The Sailing Capital of the Caribbean - Antigua

Fifty miles of open ocean, into the wind and waves?  Piece of cake!

The lure of Antigua was strengthening every day, as if Kai Kanani were locked in a sci-fi megayacht tractor-beam anchored in English Harbour, where the British Fleet were based for hundreds of years;  Kevin's #1 destination for the whole adventure. "We MUST be in English Harbour on Sunday night for the Shirley Heights Party", he reminded me for the 17th time.

Entrance to Jolly Harbour

Leaving our Nevis monkey business behind at midnight, thanks in part to our faltering dinghy (see our last post...), we motored 50 miles due east into light wind and three foot seas. This time mother nature was kind to us.  We dropped anchor just outside Jolly Harbour at dawn, seven hours after leaving Nevis.

Jolly Harbour is a delightful, full service yachting community. (http://www.jollyharbourantigua.com) Hundreds of two bedroom dockside homes line the very well protected shoreline, interspersed with restaurants, tennis courts, pool, dive shop, full service grocery store - and an abandoned three story Las Vegas style casino/disco.  Imagine the possibilities....!! Not so discrete inquiries revealed that the "owner" has fled the country, and owes everybody money, including one particularly vexed Antiguan tax authority, and a host of former customers.  From www.casinomeister.com, 2008:

Grand Princess Casino Antigua - Beware!

Visitors to Antigua should exercise some caution when venturing into the casinos there. Certain casinos, including the Grand Princess in Jolly Harbour are host to a game known as Rainbow Jackpot. DO NOT PLAY THIS GAME!

Even the toy store, Budget Marine, has a halfway decent presence here.  We checked on long term dock rates for Kai Kanani, and were pleasantly surprised by the very economical annual storage contract, which includes the yearly haul-out.  Searching flight itineraries, however, revealed a gaping hole in the airline schedules.  There are no flight connections available to travel from Houston to Antigua in the same day.  From New York, on the other hand, Kevin can fly non-stop!

D Boat anchored behind Kai Kanani

D Boat, a small oil tanker converted into a bar/restaurant disco and launched just weeks ago was anchored (not coincidentally) 50 yards from Kai Kanani's port transom.   Choices, choices. Dinghy was still on deck, as Kevin and Craig slept away the day. If that D Boat thing next to us is serving dinner, beats the heck out of cooking, but splashing dinghy is a pain in the neck and not-so-trusty Yamaha was resting humbly on her stern rail. "If they'll pick us up, I'm in" said the Captain, who then proceeded to shout across the water.  Moments later,  the owner was pulling up alongside our port boarding ladder. Scott Tom is an expatriate internet millionaire of online poker fame. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2332247/Revealed-How-college-friends-gambled-way-billion-dollar-online-poker-empire--day-came-crashing-down.html) Despite successfully negotiating tax arrangements with every other country in the world, and a favorable ruling by the World Court,  the Feds relentlessly pursued their venture, sending Scott's brother/partner to 14 months in federal prison.

Scott Tom on D Boat

Scott renounced his US citizenship to stay out of jail, and is now a legal citizen of Antigua, no longer fearing extradition, but never to touch US soil for the rest of his life. Tough decision.

Scott's inspiration was the famous Willy T in Norman Island, British Virgin Islands, where we partied in December.  The Willy T has been serving too much alcohol to BVI charter boaters for decades, and has a famous book displaying photos of inebriated ladies jumping off the upper deck sans bathing suits!   Other than that, the Willy T is a pretty run down old wreck.  I'm reminded of an encounter on the aft deck with a 30 something gentleman who had been warned not to go too far back in the infamous photo book, as his parents were regulars on the Willy T before he was born.  D Boat, on the other hand, is a much larger, serious floating disco/restaurant/family-fun boat.

The Friday night party was ROCKING, with an incredible DJ, state-of-the-art sound system, and retractable roof.  400 local young people danced into the night...but the bartenders were twiddling their thumbs, unlike Willy T where it frequently takes 15 minutes to get a drink.  Time will tell if Scott has pulled another straight flush; but at least we can be sure it's legal!

Veggies Veggies Everywhere

Our Island tour began with a shopping spree in Saint John, the capital of Antigua.  Saturday mornings farmers and other vendors converge on the Farmer's Market, creating a colorful organic tapestry, like wildflowers in a grassy meadow.  Farmer Leland and his lovely wife were all smiles, (unlike many of the vendors; life's not quite perfect all the time!), with fabulous organic mustard greens and the most beautiful green onions ever.  Combined with the other yummy ingredients acquired at the market, Craig's next batch of Caribbean Curry Tuna Salad was The Bomb!

Check out the store names.  

World's Best Jerk Chicken!  No, Craig doesn't eat meat. 

But the lure of Desiree's spicy jerk chicken was too 

strong to resist.  OMG, it was amazing!

Cameras are a real problem for the Voodoo sect.  Caught this
photo before I realized she was really upset.  Sorry!

The most eastern point in Antigua is Devil's Bridge, constructed by only the sea itself, taking millions of years to complete.

Sammy Smith, a 104 year old Antiguan patriot said this in his memoirs "To Shoot Hard Labour".

"On the east coast of the island is the famous Devil's Bridge. Devil's Bridge was call so because a lot of slaves from the neighboring estates use to go there and throw themselves overboard. That was an area of mass suicide, so people use to say the Devil have to be there. The waters around Devil's Bridge is always rough and anyone                                                                                     fall over the bridge never come out alive".

Craig just happens to have studied geology in college. His survey of the bridge informs us that the bridge will most likely not be standing for another million years. Too bad, for its beauty is breath taking.

One with Kai Kanani

Time to return to English Harbour - under full sail. We hauled the anchor and headed south down the Leeward side of the island. A real gin and tonic cruise...until we cleared the Lee of the island. Close hauled in a tacking duel with our sunset appointment at Shirley Heights, we finally found our jib's sweet spot, feeding the sheet inboard of the main mast upper shroud.  Bingo, we're making 7.5 to 8 knots at 40 degrees apparent - and we're not flying the fisherman topsail yet.  Here's Kevin's Zen-like recollection of the experience:

The seas turned into 12-15 ft giants and the wind clocked in at up to 25 knots. This place is real ocean sailing. They say it is the sailing capital of the Caribbean. True, true, true! Obviously a place for only the big boys. One tends to grow up real fast when on the high seas. Throughout the centuries those young boys that dared to sail the oceans turned immediately into men on the high seas. We did such and the pay off was a Zen related experience. Transporting us into a  place in the universe for which only few obtain the chance to visit. And sail we did!! Tacking in such conditions with only the two of us on board was quite challenging. Kai Kanani responded beautifully and with much joy. She just loved it as much as we did. We were now one with Kai Kanani.. We could sail forever. She wanted the same. Ahoy, Falmouth Harbour dead ahead. We dropped anchor and minutes later, just before sunset, we were transported back in time to centuries ago when sailors first landed here. The atmosphere in English Harbour has never and will never change. It's all about sailing. Everywhere you look it spells it in bold letters, SAILING! Yes, a grog of rum is in order. And another and another......

Shirley Heights: Partying at Sunset

At the most southerly tip of Antigua, The Lookout, part of the Shirley Heights military complex, commands a breathtaking view over the whole of English Harbour. Behind the catchment on the highest ground, 490ft (150m) above sea level, was the Signal Station from which a system of flags was used by day and guns by night to convey messages to St, John's by way of Great Fort George on Monk's Hill. The Shirley Heights military complex also included a guard house, magazine and kitchen, officers' quarters, adjoining parade grounds, a 40-bed hospital, canteen, and a cemetery. An obelisk in the cemetery commemorates the officers and men of the 54th Regiment (2nd Battalion Dorsets) who died in service in the West Indies between 1840 and 1851. 

(Credits to www.shirleyheightslookout.com for this history lesson).

Kevin was right all along!  The current weekly party is in its 3rd decade and continues to provide its attendees with a special night of Antiguan style memories that they will never forget.  We had an awesome time, and can imagine the view of Nelson's fleet in 1784.  The only thing that has changed are the designs and materials from which the sailboats are constructed - and most of them don't carry guns!

Only these two lovers Monday afternoon.  Sweet.

Craig hiked up to Shirley Heights Monday after
 the party.  Tranquil and beautiful!

 You thought Sailing was slow?  

These guys ROWED across the Atlantic Ocean, arriving the day before we did after 52 days at sea, setting a new record in the process.  James and Luke, both 21, will forever more be immortalized as the youngest people to row across the Atlantic.  Not my cup of tea, how about you?

 Learn more about their adventure, and the continuing trials of their competitors,some of whom are still rowing on March 1....

http://www.taliskerwhiskyatlanticchallenge.com/the-teams/2-boys-in-a-boat/

Lastly, Kai Kanani 3?  This 130' steel schooner was built in 1986, the same year as Kai Kanani, and is magnificent!

Kai Kanani 3?

Making sails for centuries...not a lot has changed!