The Jolly Journal: July Edition
Ian and Jane Drysdale love to spend weekends on the water
Ever had that feeling when you knew something was going to happen without knowing why?
Rewind to 1995. Jane Drysdale (then Attfield) had just disembarked a BWIA flight from St Lucia and was sitting on a wooden bench outside VC Bird International Airport’s rustic old terminal – a salmon-coloured pavilion with scant air-conditioning and emblazoned with bright national flags.
She’d been offered a job with timeshare firm OPBM in the recently constructed Jolly Harbour community, and had touched down in Antigua for the very first time.
“As I sat waiting for the driver, I thought to myself, I’m not going to leave here anytime soon. Something inside me just knew,” she says. “And 31 years later I am still here.”
That said, Jane’s first impression of Jolly Harbour, the smell of fresh paint still in the air, wasn’t entirely favourable. In the absence of the trees and colourful bougainvillea that envelop them today, the rows of uniform villas seemed rather stark.
“They were mainly empty and the golf course hadn’t been finished yet. There were just four couples living on the North Finger,” Jane recalls. “We stopped at the BBR (today Sea Dream) and had a Heineken, and I thought OK, this is better.”
It may have been Jane’s first experience of Antigua but island life was familiar to her, having previously lived in both St Lucia and Bali, Indonesia.
Still, it was to be a baptism of fire. Just three weeks after she arrived, Antigua was struck by one of the most devastating storms in its history. Hurricane Luis battered the island for 36 long hours.
“I’d never been through a hurricane before – and neither had Jolly Harbour. I didn’t want to stay there for the storm as it had only just been built and we didn’t know how it would stand up,” Jane continues.
She describes the next few hours, hunkered down in nearby Orange Valley, as “petrifying”.
Later, after navigating her way back to Jolly Harbour, Jane was surprised to find the new villas unscathed.
“The community was absolutely fine. The electricity generators came on and the desalination plant worked, so we had water too,” she says.
The experience makes her well placed to offer advice to the residents of today.
“Be prepared, never complacent. But if you’re in a Jolly Harbour villa, you’re basically in a concrete box, so close down the shutters and have a drink,” Jane smiles.
Originally from Staffordshire, England, Jane met husband and fellow Brit Ian in 2004. Together, they founded Absolute Properties in 2013. The business, based in the Commercial Village, offers the whole gamut of real estate services, from sales, rentals and property management, to project managing new builds thanks to Ian’s extensive background in construction.
Their diverse clientele hail from all over the world, drawn to Antigua’s unruffled ambience, friendly, good-natured people, and central location which enables non-stop flights to dozens of destinations across four continents.
These days, Jane and Ian are some of Jolly Harbour’s biggest advocates.
“It’s safe, great for kids as well as adults, and has absolutely everything you need, right on your doorstep,” Jane says.