The first event of the Antigua Sailing Week is the “round the island” race. It starts and finishes from the cliffside Fort Charlotte on the outside of English Harbour. Due to the light winds this year, the course was shortened to allow the boats to complete in time for the activities ashore.
Morning
I wasn’t involved in the starts early in the morning but Alec, Myron and myself did the race finishes starting around noon.
Noon
We gathered our tools and implements of destruction and filled our cold-bags with lots of water and drinks to keep hydrated; and there might have a been a beer or two mixed in there as well. We got a drive up to the ruins of the Fort and set up shop in good time. There had been some local ladies praying non-stop during the starting sequences and they were still there, but fortunately had finished their vigil for the day and did not disturb us. They did leave after about an hour.
It was hot and the wind was light, but still cooled us down somewhat.
Our timing and finishes went smoothly, although later on there was a protest from “Moondance” that we’d not given them a finish. We checked our notes and pictures but couldn’t find them. They said that they had a GPS track and I’m sure that they were telling the truth, so their time was accepted.
Evening
After getting a ride back from the cliffs dominating the English Harbour entrance, we returned to the shade of the committee boat. I zipped back to Zanshin to assemble the new fuel line for my dinghy and repaired it. Soon thereafter came some live music on the stage. Somewhat later we attended the prizegiving ceremonies and after that came dinner. We opted for dinner at Paparazzi.