{"id":3572,"date":"2026-05-21T07:57:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T07:57:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/?p=3572"},"modified":"2026-05-22T15:06:25","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T15:06:25","slug":"nobu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/nobu\/","title":{"rendered":"Nobu"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/embed.acast.com\/6766f4022dc5d9b993aeca62\/6a0f22cd80978431daa4143f\" width=\"100%\" height=\"80px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-3573 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_7459-225x300.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_7459-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_7459-scaled-600x800.jpeg 600w, https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_7459-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_7459-1152x1536.jpeg 1152w, https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_7459-1536x2048.jpeg 1536w, https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_7459-810x1080.jpeg 810w, https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_7459-1230x1640.jpeg 1230w, https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_7459-108x144.jpeg 108w, https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_7459-scaled.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/p>\n<p data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\">6th May 2026<\/p>\n<p data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\">Ben left yesterday. Ben is my grandson. He came for two weeks, and we did a circuit from Antigua to Montserrat, to Nevis, across to Barbuda and back to Antigua. He said we certainly had some adventures.<\/p>\n<p>They started in Montserrat with picking up 20metres of fishing net. I wrote about that. Then, in Nevis, the engine started making a funny noise. In Barbuda, I put it in reverse to back down the anchor. There was a loud \u201cclonk\u201d, and the engine stopped.<\/p>\n<p>We could go forwards \u2013 although that didn\u2019t work out too well either \u2013 not since I had confused Enoch\u2019s Beach Bar with Uncle Roddy\u2019s Beach Bar. I remembered Enoch\u2019s from two years ago \u2013 just down the Princess Diana Beach from Nobu. I certainly remembered Nobu. I had promised Ben a wildly expensive lunch at Nobu \u2013 last time, a cocktail set me back $12 \u2013 and that\u2019s US dollars, not the East Caribbean kind (EC \u2013 as in EC come, EC go).<\/p>\n<p>It seemed only fair: I had already promised my son Hugo a wildly expensive meal at Basil\u2019s on Mustique when he came to join me in Grenada (actually, it turned out to be very reasonable, but maybe that was because Mick Jagger didn\u2019t pop in for a Carib\u2026)<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, Ben and I had anchored within swimming distance of what I thought was Enoch\u2019s \u2013 although inspecting it through binoculars, it seemed Enoch must have been doing particularly well with his charcoal-grilled lobsters, because gone was the rickety shack and the oil-drum barbecue. In its place stood a very permanent-looking two-storey building with upstairs dining under the stars and a terrace running down to the sand.<\/p>\n<p>We had a couple of cold Caribs and established that this wasn\u2019t Enoch\u2019s at all, but Uncle Roddy\u2019s and you couldn\u2019t walk along the beach to Nobu because it was the other way and round the point where there wasn\u2019t any beach, just rocks.<\/p>\n<p>That was when I realised I had brought one of my sandals and one of Ben\u2019s spare pair \u2013 both of them left-footed. I ended up hopping from rock to rock. When we got to Nobu, we felt we ought to add a brace of cocktails to the Caribs, but only if they would add a taxi to the bill to take us back to Roddy\u2019s for dinner (and more Caribs and cocktails. Ben said Uncle Roddy did the best spicy margarita with ghost pepper he had ever tasted.)<\/p>\n<p>So, you could hardly blame us for moving the boat the mile and a half down the coast to Nobu the following morning to avoid the rocks (even if I would have had a right foot).<\/p>\n<p>But it wasn\u2019t rocks that were the problem. If you look at the chart for Barbuda, you will see the legend: \u201cUncharted coral heads are liable to exist anywhere within these areas. Mariners are advised to exercise extreme caution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>We hit one of them at three knots. The reason we were only doing three knots was because I thought we might hit one. It was a bit cloudy, and well before noon, so that we could walk to Cocoa Point to work up an appetite. You couldn\u2019t see the colours in the water. Of course, not having any reverse, all we could do was wait for the wind to blow us off.<\/p>\n<p>Then we hit another one. We were only doing two knots this time. Ben didn\u2019t seem nearly so surprised.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re heading that way. I marked them on the Navionics chart \u2013 but I have a suspicion they might not be the only ones. We took a detour out to sea after that.\u00a0 Then I dived under the boat, but it was just a couple of scrapes \u2013 nothing that a touch-up on the antifouling wouldn\u2019t fix.<\/p>\n<p>Nobu did much more damage.<\/p>\n<p>I suppose I should have done my research. I thought it was just a posh beach bar. In fact, I should have known better because I wrote about Robert de Niro\u2019s Barbudan developments last time. Of course he was going to need a high-end restaurant \u2013 and de Niro\u2019s Nobu chain is one of the most exclusive luxury brands in the world. Next year, he\u2019ll have a hotel to go with it.<\/p>\n<p>I couldn\u2019t very well tell Ben he would have to do without his Princess Diana Rum Punch at $28 \u2013 and then it would have seemed odd if I baulked at Devil Killer Sake ($32).<\/p>\n<p>After that, there was no holding us &#8211; and since Hugo\u2019s inventory of my protein intake and the discovery that my vegetarian diet had left me woefully lacking, Ben recommended the Wagyu beef tacos ($65), and it all rather went downhill from there.<\/p>\n<p>By the time we got to the end, and it was getting on for four o\u2019clock, we finished with a couple of cigars and Hennessy (not the XO \u2013 be reasonable.)<\/p>\n<p>Hugo and I had tried cigars in Bequia. I haven\u2019t smoked since my 30s (when my pipe fell out of my mouth into the trough in the gents at the top bar of the Harrow in Fleet Street). It turns out it\u2019s not like riding a bicycle, and Hugo and I just couldn\u2019t keep them alight.<\/p>\n<p>Nobu\u2019s Chateau Fuerte Naturals worked much better. Maybe it helped that they were only half as long (but $50 each, all the same).<\/p>\n<p>The bill, when it came (as they were getting ready to close), was just a smidgeon under $800.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve stopped worrying what it\u2019s going to cost to fix the engine.<\/p>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"2fc1198448594e958b0b1eb11388fe24\" title=\"IMG_7452.jpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.skool.com\/f\/e58d2157c5a3484ea4b9c4799c119900\/6d78a7fcb45345afbdbff1ac40e9a5a0153e719122fe42ad9926a3f651716398-md.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_7452.jpeg\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Ben contemplates Nobu&#8217;s sushi<\/p>\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" id=\"60030777582649fd8df15db6f1c08742\" title=\"IMG_7468.jpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.skool.com\/f\/e58d2157c5a3484ea4b9c4799c119900\/4ed5ffb11fd644059fd0b89a69b9442cb56cd83130174599ac559d8cee8e36eb-md.jpg\" alt=\"IMG_7468.jpeg\" \/><\/div>\n<p>The bill for lunch for two (no, I can&#8217;t believe it either)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>6th May 2026 Ben left yesterday. Ben is my grandson. He came for two weeks, and we did a circuit from Antigua to Montserrat, to Nevis, across to Barbuda and back to Antigua. He said we certainly had some adventures. They started in Montserrat with picking up 20metres of fishing net. I wrote about that. &#8230; <a title=\"Nobu\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/nobu\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Nobu\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-singlehanded"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3572"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3572\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3627,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3572\/revisions\/3627"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/racecoast.net\/omstest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}