Gales passed through Guadeloupe for the Christmas season. I had to wake the human’s up at 4am boxing day to fend boats off who’s anchors had slipped.
A small break in the wind gave us an opportunity to make the 40 nm trip north to Antigua.
The winds were still ‘fresh’ and, unfortunately for me, on the nose.
My least favourite point of sail. With waves breaking over the bow, it was a wet sail as well.This is my miserable faceBut the strong winds made for a fast passage and it did not take long to spot the south coast of Antigua
We heard that English Harbour was very full, so we headed to its neighbour, Falmouth Harbour.
I was just happy to see land againWe sailed by the famous Queen Mary 2 at the entrance of the harbourThe humans decided to anchor off Pigeon Beach at the entrance of the harbour.A nice beach for me to run around on.The silly humans realised they did not have an Antigua curtsy flag. They quickly whipped this one together with white PVC material and some magic markers.
It was late (you have 24 hours to check into a new country) so we decided to wait for the next day to hike over to English Harbour to check in.
Gates at the entrance of Nelson’s Dock Yard, English Harbour
Customs and Immigration is only a short hike from Falmouth Harbour. It is located in the historical Nelson’s Dock Yard in English Harbour.
The dock yard, buildings and surrounding grounds have been pleasantly restored.
A weird fusion of Old English and Caribbean
Note the phone boxSome of the restored buildings have become ‘trades’ workshops
Some of the restored buildings have become restaurants and bars.
The area is well sign posted for visitors
There is even a little museumWhere you can learn about the history of the dock yardsOr you can be embarrassingly silly.
The most famously photographed area of the dock yards is the remains of the sail loft.
Set in a small manicured garden, they are a lovely sight.
The canal where the boats were brought into to have the canvas stripped and repaired
If you find all this ‘historical’ stuff boring…..
…you can always do a little super yacht spotting.
There are just a few of them moored around the placeA bit of a ‘popular place’ for those that ‘want to be seen’.
All checked into the country, and sight-seeing done, it was back to the boat for a swim on that lovely beach.
The dock yard, buildings and surrounding grounds have been pleasantly restored.
