Tidings of Joy: Almost A Month In Antigua

A little disillusioned and tired we felt a sense of relief once tied up at the Fallmouth Harbor Marina. Plugged into power our batteries could now start charging and our systems would run without fret of the inverter not charging the batteries. I felt relieved and also lucky that the marina had a slip for us and we didn't have to worry about our power issues for the moment. Coincidently we had a tour set up for today with a local guide. named Jemoye. We were to go to Pigeon Point Beach, Half Moon Bay, Devil's Bridge and Stingray City. Should we cancel and stay here and deal with that boat? Jeff decided that nothing was going to get done immediately with the boat so we might as well go out and enjoy ourselves for now. As it turned out it was exactly what we needed. The marina was all abuzz with a big upcoming sailboat race around the island and we watched as crews readied their boats in time for departure.

At 0900 on February 20th Jemoye picked us up at the marina and we were off. As he toured us around to our first stop at Half Moon Bay we were afford great views of the racers underway. We spent about an hour on half moon beach enjoying the lovely water, swimming and watching the sailboats fly by as our entertainment.

Racing Teaming Readying Their Boat

Off To The Races

With Tour Guide Jemoye

Half Moon Bay

Racing Entertainment

After sufficiently relaxing on the beach it was time to head to Stingray City. I wasn't sure what to expect here and was a bit nervous about getting in the water with stingrays but it sounded like an interesting experience so I just went with it. After checking in we waited with lots of other people for our overview and safety briefing and after were divided into groups to get into pangas to head to the stingray grounds. They explained to us that once at the stingray area we would take turns walking up to a designated worker who would be holding a stingray and then passing it onto each on of us. Ok. Nervousness rising. The panga ride over was lovely in aqua colored water passing by remote islands. Once at the string ray city we tied to a floating dock which was very wobbly and made our way to the ladder and into the stingray infested water. As we made our way to the worker holding the stingray tons of other stingrays swam by us grazing our legs and making me jump, scream and squeeze Jeff's arm for dear life. So far I wasn't a fan. Somehow we made our way to the worker and he slowly passed the giant stingray into Jeff's arm while I hid behind him showing enough of my face for the photo before quickly leaving the area trying to avoid any stingrays in the water. While Jeff swam around enjoying the rays I quickly made my way to the ladder and the floating dock hoisting myself to safety.

Safety Briefing Stingray City

Panga Ride Over

Stingrays In the Water

Line To Hold the Stingrays

Our Turn

When we got back to the van Jemoye had some nice coconut rum waiting for us and made us nice cocktails as a welcome back. After Stingray City we made our final stop at Devil's Bridge a beautiful rocky pathway over the water. It was getting to be later in the afternoon and colors were gorgeous and it was a great place to end our day.

Jemoye Waiting With Rum

Devil's Bridge

The next morning was Saturday and that meant that all boat repair shops were closed for the weekend. Nothing was going to get fixed very quickly so we tried to remain calm and just enjoy our time in Antigua until it did. We had a nice slow morning. My favorite. I drank coffee and stayed in pjs soaking up our new home. We watched as a very large boat pulled into the marina. We had Mexican food on shore for lunch and later met up with friends for dinner at the Thai restaurant. It was really nice being on an island with such variety of foods. It's been awhile since we experienced that.

Large One Pulling In

Dinner With Fin & No ETA

Evening At The Marina

Sunday Funday. We decided to cruise the dink around the bay and explore the other side opposite the morning field and marina. We went slow and checked out the boats and eventually made our way to Catherine's for lunch. Restaurant and beach the atmosphere was laid back yet sophisticated. Swimsuits on the beach and resort wear the in the restaurant. We enjoyed some cold rose and a delicious lunch.

Dinghy Dock

Catherine's

Finally Monday morning Jeff could start making some calls and figure out a plan to get the inverter working again. He decided since we would be here getting the inverter fixed might as well get a new autopilot as well. He found a company called Sound Signal who could do both. Now it was just a matter of shipping in equipment from the states. And more waiting. That evening we took a stroll to get a little leg stretch in.

As the week went on and we waited we continued eating and exploring our way around Antigua. We took the dink across the bay to a place called Cloggy's with a lovely view of the morning field. We enjoyed a drink at the yacht club and took a long walk through the historic English Harbor where Lord Nelson sailed to and spent time. We went in and out of the old historic buildings and looked at cannons and forts. It really felt like going back in time.

Every Thursday night in Antigua at a placed called Shirley Heights they have reggae night with food and stunning views of the harbor from above. Jemoye drove us and we had such a nice time listening to music and enjoying the view.

Finally Friday William the electronics guy came to install the new auto pilot while we waited for the inverter to arrive and we had Indian food for dinner.

Lunch at Cloggy's

Harbor View

Big Boy At The Marina

Happy Hour At The Yacht Club

Fort Walk English Harbor

Old Fort English Harbor

Shirley Heights

Reggae Band

Dinner at Indian Summer

It had now been one full week at the marina and it didn't feel like we were ever going to leave. Saturday February 28th we had the boat washed, walked to the market and had a zoom happy hour with our amigos. We needed some friendly faces and people to commiserate with. It was great catching up and sharing some laughs. Sunday brought no work so we took a hike across the island called the Midland Hike that had rocks and ropes. Yuck! It was a good workout and we saw goats and really pretty views. Plus it was probably exactly what we needed mentally.

Happy Hour Zoom With Amigos

Midland Hike

Ropes Yuck!

Mountain Goats

View From The Top

View Of The Other Side

Trail End

As the days and then weeks continued to pass by workers came and went and at some point the auto pilot finally got installed and finished up. We had some stabilizer work done and some wood work as well all the while waiting for our inverter to arrive. We continued enjoying the many restaurants including a vegan restaurant at a buddhist retreat. We toured again with Jemoye this time to Saint John's the capital city. Before we knew it, it was my birthday March 12th. We had been in Antigua almost an entire month and while there were worse places to be stuck we were antsy. My birthday found us sea trailing the auto pilot with William. I had a nice mani pedi and we went to lunch at Boom before checking out of the marina and birthday dinner at Maia.

All systems were a go and finally on March 13th 2026, 28 days after arriving in Antigua we were ready to throw lines and start heading back south. Finally!