"Savoir Vivre" in Antigua

Those who know the skipper or who have been following our blog for a while can guess what is on the agenda now: cleaning, cleaning and cleaning again 🙄.

The skipper is unstoppable, hard to believe that he has not eaten or slept properly for a week. But I also do my part. While the skipper brings everything outside into shape, I am responsible for the interior. After breakfast I am locked up below deck and only let out after my daily workload is done 😉.

When the SY Flora arrives, we jump into the dinghy to greet her. While Ralf clears the anchor, Wiebke is at the wheel. She is my personal heroine in this passage. While I was lying on the bench suffering, she not only actively sailed but also cooked elaborate meals. This morning I read that she cooked chicken with Brussels sprouts and potatoes on day 7 of the passage , wow.

The next day we have an appointment with the guys from North Sails at 6.30am. When the alarm goes off, Volker turns around and says: “This is the Caribbean, they don't come on time.” Far from it, Andrew, the owner of the North Sails Loft is British. He and his team are on the jetty a quarter of an hour before the agreed time.

The skipper has to quickly dismantle the awning. The mainsail has a small crack, so it has to come down. And while we're at it, the two headsails also go to the North Sails Loft for inspection. After all, the sails were extremely stressed in the last week.

But we also enjoy ourselves. Nelson's Dockyard is an ideal place for this. French boat, French bread: we have breakfast every morning with fresh croissants 🥐and baguette in proper style 🥖. Either Eric from Brasserie D'Antigua brings them over ...

... or we take the dinghy to his bar, which is conveniently right across from our berth.

Because Eric and Isabelle are open 7 days a week from morning to evening, escape's kitchen is very spared these days. We let ourselves be pampered.

The Salty Dawgs have organized a great program of events. Since we are all COVID-free right after the passage, socializing is now allowed. One evening we are guests in the North Sails Loft.

Another day we meet for live music, cocktails and delicious food in Catherine's Cafe on the beach. After we had extremely little social contact in the last six months due to COVID, it is nice to be able to chat with other sailors again carefree.

And if there is no event, we both go to the sundowner alone 🍹🍻. I think I deserve it 😊.

When a heavy squall passed through one afternoon, some of the boats began to roll. Not all anchors hold. The bow of the neighboring boat (see gallery image) is only a few centimeters away from Escape's side. If you look closely, you can see that the ketch behind it is already completely pressed against the bridge with the rear. Fortunately, most get away with the horror. Escape is not damaged either.

Nelson's Dockyard never gets boring. The marina is slowly filling up with mega yachts, the arrival of which we can perfectly watch from our berth. (Here the famous J-Class Hanuman).

We get to know some of the feathered residents of the Dockyard.

You can imagine that the skipper doesn't like it when these fellows make themselves comfortable on their dinghy.

After feeling very tired in the first few days, I can now start doing sports again. There are great hiking trails around English Harbor. More on this in one of the next blog posts.