Friday  February 19th,  2015

Jolly Harbour Marina, Antigua 17 04.2N 61 53.2W

Today's Blog by David (Time zone: UTC -4.0)

To report that it was Party Time in Les Saintes, just south or Guadeloupe! Stephen Gratton, approaching a ripe old age that requires a BIG birthday party, invited a group of the friends  they had made around the world to join them in Les Saintes.  It is a beautiful anchorage:

Simone and I travelled out especially. We flew to Antigua then sailed first to Carlisle Bay – somewhere with plenty of space  so we could see if either of us  could remember how to drop and recover the  anchor -  then to Les Trois Tortue on  Guadeloupe. This was a beautiful beam reach in 12 knots true – idlyic tropical sailing. We anchored, expertly,  overnight.

We arrived in Les Saintes at about 11.30am the day before the Big One – and the party had already started.     Debbie invited all those present  aboard Amelie for  one of those  cruising lunches you fondly try to remember the following day.

A quiet lunch with birthday boy

We repaired early to bed because we were to be on parade at 08.00 for buck’s fizz aboard Bubbles – and extremely well attended it was too as everyone wanted to see their  new Oyster 625.  And admire it we did  while are grazed on a fantastic breakfast spread that Karin had somehow conjured up overnight.  

By 10.00 it was time to withdraw and regroup ahead of the  lunchtime  beach party – with barbeque and games. 

The beach party warming up

Quite what game Debbie was playing here was never clear - to me at least!

Then back to the boat to recover before dinner ashore at 19.00 when the assembled crews of  OWR participants Amelie, Babe, Bubbles (aka Duchess), Legend, Pearl of Persia, Satika, Serendipity,  Sotto Vento and Yantina were joined by the crew of Oyster 405 Sephina and of a non Oyster: Jabayaba!

I confess we bailed out at about 01.00 but the party was still going strong on Amelie at about 04.00 – just another day in the life of the OWR.

Then up the following morning to make our way round the fleet:

The fleet recovers  

to bid farewell prior to the journey back to Antigua (accompanied and ably abetted by Ian (Yantina))  where we put the boat to bed for a couple of months  and then flew home. ……. Phew!