sized tuna.

 

We had a squall and some quite heavy rain to endure during this sail as well as surprisingly choppy seas which did upset a stomach or two but after two hours of sailing we weaved our way through the rocks and shoals into the astonishingly blue and tranquil bay. There were a few boats there already including a magnificent 194ft yacht, Salperton, which lost its mast a week or so ago and is being made ready to be shipped back to Europe for a replacement. (Photo on http://www.rhbell.com ) and we found ourselves a suitable spot and dropped the hook. This bay is unlike anything we have been in before as it is has no visible protection at all from the Atlantic ocean all the way across to Africa! But there is a submerged coral reef stretching all the way across the mouth of the bay and this gives the waters inside total protection so there is no discernable swell at all. It is therefore quite strange to be sat at anchor looking straight out to sea and into the teeth of the wind and yet be as comfortable as being tucked away in a cove or even a marina!

 

After watching the sun go down (actually it had just hosed down with heavy rain for 5 minutes) we were treated by Sarah to a fabulous supper of fresh tuna which she had filleted instead of cutting into steaks, with potatoes and a homemade salsa salad and we sat in the cockpit until very late, enjoying the cool fresh breeze off the ocean.  Salperton may not be looking her best, but she lit her blue underwater hull lights alongside us which did look quite fantastic under the starlit sky.

 

On Sunday morning we had a slow start and eventually made our way out of the lagoon as such and sailed slowly back westwards along the coast to English Harbour where we moored up, stern to the quay inside Nelson’s dockyard. Complicated process involving dropping the bow anchor first and reversing in as in Greece, then the dock master takes a long line out to a fixed buoy as extra security. Mike and Anne from Nimue where standing on the quay and so we had a chat with them and shortly afterwards, Flying Penguin (Najad 440) came onto the quay one boat down from us.

 

We had originally planned to go up to the BBQ and steel drum party event at Shirley Heights, but in the end settled for drinks on board after which Mick and Dione very kindly bought us all dinner at Jonny Coconut’s restaurant which was a short dinghy ride across the water. It rained like mad several times in the evening and night and we were generally glad that we had not ventured up to Shirley Heights after all. The only downside was the boat load of Russians next door to us who sat in their cockpit chatting loudly until 0230 hrs when the heaviest of the night’s rain showers sent them scuttling below.

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