Athena log 8 – Sunday December 9th 2013 – 14
50’ N / 44 20’ W
Quigley’s
Point
Regular readers will recall that we
had nominated a waypoint midway between the Cape Verdes and St Lucia as
“Quigley’s Waypoint” (16.40N 44.00W). However not even I had anticipated how
this would unfold.
It was my watch as we approached
this waypoint and to my amazement there appeared to be lights visible at this
approximate location. As I did not want to disturb anyone I waited until we were
a little closer when it was now clear that there was a large platform here
supporting what seemed like a number of small buildings. I edged Athena onto the
pontoon and a very helpful man assisted in taking our lines. “What on earth is
this place? “ I enquired immediately.
“Ah sir you are very welcome to
MADS” he replied. I said I had never heard of such a place which he explained
was the Mid Atlantic Docking Station.
“But this was never mentioned at any
of the ARC seminars in Las Palmas” I insisted.
“Ah well sir it is a fairly recent
development by the US Hydrographic Corporation and we have an agreement with the
WCC that if any yachts find their way to Quigley’s Point then they can enjoy all
of the hospitality on offer. We have a small shower block, some basic shops for
essential fresh provisions and a nice little restaurant and bar.”
“But how can this exist in such a
remote place” I asked, completely lost for words.
“Ah well sir, we are using the
latest marine technology here so that the platform can dampen out and eliminate
the effects of wave action completely. As such it does not have to be anchored
to the sea bed. Water, electricity and oil is piped directly from the US and we
can now also offer short weekend breaks for those who want to get away from it
all”.
“But surely there is no access to
MADS except by boat and that would take weeks as we are over 1000 miles from
land? Helicopters would not have the range to reach this location?”
“Well yes sir you are technically
correct but we have overcome this problem by positioning a number of obsolete
Aircraft Carriers at a spacing of about 300 miles apart. These are used by
helicopters as refuelling stations on route so that customers can be transported
quickly to MADS. Anyway why not come and have a nice long shower and get ready
as we have a little extra surprise for you!” he said.
This was truly amazing and so I
decided not to wake the rest of the crew until I had fully checked out this MADS
opportunity, and so I quickly collected a few things from the boat and headed
off for the shower block. Not having showered properly for weeks I indulged
myself and let the water run for over twenty minutes consuming vast litres of
water. I then changed and headed off to find my new friend.
“Good to see you again” he said as I
entered the bar, where I could see all kinds of chilled draught beer was on
offer.
“No need for any money here sir” he
said, “this is all sponsored by the US government.”
“Thank you very much I will have a
pint of Budweiser Cold, please” I replied.
“Now I understand sir that you had a
recent birthday while on passage from Las Palmas, so we have arranged for a
special surprise for you. A few of your closest friends and family have
organised to be here to celebrate and have a birthday dinner with you in our
restaurant. I think I can hear their transportation helicopter just landing now”
This really was getting better all
the time.
Suddenly my mobile phone was ringing
and of course this made sense, as no doubt there would be phone coverage here in
MADS and probably WI-FI available as well.
But I just could not locate my phone
at first and when I finally did it said 4 am, which meant only one thing....it
was time for my watch again!
Philip
(Quigley)