We took Robyn and Holly to the airport at 19:00 to catch the flight home. When we arrived, there was quite a queue at the check-in desk and a BA representative was asking for volunteers to take the flight the next day. The deal was that they would put you up in a hotel with all expenses paid and also pay £250 on top as “spending/bribery money”.
Both the girls wanted to take the opportunity but unfortunately Bobby is too young to stay in a hotel on her own, her school were already having fits about the amount of time she had been having off and the following evening was the time when Bobby needed to meet the staff to discuss her choices of subjects for the following two years.
Fliss….
Poor little Bobs our heart really went out to her, it was awful seeing her off at the airport, goodbyes are hard enough!
Pete………..
So, Bobby was unhappily packed off onto the ‘plane and a happy Holly was sent off to her hotel at Jolly Harbour. Life simply isn’t fair when you’re 14 years old!
Coincidentally, on the 7th March, we had booked to have an engine service at Jolly Harbour and so we sailed around there from English Harbour on the 6th and met Holly there in the afternoon. She had been told that BA had been bunking people off flights all week and that it was expected to continue for a few more days. Therefore, she was looking forward to going back to the airport, another day in a hotel and another £250.
At 7pm on the 6th, Fliss went with Holly to the airport in the courtesy cab but returned about 9:30pm on her own. The information given was incorrect and a very sad Holly had to return home.
Fliss….
It was a horrible experience for both us, I had a gut feeling that it was too good to be true and I told Hols not to build her hopes up too much, anyway I was right and poor Hols was devastated and on her way back to Blighty. I did offer to pay for her to change her flight again but Hols said she didn’t want to have to go through it all again in a couple of days… bless her!! Once she gets home and sees her boyfriend “Leon” she’ll feel much better.
I love having visitors over but its always hard on me when they go, it sets me back for a while until I get over the homesickness. I need to move as soon as people leave so that it takes my mind off it.
Pete….
The next day, we parked Nadezhda at the works berth and had our engine serviced. The guy doing it asked if we had the necessary filters and oil – which we did and he proceeded to use all our spare supplies doing the job. “No problem” I thought as we can go and get some more, but unfortunately, Volvo spares are not obtainable in Antigua! I wonder why these Volvo approved engineers do not carry their own spares???? What would have happened if I did not? This is the Caribbean way!!
With fast appearing new growth on Nadezhda’s freshly cleaned bottom, we also decided to haul-out and re-antifoul and therefore spent the rest of the day getting quotes from Harris Boat Services, the marina. The cost was very high but the breakdown showed that the majority of this was antifouling paint. In the UK, I buy the cheapest at around £40 per Imperial gallon. Here, the cheapest is £100 per US gallon (which is much smaller than Imperial. Well, we must get it done before the Pacific and so we bit the bullet and swallowed the cost.
8th March to 14th March 07
We motored around to the lifting bay and were hauled out using a Travel-Lift. I had to keep an eye on the launching team. We were transferred from the Travel Lift to a tow trailer and they almost lifted Naz by her fridge heat-exchanger but I stopped them before they applied pressure. Then, they reversed Naz up a slight incline and were millimetres from grinding the bottom into the ground before I had to stop them again. Also, they did not suggest that I remove the log rotor but I had done that already. Very different to England
Since our immigration for said we were due to leave on the 5th, I went into English Harbour customs on the 1st and asked for an extension. They said it was fine but to come back if we overstayed the 10th, he did not bother marking my form with any evidence. Since we are in Jolly Harbour, I went to the immigration there just to check that all was ok and to ask for a few more days contingency. The two guys there were the usual miserable jobs-worths and argued with us and with themselves for half an hour before saying that we could stay until the 13th. If the boat is not ready then we must leave the country by any means and then return. This was after they had already said that they were not authorised to grant extensions!! Anyway, it looks as though we are on schedule - fingers crossed!
The main part of the hull was quickly sanded-back but it appeared that the guys were not going to do the fiddly areas which needed hand-sanding and so in the evening, I got to it and prepared the rest of the hull. Unfortunately, they had sanded some areas a little too vigorously and the bottom therefore needed priming. On the 9th, the hull was primed but needed 14 hours before overcoating.
On the 10th, a guy came to apply the first coat of antifouling. He did not seem to be too enthusiastic and after 3 and a half hours, I was concerned that he was getting too much paint on the topsides and not enough on the bottom. My very expensive paint was applied too thick in some areas and too thin in others and so I took the job off him and finished the job myself. The next day, the manager applied the next coat and finished in under an hour and a half and did a very good job
Fliss…
Today I booked my flights back to the UK for Christmas, I’ll leave Auckland on the 20th and arrive in the UK on the 21st. It’s a shame that Pete’s not coming back but I think he’s glad to have the peace & quiet to do the boat work. I will miss him as by the time I fly back we would have lived in each others pockets for a year and a half. It’ll strange for the both of us. Before I leave I’ll get a wad of take out menus for him.
Pete…………….
We re-launched on the 12th at about lunch-time and picked-up a mooring in Jolly Harbour to clean the sanding-dust and grunge off the decks and everywhere else. Our property in England is in the process of being re-rented (after 2 months vacant!!) and so Fliss sorted out getting the house details printed, signed countersigned and faxed back to Manns. In the end, the job done on Naz was not too bad but has cost us an arm and a leg in antifouling paint. I wish we had the foresight to have bought some with us at a third of the cost.
On the morning of the 13th, we cleared Port Control, Immigration and Customs with the usual hassle and scowling faces and sailed around to Five Islands Bay which is just North of Jolly Harbour. It is quiet there and we are out of sight of customs since we did not plan to leave until the following morning for Aruba.
As is usual before a long sail, I went up the mast to do a rigging inspection. Right at the top, there is a bronze sheave that guides the jib halyard onto its roller. This sheave was almost completely worn through and so we spent a frantic afternoon trying to locate rigging specialists en-route to the Panama. We found a chap in Aruba who said he could do it but would probably have to order the part + rivets. So, I spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the muck off the topsides.
Today, the 14th, we got up early with a new plan. St Maarten is supposed to be the centre for boat work in the Caribbean and I awoke early to research this. We found a rigging specialist who said he would probably have the parts in stock and, if he didn’t, he could make the part quickly. We have booked his services for tomorrow morning and are now motoring gently on a windless glassy sea towards St Maarten (about 90 miles).
Fliss….
We were nervous about being illegally in Antiguan waters as knowing the Customs & Immigration they would have had a field day with us. So we both decided it was better to get going as quickly as possible. I had a sleepless night as the anchorage was really rolly. The plan is to get the work done ASAP and head for the Panama Canal (just over a thousand miles) going to St Maartans maybe isn’t such a bad plan anyway as it keep us off the Venezuelan coast (potential pirate area) and the winds around the head lands there can exceed 30 knots.
Antigua has been wonderful and the people are amazing (apart from officials). We have so many memories and it’s been lovely having people out here. The sea is THE most beautiful colour we both one-day to come back again.
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