We are still in Antigua, we seem to have taken a liking for the place, and it has been an excellent base to host Zandra and Lachlan MacPherson for two weeks and also Adrian Hodge, our country doctor from Norfolk, who has just left us after a further two weeks holiday. Part of the attraction of Jolly Harbour as a base is that it has a well-stocked supermarket. It even has Cumberland sausages, something not to be found in the rest of the Caribbean.

The weather has improved since Zandra and Lachlan left, which is just as well since the week between visitors was spent sanding and rubbing down, and then applying three coats of cetol to the external woodwork. We are fortunate in that we have found a glossy coat for the cetol (oil/varnish), which seems to be available only in the Caribbean and the States. The boat now looks as though it is brightly varnished and we are expecting it to last at least three years before we have to touch it again. British sailors should demand the gloss coat to be made in Britain as well! Our boats would then look much better for much longer! I don’t think we will use varnish externally ever again! We also re-varnished the saloon table and it now looks like we have laid a sheet of glass over it. Will’s pride and joy!!

Since Zandra and Lachlan left they have been kind enough to send us emails. The first from Zandra says her literary agent (she is the authoress of the most interesting “A Strange and Wild Place” as well as cook books) might be interested in having Atlantia’s travel stories published, which Will is going to attempt to write. The second, from Lachlan, gives an explanation for the name ATLANTIA. We had no idea before now that she was a wave nymph, one of the wives of that famous Greek DANAUS 1st, who is credited with being the first person ever to build a ship. It is rather fun knowing we are being looked after by a wave nymph, even if the boat is a bit motherly in size and character! (Good brightwork though).

With Zandra and Lachlan we explored some of the remote areas of Antigua as well as some of the well-known areas.

In the South East corner of Antigua is an area protected by reefs and islands. It is a beautiful remote area called Nonsuch Bay with Mangrove swamps and the rather exotic Italian Restaurant, Harmony Hall, in one of the side bays. Most of the tables are outside, which makes it very difficult to seat people when it rains, which fortunately isn’t very often. If you are ever in Antigua the restaurant is a must to visit, since not only do they produce superb Italian food but they also have a lovely art gallery and a bar situated in one of the old sugar processing windmills. They have put a Scottish pencheck stair up the external wall and the view from the top is truly lovely.

We anchored with two other boats in Shamrock Bay, which is set amongst the mangrove trees.

We were rewarded with a stunning lumiere show by the fireflies lighting up the bushes not twenty meters away. We sailed into English harbour, home to Nelson’s Dockyard, where Nelson was commanding officer in the 1780’s. Anchoring stern to the stone quayside costs about £12 a night for Atlantia, but the electricity connection is impossible to match for anybody, and the hire of an adapter requires a £300 deposit. Positively stupid! This was more than made up for however by the ambience of Nelson’s Dockyard, where they have recreated the buildings left by the two hundred years of English Naval occupation. There is little or no tide.

There are two first class pubs, one of which is the Admiral’s Inn, where a rear commodore of the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club seems to have lost his flag. (The swallow tail with the two balls is hanging on the wall). The restaurant, which is housed in the old officers quarters is called HQ2. There was live traditional Jazz, which sent Will dancing around the veranda with Zandra, Margaret and Susan, much to the amusement of other diners. The lobster and steak were good value, so the restaurant is to be recommended. Will says he can now do a ‘good food guide’ to Antigua as well as Edinburgh and Glasgow!

The dockyard purports to be the only working Georgian dockyard in existence but Plymouth, England might dispute this. In any event it is very authentic, with tours being carried out by people dressed in appropriate traditional costumes and the buildings being very well restored. This includes the Engineers office, which has been appropriately turned into a pub! (It also used to be the doctors office)!

Zandra and Lachlan’s departure was very Caribbean time. The hire car office didn’t open until half an hour after its supposed time and then the man had forgotten the keys! The flight left an hour later than advertised. We were sad to see them go.

John and Diana, who are Alison’s parents in law, dropped into Antigua the same day and we had a coffee at the cricket ground hotel, called the ‘Sticky Wicket’, where we were attacked by midges! Or ‘no seeums’ as they say here. It was good to chat to John and Diana on their way from a holiday in the British Virgin Islands back to the snow in Suffolk. The wall outside the Sticky Wicket bares testimony to the great West Indian cricketers whose portraits and stories are cast in bronze. Almost every name you would have heard of, Holding, Richards, Ambrose, Lara etc. The Stanford cricket ground is most impressive but we understand is yet to host a test match, since it has only been open for two years and the square has not yet been rolled. No doubt the hotel rooms, which overlook the ground, will be fully booked on match days.

Adrian had been with us out to St Kilda two years ago, when the only good day in three weeks had allowed us to land there. Our two weeks this time couldn’t have been more different. It hardly rained and didn’t blow. Instead there was a steady 15 knots from the East South East and sunshine in 30 degrees Celsius of heat instead of 35 degrees Fahrenheit of cold in June in Scotland, blowing force 7-11, all over the place!

We had a wonderful sail to Montserrat, where the customs charged us £20 over time for the pleasure of landing there on a Saturday. It was St Patrick’s week, celebrated since it was the Irish settlers who first went there. They were responsible for building the windmills on Montserrat and Antigua and probably elsewhere. When we had lent the smartly dressed and friendly immigration officer a pen, he kindly stamped our passports with a shamrock shape and signed them. Possibly the prettiest stamp in our passports. There was not much celebration of St Patrick’s week when we landed at little bay. A jetty, a fenced customs compound, five bars, and a gift shop constructed of painted drift wood, and some boy racers roaring up and down the straight and nearly empty concrete road. The frigate birds and pelicans were continually wheeling over our heads and the black sand beach had laughing and sometimes squealing local children cavorting in the surf.

We booked a tour of the island with Samuel the taxi driver. He showed us the bright and shiny air-conditioned taxi that he would take us in the next day for 25 US dollars each. The next day dawned and at 0930 we took the dinghy ashore and climbed the short ladder at the pier. We discovered that Samuel had double booked us with a French crew, who were nearly the only other boat in the bay, except for Nigel and Jude Davies who had taken the trip the previous day and thoroughly recommended it. The resourceful Samuel had now commandeered a fifteen seater minibus with air-conditioning, if you opened the windows, and dents to front, back and sides. The logo on the windscreen was ‘why worry’. He could just see through it to drive. Will negotiated a 20% discount, which probably wasn’t enough.

The tour of the island was spectacular though, although we were not prepared for the devastation of the Capital, Plymouth (following the volcano eruption in 1995). The North part of the island is very lush and probably anything will grow there including the tropical plants and trees that are everywhere. The North West part of the island has never been affected by either hurricane or volcano. They plan to build a botanic garden near the Governor’s house. We were certain it would be successful.

We were taken to a beach a little further South that had increased in width by about fifty metres due to the volcano. The lava and ash had also filled in the channel from the sea leaving only the deck and D fenders on the jetty berth showing above the sand. We were shown the golf course, which was buried by a river of ash to about five meters deep. The clubhouse was buried to eaves level by the ash and boulders thrown out by the volcano and washed down by the 60 inches of rain that falls on the volcano sides every year. All the houses that looked intact for the next five miles along the mountainside were abandoned. Some of the roofs, which had been corrugated iron were eaten away by the sulphuric acid that rained down from the volcano. Many small bushes had taken over the park and cricket ground, and there was a strong smell of sulphur in the air. We suggested to Samuel that this was his battery giving up, as we climbed the hill, but he assured us it was the volcano. We only believed him when we got out of the bus to take pictures of the volcano sides covered in ash flows.

There were woods around us that had obviously been on fire, but the grass and creepers were coming back. Ferrol pigs, cows, bulls and goats roamed the countryside and the sides of the volcano. The area is out of bounds to humans!

We viewed the ash flow from the side of the valley not buried in the 20 meters of ash that had covered the Capital Plymouth. Once upon a time cruise ships had moored at the extensive dockage. Now there was only 30 meters of one pier left poking into the azure sea. The spire of the Roman Catholic Church just showed its pyramid, 5 meters above the ash level. A huge boulder, bigger than all the houses around, sat in one of the main streets into the city. (Spot it in the picture).

The only buildings that seemed remotely recognisable were three mills, which seemed to have survived the onslaught. Regrettably 23 people had died when they had returned to harvest the fruit, which had been particularly good in 1995. They had returned against the advice of the authorities. It came as a shock to us to learn that Montserrat is actually British. We don’t remember too much aid or disaster relief being given by Britain at the time. A time when a population of 11500 reduced to 4500 due to mass emigration from the island. Only now are some of the people returning to their homes.

We left Montserrat with the volcano still smoking behind us. We had a splendid close reach back to Antigua passing under the stern of the square-rigger S.V.Tenacious. as she sailed west into the evening sun. We re-provisioned at Jolly Harbour for our trip to Barbuda, since there are reportedly few shops, or anything else there.

Barbuda is about 30 miles North of Antigua and cannot be seen until you are close to the first reef, about five miles away. Most of it is a sand dune high, with the highlands being only 125 feet above sea level, with a population of 1600 souls. Why it hasn’t been washed away yet is anybody’s guess. It reminded us of the East Anglian Coast line. Getting nearer however, it was obvious that it was slightly different. The white white sand, the azure sea and the stand of palm trees on ‘eleven mile’ beach sort of gave the game away!

We had lunch the following day at the K Club on Coco Point. The Club had only 2 guests in a low level beautifully designed complex for 84 guests. Over pricing has something to do with the desertion but lunch was excellent. About the same price and slightly better quality than the dome in Edinburgh. The K Club may be up for sale next year if you want to buy it!

Whilst anchored off Coco Point a large loggerhead turtle joined us for about an hour. A Minkie whale and a Humpback whale were sighted on our sail around Barbuda. When we arrived back in Jolly Harbour a dolphin and a large stingray were spotted swimming around the boat. Frigate birds, egrets and pelicans are flying overhead as we write this letter to you.

Susan has put in some snaps, we hope you enjoy them.

Wish you were here

Love Atlantia