Christmas Day Festival - Antigua

The Nelson's Dockyard Marina management and local charitable organizations throw a party each Christmas Day. It is a fund-raiser for a local children's hospital. They engaged a most energetic band, who played five or six hours straight with no break. Their lead singer was a tall black girl with (as one cruiser put it) "legs up to her armpits", dressed in a modified Santa's Elf costume. The band really got the crowd dancing, including the KINGDOM crew!

There was a dory filled with ice, covering bottles of champagne and prosecco, which was for sale to the public. I would estimate at least a thousand people, both locals and cruisers, attended the party. Boats full of people kept arriving throughout the day, many bringing picnic baskets from their sailboats anchored in the harbour. Others came in buses from the cruise ships in other ports around the island.

As the pictures show, the party was attended by young and old, of all ethnic backgrounds, with everyone open, friendly and enjoying each others' company. We and our crew found ourselves dancing with each other, and with some of our new friends. By 4:00pm, we were tired, and hungry, and ready for Turkey Dinner.

Admiral Horatio King (don't tell Susan - she thinks she's the admiral)


















Tied up beside "TIVOLI" an 80' charter yacht

















Some folks brought picnic lunches to share with friends

Susan's new friends! Aren't they cute??

A good time was had by all

I think the lady in the hat might be related to Queen Elizabeth...

Dancin' fools!

Teffany and Susan with the long-legged elf/singer

The Captain treats the crew to a bottle of prosecco

Dory full of ice, champagne, and prosecco

The Band, and the lead singer/elf with the long legs - and she can sing, too!

The party ended at sundown, and by bedtime the marina was peaceful once again.

Christmas in Antigua

Sorry, but these pix are in the reverse order of events...

Christmas Day started with a traditional Guyanese Holiday Breakfast. Carol and Teffany cooked fresh bread and "Pepperpot" (which takes two days to cook), served with fresh orange juice. The pepperpot is a sort of beef stew, made with chunks of beef. I have no idea what combination of spices are involved besides pepper, but there were lots! One forks up the beef, and soaks up the sauce with chunks of fresh bread. It was fabulous!

After clearing the breakfast dishes, Susan put the turkey in the oven. She made a traditional stuffing, except she used turkey sausage instead of pork sausage, since Carol and Teffany do not eat pork. She also made avocado and hearts-of-palm salad, mashed potatoes, English peas with pearl onions, gravy, cranberry sauce, and of course, the meal was served with more of Teffany's fresh bread.

While the turkey was roasting, we attended the Christmas Day festival mounted by the Marina management. (I'll post separate pictures of those festivities.) In the meantime, we set up the table as an open bar for any drop-in guests.

We ate our Turkey Dinner at 4:00pm, and how perfect it was! Carol contributed a lovely Christmas Cake, decorated with poinsiettas. Unfortunately we were all too full to cut it!

Having stuffed ourselves all day, interspersed with libations of rum and prosecco, while dancing at the festival, we all retired early. Actually, I think the dancing helped pack down our food, and burned a few calories at the same time!

KINGDOM's guest bar, ready for service


















Breakfast - Pepper Pot and fresh-baked bread, with orange juice


















The Guyanese Holiday Breakfast

















Teffany's fresh-baked bread right out of the oven Christmas morning


















Teffany twisting the dough into loaves

More Pix of Nelson's Dockyard & Marina, Antigua

Nelson's Dockyard & Marina, Antigua

We left Portsmouth, Dominica early on Saturday morning, December 20, bound for Guadaloupe. Since our weather forecast only gave us two days of good sea conditions, we made for Deshailles, on the northwestern tip of Guadaloupe. We only spent one night there, and did not go ashore.

On Sunday, December 21st, we made a relatively long (7 hours) crossing to Antigua in six-foot seas, which we consider our upper limit for semi-comfortable cruising. Our goal was to get to Nelson's Dockyard Marina, in English Harbour. For the next ten days, the forecast called for seas building to 12-plus feet offshore. We expect to be here through the end of December, awaiting better sea conditions, before heading onward to Nevis/St. Kitts.

This harbour is unique in a number of ways. It was used by the British Navy as a base during the late eighteenth century. The dockyard is named for Admiral Horatio Nelson, who served here. He led his fleet from here in pursuit of the French fleet, an action which led to the defeat of the French in the battle of Trafalgar. Many of the original buildings still stand, and have been restored quite attractively and put to other uses. There is a bakery, museum, gift shops, and restaurants galore. The old Copper and Iron Store is now home to a small boutique hotel and a classic English Pub.

English Harbour hosts an annual regatta each year in early December, which attracts beautiful big sailing yachts from around the world. This year it was held Dec. 6-12, and some of these famous boats are still here. There are probably a hundred boats here, including everything from megayachts to small ocean sailboats.

Falmouth harbour is just to the East of English Harbour, separated by an isthmus. It is an even larger harbour, and there we can see the masts of massive sailing yachts and cruising boats of every description. The megayacht crowd seems to prefer that harbour, as it allows more berths for their BIG BOATS.

Indian River, Dominica

Wild Ginger

Lawrence (of Arabia) took us on a tour of the Indian River. It empties into Prince Rupert Bay, near the town of Portsmouth, Dominica. The river is so named because it was inhabited and used by the Carib Indians, and the Arawak Indians before that. Apparently the Caribs killed off the Arawaks when they arrived (and ate some of them, too).

The river is now a protected habitat. No outboard motors are allowed now, so Lawrence rowed our boat deep into the interior. Fishing is supposedly banned as well. Some years ago, enterprising fishermen employed dynamite to kill and harvest fish en-masse, nearly wiping out the stocks. Since the fishing ban was imposed, native fish populations have been recovering nicely, and we were able to spot large schools in the water.

Crabs are plentiful along the riverbank, and our own "Carol of the Jungle" leaped off the boat in hot pursuit of the tasty critters. She chased them down and dragged them from their holes, and eventually caught six.

The turnaround point in the tour is at a remote riverside pub, that has been in operation for generations, and currently manned by "Boo Boo" a descendant of the Carib Tribe. There are enclaves of Carib Indians along the Northeastern (Atlantic) side of the island, and they make and sell native craftwork. We bought two beautifully made baskets during our previous day's tour.

Teffany in the Jungle Pub - their specialty is Dynamite Punch, a tasty blend of rum and fruit juices.

The boat dock at the Jungle Pub

Carol with one of her quarry - Nice Crab!

Carol - Queen of the Jungle - in hot pursuit of Crabs

Entrance to the Indian river

Boo Boo - Our host and bartender at the Jungle Pub

While at the Jungle Pub, we played three hotly contested games of Dominos -

From left, Lawrence, Walt, Teffany, and Brian

Wild Hibiscus

Bird of Paradise

Mystery flower...