02 | January | 2015 | D & G Sail

Meandering South for the Winter

Archive for January 2, 2015

Christmas Fun, Caribbean Style

We can’t believe how the time flies with family aboard Amoray! It seemed like just yesterday we were waiting (impatiently) for Reid & Kath’s arrival and now we have just had to say a teary farewell. A fantastic, fun-filled 10 days exploring the sugary, sandy, isolated beaches in Barbuda and then back to the action of Antigua.

A brief recollection of some of our highlights include:

As cruisers always say, plans are written in the sand at low tide….so a quick change saw us with last minute provisions and then the “Santa Express” to Barbuda on their first day. The sail was a fast one, though a bit bumpy and we dropped the hook in Low Bay with plenty of time for a swim and sun downers.

Barbuda here we come

ahhhh, back on the sea

the Santa Express

After an exhilarating “seal team landing” on the beach in the morning we were off to see the magnificent Frigate Bird colony followed by a wander about the only town, Cordington. The colony was truly amazing, the town fairly deserted, except for the wandering horses and donkeys, and the beaches of endless white sand .

stunning … recovering after the landing!

a breezy ride through the lagoon with Solomon

birds, birds everywhere

and baby too

it’s all about the pouch!

Day 3 our “beach landing” was much prettier and we were off again to explore by bike the east side of the island. It was a great day exploring these deserted areas. The scenery and vistas felt a little “Jurassic Park” like and the trails not well traveled. Despite the glossy brochures (and the tourist office staff) tales of following the trail to the sinkhole we discovered the paths over grown and well hidden, so after a few false starts we admitted defeat and headed home on the hot dusty road. A quick swim to cool off and we pulled anchor and headed to Coco Point on the south coast.

and we are off

Kath’s photo bomb

the wild east coast

the north east tip of Barbuda

a much needed water break

lunch in the shade

Christmas Day was delightful with fun, yummy foods, snorkels, swims and beach time.

not sure what that was all about, but I am sure it was well deserved!

greetings from the crew of Amoray

Christmas fishes to all

Despite Kath’s query about Boxing Day shopping, plans were to make a hasty exit and head to Antigua as the winds and north swell were building. With 2m confused seas, we surfed, banged and crashed our way across the channel.. Reid loved the challenge of dodging, guessing and compensating for the waves, Kath hid below decks not faring well with the big seas coming on our beam and I gladly assumed my backseat role. Another change of course found us tucking into the beautiful anchorage of Deep Bay. More snorkelling, beach time and chilling were in order.

hiding below deck

back to Antigua

The following day, Hermitage Bay was the plan in order to catch up with the world (internet is good here). We anchored around lunch time and it seemed a little roly but in comparison to other experiences everyone was happy to tough it out, despite my warnings that it would get worse not better as evening fell….. not to be an “I told you so” little sleep was had by all and we were comfortably settled in at Jolly Harbor on a mooring ball before breakfast the next day. Here we had to do the “walk of shame” – that is remove all evidence of bottles and garbage from the past 5 days….. and re-provision the empty fridge. Of course, we still found time to hit Jolly beach, go for a run, play some games, happy hour on shore and at least 2 “Hollywood showers”.

There was one last sail for Reid and Kath as we headed to the south bays for their last few days. A lunch-stop at Carlisle for an elusive snorkel and then we tucked in at Pigeon beach. It wasn’t long after settling in that we had a quick chat with Nahanni River and a fantastic invitation to reunite with the gang for happy hour. It was really an incredible experience to have the intersection of our family with some of our amazing cruising family. Lots and lots of laughs and stories were shared. Reid & Kath had heard so many stories of our special cruising friends it was fantastic that they were able to meet a few and feel so welcomed. We are blessed!