Position 17°00’23N 061°45’67W
At anchor off Nelson Dockyard, English Harbour, Antigua.
Hi dear friends, thank you for following my journey. Here is this week’s update.
Still with light winds I departed Guadeloupe on route for Antigua, it turned out to be long 48hr passage. So it is that this update will be a little short so I can retire to my hammock.
Life onboard:
Well new crew, just a good as the last. Why is it when people say ‘oh I can sail’, they cannot. The new crew has supposed to have owned their own vessel for four years as well as racing for several years. It turned out to, lets say not be so good. Unable to either steer via the compass or wind van so I ended up steering (while because they were unable to sleep below for it was too hot, ended up sleeping on the port side of the cockpit) for some 36 hours until we arrived 8 miles off Antigua. Now all of the documentation regarding the harbours here recommend that unless you are an experienced local and reef navigator do not enter during the hours of darkness, with that it mind I decided to ‘hove too’ until sunrise.
Unfortunately when the crew were advised that we would be doing three hours on, three hours off watches during the night I was asked could I use a torch so I can read my book. After being advised that was not going to happen I said off you go to bed
So from my experience so far I will now ask in future to those who say they can sail, ‘did you have a crew member onboard called ‘RAY”, if they say yes then that means they can only steer using a ‘Raymarine’ auto pilot.
So by 10:30hrs the following morning we were at anchor.
The Boat:
Pinta was back playing tricks with the cooling pump needing to be primed once again.
Fair winds and calm seas.
David.