Antigua

We left Guadeloupe on Jan 23rd and sailed 40M North to Antigua. A good sail, arriving in English Harbour. A classic old natural harbour and an icon of sailing and the Caribbean. Lots of big classic yachts in the marina. We anchored out in the outer harbour and sorted out the formalities at customs. Check in isn’t as easy as the French islands but at least all the offices are in one building. Head to customs, paperwork, head to immigration, paperwork, head to vessel clearing, paperwork, call the vet, more paperwork and another $50. Next morning we wandered around looking to do some laundry and provisioning but there wasn't much going on. Laundry was too busy and they wanted $20 a load!, supermarket to limited and expensive. We were hungry and a bit annoyed that the only place we found for breakfast was expensive, but we ordered a $5 muffin, and $10 egg on toast and coffee and juice. It was pretty light on and we were eating and complaining to each other about what a rip off it was, until we paid the bill and realised the menu was in EC (Eastern Caribbean Dollars) which are about $2.65 USD…So it was actually pretty cheap! Pity we didn’t realise soon enough to enjoy the meal!

We weighed anchor around lunchtime to head North to Nonsuch Bay as it was recommended as a nice anchorage and good place to kite surf. Sailing East in the Caribbean guarantees headwinds and opposing currents but we had a nice sail up there and picked up a free mooring for the night. Next day we moved to a more protected mooring just off the beach at Green Island. Great place! We could have stayed longer but after a week we ran out of food for Balrog. After a few days of him eating our food we thought we better head off to reprovision, so we sailed to Jolly Harbour on the West coast. Nonsuch Bay was close to a perfect anchorage. Not much civilization around. A couple of resort restaurants a 10 minute dinghy ride away. Great kitesurfing spot. It would have been nice to stay longer but maybe we will return sometime..

Great food and surroundings at Nonsuch Bay resort, as well as Harmony Hall. Nice to treat ourselves to someone else's cooking occasionally, especially when the food is great !

Pretty close to Paradise!

Jolly Harbour was good for provisioning although a bit pricey, We took the local bus to the main town, St Johns and had a look around while we were there. Jen met some schoolgirls that looked like they should be in a girl band!