(Nothing goes to windward like a 737)
The early part of the season was dominated by the need to get to Antigua from which we had tickets to fly to Jamaica for our daughter's remarriage to Leighton. Nothing really was wrong with the very small Berkeley backyard wedding they had five years ago but this time around everyone from both extended families could join in for a proper Jamaican celebration. We decided to fly from the Eastern Caribbean to Jamaica not just because it is a five day sail but also because it lies far to the west and it would be an uphill slog to get back from there to our usual sailing grounds.
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| Susie Alex, George and John (l-r)
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| Frigate Bird Colony
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Going north to Antigua early in the season was great fun. We had good winds and some fine sailing all the way up. St. Lucia to Martinique was a romp. Martinique to Dominica was fast and fun and the wind angle such that we could mostly sail even in the lee of the island. Dominica to Guadeloupe saw us pulling in to the north end of the island hours ahead of schedule. Guadeloupe to Antigua was well ahead of schedule despite letting Jeeves, our autopilot, steer most of the way. In fact, the whole trip went so fast that we had quite a bit of extra time to play in Antigua. We accompanied our friends Alex and John on Free Spirit to Barbuda to anchor off 11 mile beach and to visit the frigate bird colony there. Our only mission to accomplish was getting the bow thruster working again so that we could squeeze Queen Emma into a stern-to slip at Jolly Harbor. This is accomplished by turning the boat sharply into the wind and then backing in between two boats to bring the stern up against a concrete quay. We have a folding prop and a sail drive on Queen Emma which means very little forward and backward thrust and no control over the side to side movement. A new battery for the bow thruster enabled the captain to bring the nose up quickly into the 20 knot winds in the narrow fairway and we then blew back down into the slip. No fiberglass was harmed during the operation.
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| Helicopter landing on 11 Mile Beach
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| Queen Emma and Free Spirit
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While waiting for the battery and the flight, we spent most of the two weeks in Antigua enjoying Five Islands, sailing around the point repeatedly to get provisions and to move the projects along and then retreating to our little haven for its beauty and peacefulness. Just before we left, the laptop went haywire putting an end to our nightly Downton Abbey. We did a quick shutdown of the boat for its two week slumber and made our way to VC Bird Airport. Antigua seems to have a great connection with Jamaica as their accent is similar and there are regular flights between the two islands. Antigua is however a rural backwater compared to Jamaica which has a greater population than that of the rest of the British West Indies combined. From any other island, you would have to travel to Miami to catch a flight to Jamaica which involves: 1. The Miami airport and 2. US Customs. Neither institution has enamored itself to us. Every Antiguan who heard we were going to Jamaica warned us that it was "Rough" and every Jamaican on Antigua expressed envy at our getting to spend Christmas there.
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| Jah mek yah!
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The flights both ways were uneventful except we were always approached by guards and airline personnel convinced that two grey haired white people could not possibly be in line for the Antigua-Jamaica flight. Jamaica lived up to both reputations. We were largely confined to quarters during our stay in town and missed our daily walks except when we were staying at Treasure Beach, a sleepy resort village well away from Kingston. The Ford family home was brought into a satisfactory state of repair due to the stern ministrations of Leighton's cousin Marlene and the somewhat chaotic party preparations and anarchic guests disciplined by Leighton's brother, Junior. By means mysterious, a huge tent was erected, great quantities of food cooked and a huge bus load of Berkeley guests managed the narrow mountain roads and backed onto the property. As mother and father of the bride we seemed to be guests and helpless in the face of the small army of Leighton's family and friends who all had roles to play and jobs to play at. We worked on our toast to the bride and groom and marveled. A grand time was had by all.
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Meanwhile, Queen Emma was slumbering at Jolly Harbor. Trinidad Wayne made sure she didn't get loose and bash herself against the quay but he was helpless in the face of the barnacles growing in the seawater intake. We arranged with a mechanic to change the impellor as the water flow was clearly too weak. The raw water pump sits about two fingers' width from a big metal beam supporting the water maker pump so it takes a mechanic with very small hands to do the job. We were on the work dock most of the day while the company"ferret" accomplished this task. Sunset saw us rounding Five Islands when clouds of steam started as we turned up into the wind. Mission not so accomplished! Back around Five Islands next day to the dismayed faces of the mechanic and his boss in the morning. After a number of false starts, the solution was to drive a welding rode down the sail drive to chip off the afore mentioned barnacles.Meanwhile, a new "Tech Cafe" has opened in Jolly Harbour and advertises PC repair. Lance took the laptop in and while the mechanic worked on Queen Emma, the tech fixed the PC. Another trip around Five Islands. At this point, the GPS shows so many tracks around Five Islands that it paints the whole area black and you can't see where the boat is.
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| Emma Lance and Susie
at John and Corrine's home
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Holding the fort
at Fort Charles, Port Royal
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By now we are quite ready to go sailing again. Both prepared: the computer is fixed, the dive tank is getting its 5 year hydro static test, and we have scraped the bottom and ready: we are itching to go sailing again. We lack only wind and that is due Tuesday.
We are happily southbound and looking forward to doing it all again in reverse.
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| Groom and Bride
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| The Bride's Crew
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| Cooking up a feast
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| At Treasure Beach
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| Excursion to Black River
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