Fai Tira Blog 16.00 UTC  Sunday 27th December

Fai Tira still in Antigua at Christmas .   17:00.52N 61:45.90W

Wishing everybody a merry Christmas and happy new year.  

Christmas has come and gone.  It all started with Judy and Dad arriving at Antigua airport on Wednesday 23^rd December.  Their flight was delayed by 5 hours, eventually after numerous phone calls and much pacing up and down, the hotel staff informed me that the plane had left Gatwick late due to a technical problem.  It would arrive at 7.00pm.

Christmas Eve saw us chilling out and exploring the hotel which is based in Nelson’s Dockyard, only 50 metres away from where Fai Tira is moored.  The hotel is the oldest on the island, it is an old colonial building, belonging to the National Park.  It has wooden shutters, hidden air conditioning and a serene feel to it.  Meals are eaten on the terrace which overlooks the bay and the visiting yachts, mostly large and ostentatious.  After breakfast the three of us walked down to Fai Tira to meet up with John and Dee and carried on our exploration of the Dockyard which has a fascinating Museum, tiny boutiques, bars and restaurants all situated in a beautiful, preserved historic setting.

In the evening we met up with the rest of the sailors and their friends/family - we met up at a bar/restaurant called East Meets West.  Here 66 people ate a fabulous buffet style meal and danced until midnight.  A great night – the rum punch (speciality of the Caribbean) went down a treat.

Christmas Day and a champagne gathering – from all over the island people arrived to celebrate the day together, champagne flowed it felt just like Dartmouth during Regatta – the “meet at the beer tent at 4.00pm” came to mind.  Old and young gathered, visitors and locals mixing together.  In the afternoon John and Dee with the rest of the rally sailors all set off for a beach BBQ whilst Judy, Dad and I enjoyed Christmas dinner at the hotel.  Later I headed for the beach and joined the party.  Yes, very warm blue skies, gentle breezes, palm trees, yachts swaying and tiny birds picking up the crumbs – sorry everyone but it is definitely a little bit of paradise.

Boxing Day and the need for a walk - so we took a gentle stroll to the entrance of the bay to explore a fort built by Nelson’s sailors to protect the bay and the shipbuilding and repair yards hidden inside.  The afternoon saw us on the beach having a swim, trying out the beach bar’s pina colada, then back to Fai Tira for a “drop by and try out our recipe for the Rum Punch” evening.  A lovely night and a good opportunity for Judy to meet with our fellow travellers.

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Bye for now.

Pete and John