Matt and I made the slog (or beat) from St. Kitts to Antigua in about 12 hours.  We had intended on being on island for day 1 of Antigua Race Week (#ASW50 – its the 50th anniversary of the regatta), but arrived at the end of race day 1 instead.  Bright and early on race day 2, we headed ashore to the chandlery to fetch an exhaust elbow replacement and then we were going to go watch the races.  On the way in we swung by “Thirst” a 55′ gun boat, to say “hi” to Eric and Annie who were crew members (we raced with them on “Hotel California” in the Les Voiles de St. Barths).  Thirst was having a problem with the anchor chain and bridle so Matt and I jumped in to help.  After about an hour, we were able to liberate this beautiful yacht and unfortunately they had missed their start in race day 2.

Matt and I under Thirst working on the bridle

The owners Seamus and Amy asked if we wanted to come along on a practice sail and I am thinking “is this a rhetorical question,” absolutely we will come sail with you on your brand new gun boat!  Seamus and Amy had only been sailing Thirst for a few months and had never, I repeat never, raced her in a regatta.  So there were a lot of “firsts, learning curves, and discoveries” by everyone.

Thirst at anchor.

PRACTICE DAY: The crew was pretty disappointed that they had missed a race day and perhaps missed out on placing in their class, but spirits rose quickly as we sailed around the bay, raised the A2 (spinnaker) for the first time, a brilliant goldish yellow, and got a better handle of this complex sailing machine.  At the end of practice day, race day 2 was finished and we sat down to do a “debriefing” on what was learned, what needed to be fixed, and how we can do better.  By the end, we had been asked to be a part of this amazing crew! Mostly because Matt made himself irreplaceable.  He has a habit of doing that – inserting himself into the most needed areas, learning fast, and becomes indispensable- he makes me so proud!

Beautiful Golden A2 Spinnaker

THE CREW: Seamus the owner & captain, Annie the tactician, Eric and Mike (from Sea Hawk) managed the multitude of lines and grinder the winches inside. Toby and Matt were on the bow handling the foredeck sails, Sally, Amy, and I filled in on the bow, spinnaker, rail & lines, Amy also worked the preventer, and was our chef extraordinaire, and Andrew filled in where ever he was needed.

THIRST:  Matt and I had been on a few gun boats during boat shows, but we had never been sailing or racing on one so this was a huge treat for us.  This particular gun boat has an immense cockpit area with two large settee’s (large enough to sleep on) and a fold out table for great dining and entertaining.  Forward and center facing the bow is the command center where everything is hydraulically operated.  There are only two wenches on the entire boat which is odd to me considering we have 8 (but only one of ours has a “button” meaning it is a power wench).  In the command center, you have the person working the main on the left, the person working the jib on the right, the captain in the center and tactician at their side.  The rest of us are either bow duties or clearing lines, then on the rail.  On the Starboard side, there are two luxurious cabins and a giant head!  Everything is top of the line on this yacht.  On the port side is the master cabin, another head and the galley (where Amy does her magic).  Thirst has a massive main sail, a solent (smaller job), a J2 (jib), Code Zero, and the A2 spinnaker.  The captain would determine what sail combination we would have based on the tack, wind, and course.  It was a constant state of change which made it very exciting.

Seamus at the helm, Mike far left center, Mike right.

Command Center.

View from bow to cockpit / command center.

After the debriefing, Matt and I headed to shore to see if we could find our part, but unfortunately they did not have  it so we swung by the ASW50 evening festivities, walked around the docks, peeked in on some of the tents, had a beer, and headed back to the boat to rest up before our first official race day as crew on a gun boat 55!

“Thirst” got its name because the owners thirst for adventure and have a thirst for life.