Antigua

Tags: Antigua, sailing

Date: February 22, 2017

From Guadeloupe we went to the next island in the chain, Antigua. Here we anchored in Falmouth Harbour just a few days before the RORC 600 Caribbean race was taking place. The race is 600 nautical miles long and takes place around Antigua and several of the neighboring islands, among others, Guadeloupe, Monserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis. This meant that Falmouth Harbour as well as the neighboring English Harbour were full of very large sailing boats getting ready to participate in the race in addition to all the regular sailing boats:

This is the Maltese Falcon exiting the harbor:

More large sailing boats:

Not all the large boats in Falmouth harbour were sailing boats. There were quite a few boats of the so called super yacht category as well:

This ship looked very grand in a old fashioned way:

Its figure head was interesting:

Funny name for a boat. Maybe this is where some of the 15 billion DKK that the Danish tax authority lost went?

Maybe some of the 15 billion DKK that the Danish tax authority lost paid for this boat?

Ashore we went for a walk on a hill top called the Middle Ground located between Falmouth and English Harbours. It was quite a dry area especially compared to Guadeloupe which we had just left. Actually, the whole of Antigua was a lot drier with a lot less vegetation than Guadeloupe:

From the top there was a nice view of the entrance to English Harbour

English Harbour:

The fort protecting the entrance to English Harbour:

The day of the RORC Caribbean 600 race: A racing boat heading out of the harbor towards the start line:

Boat with all the sails up getting ready for the race:

Seeing all the boats waiting for the start signal was quite impressive:

Later that day we sailed from the crowded Falmouth Harbour to a more quiet anchorage in Nonsuch Bay - yes, that is actually the name of the bay - on the north side of Antigua. After a few days there we sailed on to another quiet anchorage next to Great Bird Island. On the way we passed this boat that can be booked for a fun day out: