Like kids in the candy store ... 31 March 2018

Like kids in the candy store

31 March 2018

Saturday morning we left Falmouth and headed for Jolly Harbor.  To reach Jolly, one needs to travel along the south coast of Antigua to the southwest corner and then head north along the western coast.  There is a reef off the south coast along the section where we needed to travel.  My idea was to go outside the reef—making for a longer trip.  The guide book suggested that there was no problem sailing between the reef and the shore, so that’s the way we went.  While I was concerned about it, in fact it was no problem under the mild conditions of Saturday morning (winds less than 10 kts and calm seas).  The shallow water did give lots of lovely colors to the trip.  Once we had rounded the southwest corner, the seas became even more shallow.  This brought to mind the Bahamas where shallow water was the norm.  In the Caribbean, only quite close to shore have we found shallow water.  Off shore or on passages, the depth sounder usually doesn’t give a reading meaning the depth is greater than 500ft.

The channel into the marina at Jolly harbor is well marked with red and green bouys.  To anchor you turn either right or left off the channel and ease along toward a spot, checking the depths as you go.  We anchored in about 10 feet of water having seen some 8ft readings. Once we were anchored and had done a couple of jobs, we set off to shore in search of some ice cream.  The only cafe in the marina with ice cream was closed.  We asked the chap sitting outside the gallery where we might find some ice cream.  He sent us to the grocery store over the road.  This is where we felt like kids in the candy store.

I hadn’t seen anything like it since the Carrefour at Trois Islet (Martinique).  While that was a terrific place, it had a distinctly French aspect to the products.  This grocery store is like Sudbury Farms.  It had all the products to which you are accustomed and some “English products” such as Rich Tea and Garibaldi Biscuits.  We walked around in something of a haze.  There was fresh meat—chicken, beef, pork—oh my!  Finally we settled on a pint of coffee ice cream (Waitrose) AND we found spoons by the deli counter.  Seriously, there was a deli counter selling sandwich meats, cheeses and hot food to take out.  Believe me this is not the norm for Caribbean super markets.  Now I know what people like about Jolly harbor! 

The ice cream was terrific, although, one pint between two people was a bit much!  That didn’t stop either of us from enjoying the burgers made from fresh ground beef.  Yummy!   

Looking westwards from the anchorage at Jolly Harbor at sunrise - note the passing cruise liner lit up in the first rays of sunlight

Passing cruise liner - off Jolly harbor

Tricolor Heron - snatching a drink shortly after taking off from a stump in the pond