Jolly Harbour, Antigua

Sunday, January 13

We arrived in Antigua just before sunset on Saturday evening, and the customs and immigration office in Jolly Harbor had closed at 4pm, so we were eager to go ashore and check in on Sunday morning so we could start exploring the island of Antigua. From what we could tell from the anchorage and the dingy ride we took through the harbor the night before, Antigua appeared to be a prominent cruising stop for sailboats and catamarans based on the number of sailboats and catamarans. Jolly Harbor is like a city on the water, with canal after canal of residential waterfront properties, each with their own private slip (most of these were home to sailing vessels from many countries around the world). The marina is located at the very back of the harbor. It is a very big marina with ~160 berths, and each berth was filled with a sailing vessel.

When we arrived at the customs office, we met another couple from Annapolis who had just sailed over from St. Barts. After checking in, we walked around the Jolly Harbor marina to check out the boats and the shops along the road. The main gathering spot in the marina was the Sports complex which is where the pool, tennis quarts, basketball courts, and sports bar were located. Gene was thrilled when the sports bar manager agreed to turn on the Atlanta Falcon's playoff game that was coming on a couple of hours later. When it was time to turn on the game, there were several large Englishmen watching soccer on the only tv in the sports bar, so Gene had to convince them (with a round of shots) to turn the channel to the football game. After the shot, they were happy to oblige. We spent the rest of the day around the sport complex, watching the game, jogging around the harbor, and swimming in the pool.

Jolly Beach 

That evening when we got back to the boat, we had a lot more neighbors anchored pretty close to us in the anchorage. The swell was also much bigger than it had been when we left, and it continued to get worse throughout the evening. It was a pretty restless night, waking up every couple of hours from the rocking caused by the huge swells hitting us on the beam of the boat.