Many events were planned by the organizers of the Salty Dawg Rally for the fleet of boats in Antigua. Once we cleared ourselves and Charlie in at Jolly Harbour, we picked up some fresh food at the large market and headed over to Falmouth Harbour where the fleet was gathering.
We arrived in time for the Welcome Event hosted by the Antigua Yacht Club, November 19th. They treated the Dawgs to hors d’oeurves and 2 free drinks. There we shared our tales of passage with fellow cruisers which is always fun. We also run into people we know from previous passages. It was a good time had by all.
The following day we met up with a group of friend for an early morning hike. A good stretch of the legs was definitely in order after sitting around on a boat for days on end.
On November 20th, the welcome dinner for the Dawgs was held at Boom, a great restaurant with a pool over looking English Harbour. There were no vegan options on the menu for this event so I chose the Mahi Mahi (I do eat fish now and then). The food was the best I’ve ever eaten in the Caribbean.
I enjoyed the view at Boom so much that I went back there with friends the following day for an afternoon poolside. Paul stayed on board and did some of the post passage boat chores.
Our next to last Salty Dawg event was the Tail of the Dawg event at Pusser’s in Nelsons Dock Yard on November 22. Here we greeted the Dawgs who didn’t arrive in time for the previous events. People shared their stories and received awards for the most mishaps at sea, last boat to arrive, and most unlucky boat (one was struck by lightening). It was fun. We followed this event with pizza at a nearby restaurant. Here friends from Too-Da-Loo shared the best story of all about how they had to clear a clogged head while at sea. We laughed until we ached.
As we arrived back to the boat that evening I stepped out of the dinghy and slipped. I landed in the water. No harm done, but I realized that our new dinghy is much more slippery than the old one. It also sits a little higher on the water so the step off and onto the boat is different now. Something new to adjust to and one more thing to laugh at to top off a fun evening.
November 23rd, Thanksgiving day (US) we went for another hike with friends in the morning. Then joined in on the Thanksgiving Dinner hosted by the Antigua Yacht Club. For $15 each they put on a full fledged turkey dinner with all the trimmings and dessert. Paul ate my share of turkey and I enjoyed the salads and dessert. Another successful event.
Somewhere in between the events we had a day of jamming aboard Blue Sky. I did some baking of granola, cookies and scones while the music played.
We’ve since spent some time in Carlisle Bay, Green Island, Deep Bay and Jolly Harbour. Paul has spent countless hours repairing out water maker along with countless other things that have decided to break. I am hoping as Mercury comes out of retrograde later this week that things will stop breaking and we’ll be back to normal.
We are now back at Green Island (our favourite place in Antigua) where we’ll stay until Christmas or maybe New Years. We are falling into routine, doing yoga or a workout each morning and a swim each afternoon. Charlie gets ashore twice a day. We both work on small boat projects and read, write or get into our hobbies. Life is good.
