17:04.54N 61:53.69W

Friday 11^th, Saturday 12^th and Sunday 13^th March

On our return to the marina we heard that there had been a very nasty accident involving the malfunction of an electric winch.   The incident developed incredibly fast and due to Steve’s (on Scott-Free) very quick thinking and subsequent care of the injured person, it is generally felt that he almost certainly saved her life.   This incident has left the sailing community rather shell shocked and we on Serafina have reassessed our own safety procedures.

Friday was spent sorting Serafina out and catching up with all the washing and some maintenance.

One problem we have locally is that the mains electricity supply is 60 Mhz which causes some of our electrical equipment to not work and this includes Kenny, the washing machine! So to get round this problem we have to run the generator a fair bit which is frustrating when we are also plugged into the mains. In the evening we were invited to S-F for supper and an evening of Mexican Train along with Michael and Anne from Nimue. It was a great evening and of course Sarah ran out the winner – again.

Our original plan had been to move on to Falmouth on Saturday, but in the end Sarah and Chris from S-F caught a bus into St John’s (the capital of Antigua) to visit the market and do a little general shopping. Steve helped me with a few jobs which was very helpful and in the evening they came over to us for a few quiet rum punches!  Sarah came back very enthusiastic about St John’s:  a particularly good and extensive market, and the usual split personality town with the duty free shopping area for the cruise ships (but this time, for once, tastefully done) and rather scruffy streets for general shopping.  The general shops were much more varied, including a fascinating shop full of carnival wear and interspersed by wooden shacks of shops and houses, gaily painted and decorated with intricate woodwork.   They also walked up to the cathedral which was being “re-sheeted”, ie a new layer of corrugated iron added to the roof and sadly wasn’t open to the public, as it was quite the nicest church we’ve seen.

On Sunday morning we made an early start and headed out of the marina as soon as they opened, via the fuel pontoon to anchor outside Jolly Harbour in the very shallow anchorage out in the bay. The reason for the rush was so that we could dash back in the dinghy in time to watch England v. Scotland in the 6 nations rugby. The afternoon was pretty relaxed although Sarah did undertake another of her epic long distance swims to a far beach to search for interesting stones and shells.

We were entertained at sunset by about 10 pelicans who were diving on a shoal of fish which passed quite close to us. They are extraordinary creatures and almost prehistoric in appearance. But their dive is dramatic and quite spectacular. (pictures at http://www.rhbell.com )