2222 miles in just over 15 days after departing Cape Verde, the trade winds dropped us off in Antigua. Of note, it was now 4,387.2 miles from the start of our journey in Valencia, Spain! It was climatic to say the least. We had been dreaming, planning, and executing this live-aboard life for 3 years, and to say it didn’t quite start out as planned was an understatement! The boat was supposed to be delivered to Florida or the Caribbean, but due to a number of issues upon it’s arrival in Spain, it got delayed and delayed and we had to move across the Atlantic to make it happen. Should have been our first clue to get out of the contract. Ah hindsight…
So as you know, we head to Spain for almost 6 months and work tireless to get her ready to cross. It was stressful, exhausting and I’ll be honest, we were at our breaking points through some it, but made it work. And here we are 8 months later…where we had planned to start! While the boat limped in to the harbor with fewer sails than we started with, the clear turquoise waters, warm breeze, and shimmering white sands all surrounded by lush green vegetation was a WELCOME sight and full of relief for a chance to really “do” the cruising lifestyle we “signed up for”.
The Island of 365 Beaches
Antigua, aka Wadadli (“our own”) per the locals; Pronounced Anti-ga (Antee-gah), not Anti-gwa (Anti-guah). It is in the Leeward Islands and a part of the Lesser Antilles. It’s mostly known for its 365 beautiful pristine beaches and GORGEOUS turquoise blue water. The abundance of rum, reggae, and tasty seafood doesn’t hurt either! It gained it’s independence from Great Britain in 1967.
Most sailors opt to stop in English Harbor on the south side of the island as it boasts a very lively waterfront and abundance of renowned restaurants, bars, in addition to various historic and touristy attractions. I do hope to go back and experience the sailing culture that the area is known for. We opted to head around the southwest side of Antigua. One of our crew had a long a long history with Jolly Harbor, a resort village located in Saint Mary Parish, so we figured that would be the easiest port of entry into the Caribbean.
Checking In
We raised our yellow quarantine flag, or “Q” flag; a requirement when entering new countries until you are fully checked in. We followed the the markers into the inlet gawking at the beautiful surroundings and headed straight to the yellow stucco building that was the customs and immigration office. Did I mention it was Christmas Day. We figured we would be stuck on the dock until the following day (you can’t leave the boat until you are fully checked in), but we managed to roll in just an hour before they closed on the holiday. One important thing we forgot to plan for…cash. They only accepted cash. Great. Kevin, the Captain was the only one who could leave the boat and was technically not supposed to go into town, but asked where the closest ATM was and off he went. Another note about the Caribbean, do not expect ATMs to always work or necessarily have cash. He came back exasperated and without funds. One of crew stepped in and and helped just in the nick of time as they were closing in 5 minutes. Oops! (We promptly paid him back once we found an ATM with cash before he left)!
Other Notables:
Airport: V.C Bird International Airport
Cash Money: Eastern Caribbean dollar (XCD) though USDs are widely accepted. Just expect XCD in in change and via ATMs (when they work). Current Exchange rate
Official Language: English, though Antiguan Creole English, which is essentially accented rapid fire English that is very hard to understand 🙂
Highlights (and Lowlights of our Weeklong Stay)
Christmas In Paradise. Now with the admin fun out of the way, it was time for the real adventures. We cracked the beers and cheered our successful adventure then headed out on the town. That night, again assuming Christmas Day would have most options closed, we were delighted to find nearly everything open and full of Christmas Cheer. We left WWs on the customs dock and headed out. Our first stop was just north of the customs dock at Al Porto. It was already fairly crowded, but we snagged a table out on their back deck over looking the water and ordered some bevies. Our first and very delightful Rum punches of the Caribbean season!
We then moved on to the down town “strip” located just off of Jolly Harbor Marina. It was wonderfully decorated for the holiday. There we found a variety of restaurants, all open! We stumbled into the most wonderful outdoor Mexican restaurant, La Cantina where a wonderful woman and her husband were singing both Christmas carols and popular upbeat songs. Everyone was singing along and dancing having a great time. We have found our Christmas happy place!
A Lowlight. The Code Sail Aftermath and Goodbye to Good Friends.
The next morning, we woke up and moved into a slip at the Jolly Harbor Marina. A dingy with dockhands led us down to the end on the inner edge of the marina. It was a bit unnerving maneuvering in such a tight space for the first time in weeks.
We stayed in the marina for 4 days. Up first on the to-do list was rolling out the Code 0 and assessing the damage…sadly, it was extensive. We also had to say good bye to our amazing crew mates. We could not have asked for a better team. Geoff and Henry remained with us another night before grabbing taxies to the airport to fly home for the remainder of the holidays. We were so grateful to have them on board. Their experience, problem solving skills and general humor were greatly appreciated on the long passage. We hope to sail with them again in the future.
Also, Merry Christmas to us…we put a down payment with Sparcraft SA for a new standard Vision444 rig, the one that comes on all the Visions to replace our “prototype” AWS version. More to come on that…Moving on.
Other Highlights of the Jolly Habour Area Stay
Once the Code 0 issues were determined and we rolled it back up, it was time for a Cheeseburger. It had been MONTHS since we last had a good burger. We hopped over to the Marina’s Sea Dream Restaurant and Beach Bar. Loved this place. Food was awesome, atmosphere cool, and good drinks. Owner was a very nice guy, from Italy. Everyone loved the food here. Angus Hamburgers and a basket of fries hit the spot. Very friendly service.
Taking care of business: It was fairly easy to get settled in with full happy bellies. We were able to replenished our provisions at the Epicurean supermarket. The store was incredibly convenient though very expensive so we really only bought what we absolutely needed. However, our hankering for a gallon of ice cream blinded us from checking the price, $27 USD…Ouch. It was very good though. We picked up local sim cards for our phones at a random tourist adventure, rental car and bathing suit shop right next to a low key pharmacy. Then picked up A LOT of necessary replacement parts at the Budget Marine, also not cheap, but had a good selection. After two weeks, we needed a lot of laundry, sheets and towels for for 4 people, is a little too much of a task for our small washer. Thankfully, a bit of walk away was the Burton Laundry Mat where we found two women working multiple washers and dryers. We dropped two loads off with them and came back at the end of the day. Everything was clean and folded. No complaints.
Our First Caribbean Anchorage
After a few days relaxing on the dock, it was time to head out for the cruising life. We were so excited to get this show on the road. It was time! We threw off the dock lines and brought in the fenders…and moved a whopping 2 miles around the corner to to drop anchor in the shallow (5’) crystal clear waters of Lignum Vitae Bay just off the golden sands of Jolly Beach. It was gorgeous though nerve-wracking as we were used to 5 meters of water at least in the Med! That’ll get some taking used to.
Time to dive the anchor, not because I necessarily had to, though it is advised…I wanted to get the water more than anything! Not that I really need a reason. While there wasn’t much life to see aside from the anchor, lots of very fine sand and a few small beds of seagrass with a few critters, it was warm and SO clear. I loved it.
It’s here we also celebrated ‘Old Year’s Night’ aka New Year’s Eve to us Americans! We listened to music, mostly reggae, and had some Carib Beers at Castaways, a 10 minute walk from the Jolly Harbor Marina dock. It was a relatively organized beach bar with a rustic vibe on a white sand beach with great views of western Antigua. They even had a little American Football on their TVs which was a fun surprise.
Later in the afternoon we headed back to Water Wings and introduced our floating unicorn, Luna to the fun and watched the sun set on 2022. The sunsets here are some of the most incredible I have ever seen. As night fell, the party ashore really started to get going so we sat on the bow listening to the music from nearby resorts and watched at least 3 different firework displays break out out over the island. It was a tough year, but we made it and we are glad we stuck with it!
With the new year, it’s time to up anchor and see a new island. Next up Barbuda!