ANTIGUA . A HUGE TICK OFF THE OLD " BUCKET LIST ".

We set off nice and early from Deshaies bound for Antigua along with several other boats keen to get to our next destination . Our cruising guide warned that the northwestern tip of Guadeloupe is notorious for strong katabatic winds and it seems that most of us cruisers are using the same guide as although there was no wind at all and a completely flat sea the boats ahead of us were well reefed with either two and one boat evening putting three reefs in their main . With our water tanks almost empty we decided to make water while motoring in the calm conditions and to fill our 380lt tanks we need 90 minutes of powering along with our Perkins running at 1500rpm . Our plan worked perfectly as with our tanks almost full the breeze started filling in nicely so up went the mainsail and with our unfurled genoa soon we were bumbling along doing 7kns on a calm sea with 12 gusting 15kns of wind on the beam . What a nice gentlemanly way to sail to Antigua allowing us to have a decent breakfast while relaxing in the cockpit with Hlameni (our autopilot) on the helm .

Antigua is one of those destinations that every cruiser hopes to visit one day . With two of the most protected harbours in the Caribbean namely English Harbour and Falmouth Harbour and the recently listed World Heritage Site in the form of the beautifully restored Nelson's Dockyard , the place has a magical aura about it . Nelson's Dockyard with it's restored 18th century buildings is the only working Georgian naval dockyard in the world . It is an interesting story in that Admiral Horatio Nelson , England's most famous historic hero spent his formative years here arriving at the tender age of 26 years . In all the time he was based in English Harbour he never once lived ashore but chose to stay onboard his ship the frigate Boreas . Another interesting story is that of the Nicholson family who arrived onboard their yacht in the early fifties to discover the abandoned dockyard in total disrepair . They initially moved into the derelict 18^th century buildings and then became the driving force behind the restoration of this historic dockyard that had played a major role in Britain's supremacy in the Caribbean .

By chance while watching the racing on top of Middle Ground an elderly lady joined us and while chatting about the boats it was clear she knew most of them intimately . It turned out that she was Lisa Nicholson , a famous name in Antiguan circles and what followed was a great chat about her memories of English and Falmouth Harbour and Antigua in general . She is such a modest person that she was just as eager to hear about our story . The wonderful thing about this cruising life is all the interesting people you get to meet along the way .

Antigua also plays host to the granddaddy of Caribbean regattas , The Antigua Sailing Week and my favourite event The Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta . As luck would have it , this year 2017 is the 50^th Antigua Sailing Week and the 30^th Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta and along with Nelson's Dockyard recently being declared a World Heritage Site the celebratory mood here is infectious with non-stop parties taking place all over this major yachting centre .

We decided that Falmouth Harbour would be a better anchorage as English Harbour with all the festivities was packed and with us being ashore all day and into the night , the last thing l needed was to worry about our beloved boat being bumped and damaged while we were partying ashore . Friends of ours who were anchored in English Harbour had to fend off many boats that tried to squeeze into the anchorage at Freeman's Bay and we heard stories from other cruisers about their anchors being fouled by other boats while anchored in the two smaller bays inside English Harbour . Swedish friends of ours had a French boat pick up their anchor while hauling their own and they seemed quite content to just drop it over the side and motor off . Fortunately they were onboard and had to reset their anchor . Most of the yachts anchored in English Harbour had fenders lining their topsides .

As we motored down the channel in Falmouth the first boat l recognized was the unmistakable Maltese Falcon , a famous sailing vessel that l have seen many times in magazines and books and here she was in the flesh not far from where we anchored . It is one thing looking at pics of something , but nothing quite beats seeing the real object standing proud in front of you . When a yacht has a tall rig , the law requires that there must be a red light mounted on the top of the mast to warn low flying aircraft of their presence and both Falmouth and English Harbour are full of them . At night there are dozens of illuminated masts with red lights on top of them . With the Antigua Sailing Week and the Classic Yacht Regatta taking place less than a week apart , most of the J Boat fleet along with some of the top race boats from around the globe are here including some of the world's most beautiful classic yachts , big and small . I am in seventh heaven waking up each morning and looking out over this incredible array of boats .

Changing the subject completely to dolphins , one morning while sitting in the cockpit having our first cup of coffee , I thought l heard the sound these cetaceans make while breathing on the surface and turned around to spot four of these wonderful creatures alongside our boat . After a couple of minutes of swimming around our stern they slowly headed off into the channel . A great way to start the day .

Spending over two weeks in Antigua allowed us to explore the island which included a trip by bus into St Johns the capital of Antigua . They have a really interesting museum with not only Antigua's history but also that of the entire Caribbean . Along with our Swiss cruising friends we explored the capital before finding a great restaurant hidden on top of an old creole building called Hemingway's where we sat down to a local dish and a couple of cold beers .

Having set out from Trinidad in December 2016 and having visited almost every island up to Antigua we have made many friends along the way . Walking around Nelson's Dockyard we are continually bumping into cruisers that we have met over the last six months . We all seem to remember our boat's names but the discussion always leads to which island we met on . By chance we met a fellow South African Shearwater owned by Chris and Helen Hull . What a surprise to look across the anchorage and see the same design boat as ours flying a large SA flag. Apparently a friend of Chris's spotted us in Falmouth Harbour and phoned him to let him know about our presence . The next day he sailed in from Jolly Harbour. Talking about Jolly we spent a day checking out this impressive marina with every amenity you could ask for . Unfortunately a huge casino complex which is situated at the main entrance to Jolly Harbour went bust and has now become an absolute eyesore spoiling a very well laid out facility .

Time is marching on and after a magic stay in Antigua with all the wonderful events that we have attended , we need to turn around and start our return leg back to Trinidad . Our plan is to visit Barbados which is 300nm southeast of Antigua , then Tobago and finally back to Trinidad to be hauled out by mid-may .

Unfortunately Barbados will probably be a long hard slog to windward but to improve our chances of a better sail we are over-nighting at Green Island off the east coast of Antigua to improve our wind angle to my waypoint 4nm off the eastern tip of La Desirada . If the weather gods play ball and give us a little north (ENE) in the easterly trades we could have probably the nicest passage of the entire season . Let's hold thumbs and see how our passage-plan pans out .