On the hard in Antigua
We spend a week on the hard in Antigua and repaint our antifouling.
We rush off into the black night from Tintamarre towards the east, which is hard on the wind at this time of year. It’s a rocky night. We pass St. Barths and we see Antigua in the morning hours. We are moving to the north coast, to ‘North Sound Marina’ near Parham. We’ll on the hard for a few days in the boatyard, sanding and painting our underwater with the support of Aline and Demian, that’s our agreement. With our two girls, these days would be almost unthinkable without the support of the additional crew.
For the first time since the beginning of our journey we lift Mirabella out of the water. It's quite exciting.
It is hot and to get on the boat we have to climb steep stairs. It is actually forbidden to live on the boat while she is on the boatyard and children are not allowed on the premises, but we are in the Caribbean… There are definitely other boaters living on the boatyard to tinker and paint on their boats. We have a space with a view of the water and ‘Long Island’, where there are many luxury villas and where celebrities spend their holidays. One night we marvel at the fireworks on the island from out front row seats.
The boatyard is very well equipped with its own water treatment system and super clean. We then find out why this is the case: A few years ago, the American Allen Stanford was very important for Antigua. He had this (then private) boatyard built with a huge warehouse, which today serves as a shipyard hall. He bought the island of Long Island where rich customers were supposed to vacation in his luxury hotel right next to the boatyard while their yachts were being overhauled. The cold storage area was for all the food for the hotel, as was the water treatment plant. He owned his own newspaper in Antigua and was known for his own cricket tournament (Stanford 20/20). A lot of money was involved and he was jailed in 2012 for fraud and tax evasion. The boatyard has been owned by Antigua and public since shortly afterwards.
Because it's so hot during the day, we do a first layer at night. There's also less sweating, and the paint goes on better in an even layer.
We explore the town of Parham by dinghy and notice that many traces of Hurricane Irma can still be seen here. One afternoon we make our way to a playground near the airport. We meet John and his son. He works as a youth cricket coach in Antigua and the West Indies. Together with the two of them we can watch a game between two local teams, of course only a small part, because the game started the day before. The children can try some cricket batting excercises with John’s material. It’s great fun.
After a few days the time has come and we can splash Mirabella in her new black attire. Aline and Demian continue their journey and find room on Gerhard’s aluminum boat JOURNEYMAN and continue sailing with him. We meet them again in the south in Falmouth Harbour. Before we sail there, we visit ‘Big Bird Island’ for a night and enjoy bobbing in the water again.
Back in Falmouth Harbor we have dinner on JOURNEYMAN. To clear out, we stroll through ‘Nelson’s Dockyard’ again and meet the Norwegian Linda, the last rower that arrived in Antigua a few days earlier. She arrived as the last participant in the ‘World’s Toughest Row’. After 113 days rowing alone on the Atlantic, she is still weak on her feet. We meet her by chance on her ship ‘Brugda’ and have a very touching conversation.
The next day we make our way back to Guadeloupe, where we are expecting visitors from Switzerland.
