Sailaway IV - Antigua to Tortola

by Irene Bates, crew on Sailaway IV on 27 Mar 2007 Sail-World continues following the delivery voyage of Sailaway IV, a Lagoon 500 Catamaran on its way from France to Port Douglas in Australia. In Port Douglas it will be used for sailing trips by Sailaway Port Douglas.
Antigua - 1st stopover after crossing the Atlantic


It’s around 1300 on our 18th Atlantic Ocean day when we first sight land since leaving Las Palmas (Grand Canary Islands) on the 7th January. Our Atlantic crossing is almost at an end and apart from the self satisfaction of completing a safe and successful Atlantic crossing our 3 day stopover in Antigua is beginning to feel good.


Antigua was colonized by the British in 1678. In the 17th & 18th Centuries the land and forests were cleared and replaced with sugar cane. Ships were refitted and repaired in Antigua’s deep natural harbours; here they were safe from attack by the protection of forts, many of which still survive today - notably Shirley Heights.


It’s almost midnight on the 25th January as we finally approach Antigua’s coast. We have a choice of 2 harbours: Falmouth Harbour and English Harbour but as we approach it’s difficult to sight the ‘leads’ into English Harbour so we bypass and approach Falmouth.

On the wharf alongside the high tech 75 metre yacht on the right. The masts rotate and the sails unfurl from the mast out to the yard arms.
A 65 meter charter yacht is on the left.

It’s a WOW!!! Mega Yacht and Super Motor Cruiser haven. Under the night lights the first yacht we sight is approximately 75 meters in length. The harbour is full of lights – mast head lights warning aircraft of their height, spreader lights, and underwater lights shining from the hull of these super structures.

Compared to these mega yachts and super cruisers Sailaway IV is simply a small ‘dinghy’ and there’s certainly no place or room to ‘tie up’. Anchoring for the 3 days is the only option.

Some of English Harbour’s historical stone buildings.

















Three-day stopover in Antigua


In anticipation of arriving in Antigua and with the expectation of a marina berth and access to fresh water & power we had treated ourselves in the final days with longer hot showers. A big mistake as on arrival our last fresh water tank showed just under half so we’d now have to monitor and minimize our water usage for the next 3 days.

By 10 am the next morning – Australia Day 26th January we prepare to go ashore and undertake the entry formalities. We unpack the new dinghy and outboard, assemble all deck, and make our way to shore. All formalities are conducted at English Harbour and it’s a very pleasant 20 minute historical walk through the restored remains of the English Harbour buildings to Customs and Immigration.

On the return walk back to Falmouth Harbour we are both keen to have a substantial lunch – Morrie wants hamburgers, me I’m hanging out for fresh salad and bread. We stop at a small restaurant/ café and begin to talk to the staff.
'Where are you from?' they ask – we respond, 'Australia, just north of Sydney at a place called Lake Macquarie'.

'Happy Australia day' they say and 'Do you know Rob Donald-he’s from Lake Macquarie and is organizing an Australian Day B-B-Q at the beach.' Both Morrie and I are gob smacked as Morrie and Rob are long time sailing friends.

We meet up with Rob on the beach at the Australia Day BBQ. It’s a great re-union and we share stories, beer and prawns off the Barbie as we talk to many other sailing Aussies all currently working on Mega Yachts and Super Cruisers.

Rob is skippering the 1960 Robert Clark designed 185’ three masted schooner - 'Fleurtje'. Rob has spent many years sailing his, and skippering mega yachts around the world. His sailing and destination knowledge provides us with new ideas and keeps us up to date with information.

Inside Rob Donald’s 'office' onboard 'Fleurtje'.

We talk with Rob’s crew – asking around for information about where we might spend inexpensive ‘shore time’ and discover maybe our 4 weeks could be spent in the Dominican Republic.

I’d never heard of anyone visiting the Dominican Republic and neither had Morrie so we look up information on 'Encarta' – and this reads like an ok place so we figured once we found a stable internet connection we’d do a little more research.




We get a really great fresh water wash during our second night. The dinghy fills with 4 buckets of fresh water we’ll now use as a cold but refreshing cockpit bath.
We meet Rob at 4 pm and head for Shirley Heights, here we’re told is an age old tradition, drink the local rum punch, watch the sunset, listen and dance to the local steel drum band. Later after sunset sing and dance along with the regge band.

Shirley Heights is spectacular: It is a historic old fort overlooking English & Falmouth Harbours.

Caribbean culture & Antigua’s famous rum punch.




It’s a great and memorable afternoon we spend with Rob Donald as we sample the local rum punch and listen to the steel drum music.

Antigua to Tortola

It’s an all too soon departure from Antigua as we leave our good friend Rob Donald behind. Its 2.30pm on the 29th January before we complete our departure formalities pack up the dinghy, outboard and fill the tanks with water and fuel.

We have a brief overnight stop at 5 Islands Harbour before proceeding on to Tortola

We arrive at Tortola’s - Nanny Cay Marina at 1pm on the 31st January, it’s packed with Lagoon catamarans so we feel very much at home. We tie alongside the wharf and make our way into Tortola to complete our entry formalities.

We also make the decision to fly to the Dominican Republic for a month while Steve, Katrina and their families enjoy time on Sailaway IV.

We clean and polish Sailaway IV to ensure this beautiful boat is looking its best. Our log reads 4792.8 miles and engine hours are 198.3.

Our final tasks include packing and stowing our winter clothes and packing 1 bag & our computers in preparation for 1 month in the Dominican Republic, a place we’ve never heard of and although we’ve questioned many, few can tell us what to expect on this Spanish influenced island.

So it’s off once again on another adventure:


Next Newsletter –
a.. Preparing for the final leg
b.. Sailing from Tortola to Panama
c.. Preparing to transit the Panama
d.. Provisioning in Panama