Enjoying Antigua
27 January 2010 | Falmouth Harbour, Antigua, West Indies
Graham
Having been here in Falmouth Harbour now for just over a week, we have had the opportunity to get out and about using the local 'Formula One' bus service which gets you around so fast that you almost arrive before you have left! You certainly need some steady nerves to use the bus service over here. We have taken a look around Saint John's, the capital of Antigua, with it's fascinating museum, old architecture, and numerous shops and market stalls. By the afternoon, St John's was 'done' and we headed to Jolly Harbour complex on the western coast, to check out what facilities were available for spares, boatyard work and provisioning prior to our departure from the Caribbean in May. We have a couple of awkward jobs to do which will require access to marina facilities, namely, a replacement masthead navigation light (a long story...), and a replacment RADAR! Radar has not really been needed here in the Caribbean, but once we are in the Med again, fog is often troublesome at the time of year we will be travelling and the Med is famous for lots of rather large ships with very few crew to look out for sailing boats... Back here in Falmouth Harbour, we have taken a few walks around and over the hills and seen some great views of the surrounding area including English Harbour, the home of Nelson's Dockyard, the only working Georgian dockyard in the world. Very interesting and well worth a visit if you are ever in Antigua. The weather has been very variable over the past few days. Four days ago we had no wind at all (0 Knots - very unusual for the Caribbean) for two days, and it was incredibly hot. That preceeded the front that came and hit us the following day with sheets of torrential rain, and the wind blasting us at 25 Knots for most of the day, so much so that we did not leave the boat for concern of the anchor dragging, a problem that afflicted at least three other boats near us on the day. Yesterday, the wind quietened down, and today, it's blowing a hooley again! So, somewhat of an 'admin' day, catching up on emails, the blog, ordering spares via t'internet, and generally taking it easy, as you do in 'da Caribbean, mon'.