Antigua Racing 2013

Sulayacht
Sat 11 May 2013 21:08
Chris’s reply to an enquiry from Starfleet Command as to the whereabouts of Starfleet Vessel Quicksilver, with no apologies to Digicel or Mount Gay Rum!
 
Greetings  to you soon to be Dirt Dwellers
Yes we have been having coms problems, started with "cloaking" by the Digicellians.  After numerous attempts to remove this problem including a visit to their base camp in St Johns where we were received with blank faces and the customary Digicelian shrug, we eventually contacted Corporate Customer Care in Grenada who appeared equally interested until we suggested he shoved his Dongle and Contract up his transporter vent upon which someone somewhere threw a switch and we got occasional WiFi,then the computer went on the Fritz!
Meanwhile --- We thoroughly enjoyed Antigua Regatta which involved a week of classic sailing by mainly very old, beautifully cared for (just like me!) vessels which would assemble in a loose formation at the harbour entrance whereupon someone would fire an ancient weapon, called a cannon, at them, although the shot appeared to miss everyone it seemed to scare them into racing off into the distance and not returning until under cover of dusk when they snuck back in, this was followed by great celebrations involving compulsory imbibing of a sugar cane  distillation provided by the Gay Mountain people of far off Barbadosia.   After repeated days of this strange ritual, time seemed to slow down and days merge.  Most people seemed to survive in one state or another and a short break was enforced before race week was called.  We raced for 5 days on Wings and in spite of not finishing three races due to blown sails and finishing last in our class we had a great time and Sharon enjoyed being part of the working crew not just movable ballast!  She has many strange markings on here body (look like bruises to me) which she insists are part of some race crew initiation ceremony.  Anyway ,the  tractor beams to the free grog and fodder seem to have shut down so we escaped yesterday to appropriately named Jolly Harbour where the post office dispenses a similar, though less refined distillation for EC $45 a gallon (spot the theme?) Actually it is a ships requirement for when Sharon leaves me in suspended animation in Trinidad, keeps me out of harms way and saves cooking.
Allegedly other more mundane supplies are needed but I know very little of this,
Looking forward to catching up soon as we can get QS to point south, must read the flight manual again.

Live Long and Prosper
Captain Chris