Jolly Deep... and other bays (Antigua)

 

After settling up with the marina and fuelling up we left Jolly Harbour on a breezy sunny day. Good to be on the move again. We headed the short hop clockwise around the island to the mainly uninhabited Hermitage Bay. It ticks the picturesque boxes: lush surrounding hills, almost white long sandy beaches and only a few lunching mega yachts for company. They soon departed leaving just us, an occasional pelican and not much else to enjoy the afternoon. The spot we’ve chosen to anchor is just off the beach of the Hermitage Bay resort, a good looking spot with wooden cabanas in the hills for $1800USD per night. A bonus for us is that they have free wifi and a signal strong enough to reach the boat....ah simple pleasures! Stayed there for a few days relaxing and fishing - only partially successfully.

I caught a good eating sized sand diver which I popped in a bucket on the transom while I did the identification. Returned a minute later to an empty bucket - lucky/clever so and so. Also got a less than eating sized trevally who headed home after smiling for the obligatory photo shoot. (Edit: later caught another larger, excellent tasting trevally who we had for lunch).

The weather is a funny mix - it goes from clear sky, burning hot to cloudy and hard (but warm) rain in the space of 5 minutes. It doesn’t rain for long, and just as the grey skies start to grate, it once again clears to blue. I’m not sure yet if this is the norm or just what we’ve had for the last few days.

Took the tender ashore this morning to stretch our legs, beach comb and have a walk up one of the surrounding hills. The sand is up to Sydney standard - feels lovely between the toes and is a good consistency for sand castles. Beach finds included: a good length of usable rope, a complete conch shell, some coral and a coat hanger! Returned to the boat once we realised quite how weak our legs have become - I suppose the 3 weeks across the Atlantic not using them didn’t help. We did manage to get up quite high and got some nice pics of the bay and the rest of the island. Spent a few days at Hermitage recharging our batteries (the body ones as opposed to the boat ones). We then headed further around the island to the inaccurately named ‘Deep Bay’ - caught out in its lie by the two wrecks that stand proud of the shallow water in the horseshoe shaped bay. Unlike Hermitage, Deep Bay is a hive of activity: a constant loud buzz of jet skis whizz around us, swimmers, small ‘Hobie’ catamarans, kayaks and some other yachts fill the bay. I pass the afternoon watching a fiercely contested game of beach cricket through the binoculars - brought back nice memories of my dad suggesting “Bouncy ones for catches!” as he gleefully occupied the crease. Thankfully as the sun sets, the jetskis depart, and we’re left in a peaceful and calm anchorage. Took the tender ashore the next morning for a beach stroll, one side is untouched and pristine, the other occupied by a resort full of sunburnt bodies on sun loungers - all seemed to be enjoying themselves: kids making sandcastles, adults sipping drinks and tucking into their holiday novels in the shade of their umbrellas. Left there, continuing our clockwise tour of the island, and headed, wind on our bow, past the cruise ships docked in the capital, St. John’s. Then through a maze of shallows and reefs along to Jumby Bay on Long Island. Long Island is a short hop away from mainland Antigua on its North Eastern corner. Dropped anchor in the turquoise water into the gorgeous white sand below us. We’re about 100m or so from the beach - close enough to once again snaffle some free wifi from the resort on palm fringed shore. If you’re reading this thinking ‘Oh! how idyllic, what a wonderful time they must be having’ - You’d be 90% right.... I spent most of today sorting out a rotten egg smelling hard to track down plumbing issue. Off to Barbuda in the morning.