Antigua Is A-OK

Having not spent much time in Antigua since doing six Sailing Weeks with our Ocean 71 Big O in the the event’s heyday of the 1980s and 1990s, the Wanderer had forgotten what a great place it is both for dropping out in quiet anchorages and for being in the middle of world-class sailing competitions. We returned to the Eastern Caribbean nation because it’s now the off-season home of our retired Leopard 45 charter cat ‘ti Profligate. She lives at the dock behind the Jolly Harbour home of friends Joe and Clare, who have taken great care of her.

Shortly after getting the cat up and running again, we anchored just outside Jolly Harbour, where everybody with a Jet Ski and dinghy violates the 5-knot speed limit by a factor of about five. So it was no surprise that we watched as a genial 69-year-old numbskull from London t-boned a beat-up but beloved 27-ft racing sloop owned by a local named Tony. It’s a wonder the clueless operator wasn’t killed, because he put a hole in the sloop the size of his noggin. The operator readily admitted responsibility, saying he didn’t realize you lost steering if you backed off the throttle. A half hour later his daughter was making the ridiculous claim that the accident was the result of a “transmission failure.” We sure hope Tony gets properly compensated.

After anchoring at the beautiful Hermitage anchorage and later Curtain Bluff, we returned to the scene of many debaucheries aboard Big O — Falmouth Harbour. Lordy has the place ever changed, what with the addition of lots of dock space and lots of megayachts, many of them sailing megayachts. What hasn’t changed is that the infrastructure is still a mess — terrible roads and sidewalks, almost-nonexistent lighting, and often-mediocre food at high prices. Oh, to be back in Mexico when you get hungry! What also hasn’t changed is that the overwhelming majority of the locals are very friendly if you engage them. We’re loving Antigua and plan on spending more time here in upcoming years.

Falmouth Harbour and the historic English Harbour were hopping with sailors, as the eighth annual Caribbean 600 was ramping up to start today. Every year the number of entries has grown in this grueling 600-mile event around various islands, and this year the fleet is a record 69. It’s quickly become one of the two or three best middle-distance yacht races in the world.

The impressive fleet features Lloyd Thornburg’s MOD70 Phaedo3, which has smashed more records in the last year than plates were broken in Greek restaurants on the Left Bank in Paris. The bad-boy monohull is Jim and Kristy Clark’s 100-ft Juan K monster Comanche. We got a tour of the boat yesterday, and she’s insane. She’ll be racing like crazy this year, and in 2017 is slated for the Cape Town to Rio, a Mexican race, and the Transpac!

When it comes to watching the start of a sailboat race, nothing compares to the view from the Block House up on Shirley Heights. Spectacular!

We warmed up for the start of the race yesterday by anchoring at Green Island, about eight miles northeast of English Harbour. What a gorgeous place! Free moorings, too. You’ll have to excuse us because we’re going for a swim in the clear 80° water. Doctor Feelgood’s orders.