02/09/2011, Antigua!!
Oops! I forgot to say - yes - we did arrive! At 1.30am on 8/2/11 we dropped anchor. All the advice is not to go into a strange port in the dark and we weren't sure if we were going to have to hang around til morning, but after we had scoped the entrance a couple of times, we were lucky to see another yacht enter the harbour, so we slipped in behind and then found a suitable anchorage. Sipped bubbly once we had ensured the anchor had bitten and sat around quite incredulous that we had actually stopped moving!! Antigua is lovely. We are enjoying the rest before tidying up the boat! We were really sad to say goodbye to Chloe who has landed on her feet with a lovely job/accomodation. Alan has paid his backgammon debts and we are looking forward to celebrating Mia's birthday tomorrow. Thank you, everyone for all your comments and best wishes, Blogs will more than likely be less frequent now I am on dry land!! Love, Cath xxx
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Comments [2]
Congrats on your great achievement so far. Many happy returns, Catherine and Mia. Sorry the greetings are late but we only got back from Cambodia yesterday and were able to read your blog. We look forward to your updates.
Lots of love from David, Vera and family in Kent
02/08/2011
wake up at 4am this morning for my watch to find the boat has been decorated by Chloe and the kids with Birthday posters and banners and I receive my homemade cards and prezzies when they wake up - a picture from Lochy and a friendship bracelet and homemade hand sewn bag from Mia. This has been probably the longest birthday ever as we have been counting down the miles from 100. 20 miles to go now and the lighthouse on the end of Antigua is in view and a white glow has appeared on the horizon. We should be in in about 3 hours which brings us in just before midnight - so I did arrive on my birthday after all!! Alan and I played our last backgammon game today - double or quits - as I was 200 beers ahead. He lost. He has promised me a bottle of nice bubbly, but I think I want the 400 beers!!
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02/06/2011
With winds of 30-35 knots and the swell behind us it feels like were surfing all the way to Antigua now.We've made great progress in the last 24 hours. The question is will we get there on Catherines birthday after all? If we do it will probably be after the pubs are closed but the bubbly is in the chiller now for us to celebrate our arrival.We thought uncle auto was on his last legs a couple of nights ago but we found the booster setting and he's now turbo'd up and he's coping great now.Uncle auto had a break today and we hand steered for the day which was novel.The upside of the new improved turbo auto is he's working well, the down side is he uses more juice, keeps Chloe awake at night and tries to chop your hand off with the steering wheel spokes as you try to make adjustments.The next big question is whether our last gas bottle will last till Antigua or will we be on tuc biscuits and angle delight for the last day? Position: 17 14 460N 58 56 600W
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My AIS alarm went off in the middle of the night letting me know that you were finally in sight of land.
And Happy Birthday, too.
02/05/2011
Blimey! It's been squall city in the Atlantic, with gusts of up to 40 knots - which is fine as it's on our bum. It's been a day of gybing - some intentional, some accidental - Chloe gets the record for the most gybes in a watch - some intentional, some accidental! And it's been raining and raining and raining. Alan, however, managed to get a shower in it so he has been eliminated from the curious smell emanating from the port side - we have tracked it down to the bilges as a result of defrosting the fridge; but it was very close to Alan's bunk, so he was a suspect for a while!! We are trying to dry out our kit so as not to have too uncomfortable a night. Alan, Mark and I are hoping for more sleep as it was 3 men on for most of last night. A beautiful full rainbow on the bow today, but no pot of gold floating at the end, which was very close to our boat. Pos'n 17.25.90N 53.54.90W
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02/04/2011
If we are going to catch another mahi mahi, why not in a 40 knot squall in the pouring rain??!! At least Chloe has something to cook tonight - fillet of mahi mahi and sushi for starters. Yum! I think we are going to be arriving on the 8th now, so I'll just have to celebrate my birthday a day late, but the winds are in the wrong direction for Antigua, so we are zig-zagging our way there, a little slowly. Pos'n 17.29.66N 52.24.37W
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02/03/2011
Well, we've had to put the bikinis away and are back to our foulies as the sky has been grey and rainy for 2 days now. Even the moon hasn't bothered to put in an appearance, only rising at 6.30am - what's the point?! The sea continues to amaze me; now it's a charcoal grey to match the sky, but when the waves break, there's an amazing turquoisey bit at the top. More birds have been putting in an appearance - where do they come from?! Chloe got a flying fish on her lap during her last watch and we continue to throw a couple off the boat every day. Hitchhikers. I'm so chuffed with the way Chloe has mucked in during this sail. Having never sailed before, she is now putting reefs in the sails with the best of us. I tell you something, I can't imagine doing this sail with just the two of us - it would be so knackering. Having two extra crew has been an absolute blessing - highly recommended!! Probably saved Mark and I from divorce just having me not being sleep deprived. So, thank you Alan and Chloe!!
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