Harbour Hopping: A Good Day!

First stop: Five Islands Harbour. Second stop: Falmouth Harbour. We’ve been to Falmouth three times already, but this time we anchored off the east side of the harbour, near Pigeon Beach. A popular anchorage with cruisers, you get a great view of the AYC and FHYC piers with all their big sailing vessels and charter yachts, and a lovely sandy beach nearby for swimming and relaxing. We were happy to secure a spot with good holding amongst the many sailboats already there; on our previous visits, it was just too crowded for safe anchoring. Nice to be tucked in and enjoying the view!

We're talking huge sailing ships here!!

Mega-yachts of all kinds at the Antigua Yacht Club

We took the dinghy around to English Harbour for lunch and tied up at the jetty in front of the Admiral’s Inn at Nelson’s Dockyard. The Inn is housed within the restored walls of a three-storied Georgian building built in 1788 from bricks brought over from England as ship’s ballast. (It’s said that the ballast on the return trip was mostly rum!) Tar, turpentine, lead and pitch were stored on the ground floor; offices for the engineers of the Dockyard were housed upstairs.

A sign on the Inn

It’s a beautiful building on a secluded area of the Dockyard, adjacent to large pillars that were used to support a large boat house with a sail loft above it. It's a very cool place to wander and explore! We enjoyed an excellent lunch on the terrace overlooking the water. I had Alaska salad (with smoked salmon and grilled shrimp) while Ron had a delicious grilled whole lobster. The setting made it all the more delicious, I think!

The inn and its terrace

Sail loft pillars

After lunch, we returned to Equinox and thought we’d indulge in a bit of swimming. Just as we prepared to swim to shore, whom should we see sail into the anchorage but our Jolly Harbour pier-mates, Ralph and Mary, from Restless Heart! Always fun to have friends nearby! After our swim, we invited them over to Equinox for dinner and a movie….the signal to rendevous being Ron’s signature blowing of the conch shell at sunset!

Best of all, Karyn received excellent family news that evening, too! Just before dinner a sat phone call brought news of the birth of Jack Smith Hennes (6 lbs, 10 oz), Karyn’s nephew! (Wow, a boy in the Smith family! After 51 years of only girls, the estrogen spell has finally been broken!) Thus, a great celebration was in order: good wine and an excellent spaghetti dinner followed! Yes, all in all, a good day indeed.