Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Hello Antigua!


We've enjoyed our time in St. Kitts.  But it is time to move on.
Quiet day at the Ballahoo Restaurant
Enjoying the view from the Ballahoo balcony over looking the circus
We left the comfort of the marina at Port Zante in St. Kitts for the south of the island at Cockleshell Bay so we could jump off in the morning to Antigua.  We expected to spend a quiet night in the harbour and head out early in the morning for favourable winds and seas.
Yet another tall-ship cruise ship
There is a great beach-bar at Cockleshell Bay called Reggae Bar.
Reggae Bar
So sad...  Mmmmmm, bbq pork!
We set anchor, had lunch and took a rest.  We thought we would go in a check out the bar in the late afternoon.  BUT!!!  What did we see??? Someone was trying the fly boarding we had seen only on YouTube.  So we watched for hours as newbys tried it out and veterans shot up to the sky and then dove in for dolphin jumps.  VERY COOL.  It seems that they hook a hose to the back of a sea-doo to provide high-pressure water to the platform.  Here is a video of folks fly-boarding.
And here is a Flyboarder at Reggae Beach, St. Kitts
When the bar closed at 10, they shut off their internet so there was nothing for us to do but go to bed to get ready for our 06:30 start to Antigua.  We were expecting (1) low winds; (2) swell from the north; and (3) some north in the wind, allowing us to motor-sail.

So we got up to a great start… low winds.  We headed out and as (1) the winds increased we noticed with displeasure that (2) the waves were on the nose and (3) the wind direction was due east or south of east.  Great forecast!

But, we dug in and spent 9 hours bouncing around and… arrived in Antigua!!! YAY!!!  Had two strikes on the Christmas present lure but no fish.
Arriving at Jolly Harbour, Antigua
Got in, cleared C&I.  A breeze here in Antigua.  Very courteous and professional staff.  It helped that we had pre-cleared electronically with eSeaClear - the web based clearance system.  Very slick.
Pam's courtesy flags - down with St. Kitts, up with Antigua
We were met on our arrival by a longtime e-friend whom we had never met… Bobby Ward.  Bobby is the Island Packet Wizard.  There is nothing IP that Bobby doesn't know and Glen has been exploiting that e-friendship for 4 years… so it was rewarding to finally meet him.  We enjoyed beverages on Blue Pearl - cooled by the refrigeration system that he helped Glen install.

We are going to follow them around Antigua for the next few days so they can show us their favourite anchorages.

2 comments:

Please sign your comment so we know who you are.