Hi Everybody, 

1. The events leading up to the Titanic tragedy were so painful, you couldn’t have made it up. For example, apparently there was a last minute re-shuffle of staff and one of the officers was given leave and left in a hurry, taking the key to the locker that the binoculars were locked in. No binoculars; harder to spot icebergs. And it was the Captain’s last voyage before he retired. I’m sure it’s all in the movie but boy, do we love a little bit of maritime disaster in boat school. Sorry :)

2. Kids start taking the bus alone in Antigua when they’re six. Six!

3. The posh kids in Antigua do their A levels in boarding schools in the UK, before they go to Uni (also abroad). Sometimes they return home, sometimes they don’t. The lady who owns the swimwear shop in Heritage Quay has a 50/50 return rate of her children. She looked at the girls and said they should join her grandchildren’s school. We smiled politely but I think we’ll stick to boat school for now. 

4. American college kids who rent catamarans and spend Saturday night partying on the dock are extra, super lucky college kids. They are really having a lot of fun! 

5. That if you give Antiguans a chance to laugh, they will laugh and laugh and laugh. Examples: the waitress’s reaction to Delphine’s tomato-smeared glasses after eating her pizza in the cafe in St. John’s, when the lady on the supermarket checkout asked Jack why he bit his nails because her own kids bite their nails and he said that the reason he bites his nails is because he didn’t have a good mother (I held my breath until she started) and the girl on the bus who’d won a music scholarship to the UK because her laugh really was the best kind of music. 

6. Play dates are a breath of fresh air! Thanks to Torri, who’s 9 and on the catamaran Saint Luce, for coming over. Boat kids play differently too to kids who live on land. It may be an observation akin to how people who live in small spaces behave (like jail :) but painting and listening to book tapes seem to be the order of the day here on Quest.

7. That no one except a British-registered boat with a Welsh Strickleton flag take heed of the fact it’s supposed to get really windy this coming week and all are leaving the marina in droves, maybe to anchor next to those college kids on the catamaran. The Captain is scratching his beard. Are we being too cautious about this matter? 

Love from Quest and her crew xx