We are extremely behind in writing and owe some good stories from Sailing Week, but we've been absorbed by transforming our cruiser- turned-racer back into a cruising boat. We loaded all of our gear back on and the waterline sank a few inches! After almost a month in beautiful Antigua, we left this morning for Tortola where my sister and her boyfriend will join us for a week of cruising around the BVI. From what I have read and heard, it sounds like a fabulous cruising ground.

The sail has been nice despite somewhat lumpy seas. We caught three large barracudas this morning, but as they are known to have ciguaterra, we threw them all back. About 15 miles out of Antigua we spotted something that looked like a canoe or kayak and, thinking that there may have been a person in distress washed out to sea, we gybed around and went to investigate. It didn't look as if it had had a passenger, as there there three paddles tied neatly to it, so that was a relief. Then Chris turned to me and said "want a new kayak?" (mine was lost in a storm in Mozambique) and we grabbed it with a boat hook and wrestled it aboard. It has a small crack in the bottom but is otherwise a very nice 2-person kayak. We probably won't keep it indefinitely because it's too large to stow below and we don't like to keep things up on deck, but will be perfect for our next week of cruising around the islands!