Fai Tira still in Antigua . 17:03.98N 61:53.02W Wednesday 9th December
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Fai Tira Blog
16.00 UTC Wednesday 9th December Fai Tira still in Antigua . 17:03.98N 61:53.02W We have been
in Jolly Harbour for five days now, all of which seem to have shot bye. The
bizarre thing it is Christmas here too and everything is geared up for it. We
even had Santa arrive by helicopter the other day.
Santa’s
Groto Santa
in Antigua We had
a great welcome party on Tuesday night at castaways restaurant on the
beach. The rum punch flowed freely and most people indulged to
much. The drinks and the food were provided courtesy of the tourist board
and were well appreciated. The night cumulated with a few of the ralliers
going skinny dipping at midnight in a beautiful warm sea. Brilliant.
Until today
we haven’t stepped out of the marina complex. We have been working
on the boat getting ready for the next part of our voyage (adventure). We
needed some repairs to the Genoa and the Windex. The sail has gone off to be
repaired and I have fixed the windex instrument which had a dry joint inside
and needed soldering. Only a few more jobs to do before we are ready to leave
Jolly Harbour. The journey will take us to the Island of Barbuda and then back
to Nelsons Dockyard for Christmas and New Year. We will be entertaining
three very important visitors there namely Dee, Judy and Horace my dad. We were
treated today with a tour of the Island hosted by the Antigua tourist
board. We set off to St Johns the capital of the island to visit the Heritage
Museum. Unfortunately it was shut due to the fact that today
is a public holiday. The next place we were due to visit was also closed
so we proceeded to the Cathedral. This was open and quite different
to the places of worship we have visited in Europe. The exterior of the
building was of stone construction but the interior was entirely clad in wood,
it was very tired and run down, but we understand used on a regular
basis.
The next
place we visited was Betty’s Hope which is the remains and ruins of an
old sugar plantation. Lots of history here with the place still in
operation until the 1950’s. Betty’s
Hope was Antigua’s pioneer sugar plantation, founded about 1650. It
is now in ruin, as are so many other West Indian sugar estates. The
founder of Betty’s Hope was Governor Keynell, whose widow inherited the
estate upon his death in 1663, but was forced to flee Antigua during the French
occupation in 1666. When Antigua was reoccupied by the British, Parliament
annulled all land claims of those who had fled or been disloyal to the Crown
prior to the French occupation. Instead, in 1674, Betty’s Hope was
granted to the Codrington family, then residing in Barbados. Under
the Codrington ownership, lasting until 1944, Betty’s Hope was soon
transformed into one of the most efficient large-scale sugar estates in
Antigua. From 1689 to 1704, two successive Christopher Codringtons served
as Governors General of the Leeward Islands, and later heirs continued to be
among the most influential and prosperous planters throughout the colonial era.
Like
other large plantations, Betty’s Hope was an agricultural as well as an
industrial enterprise, and home to a large number of people. Supervised
by a handful of European managers, hundreds of Africans lived out their lives
on this and similar plantations, first as slaves, then as labourers after
emancipation in 1834. Enduring the hardship of cultivating and processing
the sugar under exhausting conditions, they developed great skills as
craftsmen, boilers and distillers which gave Betty’s Hope its reputation
for excellence lasting to this day. http://www.antiguamuseums.org/bettyshope.htm
Windmills
at Betty’s Hope. Remains
of Distillory. We then
headed for the famous Nelsons dockyard where we will be moored for Christmas
and the New Year. This historic site is where the British fleet was
refurbished after their epic voyages around the globe. His Majesty's Antigua Naval Yard at English Harbour was
built starting about 1725. Its function was to maintain the Royal Naval
warships that captured valuable sugar islands of the Eastern Caribbean thus
cutting off enemy trade and increasing Britain's own wealth. By 1889, the Yard had been abandoned by the navy, and was
released by the Admiralty to the Colonial Government in 1906. From the beginning of restoration in 1951, the yard became
known as Nelson's Dockyard in honour of Admiral Horatio Nelson who had served as a Captain in the
Leeward Islands from 1784-87.
We then
headed off to a beach restaurant for lunch and a swim.
We arrived
back at Jolly Harbour to find the last two remaining boats to cross the Atlantic
had arrived. So yet a few more drinks to celebrate. For those of
you who are interested in seeing the Atlantic video diaries and couple of
brilliant videos produced by Brian and Sheila on Miss Tippy please go to the
following links. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRWIAzGzzV8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P243AN1wfIs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Quq2OFc9EhE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeyMpWPW9c8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxH_DCbYyZc
http://www.youtube.com/user/Rock2RockYT Enjoy Pete and John. |
