Firstly, please accept our apologies for taking so long to fill in our Blog site for you. The fortune teller would have told us in March, she saw technical difficulties, followed by happy times, hard work, and much travel. She might have added that we would not fulfil all our intentions over the next three months. The main one of course being to write this letter to you a little more timeously!!! Sorry!

Our first adventure since the last letter, was to host Blair and Susan Fletcher for a week and to join them for a memorable meal, the following week during their beach holiday at the Royal Antiguan Hotel, newly painted orange and blue, to match the flowers in its remarkable grounds. We had a very restful sail around the island, swimming and snorkelling every day in a new bay or underwater garden. There were plenty of turtles to see, as well as rays and puffer fish, and of course the fireflies and pelicans in the trees in Emerald Bay.

Will assisted the race committee in the Antigua Classic Regatta, on what was supposed to be the protest committee. Unfortunately, it seems as though they wish to run the regatta as a rally rather than a racing regatta, and it consequently falls between the two stools. Chris Martin, the International Judge, on whose shoulders the race officer ship and chairman of the jury falls, has a few thoughts that may nudge the Regatta spirit closer to a more modern racing regatta for next year. We hope so, since it is an incredible sight to see 120 foot schooners, together with the J classes Endeavour (prior to the regatta)

and Ranger, beating their way up to the finish line, with fifty other beautiful schooners and sloops.

Most were over fifty years old, and one over a hundred years old from Cornwall. It would be a shame not to see the racing thoroughbreds there again, due to a lack of a proper route of complaint, for the competitors. The courses are mostly reaching, which suits the older type of rig, especially since the seas are a bit steep sometimes off the south coast of Antigua.

The six meter Nada, competed in the Regatta. She has just been rebuilt by Woodstock Boatbuilders, a wooden boat yard with excellent traditional skills. Will sailed on the original Nada, down the east coast of England, from Blyth to Harwich, in the late 1960’s. The voyage, with Steve Jones as Skipper and Will as the only crew, took three days in thick fog and without an engine! There were at least five people sailing Nada during the regatta and, indeed, they performed very well.

We had a wonderful trip to Barbuda, thirty miles north of Antigua, with Desmond and Sue as our guests. Although we had visited the west side of Barbuda before, on this occasion, we anchored off the south east coast, Spanish Point, after threading our way through the many reefs.

The colour of the water there is an incredible azure blue, caused by the shallow waters, based with a white, white sand. It stretches for about three miles before the reefs. In the old days, the inhabitants used to be able to live off the wrecks that were stranded on the island. This is hardly surprising, since the majority of the island, is only about 20 feet above sea level. ‘The Highlands’, (one hill), are about 125 feet above sea level. On a good day, the island is only visible from about 3 miles off, by which time it would have nearly been too late. Think about night time, with no lights on the island! Thank heavens for G.P.S., because of which, now we have plotted the course to safe anchorage through the coral heads onto the electronic chart, entering the reefs should be a fairly simple matter. As long as we keep our eyes peeled as well!

The weather for Antigua Sailing Week was warm and sunny, and with constant 15 knots of breeze from the east Perfect for all the visitors from Europe and the United States. We were unable to help this year with the racing, because Will had a doctor’s appointment back in Scotland, and we had to leave before the end of the regatta, but we hope to offer our services next year. We were able to take our neighbours, Tom and Sylvia, out one day though, to watch the racing, and join in the après race jollities at Dickenson Bay. They were great guests and introduced us to a number of local worthies, who helped push the party along!

‘The Season’ in Antigua, seems to be from mid November to mid May, consequently, it almost seems like end of term in Jolly Harbour, at the beginning of May, when our friends begin to shut up their houses, and return for the summer to the States or Europe. Some will be back for a short time, mid summer, and some in November. Since we are now back from Scotland, it is pleasantly quiet here, if a little hot!

Six weeks in Scotland is not enough time to see everybody. We had hoped to drive down to England, at the end of our holiday, to see friends and relations, and then leave the hire car at Gatwick, and fly back from there. British Airways, instead of refunding money for missing a leg of our journey with them, from Glasgow to Gatwick, told us they would have to cancel the whole flight to Antigua, and it would cost a lot more to rebook the return leg! So much for choices with modern travel! We regrettably had to change our ideas of a foray into the deep south (of England!)

It was delightful to see our family again. Susan seems to have buckled down to her PhD in Artificial Intelligence, (computers!), as well as having a job, programming in her small amount of spare time. Stephen is as lively as usual and still having a good time, kick boxing, playing snooker and Engineering. It’s good to see someone enjoy their work so much, and his contribution seems to be valued. We were very pleased to meet Emma, Stephen’s girlfriend, during our stay. She was born in Edinburgh, moved to Holland, but lives in Glasgow now, and we hope to get to know her better in the future.

We took the opportunity, whilst back, to engage the Glasgow branch of Will’s old company, to finish the drawings and carry out the structural design of the houses we intend to build in Jolly Harbour. All was complete (except the future client changes!) by our return, and the plans have now been submitted to the local authority for their approval.

In Glasgow, we stayed in our flat in Fleming House, twelve stories up, with a fabulous view over the centre and south side of Glasgow. Despite a touch of vertigo on occasions, it is a great place to live, with underground parking, and in walking distance to the centre, including trains and bus stations. .

We were also house guests of Wallace and Margaret, Zandra, and Tony and Vicky, and had a great time at their houses, for which, many thanks. We helped Margaret’s Dad to launch his boat and sail Assegai to Lochgair, almost a busman’s holiday, but most enjoyable.

Stephen and Emma joined us on Assegai to view the racing on Loch Fyne.

Will assisted the protest committee at Bell Lawrie Scottish Championships at Tarbert, and it was quite fantastic how many of our old friends were there. We weren’t able to attend enough parties this time, but possibly if we get back to help again!?

During our very pleasant stay in Lochgair, with Wallace and Margaret, we had a great day out helping Richard Weller, with friends and family, manoeuvre his Sigma 36 through the Crinan Canal. There is no doubt that the more people you have helping the boat through the canal the better. It was nearly a record time with two people preparing the locks in front and two people shutting the locks behind. The party at Crinan almost capsized the boat!!

There was a race back to Largs Marina after the weekend prize giving at the Scottish Series, and Will was lucky enough to be asked by Danny Sinclair to helm his J109. It was an exhilarating sail, with Danny and Donald working the asymmetric spinnaker. The boat reached nearly 13 knots at times in 30 knot gusts from the northwest, with a flat sea. They were pipped for first place line honours only by a much bigger J boat who powered past in the last minutes. Slightly different from Atlantia who made a stately 5.5 knots across the Atlantic!

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We loved the flowers in Scotland and the rhododendrons seemed to be everywhere. May is obviously the right month to visit home since the sun shines almost all the time and the bluebells and primroses bursting from their stems, whilst yellow flowers of the gorse and broom cover every hillside. We think we were quite lucky with our choice of dates!

Most of the business we set out to do was completed, and, although the property letting market in Scotland has been a bit disappointing, Will is delighted with the progress made by M.D.H. Hughes as his pension advisors. They have nearly performed miracles with a pension fund sadly depleted by Gordon Brown and the ineptitude of Scottish Life. We really would like to thank everyone who helped to make our stay in Scotland so enjoyable. It was a pleasure to be back.

Having returned to Antigua, we have been pleased to have accommodated Harry Nobbs as a boat guest whilst he bought a new boat here. We enjoyed his company. It has been a week of variable weather and appears to rain more here than in Scotland, strange though it may seem. The showers are short and sharp, and very welcome most of the time because they cool the whole place down.

As we write, the pelicans are diving into the lagoon behind us, and, most oddly, they seem to be accompanied by laughing gulls, who seem to think that they can make the pelican drop its fish, by landing on its head. This, of course, is a little unlikely, since the pelican already has the fish ready wrapped in its pouch beneath its beak. All it has to do is to tip its head back and swallow, so the likelihood of a spill is fairly remote. It must happen sometimes though, otherwise why would the gull land on the pelican’s head?! A laughing gull by the way is like a small blackheaded gull, but it laughs!!

We have been trying to think up names for the two houses for when we have completed them. So far we have Pelican Patch, Pelican Perch, Mongoose Mansions, Ghecko’s Gateway, Coconut Grove, Bougainvillea Bottom, Chickadee Chase and Oorhoose! If you have any other suggestions please let us know. A free rum punch for the one’s we use!

On Monday, we lift out of the water for a week, and Marci will be painting the bottom, and the topsides will be patched as necessary by Tindal. They are good workers. Sue and Desmond have most kindly lent us a part of their house here whilst the boat is out of the water, so we won’t have to climb a ladder every time we want to go to bed!!

We enclose some of our snaps, we hope you like them.

Sleep tight, Love Atlantia