St. Lucia - Antigua

So we bought a canoe in Rodney Bay. My dad and I were carrying it back to the boat and as we reached the start of the dock, my dad stopped. Now take note that this canoe was quite heavy and our boat was at the END of the dock. So my dad put our brand new canoe in the water and told me to get in it. A little shocked, I obliged. I was worried that I would hit some of the boats whilst trying to get to ours. I made it to the dock close to our boat and luckily there was a guy there to help me. Ian helped me get out of the canoe and carry it onto our boat . . .I was ever so grateful for him! We had planned to leave Rodney Bay that evening and as my mother and I were coming back from the office to pay for water and electricity, we saw Robert at the Thai restaurant. It was his turn to make dinner that night so he decided on take out. Robert had been eyeing the Thai place since we had gotten there, we even went earlier for lunch but the Thai chef only got in at 3 so we couldn’t get any Thai food. So we pretty much got take away Thai as well. We left later than expected, and our sails went up just as the sun went down. 

Talisman sailing in the sunset

Mom's first catch!

Now the sail up to Antigua was up and down. We had patches where the wind was fantastic and we were reaching speeds of 12.4 knots! And then there were patches where we had absolutely no wind for hours on end! Both rods were out (as usual) and my mother and father were downstairs fixing the water pipe that came undone beneath their bed, and my sister was in the bathroom. So that left me on watch. I was doing quite well and then the fishing rod went off. I ran to catch it and just started reeling in the fish when the other fishing rod went off on the OTHER side of the boat! I began yelling frantically for someone to grab the other rod. Eventually my mom appeared and started coming towards me and I’m busy yelling at her to grab the other rod. So she did a 180 and headed for the other rod. Whilst I was trying to reel in my rod, I was shouting directions at my mom on how to use the rod! At that point my fish unhooked, so I put my rod in the holder and ran over to my mom. Luckily she had followed my instructions, so she began reeling in the fish. As the fish approached the boat, I saw the beautiful colours beneath the water . . .Dorado. We finally had a fish on board that we could eat! My mother was like a little kid at Christmas with her first catch! My sister refused to eat the fish when I explained to my mother that both rods went off because Dorado feed in pairs. She thought we were horrendous people for taking away one partner from the pair. Needless to say, we had fish for dinner and she didn’t. 

Dorado!

We arrived in Antigua at 22:40 pm on Tuesday night. It was very confusing coming into the harbour as we were trying to look for the green and red flashing beacons but all we could see were hundreds of tall masts lit up like Christmas trees. Luckily, Lee was on the radio and guided us in to anchor right behind Talisman. Once we were all settled in, we hit the sack and got some much needed sleep, which we missed on all of our night watches.

We walked to Englishmen’s harbour the next day to check into customs and immigration. On our way we ran into a friend of my parents who they haven’t seen for seven years! Her name was Sylvie and she was on a boat called Jambalaya, which had just won its category in the classic races in Antigua. We were both going different ways so we organized to meet that night for drinks. We spent the afternoon on the beach with the Talisman crew and went swimming, paddle boarding, canoeing . . .etc. We had a competition to see who would fall off the board first . . .everyone lasted until my dad created a big splash as he toppled over into the water. He then decided to push my mom in when she tried! We went for drinks that night and my parents had a good catch-up with their old friend. When we got back to the boat, there were six or seven huge fish swimming beneath our night-lights. One of them was a Dorado and I am not sure what the rest were but needless to say, in the water my rod went! The fish weren’t interested however, as they just kept on doing circles in the pretty blue light. 

Robert and I attempting 2 man paddleboarding

Mom goes in the water

Dad falling in the water

Mad Mongoose bar

The next morning was running . . .with Robert. We took the dinghy to shore and started with a huge uphill. I did quite a bit of complaining on this run. We ended back on the beach where we started and I took my shoes off to dip my feet in the water and Robert tackled me from behind, so in the water I went! Lee and Ashton paddled over on the paddleboard. We swam around for a bit before I decided to swim back to the boat. I went for a haircut later on in the day and we met up with Robert at the Mad Mongoose bar. We spent the whole afternoon in the bar and my dad came to join us. We found out that if you drank 3 rums then you got 3 red tickets to get a Mount Gay Rum t-shirt or hat. Needless to say, Robert and I both left with a t-shirt and a ticket to collect our collector’s hat at the rum party the next day. After the rum, Robert got everyone doing tequila shots. . .even some of the girls behind the bar! We eventually took the party back to Robert’s boat and then the coast guard boat came by to do their night watch and Robert called them over. He hopped onto the coast guards boat with a bottle of whiskey! They did a bit of a circle with him in the boat but they decided to give him back to us. After an eventful day, we all went to bed early that night.

Red shirts!

Tequila shots. . .

Joe from Cocomo

Robert and I arrived at the rum party early to collect our collector’s hats that we had gotten from drinking rum the previous day. We were standing in the line when a guy came up to us and started talking to us. I wasn’t sure if he was in his right mind, but by the end of the conversation my dads name was Paul and my moms name was Pam (a couple from America standing next to me in the line) and Robert ended up being my brother! This guy’s name was Joe from cocomo. He was dancing and then he gave me a mango and a leaf from a tree. He even said to my ‘dad” that he wants his daughter! He wanted to take Pam and I on a ride through the clouds apparently. Haha, he even said that my ONE dimple is a blessing from God, so at least I want to believe that. Robert and I eventually got our hats! The rest of the crew arrived and great fun was had! Ashton even got on stage and started dancing! Robert wanted to stay a bit later so everyone else piled into our dinghy to go back to the boats. We chugged along slowly as the seven of us were squished into our little dinghy but we all eventually made it to our beds!

rum, rum, rum

got our hats on!

The next day Robert, my mother and I went in search of a geocache! We were taken to an old fort where we had to decipher a code for the location of the final cache! We eventually found it as we headed uphill on a trail. After our eventful morning, I spent the afternoon hanging underneath the trampolines on our hammock . . .what a life!

Chilling in the hammock

Another week in Antigua and there is so much to do! Here we come . . .