We last updated this diary in early April, from (Dutch) St Maarten, where Roland spent many hours at the top of the mast, checking the gear at 62 feet. Being at the end of a runway was unnerving when several 747s passed close overhead. We were waiting for favourable winds to sail to Antigua in time for Classic Race Week. Friends Helen and Alan from Anguilla planned to join us in Antigua for a few days aboard, and had invited us to join them for a helicopter ride over Montserrat Volcano, active at the moment. Also, on 5 May our friends, June and Pat from NZ, who have sold their business, planned to join us for 2 months.

On the 15^th April at 0900 the bridge out of St Maarten lagoon opened, and we set off for Antigua, with a dozen superyachts. We motorsailed through the day and night, catching 3 tunafish, and arrived in Falmouth Harbour at 0300 to clear Customs & Immigration on Easter Sunday! We rushed back to Falmouth Harbour to wave goodbye to an old HK friend, David who was sailing to Palma on superyacht Victoria of Strathearn. We met his partner, Eve, and it was fun to let go the ropes, Victoria blew a farewell blast and other superyachts in Falmouth Harbour blew their horns in a friendly farewell.  A lot of yachts that we have met over the past year were in Antigua, and we spent time catching up and asking for advice on sailing to Trinidad and Venezuela for the hurricane season, eventually deciding that we would sail back north to the States. The Trinidad ‘adventures’ sounded good enough to miss. It seemed we would be living in a marina for the 6 months of the hurricane season, and we decided we would rather cruise the Chesapeake, and maybe go up some of the American rivers and waterways. We caught up with A Capella, Lalize, Nyaminyami, Lorrigray, Sunday’s Child, Oriole, Sutton Hoo, and at a potluck lunch ashore, Bagheera, whom we had met in Sri Lanka 17 years earlier!  Also saw NZ friends Rhonda and David who were sailing through the Panama to Galapagos on superyacht Sassafrass, and other HK friends, Peter and Vanessa. Roland crewed on Victoria of Duxbury, for part of Classic Race Week, and we went to the very English Tea party at English Harbour’s Admiralty Inn, where Eve was helping to dish out home-made scones and jam, while we watched the Gig races: 9 dinghies and the Carib canoe Gli-Gli, racing around a short course in the harbour, all good fun. Antigua Race Week is a sailor’s dream, and we were lucky to be there two years in a row.

We motored round to Jolly Harbour, where we found a great supermarket, docking at Eve’s dock, where she gave us the run of her laundry, and we watched about twenty hummingbirds eating from her sugar-feeders. Helen and Alan arrived from Anguilla for a few days aboard, and Roland went with them by helicopter to see Montserrat. We sailed out to watch some of the racing with Eve, and she had a BBQ at her home for us.

On 1 May we set off at 0600 with Helen and Alan, to sail to Barbuda, 30 miles away. We caught 3 king mackerels on the way, went ashore and walked along the powder beaches, and then sailed back to Antigua the next day. Alan had another king mackerel on the line, but it was a real fight to bring it in, and when we got it aboard we saw half of its stomach had been eaten by another bigger fish!  That afternoon Alan waded ashore and taxi’d to the airport to fly to London! Helen flew back to Anguilla the next day. We had a lovely few days together and it was great that they could fit it into their busy schedules.

We returned to Falmouth Harbour, and Eve loaned us her car for the day, to collect June and Pat from the airport, and to do a bit of sightseeing.  We bought mangoes, papayas, pineapple and bananas at a roadside stall before settling June and Pat into their new home, and then going for an evening walk around English Harbour. The next day another walk up the ridge of the hills, through all the ruined forts, and down to English Harbour and yet another evening walk to watch the police beating the retreat, and the prize giving. We had dinner at the Admiral’s Inn, with a live steel band and walked back to the boat through dense crowds of people dancing in the streets. On 7^th May we motored round to English Harbour to check out from Customs & Immigration, bought fresh bread from the Georgian bakery, and used up the last of our EC money buying souvenirs. Then we set sail for Barbuda, stopped at a small reef island for the night and arrived the next morning. A lobsterman came over to us, and sold us 5 spotted guinea fowl lobsters. We snorkeled on the reef all afternoon, and then cooked up the lobsters and had a superb dinner. The next day we made an expedition into Codrington, dragging the dinghy over the sandbar into the lagoon, and dinghying into 'town' where we saw more lizards than people. We set off at 1700 with a following wind, the 70 miles to Anguilla, catching a large tuna on daybreak.

11^th May we arrived in Anguilla, and cleared customs and immigration, and finding that Customs officer Anita was a cross-stitcher and patchworker, we gave her some patterns and fabrics. Helen came and picked us up and took us to Government House for a lovely lunch, and the use of her laundry. We went to Roy’s beach restaurant for dinner. Roland and I had 3 lovely nights ashore at Government House, and Helen loaned us her car to go sightseeing, and to get provisions. I made Chinese fish and rice for dinner at Government House, with the tuna we had caught, and we took Helen, Alan and their houseguests sailing for the day, Antonella had never been sailing in her life!!! (Hard for us to imagine.) We watched Anguilla Race Week and the Mix-Up regatta, and then left Anguilla, sailing overnight to British Virgin Islands, arrived at Necker Island at 1030 hours on the 15th for a snorkel, then went round to Bitter End YC where we had pina coladas ashore and anchored for the night. The next day we motored on to Virgin Gorda Baths, walked the track, then went round to Norman Island, where we snorkeled at the cliff face of Treasure Point, and stopped at the Bight, for the night.

On the 17^th we motored round to Cruz Bay, St Johns, U.S. Virgin Islands, where we went to customs & immigration and walked round the village of colourful shops, provisioned at the supermarket and a fruit vendor, and motored round to Hawksnest bay for the night, leaving our US$15 in an honesty box, the daily charge for cruising in the US Virgins National Park. 18.5 We motored to Francis Bay, then walked to Waterlemon Cay, where we snorkeled around a small island, seeing all the fish and coral you could wish for, watched 2 turtles feeding, and a large eagle ray swim majestically past. The next afternoon we motored across the bay, and walked ashore to see the ruins of an old sugar plantation from 1800s. It must have been a huge plantation, big walls made of stone and coral-heads.

On the 20^th May we motorsailed to St Thomas, where we refueled, provisioned, cleared out of the US Virgins, went to the market, and left at 1600, motored round to Honeymoon bay for the night, prepared to leave in the morning for the Bahamas. The next day was June’s birthday, and we left St Thomas at 0730, a great sail out past Culebra, and past the Puerto Rico coast the first night, and later past the Dominican Republic in the distance. One morning we lost a huge marlin, which danced on the water before letting go the lure. The wind was right for the mizzen staysail with the main and mizzen butterflied out. We averaged 5 knots, quite calm seas, no moon. Roland enjoyed having Pat along so they could play around with the sail combinations. We did about 650 miles in 5 days; with 4 of us aboard it was easy doing watches, only 3 x 2 hour watches in 24 hours and we all had at least 1 swim and shower every day, hanging off the stern with a rope with knots tied in it - shark baiting. We stayed a couple of nights at Rum Cay and snorkeled in the shallow reefs, before motorsailing across to Georgetown, where we cleared into Bahamas customs & immigration, and caught up with laundry and provisions for the next few days up the Exuma Islands.

On 30^th May, we motorsailed from Georgetown to Little Farmers Cay, Consie caught a beautiful mahi mahi on the way, which Pat made into sushi, and then we also had it for dinner. A Great Barracuda stayed near us that evening, and only Roland was brave enough to jump in the water. On 31^st we sailed to Staniel’s Cay, where we had snorkeled again into the Thunderball Grotto (from James Bond movie) where we had snorkeled together with Gilbert and Olivia in January. Most of the day’s sail had been in about 3 metres of pale green water, and Pat and Consie took cameras in the dinghy to bring you photos of Restless sailing in the swimming pool of the Bahamas. We have snorkeled with colourful fish, corals, rays, turtles, and today a shark! So we do feel as if we have seen the best of the Caribbean, and we will be very sorry to leave.

From here we plan to sail up to Cape Hatteras and on to the Chesapeake area, where we will decide on where to cruise for the summer and hurricane months, possibly north and out to Nantucket, or up the Hudson and into Lake Ontario –we shall see!!!.