Position: 17:00:32N 61:45:67W

After our long slog to windward into Deshais, and a carafe of red wine, we got up late.  However, once we’d looked at the forecast, which showed NE’ly wind today, but N’ly wind tomorrow, and knowing that Antigua is 42M directly to the North of Deshais, we knew that we needed to set off again as soon as possible, and so we upped anchor at 1000.  We saw a turtle on the way out, and said hello to our friends Ed and Sam, and met a family boat just as we were leaving – a bit like when we first met Brimble back in Madeira!

We had a long beat to windward.  For the first few hours, we could just lay English Harbour; in the afternoon the wind backed and we couldn’t.  We pointed as high as we could and ended up about six miles down the island and had to tack up with a frustrating last few miles when you can see where you want to get to, but it just doesn’t seem to be getting any closer!!  This sail also showed how baggy our mainsail has become – it is pretty useless for windward work now.  

In my indecisive state, we changed our minds about whether to aim for Falmouth or English Harbour several times, and eventually settled on English for no real reason.  We came into Freeman’s Bay, the first bay within English Harbour, saw our friends Yara; and dropped anchor near them just as the sun set.

My good friends who have pointed out that Nutmeg seems to do five knots whatever the weather will take great delight in the timing of this passage, given that it took exactly eight and a half hours and was 42M.  All I can say in defence is that Nutmeg has an entire ecosystem growing on her nether regions and barnacles aren’t designed to go upwind!!

Our first impressions of Antigua were mixed.  It was a little like the Solent.  As we motored in in the twilight, I cut close under the stern of an English boat’s dinghy, which was tied to their transom.  A head appeared from the companionway and said “Are you trying to run my dinghy over?” To which I replied “I’ll do my best”.  However, we anchored off a stunning sandy beach, one of the most beautiful we’ve seen – we weren’t expecting this right in English Harbour – which went some way to nullifying the rather Cowes-like greeting from our new neighbour.

Chilling out at anchor in Freeman’s Bay, English Harbour

The following day was a definite day off after a couple of upwind sails (this is family sailing, after all!!).  We took the boat down to Antigua Slipway to fill up with fuel and water and admired Nelson’s Dockyard from over the water.  The whole place is smaller than I had imagined.

Filling up with fuel and water at Antigua Slipway with Nelson’s Dockyard in the background

On returning to our anchorage spot in Freeman’s Bay, we had one of those tragi-comic moments when we realized that an American yacht was making a beeline for the same anchoring spot – about the only one left in the bay.  Obviously ignoring eye contact, we both went for the same spot, with him dropping his anchor whilst still doing about 5kts, just behind us.  Being British, we ignored him totally, and anchored just in front of him.  We started to chat to the next-door boat – another British family, on a catamaran called “Double Helix”, and in the meantime, the American was on his bow shouting to us “You’re really crowding me!” every few minutes. 

Eventually we deigned to speak to him, and with Sarah telling me to remain civil, had one of those anchoring games of bluff, where he says we are too close, and we say we are not, we argue about who anchored first, he says well we are leaving this afternoon so you’ll need to stay on board in case our anchor is underneath you, and we think he is just trying to make us feel so uncomfortable that we’ll leave.  Anyway, we stayed put, and in the early afternoon he left, without needing to come anywhere near us.  What a prat.  So now, if anyone says “You’re really crowding me” in an American voice, Sarah and I are liable to crack up!

We spent the later afternoon rowing about the harbour.  This is just one of those places where you must try to come once to in your lifetime if you are a sailor.  Although Nelson’s dockyard reminded me of Buckler’s Hard, it is a visually impressive set of historic buildings and the classic yachts which are tied up around it are mind-blowing.  Everything from huge wooden schooners to Steinlager II, the big red ketch which won the Whitbread.  And Buckler’s Hard doesn’t have palm trees.

Rich boy’s toys in Nelson’s Dockyard, English Harbour

A proper tender to a proper boat!

Rowing about was great fun and gave the girls a chance for some rowing practice.  Millie gets bored with it quite quickly (although she is quickly learning the technique), but Jemima gets extremely stubborn and will not give you an oar back, insisting on doing it her way.  So we went round in circles a lot!  But rowing as a family around English Harbour, with the sun setting, pelicans sitting in the mangroves and so many classic yachts as a backdrop, was a moment to treasure.   The hilarious thing was that four sets of people tried to rescue us!  I don’t think they see many people rowing these days and thought that we had broken down.

We spent a lovely couple of days in English Harbour, relaxing and looking around.  The girls were happy with Nelson’s Dockyard as there is a good grassy area at the front of the buildings, which mean that they could have a run around.  We checked in with Customs & Immigration, which took a couple of days because Antigua’s election was on, and Customs appeared to have cleared themselves out for a few days.

Whilst I was in the Customs office, I saw a smart-looking chap whose T-short was embroidered with the name “Erica XII” and he looked just like Jan Thirkettle from Shoreham.  It turned out that it was Jan’s brother, who is captain of Erica, a hundred-and-seventy-something-feet superyacht!  We knew that he was in the Caribbean but it is a coincidence to bump into him.

Girls and their pushchairs at Nelson’s Dockyard, English Harbour