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Athena of Southampton - Athena log 8



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)



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