28/2/2017: Jolly Harbour, Antigua

We've just waved off our third set of guests after a fun 10 days circumnavigating Antigua and are now looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet.  We toured the island yesterday (my aunt and uncles last day) visiting the restored ruins of a sugar plantation (Betty's Hope), a blow hole called Devil's Bridge, a drive through the rain forest and a lovely lunch overlooking north sound at the top end of the island.

We also had our photo taken at Morris Bay, all having Morris as surname at some point in our lives!

Unfortunately Paul tweaked his back and is laid up today forcing me to be in charge of ferrying my aunt and uncle ashore in the dinghy.  Yikes, I've never been in charge of the dinghy before!  All went well, although I got soaked as it is a breezy day.  We finally saw a dolphin as we entered the marina so they went home happy!

We'll rest up here a few days now to let Paul's back recover and get the laundry and re-provisioning done.

26/2/2017: Hermitage Bay, Antigua

Our planned second night in Barbuda didn't happen .... it would have been another rolly night so instead of that we had a great sail back to Antigua where we anchored in Hermitage Bay, home to a very nice five star boutique hotel.  So this morning we headed ashore for cocktails, after shelling on the beach first.  The cocktails were first class and we all needed a snooze after lunch to sleep them off!

It's going to be pretty windy the next few days, not really suitable for our novice sailor guests, so we're hiring a car tomorrow to explore more of the island.

25/2/2017: Low Bay, Barbuda

We had to motor-sail here yesterday as the winds were light and we wanted to make it by mid-afternoon.  Amazingly in the 30 miles or so between Antigua and Barbuda the sea was rarely more than 25 metres deep, ideal fishing depths or so we thought.  Six hours of trolling the line behind us yielded nothing when just as we were approaching the reef surrounding Barbuda the line started whizzing .... we'd got a bite!  Paul sprang into action reeling it in whilst I dug out the "despatching" gear.  As he reeled it in closer we could see it was a pretty big fish, possibly a wahoo or barracuda.  He had it almost landed on the deck and identified as a barracuda (well over two feet long) when it managed to bite through the line, or the line snapped, and flopped back into the water.  Damn!  It was floating on the surface so we turned the boat to go back and hook it out but by then it was gone, complete with yet another one of our lures.

We took a boat tour of the world's biggest frigate bird colony in Codrington lagoon yesterday afternoon. These birds migrate from the Galapagos every year to breed in Barbuda with over 20,000 birds being here.  The males have red sacks underneath their throats which they can inflate to attract the females.  Our guide got us up close and personal .... the smell of guano was strong ... and explained quite a bit about the history of the island.  It was leased to a guy called Codrington back in the late 1700s who ran it it as a plantation, supplying food to his other sugar plantations in Barbados and Antigua.  The workers were very hardworking and didn't need an overseer, and when Codrington left the island the local people were given the land.  The entire island is still owned by the community and has maintained the tranquility of this remote place.

After a very rolly night we woke to a stunning sunrise this morning.

We're heading around to the south coast of Barbuda today to Spanish Point and hopefully a calmer anchorage.  The snorkeling is meant to be good so we're looking forward to exploring the underwater world.

23/2/2017: Nonsuch Bay, Antigua

We've got our third set of guests on board at the moment, Debra's aunt and uncle (Janet and Philip) who have never been to the Caribbean before, nor on a yacht, so it's all a big adventure for them!  So far they seem to be loving it, enjoying the warmth and sunshine after wet and cold old England, and loving the colour of the water.  Janet even gave snorkeling a go yesterday.

On the subject of which (snorkeling that is) Paul spied a big spiny lobster on our outing yesterday and tried to grab him out of his hole for our dinner last night, to make our steak BBQ a surf and turf affair.  Unfortunately and unbeknown to him, there was a big sea urchin just inside the hole and so he ended up with no lobster but two urchin spines in his finger.  Not nice.  Fortunately there doesn't appear to be any infection and hopefully the poultice we've applied will draw out the spines.

Weather conditions are pretty benign this week, perfect for our novice sailors.  After a lazy day today exploring the bay by dinghy, we'll sail up to Barbuda tomorrow to take a tour of the frigate bird colony.  We're hoping it doesn't tip it down with rain this time!

17/2/2017 : Jolly Harbour, Antigua

We had a great sail up from Guadeloupe on Wednesday, probably one of the best days of the season, and were lucky enough to have a pod of six or seven pilot whales swim right across the bow.  We initially thought they were dolphins, until we realised their size and that they were black.  Unlike dolphins they showed no interest in us and swam on their way without a backwards glance.

Jon and Hannah flew home yesterday.  We've all had a great time with a lot of fun and laughs along the way.  Our next set of visitors (Debra's aunt and uncle, Janet & Philip) arrive tomorrow so we've had another 48 hour turnaround to get the laundry done, boat clean and cupboards stocked .... it's all go!  We'll be staying in Antigua with them, possibly sailing up to its sister island of Barbuda if winds permit to visit the frigate bird colony that lives there.

The Christmas winds finally seem to have abated and more settled weather patterns are the order of the day with some spectacular sunsets, this one with Tumi in silhouette.  We need to get a phone with a better camera to capture them!