Location: English Harbour, Antigua
We started the day at 5:15 am. We got up so early so we could see the sunrise while sailing away. We also wanted to start this passage early so that we would make it to Antigua before sunset. Today, instead of anchoring or mooring, as we usually do, we are docking at English Harbour once we get there. Personally for me, it was pretty hard to get up, but everyone was in a good mood. We got the sails and the anchor up in record time! Being the skipper during passage can be somewhat demanding because you have to lead the boat check after passage prep and make sure everything is falling in place. You are also in charge of reminding people what to do. However, this morning, it went smoothly. After we lifted the anchor, it was watch team 3’s turn to start watches during passage. I was team leader, which means I could relieve watch teams 1 and 2 from the deck. They could go back to bed to get some more sleep. Or they could hang around on deck, maybe get some breakfast, or just enjoy the early morning. After ten epic hours of sailing, we managed to arrive at Antigua with more than enough time to dock in the sunlight.
We had never docked before as a crew on Ocean Star, but everybody did an excellent job following Captain Ben’s instructions. Docking lines were set, fenders were placed, the dinghy was launched to bring a team to the dock to catch lines, and the roaming fender was assigned… The whole process went impeccably. After we docked, we tidied up the boat and enjoyed shore time. Antigua is a pretty old English harbor. You can really get a good idea of how things were set back in the day. We are going to stay at this dock for three nights. After that, we will be ready for another passage, and hopefully, I can be skipper again for that!