We got P's laptop fixed finally (thanks Lorenzo, of Caribit in English Harbour - you were great!!!), hooked up sailmail and watched the Maltese Falcon depart under sail (lovely sight) - that was Monday 9 March.
First thing Tuesday morning we left Falmouth for Jolly Harbour. Can't say we were crazy about the policies in English Harbour (Falmouth is just around the corner) - having to pay about $50 for one week just to anchor in Falmouth Harbour. We would understand if we were in English Harbour (the national park and a protected site), but Falmouth Harbour is just one giant bay with no special services, a few shacks here and there, some small shops, but nothing worth $50. If we'd only known how wonderful Jolly Harbour was (nothing to pay), we'd have gone there first and checked out of there. So we left Falmouth Harbour and sailed up to Jolly Harbour and took some lovely photos of Antigua along the way.
Took us about 3 hours to get to Jolly Harbour, but it was just wonderful, the seas were gorgeous and Antigua looked most enticing.
The photos don't do it justice - the water looks so bright, as if it lit from below.
The sea was that light aquamarine/turquoise that you dream about.
The customs people were fabulous, nothing to pay to check in (although you pay for the mooring buoy) and the actual harbour was delightful - lined with houses, close to restaurants, banks, a casino, superb shops, an excellent supermarket (pricey but rivals any Waitrose, Publix, M&S and with the best selection of Indian foods I've ever seen in any supermarket anywhere). Below is the view from the customs office in Jolly Harbour.
Some lovely resorts on Antigua (see below).
In Jolly Harbour, we picked up a mooring buoy, set off to find the Rum Shack (also known as the Bolands Post Office) which was a couple of miles away - not exactly where you'd expect to find some of the best and cheapest rum in the islands!!!
We met with "Bushy" (John Bush), the owner, who has been here pretty much his whole life, and Phillip asked for a sample of the rum, expecting a tiny tot in a small glass. Bushy plonked a glass on the counter and filled it halfway up - enough rum in there for about 5 people. Anyway - we sampled it (good stuff) and P bought 5 gallons of it, loaded it in his rucksack, shook Bushy's hand (although Bushy is the kind of person you'd like to spend a few days with - a real character), and we walked back to the dinghy dock, Phillip whistling all the way, laden down but a very happy boy.
This is approaching Jolly Harbour
We visited Budget Marine (for spare parts for the water pump, what else), went to the supermarket, filled up with fuel and water and at first light the following morning, set sail for Dominica.
We sailed down past Guadeloupe (we spent one night in Deshaies - which looked very nice but we didn't go ashore) and Les Saints on the way. We sailed alongside Indian Summer for a while and decided to take some photos of her in full sail - just in case we ever met up with them at an anchorage, we could show them hey, this is you under sail! Always a nice thing to see (your own boat under sail)... turns out they were heading for Dominica too, so we had cocktails with them last night (Dick and Lizzie, he's a retired doctor originally from Wales, she's a nurse in London) - really nice people and they loved the photos.
This is Indian Summer with Guadeloupe in the background (and Les Saints)
Phillip caught a fish - about 3 feet long, with a blue stripe along the top, white meat - we have no idea what it is. Anyone? Anyone? Possibly an amberjack? Anyone know if we can eat it???
The sail to Dominica was fabuous - we averaged about 6.5 knots with great wind on the beam and arrived Thursday 12 March. A "boat boy" met us before we got into the bay - what a wonderful system - well organized, a group of them with walkie talkies, small dinghies and boats, provide a whole host of services to the cruisers here - anything from bringing you fruit and veggies, doing your laundry, arranging tours of the island, to cleaning the bottom of your boat, filling your propane tanks etc. They are fabulous, hard working, polite, and a real boon to us.
We are anchored about 100 yards offshore, by the Purple Turtle (where the antenna is for internet).
This is the Purple Turtle under rainy skies.
And under sunny skies....
Weather is very changeable here - one minute howling a gale (think it's katabatic winds), then the mountains are gloomy and covered with grey, threatening clouds, then the sun comes out, and then it rains. The sea is "refreshing" (i.e. cold) and winds are cold too - Phillip thinks it's colder and windier than he ever remembers it. Wonder if that has any significance for our upcoming hurricane season.
So far, Dominica is our favourite island - we just love it. LOVE it! Went to the local Saturday market yesterday, wow, what a great sight - just about every fruit and veg you could imagine (apart from mangoes and red/green peppers, which is of course what we wanted) - bought a huge bunch of bananas for EC$1 (US$1 = EC2.65), a bag of small sweet tomatoes (we ate those with mozarella cheese, balsamic vinegar and olive oil on fresh white rolls yesterday, mmm) for EC$4, 5 huge lemons for EC2, carrots EC$4, eggs EC$8, onions EC$4, huge bread rolls EC$1 each. Just pity no mangoes or peppers.
I left my camera at home, happily though Joyce sent me these four pics she took and said I can post them here, thanks Joyce.
We'll be here until Tuesday or Wednesday, then have to do one overnight (ugh) passage to get to Bequia where we meet up with Paul and Joyce (who left this morning) to do some diving. From there on, we'll be buddy boating with them for a while.
