The first week in Antigua
Jackamy
Paul & Derry Harper
Fri 11 Dec 2009 23:10
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I know we said we'd update the blog as
soon as we got in but one thing led to another and we just haven't had a chance.
Sorry for all of you who've been waiting!
We eventually hit land at about midday. It
then took three and a half hours to get round to Jolly Harbour on the East Coast
of Antigua, thankfully we made it in time for the customs office. It took about
an hour to get checked in and move on round to the harbour to find our berth. It
was lovely as everyone who had already arrived was on the pontoon
to greet us and help us with our lines etc. It felt good to be on dry land! We
thought we'd sway as we stood still on land because we'd been at sea for so long
but we didn't, which was strange as Paul, Amy and Jack could hardly stand up
after sailing across the North Sea from Sweden which was only 4 days. Anyway,
Boot and Richard, the rally organisers greeted us with a rum punch that went
down very nicely and very quickly! We'd hardly been on land for 5 minutes when
we went straight off to the bar for a beer! We ended up going straight from the
bar to have a meal with everyone and then ended the evening in the early
hours on Enchantress for a little party! It would have been rude not to after
being at sea for so long!
When we arrived everyone was
congratulating us and asking us how we did it so quick. They think we've got big
sunseeker engines hidden underneath! We knew 18 days and 4 hours was a quick
crossing but we didn't realise it made us quickest in the fleet. Other
boats did the same time but they were all 50 ft so for a 44 ft boat it was
very very good going. All of Paul and Paul's sail trimming paid off!
We were up early in the morning to have
Sunday brunch which had been organised for everyone by the blue water rally.
Everyone was in high spirits and sharing stories about their crossings, in
fact we're all still talking about things that happened. The good and the bad!
Then on Sunday evening we went to the highly recommended Shirley Heights. We met
Natibou and Bionic at 4 to get a taxi as it takes 45 minutes to get there and we
wanted to watch the sunset. The views are spectacular! The thing to do is to get
yourself a rum punch, watch the sunset whilst the steel band are playing, eat
some food off the barbeque and drink more rum punch's into the night. And that's
exactly what we did! The rum punch is like pop and slips down very quickly but
the problem is that it is very very strong so you can imagine the
state of all of us by the end of the night. When we sat down to eat next to this
couple and the man said something, we all instantly thought "Where's he
from?"......he had a brummy accent. Anyway we ended up talking to them for
probably an hour or more as they were a lovely couple. It made our night
talking to them and hearing a familiar accent!
We then stumbled across the Germans
from Motu Iti and spent sometime talking to them when it became apparent that I
was very drunk as I was holding on to Paul B to keep myself from
falling over! Thankfully the couples from Natibou and Bionic wanted to go
home. We ended up leaving Amy up there with the Germans as it was just so
good. Paul wanted to stay with her but obviously had to take me home! We
eventually got back to our boat in the early hours of the morning as we stopped
off at Camomile for a party and then on to Motu Iti once they came back. The
problem is that our boat is the very last one on the pontoon, so to get from one
end to the other without stopping and talking is just
impossible!
The next day there was a welcome party on
the beach which again was another boozy and eventful night. People started
to drift away from the party to go back to their boats when Pete from Fai
Tira made a suggestion of skinny dipping. As everyone was joining in we
thought it would obviously be rude not to get involved ourselves! Amy and Paul
B moved on to another bar with a few others who were dying of
embarassment and when we caught them up later on they realised that Paul had got
his trousers on inside out. He said he couldn't figure out what was going
on and why he couldn't do his zip up! When we got back to the
boat Amy managed to cause herself quite a serious injury......she's always
covered in cuts and bruises! When stepping on to the boat her foot slipped off
the side causing her to fall down the back of the boat so that she was inbetween
the boat and the pontoon. Thankfully she didn't fall in the water as she managed
to clamber back up but she now has quite a serious friction burn all down
her shin and bit of a limp as it's painful to walk on. She said
she wouldn't have minded had she have been drunk, but she hadn't been drinking
all night because she was still hungover from the night before! Anyway it could
have been much worse and she's fine!
Paul left on Tuesday so we spent the day
relaxing and swimming at the beach with him. We shared one more pina colada at
castaways bar on the beach and then waved goodbye to him at 5 o'clock. It was
emotional saying goodbye as he was excellent on the crossing, a massive help and
we'll miss him!
On Wednesday we had an island tour
courtesy of the Ministry of Tourism. All the boats hopped on to 2 coaches and
spent the day seeing the sites, a church, a sugar plantation, Nelson's
Dockyard and swimming in the sea, another very nice day. Although we're
beginning to think we have a problem as when we stopped in Nelson's Dockyard we
only had a few minutes spare to look around but we ended up joining Motu Iti for
a pina colada. They're just so refreshing and tasty! You'll probably notice that
most things we do in Antigua will involve pina colada's and rum punch's. They're
all anyone drinks, well that and beer, but the cocktails are very popular
and very easy to drink! Nelson's Dockyard was lovely and we've booked in to
spend Christmas there. The history is really interesting and the buildings are
lovely. It's like being in a pretty little village in England except with
sunshine!
Last night there was another party hosted
by Jolly Harbour Marina. The food was excellent as was the music and the free
drinks!
Today has been our first day off really
hence why we're only doing the blog now. Crossing the Atlantic seems like a
distant memory and all the bad things that happened don't seem so bad anymore.
It was worth it as Antigua is lovely and the people are so friendly. It feels
like we've been here a long time so we're planning to move on
to Barbuda once Amy leaves on Saturday and then we'll come back to
Antigua for Christmas. The last boats arrived in on Wednesday so everyone is
here now and other boats who are joining in Antigua are starting to come
in.
That's all for now xxx
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