Antigua

So, here we are almost a week into our new liveaboard life, and what have we done with ourselves? Well, quite a bit really. Having finally arrived at English Harbour, we spent a couple of days there settling in and introducing the kids to beach life. They made instant friends, including another Issie (but my full name is Isselda John dot com, she says)

We then listened to the forecast, which said strong winds from the NE, and went out for a superb sail half way around Antigua to Deep Bay, a nice anchorage on the North West coast. There we said goodbye to Ian, heading home to Edmonton Canada and freezing winter conditions. We popped round to the capital, St Johns, for provisions and the interesting contrast of the mega-cruise ships and their lumbering, pushy passengers on one side, and the local fish and vegetable market on the other side of the harbour. You can guess where we preferred, and bought some fantastic fish for dinner. I had a fun local experience buying ice, being directed to a backstreet rum bar where I was the only white guy for a long way around. 'You off the boats, mon?' 'Nope, on my own boat' was the right answer, made a friend, chatted about the cricket (always refer to how poor England are these days) and came away with a huge bag of ice for a few dollars (about 50p). I get the feeling that whilst the cruise ship money is popular in town, their human cargo is not.

Yesterday we woke up to even stronger wind, and decided that Deep Bay was a little too exposed for us, unless you like the nutmeg blown off the top of your rum punch. We motored a half hour around the corner and found a delightful little place called Hermitage Bay. There's a new resort there, only £5k per couple for a week all inclusive and flights. Well, we anchored a hundred metres off their beach which, like all in Antigua, is public, and enjoyed their view and the guest WiFi connection. Issie is loving the chance to swim every day, as is Gesa and even I have been seen jumping in from time to time. Max will come in and play, but he'd rather be building sandcastles.

Right now we are at anchor just outside Jolly Harbour, a posh marina and condo development for Americans who can put down $750k for a glorified beach hut. We've cleared out of immigration and customs and plan to sail to Montserrat tomorrow - volcano hunting. This is fun.

N.

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