We are given 52 and 53 ABC, but once on board, the boys moved, and were given a glass of champers for their trouble!
Friendly crew, 8hr flight - 747 ‘hot lips’ 2001, so a new and clean aircraft. Good in-flight service, amenities etc. we arrive antigua at about 1800 which is 1300 out there, and are met by a small band playing, and lots of queues. The sun is out and very warm - lovely. We collect our bags and face our first taste of silly systems. Paperwork to be stamped, out one door, over to check-in for next flight, in another door, long queues, more paperwork, and a 4hr wait for our next sector. We watch the planes fly in and out and refresh ourselves. At last we board our Liat Airways Dash 8 ,prop-job, trundle down the runway and up we go, over the sea, past other islands, and 50mins later, touch down in Tortola - another queue, more paperwork, and questions - I thought we were in the British Virgin Islands, so why all the fuss?
This process takes nearly an hour, and then we discover, like other passengers, that our bags are missing. We join yet another queue to fill in lost baggage forms - all done by hand, as the computer is not available. We discover this is a common occurrence with Liat (luggage in another time-zone)- and some say we shall be lucky to ever see our bags again - great.
Our Sunsail driver takes us, empty-handed, to the Sunsail port at Wickham Cay, and we go to our boat an Oceanis 423 called Lazy Daze.
We have a provision box to un-pack , and Capt plus younger crew, go off to eat. 2nd mate, and aunty, have a snack on board. It isn’t long before we are all together, undressing, and generally crashing-out in cabins and above. It is very warm ,down below (if you get my meaning), but we have fans available - connected to electrics.