Pre-dawn
Some remote work meetings kicked off my day. May Day on Friday was a holiday, but today is a normal workday back in Europe, unlike here in Antigua.
The winds have picked up, and a layer of low cloud obscures the normally clear skies. I’m a little worried about getting off the dock later today. I will need to take care so that I don’t get blown ashore when I cast off my lines. I’ll see if I can time my departure with a rising tide, just in case something goes wrong.
Departure from English Harbour
I left Nelson’s at 11:30. I used an aft spring line and idled forward so that I could remove the forward, aft spring, and aft lines, and the dockhand helped me with the spring when I put it into neutral to relieve the pressure. It went very well, and soon I was in deep water and motoring out of English Harbor. Since the genoa sail is already stowed, I sailed with just the mainsail, doing 5-6 knots with the engine idling.
The scenery was beautiful, befitting the season’s last trip.
Jolly Harbour
At Jolly, my promised space at the seawall was, unsurprisingly, taken. There was nothing available at the seawall. I circled around a bit and tried to reach the dockmaster on channels 68 and 16. No luck, but I drifted by another boat at the seawall and asked if they could give me a hand docking at the fuel dock. With a bit of assistance, I tied up at the fuel dock, which is closed today on the national holiday. We’ll see what tomorrow morning brings. I’ll have a couple of hours to sort out my position.