Departure Antigua for BVI and Virgin Gorda
Shelena
Phil Scourfield
Wed 4 May 2016 02:57
4th May 2016
Whilst at Antigua we spent time (except when racing) at Nelson's Dockyard
and Jolly Harbour. The former is most quaint harbour largely on account of
the the old buildings of yester year which the British built when
controlling the island, which have been restored, giving the feeling today
of a village in England somewhere; but minus the palm trees and the bright
blue sky, the azure Caribbean sea and the temperature at about 30 degrees!
Some fine restaurants are to be found and it's a place with soul. It
attracts others apart from the Oyster mob too. Pete Townsend's fine yacht
was there as was he; just as a for instance! Jolly harbour also has soul but
in a different way. A place with a great supermarket which is utterly
necessary for we yachties. Rather more low key bars and restaurants and a
little easier on the pocket.
We left Shelena at Jolly Harbour and took a quick trip to see the folks back
home and also took a few days at the Algarve. We liked it there when we
passed through last year and wanted to take a closer look. As it happens my
timing was a bit off since my good friend Gareth had his 50th and I was not
going to miss that. I therefore travelled back to Stanstead leaving H in a
hotel in Portugal. It was a wonderful party. The only down side is that I
learned the hard way that not paying utility bills on your home basically
makes renting a car a no-no. I am old enough to have the old fashioned
driving licence. Because it has no picture, Avis check the address. Well yes
it is our home, but no we do not pay the bills because the tenants do so.
That is not enough. No car! Just goes to show it is best to stick with
boats.
Upon our return to Antigua it was time to start our treck for the US East
coast. We have vague plans of making NY. It is a long way. About 2000Nm. But
first steps first, we need to head north east towards Florida because we
want to coastal hop north. We decided to make Fort Lauderdale, but via the
BVI's then on to Puerto Rico, Dominica Republic, the Bahamas and finally
Florida. All told about 1000Nm. At this point there are choices to be made.
Do we do it in one hop to the BVI's, about 180 Nm or hop to St Martin or St
Kitts? We opted for an over-night passage directly to Spanish Harbour,
Virgin Gorda in the BVI's. We were keen to get some miles under the hull.