Zoë and Matt
Blue Sky's Voyage
George & Michael
Sun 16 Mar 2008 17:33
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Hello Friends
"15:52.2N 61:35.1W"
Zoë and Matt escaped the English gales
arriving on schedule in Antigua last Monday. They spent the first day gently
acclimatising with a tour around Nelson's Dockyard and a stroll along the coast
path between English and Falmouth harbours. [see blogs 18 Jan 07 and 1 Feb 07
for pics of Antigua.]
Matt, who has never been on a boat
without feeling seasick, was forewarned to get some Hyoscine patches before
coming out. Duly prepared, we set off for a sail upwind to the Green Island
anchorage on the E side of Antigua. The weather was fortunately the mildest for
months with a very slight swell and light winds, though as we were tacking
upwind we enjoyed a comfortable 17-18 knots apparent. Matt found the whole
experience rather strange and didn't feel unwell at all and was able to see how
enjoyable sailing is (in these conditions!).
We did the usual things of going to the
beach for a stroll along the water's edge and snorkelling the reef. Since both
Zoë and Matt felt fine on board, we decided to put in a few miles and on Friday
enjoyed a fantastic sail to Guadeloupe. Again the sea conditions were very
gentle and as the wind was a little light, we flew the spinnaker for the first
time since arriving in the Caribbean and had a very comfortable sail to Deshaies
as shown here...
 The day's sailing was one of the most
satisfactory for some time - as well as using the spinnaker, we saw whales
about 100 metres away, probably Minkes and caught a tuna big enough for supper
for us all. The following day we headed south and stopped at Pigeon Island - the
Cousteau Reserve (for those old enough to remember Jacques Cousteau and the
voyages of the Calypso). Amazingly, this was the first time we'd snorkelled in
the reserve and we had a great break which justifies several
photos...
From bottom left to top right - Fabio, Zoë
and Matt:
 assorted coral and fish...
  note the very clear water... We
then headed down to Les Saintes where the crew are at this minute enjoying
the benefits of the swimming beach where we accidentally anchored last year,
before we found out that it is forbidden. After all the sailing and snorkelling,
I guess they needed the rest.
 Having sailed so far south, we will be
heading north again next week when the weather forecast is quite different...
Watch this space for how Zoë and Matt survive the 5 metre northerly swell and 20
knots winds currently forecast !!
Best Wishes
Michael
with inspiration from George, Zoë, Matt and
Fabio
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