Jolly Harbor, Antigua
Great sailing, sucking immigration treatment.
Alan's Log:
Joan's Log:
March 31st 2007
What an exhilarating 70 NM sail! Setting off from St Barts to Antigua we were favored with a flat sea and winds from the North East which is pretty unusual, but perfect for a beam reach all the way from St. Barts to Antigua. We left St. Barts with the sunset planning to arrive offshore Jolly Harbour with the dawn. The winds started at 14kts and built to a solid 25kts during the night. The seas built with the winds but not more than 6' and despite reducing sail to bedsheet size to slow down, we arrived three hours earlier than planned. We hove-to until dawn then entered Jolly Harbor, exhausted but looking forward to meeting up with Courtney & James.We were tired, but the Antigua immigration officials had no such excuse for their behaviour.... It took 4 hours to get through immigration and customs at Jolly Harbor, Antigua and the most forms we have ever had to complete anywhere. We were treated rudely and indifferently the entire time . The contrast between the friendly and efficient officials in the French Islands of St Martin and St Barts, and the surly treatment at the hands of the Antiguans could not have been more pronounced. The immigration lady wanted to hold our passports and boat papers until customs arrived for work (but could not or would not say when that would occur) and would not provide a receipt. I would not reliquish all our papers without a receipt and eventually to get things moving I scanned our passports on the boat and returned to immigration to relinquish the originals to the immigration lady. At this point (after 3.5 hours) the immigration lady decided that she could, after all return our passports to us! Then we had to await the arrival of the Customs officer and even after this we are not allowed to leave harbor for another two days, while we wait to get our cruising permit for the islands.
A large part of the delay was due to our arrival on the weekend. Our fault, but the deliberate unhelpfulness on the part of the Immigration officer made an already trying situation intolerable. We wondered if we were singled out for this treatment, but later saw several other cruisers in heated debates with the same officials over the same issues.
Cancelled Flight
We finally got the boat tied up in the marina and, exhausted, took a minute to check the internet before heading to the airport to pick up Courtney & James. Only to find an email from Courtney....Their first Alaska Airlines flight had been delayed 4.5 hours and they were not allowed to board as none of the connections would have worked. Alaska is oversold for the week and C&J were sent home and will not be flying into Antigua to spend a week with Lauren and us. We are hugely disappointed and Courtney is clearly devastated. They have been looking forward to this holiday for over 6 months. James' school schedule is such that they cannot reschedule the trip before we leave for Europe.Jolly Harbour, Antigua
April 9th, 2007
Lauren was with us for the past 2 weeks. She had a wonderful time, proved to be a great sailor and took to living on the boat in stride. She even slept through an overnight passage with the boat at a steep heel.
We took picked her up in St. Martin, sailed to St. Barthe, (we love it there) and then a longer voyage to Antigua where we are now. Sadly Courtney and James’ vacation was ruined. They were to meet us in Antigua a week ago, but were delayed in Seattle, for 4 hours due to mechanical problems with Alaska Airlines which caused them to miss all their connections. There was no way they could get here after that due to over-booking, and spring break. They did not have travelers insurance, BIG lesson learned there! They were completely devastated, and we were beyond disappointed. Lauren especially was looking forward to spending time with her. It took us a few days to get over it, we had so many fun things planned.
We have ended up having a good time; Antigua has some very beautiful, secluded bays. I’m still not sure I have a complete opinion since we have only seen half of the Island. The World Cup of Cricket is going on here, so there are scads of cricket fanatics around. We just got back from the England vs. Australia cricket game, quite an experience. We were supposed to meet our new friends there. Winnie and Troy. We have seen a lot of them lately. They are a really nice couple, he is British, she is American. They are from Fort Lauderdale and now live on an 86’ motor yacht called Lucky Dog, with their 3 cats, and a very large German shepherd, Reno.
They owned a British pub there and sold out, retired early (43) and bought their yacht. They have been cruising the Caribbean for the past year and a half, and will probably continue for a while. We met them in St. Martin last Dec. and saw them here in Antigua when we arrived. It’s really funny how we keep meeting up with people in different places. We have met some very interesting, nice people who are doing the same thing we are doing. Another couple we met, Steve and LiLi are from Kemah Texas. They are our age, and have been living aboard their Hans Christian 48’ for 18 years, in Waterford Harbor, right next to where Alan kept his boat. They just started cruising about a year ago. He worked for Shell, she worked for NASA. They are planning on doing a circumnavigation, but will go through the Panama Canal and into the Pacific. Today we met a very nice couple from England, who are next to us in the marina. They have been cruising for 28 years, and have been in the ARC twice. They will be crossing the Atlantic in May, just the 2 of them, and not in a group. They told us to be on the look out for another couple, on a boat named Indigo, who are crossing the Atlantic this May as well, and will be heading for Turkey. It’s a whole fascinating subculture!
Winnie and Troy were lifesavers actually, after we were so badly disappointed about Courtney and James not coming, we hung out with them for 3 days in the most beautiful bay, Five Islands Bay, on the west coast of Antigua. We didn’t see another soul the entire time. It had amazing beaches, with tons of shells, with an incredible view of Montserrat, the volcano island, which is smoking now.
We had an amazing view of it during sunset. It was a fabulous experience for Lauren. We had a really fun cookout on the beach one evening. Winnie and Troy caught 4 conchs and cleaned them. Alan and Troy gathered fire wood on the beach, while Lauren, Winnie and I had Guava Pina Coladas (pink!) on Lucky Dog.
Troy grilled the conch over an open fire with butter and lime, AMAZING!!! Lauren got to keep the shell of the biggest, most beautiful queen conch. We also brought chicken and pork chops for the main course. It was one of those unforgettable, perfect times. The next morning the dinghy was full of sand and insects & scraps of firewood, back to reality!
The best part about having Lauren with us was being able to have quality uninterrupted time with her, a rare gift for me. I know I’m biased but she is just extraordinarily beautiful, inside and out.
So…back to the cricket. We never found Winnie and Troy, or their friends from New Zealand (who are finishing a circumnavigation, on their sailboat “Long White Cloud”) We looked and looked, but it was nuts there! Super Bowl and the World Series doesn’t really compare to this! We left early which was smart or we would still be there, it was an experience we are glad we didn’t miss. It was fun and the people watching was pretty crazy, the Aussie guy fans wore girl’s one piece swimsuits with very little room for their equipment, and wigs. I am so glad I brought an umbrella, the sun was brutal! It was also shocking to see the total disregard to using a trash can there! The fans, whites and blacks alike couldn’t be bothered with throwing away their trash. Amazingly the many trash cans were ALL empty while people sat on the grass surrounded by filth! Alan kept picking up after everyone but it was impossible. We have never experienced that before at a sports venue, and this was Antigua’s brand new, ultra deluxe sports stadium. Go figure!?!
We are in a marina now, rare for us, only when we need water, rest, to wash the salt off us and Moonstruck, and A/C!!! It is hotter then hell right now, like August in Houston. But we’ll only be here for a few days and we will be off for Barbuda. Where I hope I can just settle down and paint for a few days. Our good friends Sly, Karen, and Syl’s buddy Dee will be joining us in 10 days. Should be a fun, they are crazy, but good kind of crazy! Then it’s time to get ready for the trans Atlantic crossing!!! We leave May 10th! With Colin and Martin. We will be in Portugal around the middle of June. Our next boat neighbors advised us to stay out of the Med, until after August. Too hot. He said Portugal has wonderful Atlantic breezes during the summer.
