Antigua Oyster Regatta week.
Shelena
Phil Scourfield
Tue 5 Apr 2016 14:21
On the way to Antigua I must mention Dominica. We anchored in Prince Rupert
Bay to the north west and were thrilled by the high standard of attention
from the local "Boat Boys". Sadly, there are many Caribbean islands where
overly enthusiastic boat boys can be a nuisance trying to sell fruits and
expecting disproportionate amounts for their services. In worst cases they
can be menacing. Some years ago this negative reputation was earned by
Dominica too. To their huge credit local "good" boat guys got together to
change their bad image and formed a sort of consortium known as PAYS to
change local bad behaviour. Pays boys wear badges and ensure security too. A
great success story where PAYS now organise a weekly beach BBQ for yachties
and even river trips. We went up the Indian River by boat organised by PAYS.
It rained like a tropical forest. We shared our little boat with a couple of
nice Germans who loaned us an umbrella!
But I digress since I wanted to talk about Antigua. To our delight we were
joined by Rachael and Adam who flew over for the week. They did a fantastic
job crewing with their special responsibility on the winches, tacking to the
point when we almost looked professional! Oyster organise things with style
and their regattas are no different. They even invite sponsors such as
Dolphin Sails and Pantaneous insurance to send experienced crew to join
yachts such as ours to help racing the yachts. Cruising is for leisure and
racing is competition! We had a great week. We were consistently third in
every race of every day all week. We got a nice trophy for that. We also won
the best turned out yacht trophy. Full details on
http://www.oysteryachts.com/events/regatta-reports/antigua-2016/ Thanks
especially to Will and Richard from Oyster NY and London and Paul from
Dolphin Sails for your participation and everyone else too for making it an
incredible experience.