Second week in Antigua

We really got into the book swap concept here. As we have a kindle we are rather the anti social readers that have great books but noone else can have the opportunity to read them too. With internet access getting less frequent its becoming harder to download new books so we collected all the books onboard from the previous owner that we didn't want and took them ashore to Jane's Yacht Services. This place has a great book swap where the owners just leave you alone in the room for as long as you wish to find the right book. We came away with 9 new books to read and swap with other yachties.

I spent another day attacking the rust on the stainless steel with phospheric acid. For days afterwards my hands looked like they had a bad dose of eczema but our guardrails and dorade vents were sparkling! Speaking of Dorade Vents. There was a boat in the Antigua Classic Regaate called Dorade for which (legend has it) Dorade vents are so named as they were first used / designed for this vessel. We rewarded ourselves with a few drinks in happy hour (the rum punch is only EC$5 / £1.25 a glass). In typical Saffa style Dylan managed to speak to a guy who happened to have a bag of biltong in his bag (Dylan's correction – it was Jerky as the guy was a Yank) like a truffle hound he can always seem to sniff this out! Wanting to return the favour we ordered the guy a scotch egg but he left before it was served – result! We gobbled down the Britishy food reminiscent of the times Dylan would bring one back for me when he walked past a Tescos on the way home.

For the first 2 races of Classic Regatta Dylan didn't participate as he was scared off by the torrential rain that seemed to come down in the morning only to clear just in time for the racing later but he did eventually get on a boat and he blogs about it so I shan't go on. I had a great time in his absence doing girly things. I persuaded my friend off Kadoona to cut my hair and even layer it around my face. Glass of wine in hand she accepted the challenge and did an excellent job. Keen to get some good photos of the racing and no desire to be on one of the boats, we set off in the dinghy to the finish line. A nerve racking start as I had never driven the dinghy without Dylan in it before and had visions of us getting in the way of these beasts as they attempted to cross the line, to add to the anxiety the swells were big and waves were crashing into us. I had studied the course before we left but on arriving it was clear they were doing a different one altogether (turned out some classes were given an alternate one). This made for an interesting afternoon where we were tossed around, second guessing which way the boats would come from and taking loads of photos most of which came out blurry as we couldn't hold the camera still. We managed to see both of the boats Ian and Dylan were racing on and it was quite something being dwarfed by these majestic beasts as they came speeding by.

Of all the freebies we consumed in regatta week, Sail Maine party was by far the best. We were given free t shirts which immediately boosted Dylan's wardrobe by 33.33%. Free rum punch was doing the rounds and more food that you could eat which was an anomaly as normally the freebies dry up after 30 mins. Not only was there copious amount of food, it was also GREAT food. We slurped on lobster bisque and munched our way through the biggest kingfish I have ever seen served on a bread roll with a large leaf acting as a plate. Yum. I had a tired grizzly bear next to me though that had had too much day trimming the foresail so we headed up early and I listened to the rest of the great music whilst Dylan snored away happily.

After the racing festivities were over we wanted to head to Green Island on the eastern side of the island prior to heading to Barbuda. I was keen to get some fresh fruit and veg to keep us going so I left Dylan in Mad Mongoose using the free internet whilst I headed to a guy called Aubrey who I had been told sold fruit until 1pm in English Harbour. I wasn't disappointed, he has reasonable prices and good quality produce which is more than can be said for the rest of the shops in the area. I even found baby pineapples that we had never tried before so I eagerly snapped up a bag keen to add to our list of new food. They were great, sweeter than the normal pineapple we ate them like corn on the cob, their juice dripping down our chins and onto the cockpit floor. Thats the great thing about eating outside, a bucket of sea water washes away all of the dirt. Free and easy!

After a windward bumpy slog we arrived in Nonsuch Bay and took a free mooring ball between Green Island and Bird Island. What a pleasure not to bed the anchor, however Dylan did still dive on it to check it was in good shape. It was not in the Doyle Guide but was mentioned on the charts which means they are a recent addition to the area (within the last 12 /18 months). From where we were located looking out to sea, there was nothing between us and Africa, waves rolling unbroken until they hit a different continent. Quite impressive when you think about it, our view out to the Atlantic Ocean totally unspoilt.

Snorkelling time, we swam to Bird Island but it wasn't great viewing apart from the huge conch beds. We took a couple of them and made a small conch farm at the bottom of our mooring chain, tying them together with twine so they wouldn't get away (unless they were particularly adept at the three legged race). The intention was to bring them with us to Barbuda where we would set about making conch curry but we decided against it as travelling conch would have to be kept in a bucket of salt water which would slosh around everywhere under sail. Reluctantly Dylan untied our catch and set them free on nice patches of sand.

Another snorkelling spot mentioned in the cruising guide was the reef in front of our little mooring ball, quite a swim away. Feeling energetic we battled against the current and reached the spot where we came across great corals. Huge brain coral, fantastic visibility but little in the way of fish. Shame we don't have an underwater camera as these corals were huge, dwarfing us as we dived to the bottom to check for any lobbies that could end up in our pot that evening. We came away empty handed.

Kadoona arrived with guests the evening before we were leaving. As they are off to Bermuda and then crossing the Atlantic to Ireland and we are off North – we said our final farewells. Our friends since Carriacou, Grenada and the only couple we have met so far at a similar age, they will be deeply missed!

5:20am Dylan prods me awake and drags me out of bed to start our passage to Barbuda. An island that few yachties go to (favouring instead to head straight to St Martin) we are looking forward to what it has to offer.