Antigua : I see no ships …yet
Purple Mist
Skipper: Kate Cope
Mon 10 Apr 2023 11:33
17:03.941N 61:53.1W
Purple Mist is now back in Jolly Harbiur Antigua waiting for the ship that will ship her home. I’ve been promised Mid April , then second half of April , then End April but so far no exact date has been set. Im hoping to find out more this week. She will ship from the main harbour St John’s and be loaded , mast up , onto the deck of a ship where apparently the cradle is welded to the deck then Purple Mist gets strapped down tightly to the cradle.
In preparation I’ve taken all the removable gear off like control lines , Halyards, sails and safety kit. Looking closely at the gear has predictably created a whole list of stuff that needs fixing and/or replacing so I’ve been busy ordering new kit ready for when she arrives back in the UK.
The delivery from the BVI to Antigua was pretty tough. 40hrs of upwind sailing in 15-25kts of wind and swell is a bit tiresome to say the least . Claire left the boat in the BVI so I was sailing with Thalita who has been working as a sailing instructor here in Jolly Harbour. Unfortunately she went down with food poisoning half way into the trip which we suspect was the salad dressing which has not been refrigerated. I had the task of 20 hours of sailing singlehanded which I managed on 3 x 15minutes cap naps. I actually felt Ok as well so maybe I should try some longer solo trips.
I’ve some interesting boat neighbours with plenty of salty sea dog tails. Last night I went over to the neighbours from Ipswich who have been cruising and live aboard for 11years. They put their boat on the market here and it was snapped up very quickly by a Canadian couple.
Finally some pictures of the BVI regatta. Overall we came 3rd and on the last race managed to beat the unbeatable J105. Sam was a good sport and as promised wore a Purple Mist dress which got a huge round of applause . I would highly recommend the BVI regatta to others as it’s much more sailor focussed that Heineken.
