Antigua

Monday 29th January and as I write we are 12 miles from the south coast of St Barthelemy (St Bart’s) having left Five Islands Bay, Antigua at 0555 this morning. We have spent the last week on Antigua dodging that wind, having some relaxing beach time and exploring the island. It’s a very different place to the others we have been to so far. Geographically smaller and much lower than the islands to the south and so gets less rain and therefore no rain- or cloud-forest, dramatic waterfalls, etc. What it does have is some fabulous beaches (there are 365 apparently), all white sand and gently shelving. Most appear to be backed by a hotel, although often quite sympathetic with the surroundings at least. The food is very international, but you can still get good creole, and it’s all washed down with rum punch of course.

Our first full day on Antigua started with taking the dinghy from our anchorage around into Jolly Harbour and paying the statutory visit to customs. The Jolly Harbour Customs Chief clearly hadn’t bought into the Jolly bit of his job title – apparently we were anchored off the wrong beach without clearing first – but things were smoothed over and after the usual fist full of forms and flurry of signatures we were free to explore. Having cased the harbour, marina and beach we went back to Blue Pepper for the afternoon before trying out the beach bar for dinner.

The next morning the wind had picked-up as promised and an attendant chop kicked-up and the prospect of a very long, wet dinghy ride ashore prompted a move to the anchorage at the mouth of the harbour – Mosquito Cove (not really a cove, and no mosquitos, but like most places around here, sounds like a location from Treasure Island). From here it was easier for Sue to get to the beach for the day and a restorative massage, which did the trick on her bad back J. Meanwhile I had the joy of contorting myself into some tight spaces to finally replace the autopilot hydraulic pump (which had been playing-up since the last 2 days of the Atlantic crossing) and fixing the wind generator. Over these few days Blue Pepper also got a bit of a spring clean and tidy-up, although I still can’t wash the salt off the hull (we haven’t been in a marina for 6 weeks, so no hose pipe!)

Having thoroughly explored all that Jolly Harbour and its surroundings had to offer, we booked a hire car for the day on Thursday to get around the rest of the island, especially the bits that aren’t handy for the coast. Our early morning dinghy ride to shore against the now really quite strong wind took ages (with our trusty, green, but not exactly sporty, electric outboard) and some time later we soggily sat in our car for the day and headed for the capital, St John’s. This is where the cruise ships dock, and we were increasingly perturbed to realise that we must look like cruise ship passengers as we paced the streets admiring the architecture (limited), constantly turning down the offer of a trip/taxi/attraction/restaurant booking. Eventually anyone who approached with a smile, logo T shirt and anything that looked like a brochure got a terse “We’re not off a cruise ship!” And we’d been thinking we looked like cool salty sea dogs. 

From St John’s we followed our noses in a generally clockwise direction around the island. Devil’s bridge on the extreme NE was very dramatic - it’s a ‘bridge’ formed from eroded rock that faces the Atlantic swell after 3000 miles unchecked, we resisted the temptation to walk across as the spray boomed over it.

We found some more of those lovely beaches, Half Moon Bay stood out and made for a great lunch stop.

Fortified, we moved on for a quick look at Falmouth and English Harbour (we’re sailing there later, so saving it) then Fig Tree Drive through the forest in the interior (where Sue found an art gallery to visit), then west coast road and back to Jolly Harbour after a full day.

Our last few days in Antigua (for now, anyway) we moved Blue Pepper to a couple of different anchorages. The first was Ffryes Bay where the water was deeper so we could get closer in.

This was a lovely spot, the only downside being the cheesy evangelical pop music that the beach bar owner insisted on sharing with everyone from 0630 until late. When asked, he told me he was just sharing Jesus’ love(!) Our final night was in Five Islands Bay. We anchored next to the solitary island (not sure where the other four went) in splendid near isolation. Another lovely spot, only marred by an invasion of small bugs (not biting, at least) which descended on us as we sipped our evening G&Ts. There were so many we were forced below decks for dinner!

Which brings us back to St Bart’s. Another French Island – so we are looking forward to buying cheese, wine, etc. It looks like there are plenty of hills to climb, hopefully some good snorkelling… a new island to explore.