Saturday 10  December   ……   Antigua 17.01.245N 61 46.582W

Today’s blog by David

Well ---- here we go again.

After an unscheduled 10 days in Gibraltar, we now find ourselves confined to  Antigua for an indefinite period.  

Eventually, if was agreed that the rig had to come out. It was not a particularly prepossessing crane that limped slowly to the dockside:

But it appeared to do the job well enough:

And eventually the rig was disconnected.

…..and then landed.

However, right now the prognosis is not good. While all the parts are going to be in Antigua in time to repair it, the yard are having a hard time disconnecting the old bits. They are – it is said – badly corroded together – particularly the “tip cups” - and separating them without  damaging other parts of the rig is proving difficult, it seems.

The problem is that we should have left here on November 29^th. We have already had to reschedule the kids’ flights to get here, and unless we can leave Antigua  next weekend we are going to have to reschedule their flights home. More importantly, Simone and I are also hoping to be home for Xmas and  for the boat to be hauled out and antifouled etc. in St Lucia while we are away. However, if we can’t to get to St Lucia for the scheduled haul out, the Yard here have said they can’t antifoul her over Xmas. So, even if they manage to fix the rigging, we will end up with a boat in the wrong island, with a dirty bottom, and the need to cut short the Xmas break in order to relocate the boat to St Lucia after Christmas in time to make the start of the World ARC.   Not ideal.

So, fingers crossed ……all in the hands of Oyster Marine and Antigua Rigging!