Antigua and Barbuda, while being spoilt rotten by Mike and Gloria

Antigua and Barbuda, while being spoilt rotten by Mike and Gloria

We arrived by taxi in Jolly Harbour, and right there where met with a cheery wave from our nautical hosts. Suitably fortified with both cash and lunch, we dinghied out to get familiar (or in Will’s case, refresh his acquaintance with) Cotinga - such an elegant boat! The afternoon was spent on a beautiful beach and with a stroll out to Pearns Point, surrounded by lots of butterflies. We cooled off with a swim, and then back to the boat for the first of Mike’s magnificent culinary productions - chicken with lemon and caper sauce.

The 31st saw a sail up to Barbuda and to Coconut Point. There was enough motion in the ocean to cause a little discomfort all round, but it was still exhilarating and there were flying fish of various sorts to keep us distracted. Barbuda was fascinating - really quiet and wild, and our anchor point was close to a striking resort building that had been destroyed by Hurricane Irma in 2017. The whole island is extremely low-lying, so it’s a place of big skies and big vistas over the sea, both the Caribbean (to the west) and the Atlantic (to the east). We swim off the boat and toasted the last sunset of 2023 with cocktails - truly one to remember! Dinner was also one to remember - tuna steaks!

New Year’s Day was a major highlight, and Mike has already blogged about it (George Jeffrey and the Amazing Frigate Birds). The dinghy ride in was unexpectedly lively (en route baling necessary, given the amount of spray we were taking on board; temporary engine failure mandating unscheduled dropping of anchor in the middle of the bay while getting it restarted).  We loved spending time with George, who was graciousness personified - slow of speech, with every word a gem - and then the bird sanctuary itself was beyond words! It’s in a large area of low-lying mangroves and we nosed among them with the boat, very close indeed to countless frigate birds, as well as tropicbirds, terns and brown boobies. We were all overwhelmed with the wild beauty of it; a place never to be forgotten. The afternoon saw us walking a fair way up the pristine Coconut Point beach, finding beautiful tiny pink shells that looked great against the turquoise water. Will swam the quarter mile or so back to the boat as the sun was dropping, Dinner: butter chicken: full of flavor!

On the 2nd we went to the southern part of the island and anchored off Coca Point for our first snorkeling. The fish were striking, especially when swimming in schools around the nooks and crannies in the coral. Although neither of us is very good at identifying what were were looking at, the colors and the incredible diversity was plenty satisfying enough for us!

Dinner: Pasta - very fortifying after our swimming around.

Jan 3rd: sailing south to Rickett’s Harbour on the eastern cost of Antigua, arriving in time for more snorkeling at two separate reefs on each side of the boat, watching the party boats coming and going from the beach, and the luxury yachts sliding past into Nonsuch Bay. Sunset saw a new favorite cocktail for Liz: a Dark and Stormy - her first encounter with ginger beer with rum. Yet another yummy dinner: pork with apple and leeks. It’s really amazing what Mike gets of that galley.

On 4th (today) we started with a snorkel back to yesterday’s reef, and this was the best of the trip, with clear water and lots of fish, and then had a beautiful sail over calm seas to the south side of the island and Falmouth Harbor, which is adjacent and just past English Harbor, where Nelson had a dockyard back in the day. This is where the super yachts really like to hang out, along with all sorts of other boats, so it’s excellent people- and boat-watching. We met our second set of folks who are sailing across oceans - in this case a New Zealander called Pater, who’d flown to Greece to buy a boat when he saw it become available online, and has made it to the Caribbean so far en route (via the Panama Canal) back across the Pacific. What a life! 

And speaking of a life… we are both blown away by the warmth, generosity and hospitality of our wonderful hosts. Mike and Gloria: thank you, thank you!!

Liz and Will

The first of several pictures that (we hope) speak for themselves :)

Every time you look you just have to have another try at capturing the beauty

We'd heard about the squalls that blow through; here's one over Barbuda

Love this stage of a sunset, when you're reminded of how much bigger it is than you are

Low Bay beach - what a colour palette!

Yes, we were there

The water felt good, too

Liz keeping us going in the right direction

Nothing more exhilarating than going where the wind takes you!

(All pictures off Will's Samsung phone)