2022-04-27 Antigua at last

Wee-Hours of the morning

I woke at around 3AM to use the bathroom and found that Zanshin was not only rocking but that the waves were slapping the back of the boat and causing to boom loudly and shudder. I tried to get back to sleep but found that to be impossible. So I put on some long pants and a light sweater as it gets cold at sea in the night and weighed anchor. I know that there are lots of fish traps around Deshaies and that the shallow seabed continues for a couple of miles. Despite the threat of wrapping a line in my propeller I got underway, going relatively slowly and trying to keep a sharp lookout for those threatening white balls.
I had to avoid a couple on my way out and once in 200 feet I decided the threat of collision was low enough that I set the autopilot and got out of the wind. In the shelter of the dodger I relaxed for a bit until I heard an ominous thud on the hull. I knew that this was the sound of a hard plastic fish trap float and jumped to the throttle to turn off the propeller. My timing was off by a second. As I reached the throttle I looked behind me and could see two white floats drifting in the wake directly behind the boat! I waited with bated breath to see if the floats would decide to follow me, but they remained in place. With a sigh of relief at escaping a prop wrap I moved the throttle back up to cruising speed. Just as I was going forward again I heard another thump on the hull and had the propellor back in neutral in a heartbeat. Just as before, those two floats appeared behind me and didn’t pursue Zanshin.
Fishers tend to lay out their traps in a straight line, with several traps laid spaced out. I had apparently hit that line dead-on so I changed course and there were no more bumps in the night and I didn’t see another trap until the bottom dropped off to over 1000 feet and I knew that there would be no more fish traps.

Sunrise and morning

The sky started getting light about a half hour before sunrise, but with all the cloud cover there was nothing to see when sun finally did rise. The winds no longer came from the east but from the northeast. This meant that I couldn’t quite hold my course for Antigua when close hauled, I would have to tack at least once in order to reach Falmouth harbour.
Unfortunately the wind backed even further and my planned 10AM arrival turned into a 12 noon arrival. Then the wind backed even further and I would be cutting it close to reach Falmouth before sunset! So I turned on the engine again, using the power of the engine not only for propulsion, but to let me sail closer to wind while still using the power of the sails. There was a somewhat smaller sailboat about a mile ahead of on the same course, but once using the engine I was suddenly faster and could hold a course for the westernmost point of Antigua. Unfortunately, my destination is on the easternmost side of the island, but I still had 4 hours of motor-sailing ahead of me in which to change my destination.
I soon passed the other boat and by the time I got closer to Antigua they were almost out of sight! They were hardier sailors than I. Or not on a schedule. The wind veered a bit as I got close to Antigua so my course kept on looking better and better. I was supposed to call Antigua Coast Guard on VHF channel 16 at least 6 hours before arrival to announce myself. I can’t believe someone in the BVI coast guard could have made this rule, it must have been some government official who had never actually been on a boat. The range of VHF radio communications is line-of-sight and limited by the transmitter power. Generally, 10-15 miles is the limit for successful contact from a sailboat. Assuming a generous 18 miles as the range, a boat would need to be travelling at less than 3 miles an hour in order to be able to call in 6 hours ahead. I called twice, once at 15 and another at 5 miles out. Neither time did I receive an answer, nor did I expect them to.

Arrival in Falmouth Harbour

I entered the harbour at the same as 5 other boats and before seeing the anchorage I was worried about finding a place. Those fears were unfounded. The anchorage was mostly empty, even emptier than I’d seen it at the end of season two years ago! I found a nice place in 25 feet of water and put out lots of chain. This is because the bottom here is rocky and generally does not have great holding. But with that much chain out along the bottom it might even hold just through drag.
I arrived at 12:30 and by 12:40 had a clean shirt laid out, had located my shoes and loaded my boat papers and passport into my backpack. But my plans of hitching a ride on a passing dinghy were perhaps somewhat optimistic. With so few boats in the harbour there were no dinghies zipping about and I started preparing to get my dinghy untied and put into the water. About an hour after arrival a dinghy with two women came within a couple of hundred yard of the boat and I successfully waved them down. They came by and were kind enough to drive me to the docks. I alighted and prepared to walk to the Customs and Immigration offices in English harbour when I was approached by a confused looking couple on the dinghy dock. They asked if I knew where C&I was and were relieved when I told them I was headed there myself.
I’m glad I did, as the big sign outside the C&I offices was missing. I got in line behind the skippers of 2 other boats, thinking that with my previously entered eSeaClear clearance number it might be a quick process this time around. I should have known better. The boat ahead of me had some sort of a problem that took a while to clear up. Then when I got to counter and gave the officer my papers I was asked “Do you have your health certificate? You have to go get that first in the marina building. I don’t know if they are still open…”. <sigh> I went over to the main building and there was no sign for the health officer, but there were signs for the health test so I followed those, only to be told that the health officer is back on the ground floor in an unmarked room. I found the right location, then was given two forms to fill out. Of course, there’s no desk around. I walked to the nearby café with a table and proceeded to fill out the forms. After answering all sorts of questions that I found to be somewhat irrelevant (“Have you, or anyone you know, ever been within 1000 miles of someone who might conceivably had contact with someone who had Ebola?”). After completing the forms I had my temperature taken and was just asked how many vaccinations I’d had. I came up with the lucky number “3” and must have won the jackpot, as I didn’t even have to show my documents. Armed with a signed and stamped health approval I got back in line at C&I. This time the captain of the boat ahead of me had one crewmember leaving on a flight and another arriving. This is complicated (which means time-consuming) as it needs to be entered into the boat approval form with all parties present and accounted for.
Then I was finally at the counter. Health certificate, boat papers, departure clearance, and me eSeaClear number in hand. I was only asked twice by the officer “How many people aboard” and “Where is your boat located” and then the 5 pieces of paper were printed out and I had to sign and date them. She kept 2 of them and with the other 3 forms I went to the immigration booths. Luckily 2 were open and other was busy doing the crew change so I handed in my passport and 3 forms and soon got the passport and 2 stamped forms back. Then it was back to the main desk, where one of the forms was taken and I went, armed with my last form, to the Port Authority. There they collected my entry fees (amazing, US$80. They’ve come up with all sorts of new fees – Health Fees, Processing Fee, Form Fee, Entry Fee, etc.) and I miss the 5 Euro fees of the French islands! Then I was done, cleared into Antigua after only 1.5 hours despite only 3 other boats doing the same thing.
At least I only had to enter the information one time on the computer to get the 5 forms. These forms are all different, but required exactly the same details. One used to have to fill each one out by hand. And now they no longer want to know the make and model of your GPS, just how many of them you have aboard. I wonder it the smart watch GPS system count?
I walked back to the Antigua Yacht Club (AYC) to check in with the race committee. Alison wasn’t there but both Neil (the Principal Race Officer on the boat I’m on) and Pam. After a short chat I went downstairs to Barbie’s Bar and had a cold Caribe beer to celebrate having run the C&I gauntlet successfully once again. I checked my e-mails and had a small snack (I hadn’t eaten all day as my last apple was munched in Guadeloupe). By 16:00 the football game between Liverpool and Aston Villa was in full progress and I left after the 2:0 and headed to the dinghy to see if I could hitch a ride back home.
Only 10 minutes later a gent came by and gave me ride. It turns out that we’d met in the BVI and he owns pieces of pre-Irma Zanshin! I’d donated the remains of my mast and the mainsail rolled therein to Richardson’s Rigging. He, in turn, had sold half the mast and the mainsail to this gentleman. He has a 50″ so the mast section evidently fit and the remains of my sail had been cut down to size.

Evening

I didn’t quite finish getting the dinghy ready for the next day, but I did get it inflated and in the water. I’ll put the engine in tomorrow morning so that I’m no longer a hitchhiker in the anchorage. I was really tired, so after doing the dinghy work and listening to some music while semi-dozing in the cockpit I was ready to call it quits. I opened a beer and thought about what I’d make for dinner, but as soon as the alcohol kicked in I realized that I really wasn’t up to the task of preparing a meal so I showered, brushed my teeth and read for about a half hour before falling asleep at around 20H.