17:33.0 N   61:46.9 W Barbuda

Friday 7^th March . Slipped from out moorings in Jolly Harbour about 10.30, and sailed North towards the little island of Barbuda which lies 20 miles North of Antigua.

( Duggie - It is described in the pilot book as being the into-the-heart-of-nature diehard’s Heaven on earth. It is almost the size of Antigua but with only 1,600 inhabitants. It’s highest point is 125 feet above water level, that area being called the Highlands. The island is surrounded by the most beautiful pinky white coral beaches, the longest one being over 11 miles long. It has the largest Frigate bird rookery this side of the Panama Canal and donkeys, horses and deer roam wild, as do the local staple diet, wild boar. The island was used in times of slavery to grow ground provisions and live stock to feed the slaves on the plantations on Antigua and as an sporting estate for the English owners, the Codringtons who leased the island from the British government for the princely some of one fat sheep per year. The Codringtons also owned most of the Plantations on Antigua, one of them being “Betty’s Hope” which we featured in an earlier blog. The main village is called Codrington after the family as is nearly everything else; Codrington Airport, Codrington Shoals, Codrington Lagoon , Codrington Bank etc. They originated from Dodington in England and of course, you’ve guessed it, there’s Dodington Bank………………

The island waters are littered with coral reefs and navigation in this area is tricky. Miles out from the island you are sailing in 12 - 20 feet of water and can clearly see the white coral bottom through the crystal clear turquoise water. As you can imagine, this is most disconcerting to the navigator. In fact, when approaching the island you can sometimes see the turquoise reflection of the sea and coral reefs in any clouds that happen to be passing the island. Lesson ends)

We still had a constant 25 knots of wind from the North East , so made steady progress with just the jib and mizzen sails. Dropped our anchor about 13.30 in the shelter of the cliffs at Dickinson Bay. This is at the Northern tip of Antigua so we are ready for our hop across to Barbuda tomorrow. The beach at Dickinson Bay is basically a Sandals resort, but we blended right in before slipping back to Swiftwing for Bev’s homemade lasagne, with real chips and salad.

Saturday 8^th March. The skipper roused us all early to leave Dickinson Bay at 8.30 sharp. We reached in a North Westerly direction to get around Salt Fish Tail reef, before turning North through Diamond Channel, which is littered with wrecks, to cross Antigua channel. We had a cracking sail under full jib, reefed main and full mizzen. During a squally rain shower we had the toe rail in the water and got up to 7.6 knots. Dougie did the gentlemanly thing and took over the helm from Bev, and proceed to get drenched in the driving rain. The sun came out, wind picked up again, and we set off at a terrific rate. After a bit of tricky navigation around coral reefs, we arrived at Cocoa Beach, Barbuda at 12.30, and anchored 100 yards off the beach. Our only neighbours are a couple of millionaires in their mega yachts. We were entertained at lunch time by them playing with their toys. (Lasers dinghies, jet skis, ribs and a cat) We were soon ashore with Doody on the most perfect beach we’ve seen so far. Crystal clear water, immaculate creamy sand, and hardly another soul in sight. We came in search of paradise, just like the Bounty advert when we were kids. The water was so clear, that we swam out and could check the anchor lying on the bottom twelve feet below. We retired to Swiftwing for dinner, and relaxed with some of ‘The Reid’s’ eclectic music mix. Photo’s to follow soon we hope when we can get a WiFi point.

Sunday 9^th March. Coco Beach was so beautiful that we decided to stay another day and night. During a walk along the beach we met a local man who controls the airstrip. We asked him what the scarecrow on the beach was for and he explained that the wild donkeys on the beach wander up to the airstrip to graze, and that this is to stop them. However, once they’ve seen it a few times, they take no notice. So his job is to keep them and the wild white tailed deer off the airstrip. It turned out he had played cricket for Barbuda in Lanarkshire, and had also visited Edinburgh. The local community own the land on Barbuda, and any hotels (which are exclusive due to the travelling difficulties to the island) are only allowed to lease the land. When the hotel company moves on, the land reverts back to the locals. Unlike Antigua, who sell off land to anyone who can afford it.

Monday 10^th March. We left Barbuda this morning and had a cracking sail to Jolly Harbour. We had a calm sea with 15 knots of wind, and ‘popped the kite‘. (Spinnaker) Just off Antigua a mega yacht was put to shame (as he was motoring) and on seeing us he hoisted his jib, and sailed past us at close quarters. When we sailed in to Jolly harbour we met up with the Irish couple, Michael and Anne again, and were invited back to their yacht for dinner. Michael is a very talented musician who plays the accordion, so we had a lovely sing song too.

Tuesday 11^th March. We had a long lie and lazy day following our late night on “Orchestra“. John and Helen went ashore for supplies in the dinghy, and Helen took the helm for her first solo flight in Doody. Following a relaxing swim in the marina pool we had a tasty dinner of home made Caribbean pizza, with pineapple and banana on it, (John’s favourite) and an early night.

Wednesday 12^th March. We slipped out of Jolly Harbour, sailed through Goat Head channel, inside Cades reefs and towards Falmouth Harbour. We had a great view of the volcano on Montserrat smoking in the distance. On entering Falmouth Harbour, we came upon ‘Event Horizon’, friends that Dougie and Bev hadn’t seen since Portugal. We anchored and went to a new beach this afternoon. You will never run out of beaches in Antigua.

Photo blog to follow.