As today was Sunday I knew better than to try to go to any stores, but I was pretty certain that Antigua & Barbuda Customs and Immigration at English Harbour was going to be open at least until noon, so I finally got going just after 11am and made it to the eSeaClear office with a good 20 minutes to spare – only to find out that they are open until 16:00 on Sundays and that there was no reason to hurry. Clearing out was quick using the program, within a minute of entering my password I’d completed my exit and, armed with the clearance number, walked into the adjacent offices to complete formalities. 6 signatures and a payment of my fees for staying in Falmouth Harbour later I was cleared out of Antigua & Barbuda with next destination of Deshaies on Guadeloupe the next day.
Armed with my camera I proceeded to the docks in English Harbour and, much to my surprise, the first boat I saw was the German “Peter von Danzig” and I spoke with a crew member who happened to be passing by (who turned out to be Ole, the skipper) and mentioned I’d sent a picture of them working the boat in St. Barths to their club back home. It seems that the club immediately forwarded the picture to the crew and henceforth I was introduced as the “chap who took our picture while anchoring in St. Barths”, which helped break the ice. Ole invited me to join them that evening for a trip up to Shirley Heights for live music and food; I’d thought it was only on Thursdays and that I’d missed my opportunity but I said that I’d show up and join them if they’d take me.
Arriving at about 17:30 I was very surprised at how crowded the event was, just as crowded as the last time I’d been there for the Antigua Race Week party! The first band was the percussion band playing their oil-barrel drums and they had a pretty wide repertory ranging from U2 “Where the Streets have no Name” to more traditional Reggae music. After that band finished a modern rock band took to the next stage and party proceeded. By this time it was somewhere between 9 and 10PM and we’d all had our share of libations and food; I got to take a peek at “Peter von Danzig” and despite the yacht being just about the same size as mine it felt a lot bigger and much more solid inside. I’ve never seen a sailboat with so many winches on deck (I believe it was 6 or 7 – per side!).
After a rum nightcap aboard, I wobbled back to my part of the harbour and managed to get into the dinghy without mishap and even found my boat quickly (those LED lights in the cockpit make a good target) and I was aboard and asleep by midnight.
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