Here we are!....Chelone Blog October 2013!!!
Chelone's travels.....
John and Susie Blair.
Sat 5 Oct 2013 17:18
Blimey, here we go again! I can't believe the summer in Tenby went by so
fast and now I'm back in the Windies again. Susie's gonna catch up with me
later but in the meantime Ross and Ieuan have come along for some sailing
experience.
So here's the story so far....
Tuesday....After an excellent flight with BA we arrived in sunny Antigua at
2.30 local time. Customs got a bit excited when they saw the contents of our
hold luggage...engine parts, fuel filters, wi-fi router, cables, fishing
lures etc, etc. Oh dear, they wanted $350 USD in tax but I refused to pay it
and we left the stuff with them and continued on our way with our awaiting
rental car and headed to the boatyard.
The yard was full of boats now and in the sweltering heat we hauled our bags
up a ladder and onboard Chelone. Once inside, the chart table thermometer
read just shy of 100 degrees! The good news was that her batteries were in
great shape so all fans were employed and hatches opened and slowly things
cooled down. We ventured into Antiguas capital St.John's and celebrated our
arrival with a cool Wadadli (local beer).
Sleep was ok considering but we were now on a mission to get afloat so the
fridge could be booted up and the sea could cool Chelonies bottom at least.
Wednesday....We took a drive down south to drop the liferaft off for service
then paid a visit to Falmouth and English harbour(s). OMG! talk about
quiet....I've only really been here around race weeks when the place is the
party capital of the Caribbean, what a contrast, almost devoid of any life.
We looked in on a dormant Nelson's dockyard before heading up the coast road
to the west and, after a brief stop for a swim in the irresistable turquoise
waters arrived in Jolly Harbour where I purchased some antifoul paint
needed for Chelonies bottom. We grabbed some food stores too then headed
back to get our heads down ready for the next day painting etc.
Thursday....Antifoul applied, more food purchased, drive around Antigua with
stop off's for swim etc then back to launch Chelone! lovely job, the boys
had worked very hard and we all looked forward to getting some sail up and
heading off down to Jolly Harbour to sign out with Customs.
Friday...sleep onboard was more comfortable and now the fridge is full of
ice cold drinks! We drove south and collected the liferaft, fully serviced
with all stores, flares, batteries etc replaced. Another drive around the
Islands stunning coast with a swim at Half Moon Bay before getting back to
the yard for the last time. There on the dock beside Chelone was the big
pink suitcase containing all the filters etc!. Yard manager Tom had engaged
his broker to sort it all out for us, for which he charged.....NOWT! how
cool is that? so we loaded the last of our supermarket stores, off hired the
rental car (left it in the yard) and slipped our lines for the open
sea....Yahoooooo!!!
A pleasant down wind sail saw us arriving at Jolly Harbour as the sun set
over the horizon....we tied up alonside the Customs pontoon and went for a
well earned meal and beers at the Crows Nest.
As I write I'm about to turn in, it's been a long day with much done and
with a little luck and a fair wind we'll check out in the morning and sail
back
up to the north to beautiful Jumby Bay so we'll be ready to set off to
Barbuda, 30 miles north first thing tomorrow. We'll stay the night at
Barbuda
before continuing north west for StBarths and St.Martins.
There's no internet till' St Barths (Monday?) so you'll not here from us for
a while! I'll hopefully post this blog in the morning before we leave, TTFN,
JB.
