Antigua Bound

By 8 a.m we had been under sail for about an hour after leaving Pain de Sucre in Les Saintes.  It was a beautiful time of day to pass by the lighthouse at the southern tip of the main island of Guadeloupe.  

We were headed to a small town, 1/2 way up Guadeloupe, near Pigeon Island to meet up with the veterinarian who would give Pirate a health certificate for entry into Antigua.  She also treated Pirate for a small ear infection and kindly cut her nails, which Pirate was not happy about at all. 

Our timing worked out perfectly, as our friends Deb and Tony from Toronto had just arrived at the same anchorage after sailing over 26 hours from St Maarten.  After a quick lunch and chat with them, we headed up to Deshaies, a classic little French fishing town, at the north end of Guadeloupe - the jumping off point for our sail to Antigua the next day.  

As we anchored in Deshaies, a dolphin swam around the boat as if to greet us.  Perhaps it was the same one who headed out with us the next morning at 7 a.m.? Of course, before leaving, Roger had to visit the local patisserie where we would get some more baguettes to fill our freezer. 

The 42 nautical mile sail to Antigua was perfect.  The wind was blowing steadily at 18 knots, with gusts to 24.  We were moving along well at 8 to 9 knots.  At this speed we would be in Falmouth Harbour before noon.   We just had to make sure to avoid the multiple fishing pots that were dotting our exit path.

The waves were cresting and splashing against the jib as we sliced through the ocean, but Pirate seemed pretty comfortable. 

At one point, we passed to the lee of a catamaran that was headed on the same course as us.  Roger, ever a racer, was obviously happy with the performance of Adventure I, making several quiet comments about how much faster monohulls are. 

As we reached Antigua, there were some large race boats out practicing in the big wind and waves.  

Apparently we arrived just in time for the RORC 600.  The Royal Ocean Racing Club's 600 nautical mile offshore race takes competitors around 11 Caribbean Islands and would be starting just 3 days later.  The race takes them from Antigua to Les Saintes (where we had just been), to Barbuda, Nevis, St Kitts, Saba, St Barth's, St Maarten, Montserrat and Redonda.  We thought we were traveling quickly, having completed 550 nautical miles in less than 2 months.   These boats, with crews of 8 plus, would complete the trek in as little as 48 hours!

As we arrived in Falmouth, the race boats were lining the docks with sails piled up behind them.  Just down the dock from us was one of the Canadian entries, Bella J, a J-133 from the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron.  

As we were watching the Gold Medal Finals for the Men's Hockey at the Antigua Yacht Club, our friend Martha Henderson from RCYC came up to greet us.  Her husband, Jeff, was racing on Il Mostro, a Volvo Open 70, another Canadian entry.  Roger was in 7th heaven, walking the docks and cruising in the dinghy with Pirate, looking at the hot-rod race-boats.

Toward the end of the day, we decided to make a quick trip up to Shirley Heights to see the sunset and enjoy the steel drum band.  It's interesting to see that this popular weekly event attracts both locals and tourists alike.  

A few stray squalls in the area did not detract from the festivities or the beauty of the view. Adventure 1 is somewhere down there amongst all those lights.

The next day we headed up again to the area of Shirley Heights with our friend Tom from the Antigua Yacht Club.  This was a great lookout to see the start of the RORC 600.  I was amazed to see how many others had gathered at the same vantage point to watch the start of the race.  It was almost like a tailgate party with lawn chairs, coolers, beer and even champagne in some glasses.

The Volvo 70 and multihull starts were particularly fun to watch - so much carbon fiber.  Thankfully all the competitors were clear.  It would not be fun to be over the line early on a 600 nm race!

Just as the catamarans were starting, we got word from Detrisia, our local friend in the Customs Office, that the veterinarian, Dr. Edwards, was on his way.  This was a very important appointment because Pirate needed a government endorsed health certificate for the import permit for BVI.  Tom was kind enough to drop us off at English Harbour and a few minutes later we had the necessary documentation in hand!  I quickly sent this off to Kathleen Gallagher with Life Unleashed.  She has been helping us with the puppy paperwork and individual requirements of each of the islands.  Soon Doyle Guides will publish a Pet Guide to the Caribbean, and Kathleen has been contributing her knowledge to that.  

Surprisingly, a few hours later, Kathleen notified me that the BVI government had already issued the import permit.  That meant we were free to head out to BVI in the next couple of days.  I love it when a plan comes together. 

We decided to do one more evening at the Super Yacht dock in Falmouth before checking out the next day at English Harbour.  We would then sail 1/2 way along the coast of Antigua to the entrance of Jolly Harbour and drop the anchor. That would be the jumping off point for our trip to the British Virgin Islands.  

Everyone was happy to be off the dock and back out on the water. We were all ready for a swim in the inviting turquoise Antigua waters. 

We enjoyed a last swim and sunset in Antigua as we would be heading out by 9 a.m. the next day.  The sail to BVI is 180 nm and would take us about 24 hours.  We wanted to arrive early in the day to complete customs and meet with the veterinarian there to get Pirate checked in as well.  Hopefully the wind gods would be with us.