End of Day 11 - Beaufort NC towards Antigua

These Blog entries are edited versions of the messages we sent back as we completed the passage. They were sent by radio using a laptop that controls a modem and the HF/SSB radio, using the SailMail system. We sent the messages daily to Charlotte and she then forwarded them on to a list of family members

1630hrs (AST, 4 hrs behind GMT) 9 Dec 2018

Dear All,

This is the last report for our passage because we have now arrived safely in Antigua.

Passing Barbuda

Overnight it was windier again and BV bowled along at 7 knots or more.  It got even better during our last day and our sail down the east side of Barbuda and Antigua was just excellent.  Barbuda is low lying and was hammered in 2017 by the hurricanes and so we only saw a thin line of land sticking up.

Antigua in sight!

As we approach Antigua we did get hit
by a heavy rain squall with over
27 knots of wind across the deck

But Antigua is more mountainous and so we had the fun (and frustration!) of spotting our destination island much further out.  Our extra speed during the day was reflected in our midday to midday mileage of 179.6, an average of 7.5knots.

Approaching the entrance to English Harbour protected by Fort Berkeley Point

The Antigua courtesy ensign about to be hoisted

It was a great way to end our passage and caught us up some time so we arrived at English Harbour well before sunset. Our pilot book suggested that English Harbour might not be lit very well for a night entrance but we found that there were excellent leading marks and most of the channel markers were lit. Not that we needed them, arriving at 1600hrs.

Fort BerkeleyPoint (L) and our anchorage on the right in Freeman Bay

We circled round a bit before finding a spot that we were happy to anchor in and finally dropped the hook at 1630hrs.  Our log said that we had sailed 1602.4 nautical miles getting here in 10 days and 7 hours and averaging 6.5knots over that distance.

Shirley Heights overlooking Freeman Bay

We had picked English Harbour as our port of entry because it is lovely.  Being a Sunday there was a barbeque party going on up at Shirley Heights which overlooks the Freeman Bay anchorage and so our arrival and first evening here was enhanced by the sound of steel drum band.  The perfect background music for enjoying our celebratory arrival rum cocktails.

Superyachts moored behind us on Nelson’s Dockyard – I think we lost the “who has the tallest mast” competition

We expect to spend a week here. There's a mountain of washing, cleaning and some maintenance chores.  Plus we need to sort out a data Sim card for the phone and post all of the blog entries that we have written.

It's good to be back in the Caribbean.

Love to all

Reg and Nicky

Passage statistics:

Position at midday 9 Dec: N17 22 W61 37
Position at 1630hrs 9 Dec: N17 00 W61 46 English Harbour, Antigua
Midday to midday distance: 180 nautical miles
Midnight to midnight (well, 1630hrs actually) distance: 121 nautical miles
Total miles covered:  1602 nautical miles
Approximate distance to go (direct line): zero nautical miles hurrah!!!

English Harbour on Antigua, End of Day 11 Beaufort in North Carolina to Antigua