January 5 Falmouth Harbour, Antigua

We left Isles de la Petite Terre on the night of Jan 4 for a 90 mile run to Antigua. It was another smooth downwind passage with passage brownies, 12knot winds and calm seas. We arrived at English Harbour, tired after this all-nighter, to find it so crowded with boats that we could not anchor in our comfort zone. Further, there are large underwater chains in the harbour that were placed at the turn of the century to “catch” boats during hurricanes. Their placement is ambiguous on the charts and we certainly don’t want to hook one accidentally. Several attempts left us frustrated and cranky. Fortunately, Falmouth Harbour was a quick 45 minute motor around the corner. Much better! Lots of space and prettier water. Sometimes things just work out better than planned. The marinas here cater to super-yachts and there are plenty around, sitting dead in the marinas, waiting for charters that according to a local cab driver, just aren’t happening. We have scouted the local area and are hanging around here for a bit of business. We need a marine survey to renew our insurance. We received this notice only a month prior to renewal. It would have been nice to have gotten this notice while we were hauled out in Grenada, where things were crazy cheap and before we put $1200 worth of soft paint on the bottom which can get seriously messed up by the haul-out straps. “Discussion” with the broker regarding short notice ensued…they will accept an in-water survey and so we have lined up the work and will pull into a marina next week. Pull in and plug in.

The "toy" garage on a superyacht. Dig the slide they put into action. As if the slide itself is not enough, some guys were doing it on wakeboards. The ER nurse in me thinks three story fall. Water is a hard surface. That is going to leave a mark.

These boats, while beautiful and pristine, are just sitting in slips, waiting for paying guests because the owners are off working to pay the operating expenses. It is stupefying. Here is a brief math lesson.

1. This marina is $2US/foot/day. The average boat is 200 feet long. The monthly berthing expense is _________.

2. Electricity is $0.50/kilowatt hour. Who knows what they use, but having experienced that rate in Grenada, Hakuna Matata pays $150/week. Just guess: __________.

3. The average captain's salary is $1000/foot/year. For a 200 foot boat, the captain's annual salary is ________.

Bonus question: Add in the 5-7 stewards, engineers and deck hands that are also on board. Who knows what their going rates are. Just guess:___________.

We are scouting the area but sving serious exploration until Brian Grothe's arrival on Jan 15th.

More to follow.....