The frustrations of waiting at anchor for the weather to improve off Charlestown, Nevis for 4 days melted away as we made our escape under cover of darkness early Monday morning.  A beautiful sunrise over the silhouetted Nevis volcano accompanied our turn to the East and our rhum line for Antigua 50 or so nautical miles away.  The seas had calmed but the wind, smack on the nose, was still blowing 20kts, so we motor sailed for several hours until the gods looked kindly on us, veered the wind 40 degrees and allowed us to set a course under full sail directly for Antigua.  So kind was the wind that we were less than 1 mile from Jolly Harbour when we dropped the sails and motored gingerly up the “dredged” channel in less than 3.5m of water!

We have taken up the habit of placing a $US 1 bet on arrival times.  Trevor won this time comfortably with much self congratulatory back slapping!  Settled on the customs dock, Nigel went through the usual bureaucratic palaver with customs, immigration and harbor authority, others took a ton of laundry for a service wash and eventually we all ended up, inevitably, at the Foredeck Bar to quench our thirst.

It’s good to be back in Jolly Harbour and we were made to feel welcome by several other live-aboard sailors, who shouted “welcome back Oboe” and the like as we provided the usual spectacle with our attempts to look cool and relaxed mooring up stern-to on the wall!

Antigua is buzzing with the barmy army supporting the England cricket team playing the West Indies a few miles across town.  Trevor and James will go to the match tomorrow, while Nigel visits his cousin and nephew, who have come to stay for a week in Antigua and Marcus (groan) starts yet another big clean up job!  Marcus you are a hero! 

Nigel