Every cruising year is a bit different. Early April of the last two years found us in Antigua a few weeks before the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta. We helped our friend Alexis get his Carriacou sloop “Genesis” ready to race, we did various maintenance chores on our boat. Last year Hunter rebuilt our windlass (the motor that pulls up the anchor) and I did some sewing and wood projects. This year we will be wedging our selves into the busy anchorage at Falmouth as we arrive a few days before the start of the regatta.

We have had a great four months in the Virgin (US, British and Spanish) Islands and the route from the Virgins to Antigua is east and that is the predominant wind direction. In the winter there are more north winds and that makes for a much better trip east, but spring has sprung and we are into the east and southeast winds.

We watched the weather carefully and chose the days with the least offensive wind and waves. We left North Sound in British Virgin Islands at 09:45 on Monday and arrived in St. Kitts at 06:45 on Tuesday. We motor sailed for 21 hours, and it was not very comfortable, but we have done worse and now we two more days of sailing to get to Antigua and we should be able to sail both days.

The regatta is a great reunion with other cruisers and an awesome display of classic sailboats. One again I have a writing gig and Hunter will be crewing on Genesis. Antigua or Bust!