By: Geoff On: 18/01/2013 20:48:28 In: Uncategorised
4th December 2012 – 6th January 2013
That first night found us in the bar celebrating our crossing over a couple of beers but we were very tired and turned in early.
The next day found us at Customs and Immigration and completing our on-line E-Sea-Clear clearing in. The Charter Boat Show was still running and we were moored right in the middle of it. Later that morning we found Elysium was moored only a few boats away and we were able to meet up with Wayne and Hilla and Simon. Unfortunately, Captain Tosh had returned to California for his MOT and then back to his Shatzie. Wayne and Hilla were at a function that night but we spent time having a beer with Simon and his friend back from France who he had bumped into here. We then went on to Hamilton’s for something to eat before retiring for another good night’s sleep.
The day after we fared no better with Paul and Paul from Babe and Michael, Serena, Sarah and ??? (her brother) from Fario - all of whom were moored in Falmouth at the Catamaran Club – turned up to see who had arrived in Nelson’s Dockyard. This resulted in a couple more drinks and a dinner at Trappers.
It was Monday 10th December before we managed to get to the beach and have a swim for the first time since arriving! We took the dinghy across to the harbour entrance at Freemans Bay
We asked Trevor from Tivoli about car hire as he seemed to have one all the time. He kindly offered to car share with us on the basis he didn’t need it all the time so we took him up on his offer when we needed to take Susan to the dentist at the Woods Centre in St Johns on Monday 10th December. She had cracked a tooth and had it extracted. The dentist’s auntie used to live in London but then moved out to a small town called Wellingborough for a while before moving to the Algarve near to Lagos – her name was Angela Marshall who happened to make our new saloon seat covers and cockpit cushions when we were in Portimao in 2009.
We had the car again and went out exploring with Stephen and Debbie from Amelie on Thursday 13th December. We travelled around to the West coast passing through Swete and along Fig Tree Lane (Antiguan for bananas is ‘fig’) which is like passing through a jungle, before coming out on the coast again by Carlisle Bay.
We stopped for a drink at the new Turners Resort before continuing past the fields of ‘Antiguan Black Pineapples’ and on to Morris Bay, past Jolly Harbour and on to St John – we needed to be there before the post office closed for Susan to post a T-shirt for Sam and for Stephen to get some collectors stamps.
We had heard that the area around Five Islands and Hawks Bill beach were supposed to be beautiful so headed there to find somewhere to lunch. All we found were security gates to private resorts that wouldn’t let us in even to eat! So much for all the beaches in Antigua being for public access!
We ended up going back into St John and found the fabled Roti King where we tried the unforgettable roti. There was too much in Susan’s roti, so being the kind person she is, she thought of the guy laying in the gutter where we parked the car, who although very drunk, was singing Christmas carols. She had her uneaten half packed up as a take-away for this guy who took one look at it and said ‘ya mus be jokin mon’ before continuing with his carols!
As we were heading to the Epicurean Food Store, the girls noticed a store selling Christmas decorations and we had another stop while lights, decorations and wreaths were purchased to decorate the boats. Finally we made it to the food store and it was dark when we came out. We had been out for so long and Geoff ended up having to drive back to English Harbour in the dark in his sun glasses!
On Monday 17th December, Jaap and Laura flew in from Trinidad. We had the car again from Trevor, driving up the West coast and taking a look around Jolly Harbour. We were uninspired by the place which was an American style marina/golf complex where all of the properties had private docks alongside their houses – some with boat lifts to park them u out of the water! Everyone was rushing around on golf buggies which far outnumber cars within the resort. The chandlers store was worth visiting and we came away with some useful parts. Susan had her dental check-up at the Woods Centre which was all OK. We took a look around the North-West corner of the island as a slow route to the airport and looking for somewhere to get a snack and drink. One place looked promising but appeared to be closed so we continued and followed a signpost for Cecilia’s Restaurant. It was a great location, with its own small beach with loungers and their own vegetable patch. They also had a London bus in the garden! A wonderful find! The food was beautiful as we sat and watched the sun go down. Too soon it was time to move on to the airport and collect our friends.
Jaap and Laura’s flight was on time and we went straight back to Nelson’s Dockyard, dropped off their luggage and retired to the Galley Bar for a couple.
That week the work on the boat started in earnest. Sue and I had already done quite a lot but now, with Jaap and Laura’s enthusiasm to get jobs done, we were rushing through the jobs list which never seemed to end.
First of all, we had booked Antigua Rigging to come and sort out the top staysail swivel which had prevented us from using it on the crossing. This turned out to be red dust from the African sand deposited on us in Gran Canaria and was soon washed out and re-lubricated. Antigua rigging also completed a rigging check for us and made up additional spare halyards, sheets, tack line for the cruising chute and a couple of reels of spare rope.
Franklin from A & F Sails delivered our new Weathermax material for the sun awnings. We asked him to quote for making them up and his price was good so he had the material back with an order to produce a foredeck awning for in front of the mast and another for aft of the mast. We had heard nothing but excellent reports of his work and were delighted when they were finished and fitted.
We had a set of Delrina washers and spacers to fit at the gooseneck – where the boom is attached to the mast and so took the boom off to fit these. We found wear in the furling gearbox flanges through which the main pin of the gooseneck fits. This is a fundamentally important joint which after due consideration of the mileage we were about to undertake, we decided we needed to attend to. Again, Trevor from Tivoli came up trumps with the right local guy for the job. Handel – as in the Messiah and the composer – has a small machine-shop with all the necessary equipment. He was very proud of his Bridgeport milling machine! He came down to look at the job and discuss my requirements for the repairs. He duly completed the work as promised and on time, we were very pleased with his work.
Ian, on Yantina, also found he had concerning wear at the same point of his gooseneck and so Handel got a second job! Michael, on Fario, was also concerned enough to order the new bearings so that he had them available if he needed to complete the same operation at a later date. This meant that between the three boats we had a ‘standard’ with all bushes being the same.
Woodstock Boatbuilders are the local agents for our Westebeke generator. During the crossing we had pre-ordered the raw water impellors that we needed to replace and we had them come out to service the generator and check there was no further damage from our problems on the crossing. Michael from Woodstock organised for their best mechanic, Vaughn, to come out and complete the task. He was a great engineer, quietly going about his work with a continual smile, always knew the correct size of spanner for every nut he touched. He found a crack in the aluminium exhaust injector elbow which needed very precise welding – this had to be done from the inside so as not to distort its sealing flange. He also took away the heat-exchanger to give it an acid bath clean. All parts were brought back properly repaired, re-fitted and thoroughly tested before Vaughn was satisfied.
Dino from Seagull Inflatables provided us with a new set of six Megafend fenders complete with socks.
We were sitting quietly in the cockpit one afternoon when the anchor windlass started taking up chain on its own! I switched this off at the circuit-breaker and went to the Oyster office to see if anyone knew about this having happened before. Eddie Scougall thought it was likely to be the Lewmar deck switches and would come around the following morning to help us check it out. We found that the rubber covers to the switches had never been fitted correctly and they were full of water causing the switch to short out and badly corrode. Eddie also checked inside the anchor locker to make sure the wiring was ok. He was horrified to find that we didn’t have a protective box around the windlass motor and gearbox which had led to the motor terminals almost corroding through! We didn’t even know there was supposed to be one fitted, it had always been like it since we had the boat! Eddie was surprised that such a major and important item had been missed by our surveyor at the time of purchase. That day we had all of the records out including the surveyors report and the bills from Fox’s to Oyster Brokerage as we remembered something about the anchor. Our surveyor picked up that the windlass deck switches and the pedestal switches and chain counter were not working. The previous owner agreed to put this right at his cost; hence the work completed by Fox’s was invoiced to Brokerage.
It is documented that our surveyor had to return three times before Fox’s actually completed the work to his satisfaction. The protective box had to be removed to get at the electrical junction box and fit new deck switches and also to rewire the new pedestal control and counter, but obviously wasn’t refitted as it should have been.
Jaap performed a sterling job of stripping out the motor and gearbox but one of the terminals broke as he was taking off the wiring. We then stripped the motor to try and get the broken terminal out but it proved to require specialist tools and we arranged for it to go off to a re-wind specialist on the island. A couple of days later we got the motor back and re-assembled it, cleaning and repainting the gearbox as well. In the mean time, Ian from Yanatina lent us his box to use as a sample and we got Michael from Woodstock Boatbuilders back to make a new box to the pattern and to fit the fixing battens still remaining in the anchor locker and looking like new. The new box fitted snugly and sealed to provide future protection.
Eddie had the self bleeding air-lock kit arrive for the raw water strainer, to prevent any future airlocks getting to the generator impellor and we fitted this the same day.
We also completed the engine service including oil and filter change, fuel filter change, gearbox oil, racor filters. The coolant levels, stuffing box and greaser were all checked. The new UV steriliser for the fresh water system was fitted and piped up and the water filters checked. The watermaker was flushed through. The mainsail outhaul was replaced. The leather covers (material supplied through our dear friends John ‘Boy’ Scopes and Roy Winnard) for the sprayhood grab-rail and the spinnaker pole were completed and stitched up by Laura.
At some time during all this fever of activity, we managed to fit in the Oyster Early Arrivals party with Rum Cocktails served at the Antigua Yacht Club followed by a meal in Cloggies restaurant. The evening continued into the early hours with Karaoke back at the Galley Bar!
We had a car for the day again on Friday 21st December to get our Christmas food shopping early. We took the opportunity to go up to Shirley Heights and take in the Blockhouse, the Lookout, the Royal Artillery Quarters and Dow’s Hill Fort with the spectacular views over English Harbour and beyond.
We went west again along Fig Tree Lane and stopped at OJ’s beach bar for a burger lunch, overlooking the beach at Morris Bay. On to Jolly Harbour, we had to call at Budget Marine chandlers and did the food shopping at the smaller Epicurean there before returning to the boat.
Christmas Eve we had booked at Trappers and were joined by Ian and his sons Eddie and Oliver from Yantina and Bill from Reliant (not part of the OWR but a friend we met in the Azores). We found the Oyster team were at the next table with Eddie Jordan and his crew from Lush. It was another good meal with a stop off at the Galley Bar before turning in for the night.
Christmas day at Nelson’s Dockyard is a legend. It’s a free for all party all day with live music, BBQ’s and lots of fun for locals and yachties alike. Susan had cooked a Turkey as a standby just in case there was no food but it was used for plan B and eaten for Boxing Day lunch.
New Years Eve day saw the traditional Nelson’s Pursuit Race. We had originally wanted to do this but as we hadn’t completed the gooseneck repairs we crewed on Paul and Trish’s boat Babe. The idea was for a French vessel called ‘Old Bob’ carrying an oversized French flag, would be given a head start with the fleet following with timed starts across the line, in order of the committee’s unchallengeable rating, with the idea of catching the frogs before the finishing line. During the event we had everything thrown at us from boiling hot sunshine to F6/7 with heavy rain squalls and a three meter plus swell. It had been announced there would be prizes for the best dressed crews so Paul decided everyone should cross-dress for the occasion. I had to maintain my neutrality as official boat photographer and wear multi pocketed shorts for all of my equipment! It was a fun day with the yacht ‘Tenacious’ having a cannon on their foredeck and firing it at every vessel they passed. We finished second in class, beaten only by ‘Dreams Come True’ who, against the regulations, had used their staysail. At the prize-giving afterwards, all the entrants received at least one prize of a bottle of rum dispensed by Lord Nelson himself!
New Years Eve was yet another massive party in the Dockyard. We went across to Antigua Slipway for a meal and dancing at Salty Dog followed by a spectacular firework display set off from Fort Berkeley which gave us the best seats in the harbour. Shortly afterwards we caught the water taxi back to the Dockyard where the live band and disco continued until 02:00 – just as we went to bed.We managed to survive the remaining days leading up to the OWR midday start on Sunday 6th January throughout the compulsive checking and rechecking of everything you noticed other boats checking and rechecking that had made us feel more than ready to leave – ready or not, it was time to go.