The good conditions continued.  Scything northwards at up to 10 knots under full sail.  One idea was that we should put in at Les Saintes, islands to the south of Guadeloupe, but we were going so fast that we passed Iles des Saintes at about 1am and just kept going all night.   The dials were switched to red light.  A bit bumpy here and there, and the wind speed dropped as we went into the lee of the various island we passed, but most of the time we were going like a rocket.  We reached Antigua after about 24 hours sailing and decided to slot into a little bay away from the main centres

 

It was a pity to miss the Saintes, which sound lovely, but we had spent time on three very different islands - Mustique, Bequia and St Lucia, so there is no need to be greedy.    The mainstay in the Saintes was fishing, and is now tourism.   Iles des Saintes were never agricultural, so they do not have the grim shadow of slavery that clouds so much of the history in this part of the world.   We also had a notion of putting in to Dominica - very badly hit by the recent hurricane but an extraordinary landscape with rivers, rain forest and mountains up to about 1600m.   To do it justice would require a longer stay. 

 

We are in Nonsuch Bay, a reef-protected expanse of quiet water on the east side of the island of Antigua.   Priority#1 on arrival was food, which was a large brunch.  Then a snooze and a swim.    BBQ this evening.   The little island is Bird Island, obviously named by someone with a vivid imagination.

 

 

 

 

Sorry about the black blob on the photos.  There must be a way of getting rid of it but I will need expert help.  One item of good news is last night’s gravy (small things become important when at sea).  We had little meat pies, and what I had mistakenly thought was Campbell’s mushroom soup turned out on examination  to be mushroom gravy, which just hit the spot.

 

That’s all folks