We had the weekend free of boatswains and boat work which meant we could go to English Harbour, Falmouth Harbour and Nelson's Dockyard, the historic 18th century British naval base in the south. It has been well restored and the original buildings, capstans, etc are all able to be inspected. Nelson was Commander of the Leeward Islands there from 1784 to 1787, and he married his wife Fanny Nisbet, from the nearby island of Nevis, there. We had a lovely lunch in the Pillars Restaurant, named after the huge stone pillars next door that suspended the sail lofts over the water. The blog photo was taken from (Admiral) Shirley's Heights, looking down on the former British base.

Sunday we visited the township, St John's; the 250 year old remains of the sugar plantation Betty's Hope; and Devil's Bridge, an interesting rock formation on the northern coast. The most interesting, if alarming, sight however, was a charter yacht heeled and firmly lodged on the rock bar to the harbour next to Devil's Bridge. The crew seemed to have abandoned ship.

All work completed with the painting of the dinghy outboard motor being the very last outstanding matter, we finally set sail on 29 November.