Tuesday 25 Feb, Jamaica day 2, Port Antonio: Admin morning on the internet, walk in town, and AC comes on!
During the night we got a jolly good soaking while in bed! We left the deck hatch open over our berth. I usually wake to the sound of rain, but last evening’s cocktails messed up! Clearly it was a huge downpour because the previously empty bucket on the deck was 4cm deep this morning. And the dinghy took an age to drain out.
We decide to relax today. The marina internet is (as is so often the case) as good as useless. Luckily, we have the new Flow data sim. We are disappointed to find that all the blogs which we emailed from the IridiumGo while on passage did not upload and publish. Big shame because it was a good story to read as the passage unfolded, rather than having the 3 days all posted at one time. We’ll have to sort that one out.
With our morning tea we have a giggle about a story the crew of Hamilton superyacht had told us last evening. Apparently they had a captain who was extremely particular on constantly having cups of tea brought up to him on the bridge. He only drank PG tips (he is obviously British!) and all factors have to be perfect: temperature, length of time stewed, amount of milk etc. More than half the time the tea was rejected after a sip and sent back down for warming up etc. And if the crew member really messed it up, his ritual was to walk out the side bridge door and throw the tea and cup over the side! And while doing so, he did decimate the mugs stock. The way they each told their experience making this captain his tea was absolutely hilarious 😂. I don’t think Oana’s captain would dare do such a thing. And in any case, he is much more polite than that, even if only for survival reasons!
All of a sudden we realize it’s 3pm. There were few rain shower today and very hot while the sun was out of the clouds, so we have been hibernating inside hiding from the heat. But with slightly cooler temperature we emerge to a beautiful light in the later afternoon sun. So we head off to town to better capture it with our cameras. Our walk yesterday was pretty miserable in the rain and dirty puddles.
First, a walk along the shoreline park where I find an icecream parlor and have one of the best rum and raisin ice creams ever! Or maybe it’s just been a long time since icecream last passed my lips? Then we venture into the busy streets of the town. Yesterday we described it a hustle and bustle town. Well today it’s all of that and more. Very busy and everyone quite animated.
Although there is constant smell of marijuana in the air, the people don’t all look stoned and lazy like in other Caribbean towns. In fact, everyone seems to be on a mission, either buying, selling or delivering goods. And lots of schools children around. Several of the shops and bars have speakers outside and surprisingly not all playing reggae or black music. We are quite mesmerized by the whole scene and we continue to walk the streets and soak it all in until it starts to get dark.
We are pleased to find quite a few supermarkets. All selling just the basics, but we will have a closer look to buy some of the local goods. We take a detour via East Harbour where we see several boats anchored. It must have been quite rough two nights ago when we arrived, as we still see the swell rolling in.
Early evening we venture back to Cloudy for a late lunch. On board it still feels stifling hot. Especially inside where the hatches have all been closed while we took our walk. 31deg Celsius! After eating we decide to take advantage of the shore power and put the air conditioner on. Oh what a delight to be relieved of that heat and humidity, as the cabin quickly cools and dries. Why didn’t we do that earlier?!
So we decide to stay onboard and continue our relaxing day in the comforting cool, with music and internet. Seems a while since we read the world news. Pretty bad news on the coronavirus. Especially the outbreak in Italy. Maybe a new Plan-D will emerge: to continue cruising on the high seas till the virus has totally run its course and finished!
Tomorrow we plan to get a rental car and see some of the local sites. Of which there seems to be many.
