Too much wind and no rugby!

Oriole
Sun 17 Feb 2013 12:40
Hermitage Bay, Five Islands, Antigua                                                                                17:05.24N  61:53.74W                                                   
 
Denis arrived on Wednesday and we spent a couple of days showing him the sights of English Harbour and introducing him to some of the local hostelries.  We did the ridge walk from Fort Charlotte at the entrance to English Harbour up to Shirley Heights and then back to Freemans bay for a swim before lunch.  We had delayed our departure to go sailing so Denis could see Andrew and meet Caroline and look over Gitana. 
 
 
We will attempt to give the boy some sun!
 
However our long booked evening at the famed Rumbaba needed a changed dramatis personae as both Andrew and Caroline had flu, one of the occupational hazards of transatlantic flights to go skiing.  We hear that there is a very nasty flu bug in Europe.  The Moonsongs joined us at the last minute.  We have had two domiciliary visits from the Digicel technical department to sort out our computer dongle to enable us to link to the very fast 4G network for internet access.  Both of the technicians viewed the visit as a great adventure as of course Oriole is out at anchor and they had to come out in the dinghy.  They were non-swimmers like most Antiguans and fortunately we had the foresight to arm the dinghy with lifejackets. 
We emerged from Falmouth Harbour on a very squally morning just as a 30+ knot squall came through.  The seas were big and the tops were coming off them and after half and hour of windward work to get up to Nonsuch Bay for the weekend we took the wimps way out and turned tail for the lee side of the island. Last night we were anchored in Hermitage Bay after a decidedly squally day and the wind went off to give us a very peaceful night.  Chris and I were awakened this morning by the gentle lapping of water against the hull which sounded like a boat close alongside.  Indeed it was and a Customs patrol boat with three 300h-p outboards went sidling by.  Fortunately they did not stop, so our Sunday morning lie in was not disturbed too much.
No rugby this weekend so we will be back to the wilds of the North Sound and hopefully a few conch for supper.  Meanwhile the skipper has finally got Denis's early morning cup of tea to his liking so for the time being our first class non-paying charter guest is happy.