Antigua 2024

Belen and I arrived at San Diego International on Friday Night March 29.  We were getting checked into our flight and we heard from Mindy that her flight was cancelled.  We went over to her gate as they were waiting to hear about getting on from the standby list.  As luck would have it, She and Sergio did get on.  What a relief!  They departed heading to Phoenix to catch a connection with Margaret at JFK, then on to Antigua.  Belen and I went back to our gate area and had a drink and dinner while we waited for our flight to board.  We had an uneventful flight to Atlanta.  We arrived super early in Atlanta and the only restaurant that was open was McDonalds, and I really didn’t want that, so we waited until TGI Friday opened and had a nice (overpriced) breakfast while we waited for Mathew and Miranda to arrive.  We then continued on to Antigua. 

We arrived in Antigua on Saturday, March 30 cleared customs and then meet up with Mindy, Sergio and Margaret.  Eric, (The driver that we met 5 years ago) was there to meet us as well.  He had a printed sign with our name on it.  We loaded our luggage and waited for Christina to arrive.  While waiting, we saw a minor accident in the parking lot and we enjoyed some cold water and a couple beers.  Christina flight was delayed, but eventually, our group was complete, we then raced to Jolly Harbor.  I checked in with Athena at the Dream Yacht Charter office to complete our charter paperwork, and then we provisioned at Epicurean the major grocery store in Jolly Harbor.   We quickly stowed our provisions and got ready for dinner.  We ate at Basilica the local Italian Restaurant at the Marina and had a wonderful meal.  I would recommend putting on some bug spray if I were to do this again.  Right after the sun goes down, the mosquitos do come out…and they really like me.  We had a brief scare in that Belen thought she lost her purse, but as it turns out, I was sitting on it. 

Easter Sunday morning on March 31st and came to find out that the Easter bunny had visited us.  24 plastic eggs with US Cash were placed around the main salon.  After everyone woke up each of our young adults were able to each collect 4 eggs.   Then it became time to make coffee.  It turns out the our Keurig machine overloaded my international electrical converter, so we were unable to make coffee with the machine we lugged over.   So I then went back to Epicurean to buy some coffee grounds to make coffee in the Mr. Coffee that was provided on the boat.  Then I realized we didn’t have filters…so back to the store again.  I got the filters and proceeded to plug in the machine only to find that it was US plugs, and also didn’t work with my converter.  Eventually we were able to get a French press from the charter company for my first cup of coffee and I was very appreciative to have it.  I function much better with coffee.  We did our boat orientation with Kevin Moses +1 (268) 720-9895.  Everything went smoothly until he told us that the main salon AC didn’t work and had never worked.  Then he introduced us to Mario the chief engineer who broke the news to us that we were going to be without a generator, a water maker and AC for the whole week.  This was very disappointing, but I was determined to not let it ruin our week.  We finished our briefing and were ready to get underway. 

We departed Jolly Harbor and began our short transit to our first cove called “Deep Bay”.  It was about 7 NM away and it took us just under 2 hours to get there.   We set our anchor and settled in for the afternoon.  We had a few cocktails, began to relax and I made a chicken casserole for dinner. 

Monday morning April 1st.  After we made coffee and got a bite to eat, we got motivated to go ashore.  We loaded up the dinghy and went onto the nearby beach.  Unfortunately, there were some small waves that we had to contend with upon beaching the dinghy and I didn’t clearly communicate the process of getting off the dinghy and onto the beach very well and some of us got a bit wet and some of our dry clothes to change into also were not very dry anymore.   We proceeded to hike up to Fort Barrington overlooking St John’s Harbor on one side and Deep Bay on the other.  It was a nice hike and the views from the top were great.  We hiked back down and then Margaret and Christina explored the nearby resort and did a little shopping.  We went back to the boat, got a bite to eat and then proceeded to get underway for our next anchorage about 10 NM away Dickenson Bay.    We arrived got a bite to eat and then took the dinghy over to the Kon Tiki Bar and Grill.  Unfortunately, Miranda’s stylish hat was a casualty.  It fell off, overboard and sank.  May it rest in peace.  The website stated that it was cash only, and Christina treated for the first round, and fortunately, they ended up taking Venmo, so I took care of the second.  We met some great people there that worked as entertainers on a Princess Cruise ship.  Mindy exchanged info with Cassy, one of the dancers and we are hopeful to meet up with them when they are calling on Port of San Diego on October 2nd.   We made our way back to Skippy Cat and proceeded to make a dent into the supply of alcohol we had provisioned.    For dinner, Christina made chicken tacos.

Tuesday morning, we got up pretty early and the plan was to sail clockwise around three quarters of the Island, but as we got about an hour into the trip, we were taking the wind and waves right on our nose and decided it would be a more comfortable ride to turn around and make our way to English Harbor the short way.  So we hoisted sails and turned the boat around and sailed for a bit while making our way to English Harbor.  We tried a couple areas to anchor in and ended up near “Freeman Bay” and anchored right off of Galleon Bay.  We took the dinghy in and scoped our Nelson’s Boat Yard and made our way over to the Antigua Yacht Club.  We ended up eating a great dinner at “Club Sushi” (right above Antigua Yacht Club).   On the way back to the dinghy, we stopped at the grocery store and got some more provisions. 

Wednesday morning, we got underway and entered Falmouth harbor to ogle over the mega yachts.  The Maltese Falcon particularly caught our eye.  We then headed to Carlisle beach where we set an anchor and played in the water for a couple of hours.  We swam, used the SUP’s and the Kayak.  We then headed over to Valley Church Beach and Anchored near the beach landing area where the restaurant Sheer Rocks was located.  We relaxed on the boat and leisurely got ready for dinner.   We took the dinghy to the beach and made a very good and controlled landing, and no one got wet.   We pulled the boat up the beach a bit, took some pictures and then proceeded to the restaurant.   Everyone had a cocktail while we were waiting for our table, and we enjoyed the views of the resort.  The hostess, F&B Manager (Kenya) and our server (Sasha) took good care of us.  It was a ridiculously expensive dinner, but it was also very enjoyable.  Several of us felt it was the highlight of the trip.  After dinner we safely made our way back to the boat and called it a night.

Thursday Morning the Men prepared for our golfing adventure.  Miranda, Belen and the men all went in the dinghy to Ffryes beach where we met our driver, Eric.  He took us to Cedar Valley Golf Course and we enjoyed a round of golf on what was one of the hottest days of the year.  We all had a great time and it gave the ladies a chance to be without the men.  While the guys were golfing, the ladies went to a Tiki oasis floating bar with slides.  They appeared to have a fun time, and they enjoyed their time away from the guys.   On the way back from the golf course, Eric took us back to Epicurean and we stocked up on provisions for the last couple of days.  Mathew and Miranda prepared grilled steak and vegetable kabobs and some grilled chicken.   Family game night didn’t go as smoothly as we would have wanted.  I would chock it up to having very competitive personalities in our family.   

On Friday, we went into Jolly Harbor and refilled our freshwater tanks.  Unfortunately, the hose at the fuel dock ran very slowly, and It took almost an hour to replenish the tanks.  I used the time to repair the broken aft turning block for the head sail furling line.  After the tank was filled. We went to Hermatage Bay an anchored near the shore.  We swam to shore to take some pictures and enjoy the beach.  Upon return to the boat, I prepared hot dogs for everyone.  We then headed back to Jolly Harbor to top off our fuel tanks and return to the marina in preparation for departing the following morning.  We conducted our post trip checklist with Mario and raced off to Jolly Harbor beach to catch our last sunset on the island. 

Saturday we packed and prepared for the trip to the airport.  Eric came early and helped with our bags and even though it seemed like we had just begun our trip, the week was over.   Despite having hiccups with some of the systems on the boat, we really had a very good time.  Sure we would have preferred to have had the option of using air conditioning and being able to replenish our fresh water supply while underway, but we still had a wonderful trip. 

Antigua Family Vacation 2024

Crew: 4

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