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Date: 17 Mar 2011 01:22:47
Title: All Along the Watchtower
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16:18.48N 61:47.88W

 

 

Monday 14th, Tuesday 15th & Wednesday 16th March

 

We made a fairly early start and had raised the anchor and were on our way by 0800 hrs heading for Carlisle Bay. We managed to sail most of the way inside the coral reef, but eventually had to motor the last bit as the wind had rather uncharacteristically died away. We dropped the anchor in the bay’s crystal clear water but sadly the clouds stayed over head and so instead of a swim in hot sunshine, it was more of a dip in the rain which only I took advantage of.

 

Scott-Free joined us here about a hour or so later (on our recommendation) and still it rained and stayed cloudy!

 

In the early afternoon we gave in and motored round to Falmouth Harbour where we anchored in a good spot not too far from the marina and it’s dinghy dock. We then went ashore to try to sort a few things out as well as finalise the details for the car hire for the next morning. Scott-Free arrived a little while later and kindly invited us to join them on board in the evening for a chicken curry.

 

On Tuesday we collected Chris and Steve from S-F at 0830 hrs and headed ashore to pick up our hire car.

 

In a complete break with tradition we armed ourselves with 3 maps of the island although we soon discovered that only one was vaguely useful!

 

First stop was Shirley Heights which was an 18th century fort and lookout point with a stunning view over English Harbour, Nelson’s Dockyard and Falmouth harbour. (photos at http://www.rhbell.com ) From here approaching enemy ships could be easily seen and a beacon lit. There were 40 odd beacons across the island which meant that literally within minutes of a sighting the entire island would be aware of an approaching enemy. As it turned out during the day we came across some 10 to 15 of these beacons.

 

Our next stop was Harmony Hall which is a lovely restaurant and art gallery located overlooking Nonsuch Bay and we enjoyed  superb (but very expensive) coffees and afterwards looked round the gallery and climbed the watchtower/beacon there to take some photos. As seems standard on all these islands there is no signposting which makes it all very interesting and added to that, Antigua’s roads frequently alter between tarmac and rough, loose stone! From here we meandered our way to Long Bay and its popular sandy beach. Sarah, Chris and Steve opted to have a swim here whilst I guarded the valuables and took some pictures of them and the pelicans diving in amongst all the bathers.

 

We had a basic lunch  which was very slow and it was mid-afternoon before we headed off to Devil’s Bridge. This was a stunning location with dramatic surf breaking over the rocks and blow holes jetting water high into the air. Finding this was nothing short of a miracle as access was down a narrow unmade road with the only road sign directing deliveries to an adjacent eco hotel!

 

Next was Parnham harbour which we never really found, but we did pass the Viv Richards Cricket stadium along the way to St John’s. We drove through the town taking in various features including the very idiosyncratic statue of V.C. Bird (the island’s first prime minister after independence).

 

We ended up driving down the west coast and all the way back up to Shirley Heights to catch the sun setting. We arrived just in time and as we were enjoying a beer and the view we discovered that Flying Penguin were there too. They had just had a very exciting helicopter ride to Montserrat which had involved an emergency landing after the chopper developed a mechanical problem whilst flying over the still active volcanic crater!

 

The day ended with dinner at Jonny Coconat’s in English Harbour and a quick nightcap on board S-F followed by sad farewells as we said goodbye to Chris and Steve who are now heading North towards New York and a summer cruising up the coast of America, whilst we head south to Grenada then fly home to the UK in early May.

 

Wednesday dawned cloudy with a light wind and so we delayed our start until after 0900 hrs. We then raised the anchor and set sail southwards to Guadeloupe and were very lucky to have a brisk 15 to 20 knot wind driving us along on a reach at 7 to 8 knots all the way on the 46 mile trip to Deshaies. We popped the fishing line out for a while and as a clump of old rope and fishing net floated past I suggested that we might get a strike soon as fish frequently hide under these things. Almost immediately the line started flying out and in due course we reeled in a fair sized barracuda, but sadly even the locals here will not eat the barracuda as they feed on the reef fish who in turn mainly have a disease (ciguatera) which is very bad news for humans! So after recovering our magic lure we consigned it to the deep.

 

Around 1530 hrs we rounded the entrance to Deshaies bay and were escorted in by a single, very large dolphin and as we made our way past the first of the anchored boats we were surprised and delighted to see Shaun and Gaby on Tabasco Jazz there. They kindly invited us on board for sundowners and explained their major change of plan which has them now laying the boat up in Antigua rather than Grenada.

 

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