March 18 to 22nd

March 18^th Mark, Jennifer and Robbie went for a dive just around the corner. I think they were a bit disappointed but still enjoyed it.

Day 4 of no email still! In frustration Robbie went and brought a sim card after trying Starlets phone again, part of the problem was we needed a mobile phone for them to send a code to, we had repeatedly tried Starlets mobile phone and they just didn’t receive the code. We tried the new sim and number with very high hopes, and guess what it still didn’t work. So we know the routine now, lodge another complaint and someone will get back to you in 24-48 hours. Hasn’t worked so far!

We picked up Mark and Jennifer in our duck and went over to the Italian restaurant on the other side of English Harbour, to have dinner with La’Dagio’s crew, and meet Monika, Lausts wife, for the first time. We had just missed her in the Canary Islands, she flew out just before we arrived. We had a great night it was 2 for 1 Pizza’s and they were just as good as the genuine Italian ones.

 

 March 19^thHoo ray, Finally Microsoft unblocked the email account! What a fiasco that has been. Hope we never have to go through that again! Starlet moved over to Jolly Harbour, they are getting ready to head to St Barts to pick up a guest from the USA, Diane. Robbie and I had gone for a walk and a swim on the beach, Robbie swam out to say farewell. I was too sooky to walk over the coral at that part of the beach.

We walked over to Falmouth Harbour and Picked up the new router from the yacht services place, and came back to the boat and installed it. We were even able to configure it and set up the security. Sam take note!!! So I can report now that “Extreme Roaming” our new data plan, works very well in Antigua, will keep you posted on the rest of our destinations!

March 20^th We got good reports from Starlet about the beautiful anchorage and the fast internet, at Jolly Harbour so we decided to move around there. The other attraction there is the Epicurean supermarket which is a skip and a hop from the dinghy dock.

It was a quick trip around and after we anchored we took the duck into the supermarket. We ran into Laust and Monika they also moved around. In the marina we met Larry and Debbie on Nordhavn 43 Tropical Blend, and also saw Sean on Kapowai, the Nordhavn 64 we previously met in Falmouth Harbour. It was great chatting with Debbie and Larry and we agreed to catch up tomorrow.

We had a game of 500 with Mark and Jennifer on Starlet in the afternoon, where for the first time the girls played the boys. It was fun and then we all went to a Greek restaurant for dinner where we had a very opinionated waitress who acutally mucked up our order instead of getting Pork chops we all received Lamb chops, which were much more expensive. We agreed to keep them.

 

March 21^st Robbie took the duck in to the marina, and took off the propeller and took it to the Yamaha agent to buy a new one. He came back and then we went back in and took all the duck petrol containers to fill up. The fuel dock was closed for lunch so we first of all made friends with “Crew” on a sail cat Oh what a cute dog he was! We walked to the nearby chandlery to get some bits and pieces, it was very expensive! We tried to email Debbie and Larry on Tropical Blend but the emails keep bouncing back for some reason.

In the afternoon we moved around to Stony Bay in five islands area, and anchored next to La’Dagio, we were the only 2 boats in the bay and it was very pretty with a nice sandy beach. We went into the beach with Laust and Monika in their baby duck so we could drag it up on the beach. We had a very pleasant short walk and chat and then they dropped us off and we agreed to have a game of cards after dinner. As they went to leave they ran out of petrol and Laust did a very nice row back to La’Dagio. (Monika said it was sexy, I said it was romantic! Laust preferred Monika’s version!)

We had dinner then, and Laust and Monika came back over in the big duck (they call it a RIB) and we taught them 500. Like Mark and Jennifer from Starlet, they were quick learners as they had played Bridge before. Monika and I let the boys win It was a lot of fun.

 

March 22^nd We left at 6am for Barbuda so as to get there around midday to enter the reef with the sun overhead. It was quite choppy with the usual trade winds of around 18 knots. I was quite nervous as I had read the cruising guide about the >200 wrecks in the area, the charts are not accurate due to the high coral growth rate and other negative stuff. Poor Robbie had to settle me down. He has had so much experience entering reefs with all the Whitsundays and Great Barrier Reef trips he has done and we have the perfect boat for it with fantastic vision from the fly bridge. I don’t know why I was so nervous.

We first of all checked out the Southern anchorage which was supposed to be the better anchorage but it was very rough and windy so we went around the corner to the West side of Coco Point, where it was much better, there were about 6 yachts already there and in fact it was idyllic!

My perfect anchorage, crystal clear water, white sandy beaches and not too many people. We took the duck off and went into the beach for a walk and a drink at the resort. The security guard met us at the beach and informed us very politely that we were welcome to anchor the duck (it’s too big and heavy to drag onto the beach), and go for a walk but that it was an “all inclusive” resort and we were not permitted to buy a drink.

We were OK with that and spent a few hours walking up as far as we could manage, stopping for a swim as we liked. It was heaven on earth. At one point we lay on the beautiful clean sand, and next minute a small plane flew right over us, not very far above us, to land on the small air strip behind us.

We made our way back to the boat and swam some more, Robbie took photos of the sucker fish stuck to the bottom of Southern Star. I cooked a spaghetti Bolognese to use up some of the vegetables I had in the fridge and we watched a movie and were in bed by 7:30pm