Halfway out the outboard sputtered and died, and I had to start paddling with my one oar to avoid a superyacht who had just put there anchor out and were trying to berth. They must have thought we were a little close as they kept putting their stern thruster on to push me away – not helping! We then accepted a tow from the harbour master and he took us to the boat and left us there – the mechanic …
Category: Antigua
The Maiden crew had a great time taking part in the Keelboat Series, with Kidz At Sea and The Sint Maarten Yacht Club sailing school. Some of the young people had only been sailing for a few months, so it was fantastic to see them working so hard and developing their skills. We let the kids do everything, from steering to trimming and grinding. They soaked up all our coaching like sponges. I was coaching the trimmers and grinders and …
Maiden will be back to Antigua for Christmas, but for now, she has journeyed to Sint Maartens, where the crew will stay for 5 days taking part in events and meeting young students and sailors.
And here we are 7 days later and still slogging upwind with a couple more to go. By the time we get to Antigua, it will be the best part of a month since San Diego and credit to the amazing crew of Maiden as she hasn’t given us much grief on our passage, the crew are as cheerful today as the day we set off and makes for great company.
The crew becomes close not only because we depend on each other, but through shared experience. We wake each other up, we cook for each other, we tell awful jokes in the middle of the night. We learn preferences and support each other when we’re just not feeling it.