21 April 1994 Deshaies to Falmouth Harbour, Antigua
The sail across wasn’t too bad, but we were on a close reach so we couldn’t do much except sit and wish we were there. We went into English Harbour but it was very crowded, so we went round to Falmouth Harbour and anchored off the beach.
Brett and I walked across to Nelson’s Boat Yard and queued for half an hour for customs. I was fascinated by the customs guy - a huge bloke with a 3 inch long fingernail on his little finger - apparantly it’s a status symbol showing that he doesn’t do any manual labour. I checked with Nicholson’s Charters, but our mail hasn’t arrived yet. Both English Harbour and Falmouth Harbour are packed because it’s Antigua Race Week.
22 April 1994 Falmouth Harbour
I went into St Johns on the bus. I went to the US consulate and confirmed that the visas in our old passports are still valid. I walked around town buying a few bits and pieces. A black guy approached me and asked me if I would lend him £4. He told me that he worked at the Slipway Chandlers and he needed the cash to buy a fan belt for the van which had broken down. He looked fairly decent so I thought what the hell and lent him the money. I went to Slipway when I got back and they told me that he’s always doing this. His real name is Elton Jarvis known as “Grammar School” and he uses the money to buy crack. I went to the local police who said “not again” and started to take a statement, but the sergeant stopped them and said I had to go to St Johns to report it. It’s too much hassle, so I’ll forget about it and never trust anyone again!
I didn’t have much luck with getting on a PADI Instructor Course because the dive centre that was going to hold it has cancelled. However, it sounds like another centre is doing it, but I can’t get through to PADI to find out. “Metani” came for a beer.
23 April 1994 Falmouth Harbour
Glenys went into St Johns with Charlie from “Nagual” and I stayed in to do school work with the boys. By three o’clock, when Glenys came back, I was crawling up the walls – I couldn’t get the boys off the boat because they were intent on a new project of sorting out their Lego men! I went for a walk for a couple of hours.
I managed to find out which centre the instructor course is being held at, but I couldn’t get through to the Course Director. The course starts on 6 June and costs $1200US so it sounds ideal. Glenys has agreed that I can do the instructors course even if I can’t get project “Dive Glencora” off the ground. The problems of getting a compressor out here seem practically insurmountable and it’s going to be hard to get dive gear at a reasonable price. “Dabulamanzi” turned up in the afternoon with guests aboard.
24 April 1994 Falmouth Harbour to Dickenson Bay, Antigua
We rocked and rolled all night. We motored round to Carlisle Bay and anchored so that we could watch the race boats gybe around the downwind mark. The winds were very light and the organisers put the racing classes at the end so that the first two hours were like watching paint dry because the cruising classes can’t use spinnakers. We had just given up, pulled up the anchor when the racers appeared in the distance so we dropped anchor again and watched the spectacle.
We motored round to Dickenson Bay and rafted up with “Dabulamanzi”. We went to the beach to check out the party which was actually about 100 food and beer stalls along the beach with 1000+ sailors wandering about. Good fun. The anchorage is heaving. Boats are closer together than I’ve seen before, but everyone expects to be jammed in so it doesn’t seem so bad. I put fenders down!
I talked to Gareth about project “Dive Glencora” and he has talked to Paul on Boreal in the Tobago Cays about my idea. Paul has been selling clothes whilst anchored in the Cays for 10 years. He says that I would get loads of hassle from the locals and I would have to move on within one week. Paul says he has a hard time getting work permits and only succeeds because he knows the Prime Minister and “greases a few palms”. This is a bit of a blow, but not completely unexpected. I’ll revert to a lower profile plan – get my instructors rating, buy two sets of gear with five more tanks and no compressor. The total cost including IDC will be about £3700 (instead of £6700) and I should be able to recoup half of that by selling the gear. I’ll give it a go!
25 April 1994 Dickenson Bay to Five Island Harbour
We saw “Lady of Avalon”, who we last met in Ibiza, just as we were leaving Dickenson Bay, they were anchoring so we just shouted hello as we passed by. We motored over to Deep Bay and anchored in 3.5 metres.
I went for a dive on the wreck of the Andes while the others snorkelled. The Andes is a three-masted barque which sank in 1905 when its cargo of pitch caught fire. It sank in about 8 metres of water and makes brilliant snorkelling. As a dive it is pretty boring, so I stopped after about 10 minutes which leaves me with 170 bar to do another dive. We motored around to Five Island Harbour and anchored by Maiden Island next to “Dabulamanzi”. We went for a walk with Gareth & Fi to a beach and then we all had dinner on our boat.
26 April 1994 Five Island Harbour
Glenys went raving mad and scrubbed the waterline at half past seven this morning. She then tried her hand at fishing and caught her first fish, a Palometa. Gareth and Fi took us exploring in their dinghy. We tried to find a river at the end of the bay, but couldn’t find it even though we spent half an hour paddling and pushing the dinghy through mud. We gave up, went back to the boats and moved to another anchorage off a beach. Gareth and Fi went back to Falmouth Harbour after lunch and we went back to Maiden Island.
27 April 1994 Five Island Harbour to Falmouth Harbour
Motored around to Jolly Harbour and filled up with fuel and water. We motored back to Falmouth Harbour and anchored near “Metani” and “Dabulamanzi”.
We went and did a bit of shopping and then went to watch the “fun day” water games. We tied up our dinghy next to Gareth and Andy and Maggie from “Cora Cora”. Dave, Judy and Stephanie from “Metani” turned up and we all drank champagne, beer, rum punch, etc while watching the beer race and wet t-shirt competition. We all went to “Metani” and got really drunk.
28 April 1994 Falmouth Harbour
Hangover today. I rang the Course Director for the instructor course in the US Virgin Islands and she is going to fax me some information and forms. It looks like no problem to get on the course with 48 dives and the 1 year since I got my BSAC Certification last year. We did a bit of shopping and school work and nothing else!
29 April 1994 Falmouth Harbour
Glenys took Craig into St Johns to see a dentist. The dentist said that the front tooth chip should be OK, but he was worried about a top, right-hand molar which is decayed down to the root. He doesn’t want to take it out because it will alter the spacing of his next teeth, and for some reason he doesn’t want to fill it. Craig now has a decayed tooth that will probably give him toothache and then will have to be extracted – what a dilemma!
I received the Instructor Develeopment Course (IDC) application form which I filled in and faxed back. I must admit that I had cold feet for a while because the cost of the course and books comes to £1060! Still, what the hell! It was Gareth’s birthday today, so we went to the Copper and Lumber for “Twofers”. Simon from “Metani” babysat for us so we were able to stay out until 2 o’clock, dancing at Abracadabra’s.
30 April 1994 Falmouth Harbour
Huge hangover this morning. I repaired the windlass, replacing the chain stripper again. Glenys went to “Dabulamanzi” and spent all day struggling to make cockpit cushions for them. The main problem is that they want piping on all edges and Glenys’ machine doesn’t have a zipper foot. She was at it all day and only did the largest cushion.
The boys and I went and selected three videos which they watched for six hours! I cooked dinner on “Dabulamanzi”, chicken, jacket potatoes and beans and we all had a TV dinner before Gareth and Fi went to the Race Week Ball.
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