After relaxing for almost a week in Guadeloupe, we had to quickly push north again to meet up with friends coming to St. Martin. We didn’t have a lot of time for stops along the way, but a quick visit to Antigua was too enticing to miss. English Harbour—and the larger nearby Falmouth Harbour—is a Caribbean racing destination. Our arrival coincided with the first finishers in the RORC 600 (a 600nm non-stop race around eleven Caribbean islands that takes 1.5 to 5 days to complete and boasted 65 boats this year). In the following days, we watched a stream of boats enter the harbor, finishing the race. The docks at Antigua Yacht Club were packed with racers and gear, and the parties on shore went on into the night. This is just one event in a list of regattas taking place through the winter season.

It was fun to walk around the historic Nelson’s Dockyard in English Harbour. Surrounded by docked boats of all sizes, from superyachts on down, the buildings date to the 1700s. Part tourist attraction with entrance fees, small musuem, and busloads of visitors dropped off for tours, it also remains a working boatyard with a sail loft, racers walking by, and trades working on boats in the berths. It also houses the customs office. We were waved past the ticket office to complete our clearance, and took the opportunity to wander around the dockyard after the tourists had left for the day. The prices, though, were shockingly high for us after spending the last two years in Asia and Africa. We stopped for a drink at the pub after customs and immigration, and paid $22 USD for two cans of soda and a local beer on tap.

We also indulged in the kids’ love of old forts, hiking out to see the remains of Fort Berkley and Fort Cuyler, the old English fortifications which were designed to protect the harbors from invaders. The views were impressive, but the kids most appreciated the old cannons and the goats that roam the hillsides. We followed with a lunch of local, freshly-made roti that is apparently very in demand—ordering the day before is the only way to ensure you get the type of roti you want, thankfully we went early. By the end of our lunch, she was sold out of two varieties and there was a line waiting. We finished our visit with a dinghy trip around both harbors to take in all the many boats on display. I don’t know if we’ve seen such an array of superyachts or number of sailors all in one place since our first summer of cruising, when we stayed in Newport, Rhode Island at the height of the season. The kids have already picked out their preferred yacht for our next adventures. Now, we just have to figure out how to pay for it!