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I spent quite a bit of time in Antigua, most of it somehow just drifted by without my realizing it. Most of the time I was anchored in the middle of Falmouth harbor. The harbor is home to many megayachts calling in or more-or-less permanently docked at on of the 3 major docks, then many more anchored in the sheltered waters of the harbor. The holding is generally good except for one or two spots in the center, I woke up one morning with a beautiful yacht "Latifa" only yards from my bow. As I was sure that I gave that boat a good 100 feet separation I knew that I had either dragged upwind or he had repositioned himself. The owner, , and I talked and since his classic yacht is a lot more work to re-anchor than mine I opted to let out another 50 feet of chain (but now I was close to another boat so I dinghied over there to explain the situation). I later visited Latifa and got a grand tour of a wonderful classic yacht.
The "Mad Mongoose" bar on shore offers free WiFi internet 24x7 and is therefore the central meeting point for yachters; plus their happy hour starts early and lasts a long time and sailors are masters at sniffing out bargains like that. I met quite a few interesting people there, and am certain that they thought the same thing about me. Just a few yards from Falmouth is the famous English Harbor and Nelson's Dockyards, the oldest working shipyard in the western hemisphere. The dockyard has been transformed into a working museum, with guided tours going between the buildings and into some of the businesses; a bad thing when a herd of visitors crowds into a working sail making loft and trod across the clean floor or laid-out sails.
I was in Antigua for the kickoff of the Bucket (I stupidly declined a crew position for one of the boats!), then for the Classic Race week and finally for the big Antigua Race Week, which was renamed this year after the official sponsor, Stanford, fell out of grace with the FDC and various other judiciaries.
The island offers quite a bit of things to see and do outside of the yachting world. While mostly arid and devoid of original growth due to over farming, there is a section of old growth and I joined Barry and his family and some other friends on a Zip-Line tour. They had drilled the holes for the thick supporting wires through Kapok trees which just continued to grow despite the piercings. Kapok used to be a cash crop tree, the insides of most cold-weather jackets were filled with kapok before modern fibers supplanted it. The town of St. Johns is picturesque (and full of cruise ships and guests), and the west side has beautiful reefs.
For a map with clickable pictures from this site displayed geographically please click here
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| Pillars at Nelson's Dockyards | This is where we clear in to Antigua. | Shirley Heights Vista | The Maltese Falcon at dock. |
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| Shirley Heights Steel drum band | Montserrat in the background | Just in case you can't tell | Shirley Heights Vista |
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| Preparing for Race Week | Race Week party | Halcyon Cove beach vista | Departing Jolly Harbor |
Copyright © 2010 SV-Zanshin. All rights reserved.