Antigua Classics Week

Spirit of Regatta Cup
Originally uploaded by rosailither.

We arrived in Antigua two days before the Classics Week began. The steep entry fee ($5 US per foot) initially put us off entering but David soon had this reduced by half and we found ourselves in the race.
Crew was no problem to find among the cruising boats and a ‘uniform’ of a colourful Hawaiian shirt was decided upon. The decks were cleared as much as possible, all our rubbish piled high in the dinghy and left bobbing behind a friend’s boat.
For five days, we were given free marina dockage amongst a diverse group of boats, from a 6m racing sloop to a 200 ton J-class racing machine. We were given a ‘goodie bag’ containing course details, flags and a bottle of rum and every morning a bag of fresh croissants, orange juice and a paper appeared on deck.
Dave rose to the challenge of the first single-handed race and managed to tack the boat upwind for a mile or so. Due to the severe lack of windward ability, this took eight tacks, by which time the rest of the fleet had long since finished and the committee boat gave up waiting for us to cross the line!
For the next two days, we had full crew on board – ten loud Hawaiian shirts at Dave’s command. One person for each rope made manoeuvring much easier but still didn’t improve the windwind performance. Despite all attempts, we couldn’t manage the upwind legs of the first two races and our decision to retire from the race was met with relief by the boat waiting to recover the marker buoys.
The final race was called ‘The Cannon’ and had no windward leg so we weren’t left behind quite so quickly. At one point, we thought we might actually overtake the boat in front but it was not to be… instead we made a point of waving to all the boats on their homeward leg, each one getting an extra cheer if they waved back. After four hours and 24 miles, we crossed the finish line in a frenzy of excitement and even the committee boat were delighted to see us actually finish a race.
The following night was Prizegiving and the Hawaiian shirts came out for the final time. We were somewhat surprised not to get a mention in the slowest boat category but our surprise turned to joy when we were awarded the ‘Spirit of the Regatta’ prize for our enthusiasm against all odds.
Dave went proudly up on stage to receive a silver cup and he even did a little jig on stage amid the cheering. We barely had time to admire the engraved cup before it was filled with rum punch and passed around the crew, without whose help we would never have won the award. It has been an unforgettable experience.

To Antigua

Dominican 'boat boy'
Originally uploaded by rosailither.

A week of travelling - 250 miles in 7 day trips:
From St Vincent to St Lucia, then Martinique, Dominica (Roseau and Portsmouth), Les Saintes, Guadeloupe and finally Antigua.
Most places we didn’t even set foot ashore, arriving late and leaving early the following morning.
The end-of-season exodus is starting with boats travelling either north or south to avoid the Caribbean hurricane season so lots of familiar boats in each anchorage and a couple of evenings catching up with cruising friends.
We spent an afternoon in Martinique and were surprised to find ourselves in France again – it was noticeably more affluent than the surrounding independent islands, especially neighbouring Dominica, which although a beautiful island attracts very little tourism. There the ‘boat boys’ don’t even all own boats, many paddle out on surfboards to sell their fruit.
Classics Week starts here tomorrow, the dock is full of enormous yachts in pristine condition and crews to match, it should be quite a spectacle to watch them race.

The Grenadines

a stressful holiday!
Originally uploaded by rosailither.

From Grenada, we sailed in convoy with friends on ‘Crisden’ and ‘Sand Dancer’ to Carriacou and on to Union Island, the most southern island of the Grenadines where we could sign in to the country.
There we picked up our new shipmates, Nutty Squirrel and Salty Sam, who joined us for the sail up the Grenadines.
Our first stop was the tiny and deserted island of Morpion, consisting of nothing more than white coral sand with a shaded umbrella on the top. We stopped here just long enough to observe the underwater life through a snorkel, add ‘Ros Ailither’ to the list of names on the umbrella shade and for Ben to acquire a beautiful lobster colour.
Then we cooled down with cocktails on the resort island of Petit St Vincent, (where a room will set you back around £500 a night), and still time to climb the hill on neighbouring Petit Martinique before sunset. Here we bumped into some local children who led us to a nearby house for home-made ice-pops. Delicious!
The rest of the week passed in a similar fashion, doing short day-hops between isolated islands, where our only chance to buy fresh food was from the local ‘boat boys’, offering fish and vegetables at inflated prices (£5 for a pineapple).
The steady east winds allowed us to sail most, if not all of the way to our various destinations, occasionally having to motor the last part upwind.
We visited the famous Tobago Cays, where we swam with wild turtles, had a go at windsurfing and snorkelled among the coral reefs, teeming with fish of all different shapes and colours. If we could ignore the fifty-odd boats anchored around us, we could imagine the peace and tranquility the first cruisers must have found here.
As it was, we met up with our friends again and enjoyed a barbeque on the beach. We also dinghied to the truly deserted and picture-perfect Tabac Island, where Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed.
We spent a couple of days on Mustique - the ‘Millionaire’s Island’, full of lovely beaches and expensive villas(average price £20,000 per week). Our crew failed in their mission to attract any eligible millionaires but we did succeed in finding a wonderful local place to eat (Lisa’s) at a fraction of the cost of the famous Basil’s Bar.
We had a brief stop in Bequia, which seemed to be hotting up for next weekend’s regatta if the volume of the street ‘jump-up’ music was anything to go by.
And our final stop was the main and biggest island of St Vincent. A short ride in the ‘boogie bus’ took us to the capital ‘city’ of Kingstown and all the joys of civilisation – tasty rotis, a cheap & bustling fruit & veg market, the greenery of the botanical gardens, and even a face from Topsham – Bob Murphy’s sister!
Before we knew it, Ben and Samantha had their last rum punch and it was time to drop them at the airport, although they’re threatening to come back again!
We are now sailing full-pelt up the islands (average speed 7 knots today – no engine), trying to reach Antigua for the Classics Week, starting 20th April.