Page 27 - Yachter Spring/Summer 2021

to Antigua (200nm).There was even some racing on occasion, as the boats were well matched for speed.We enjoyed overnight anchorage stops in St Pierre, Les Saintes and Deshaies. Our stop in Les Saintes enabled us to check on Lynne and Alan again.
He was OK but still struggling with the effects of the dengue fever.We felt a bit sad leaving them to fend for themselves, but we were pleased to learn that they made it to Grenada and Alan’s health is much improved now.The next big hurdle was to clear into Antigua. Due to COVID restrictions St John’s was the only permitted port of entry. Henry and Associate 3 anchored close to each other in the quarantine anchorage overnight before braving the customs officials.After four hours of waiting around, explaining
our story, having our temperatures taken and filling in countless forms we managed to get inbound clearance for both boats.
Chris and Katie
Associate 3 made it ‘home’ on 17 June, some four months after we had left her in St Lucia. It was a heroic effort by all concerned. She was lovingly put to bed by our local
team at Jolly Harbour Boatyard awaiting further adventures.
William
One final complication is that a rope had fouled Henry’s propeller, and despite the rope cutter, it managed to damage the aft end of the (no shell) cutlass bearing. For peace of mind ahead of the transatlantic we arranged for a quick two day lift out of the water in Jolly Harbour.To change the bearing, we had to drop the rudder and pull the shaft to be able to get the old bearing out.
The cutlass bearing job went smoothly in just one day, Henry was relaunched, we cleared out and set off for home.As we left, Antigua was engulfed in a thick cloud of Sahara dust and everything was turning red. The visibility was poor and before long Antigua disappeared into the murk.
Ideally, we would have left Antigua a month or so before we did, as we were pushing our luck with hurricane season officially starting on 1st June.We did not
set off until 22nd June.With this in mind, we asked a good friend in the US to do our weather routing for the passage, so someone
was constantly watching for any hurricane activity.
The weather was exceptionally kind as we set off on a close reach on starboard tack heading north in brilliant sailing conditions. We then sailed over the top of the Azores high, managing to remain in favourable reaching conditions all the way to Jersey – what luck!
We had some minor issues during the trip across, but these were easily solved.The impeller in the generator shredded but this was quickly changed for a spare.
Dad had a Portuguese Man of War
sting on his hand on the trip home when retrieving a bight of gennaker sheet in
the dark, we doused it with gin and that sorted it out. Luckily, there were no further symptoms.There were thousands of these little critters sailing the ocean so it was little wonder that our trailing sheet should have scooped up a few.
We finally arrived at our destination of St Helier, Jersey after 23 glorious days at sea.The worst bit was the English Channel, which was grey, damp and choppy but the rest of it was wonderful sailing.
The transatlantic sail home was a particular achievement for my Mum,Wendy, who would never had embarked on such a passage had the circumstances not led us to doing this. I am pleased to report that she thoroughly enjoyed the trip and remained comfortable throughout the passage.
After Jersey Henry enjoyed a quick trip to Falmouth before returning to the Solent. Whilst sailing Henry home was never plan A it has turned out to be a fantastic trip and thoroughly enjoyable.As this exciting chapter of Henry’s adventures closes, we are now beginning our preparations for 2021 adventures and many more.
Photos provided by Peter Whatley
CRUISING REPORTS 27