Antigua

We arrived in Antigua (THE GREAT CARIBBEAN), we were expecting the dream you have as a kid, the experience of the hit Hollywood series "The Pirates of the Caribbean".  We were expecting a warm welcome and rum to flow through our glass.  What we experienced was dues, fees, and paperwork.

   Ok, it wasn't all that bad.  We threw anchor and hooked up our newly acquired electric engine, the one we had from Portugal, and slowly moved barely against the current the a beautiful dinghy dock by the corner of the bay.  The weather was far warmer then we had experienced and immediately sprang for some ice cream and some locally cooked cuisine by some ladies selling it on the side of the street underneath a hut.  The food was good, and the ice cream was cold.  While Stef had her ice cream and accompanied Xena I went to clear customs.  The paperwork was simple and the Vet was convenient.  I was through customs with minor bruises.  We spent the next two weeks here taking in the sun and getting our bearings, trying to find free WIFI and getting enrolled in this semester of college.

  The internet we found was not as fast as we had hoped and not as prevalent as we imagined.  The sim cards for internet through the phone was usable.  We would stop by the beach and have Xena, An Akita Inu, take out her energy on the swells coming in on the beach.  Our days were filled without worry and without care, after finishing the crossing.  The only exception was when we tried to get water from the marina, and they told us they did not have any on the island.  We purchased 1 gallon bottles from the supermarket and started a new collection of water bottles that we now use more regularly then our previous 1 liter bottles.  Although the next day we saw a boat spraying each other with water, it seemed they would turn on and off the water at a limb.

From Falmouth harbour we checked out and payed our 13 dollars a person export fee, and contacted the vet again to get a departure for Xena.  We had 72 hours to leave and decided on the first day we didn't have the wind we wanted and turned to ST. Johns on the north side of the island in order to hopefully provision some more.  We looked at the maps and read on the web and everyone seemed to say this place had a good anchorage.  What we found out when we got there was completely different.

   There were no boats in anchorage, and the docks were mostly for cruise Ships.  The main dock was large and unkept with no cleats to tie off on.  We have no reverse and ended up ramming the dock and breaking off our front life lines.  The damage could have been worse and we now choose to anchor out more often and dinghy into places.

After running to a supermarket that was at least a mile away and not finding it twice, we ended up going to a side market and grabbing a sprite and 3 gallons of water.  Good thing we made this stop because our two day trip to the BVI proved we needed the extra water.