Old Dog, New Trick--
Or Things To Do in Paradise

Trials and travails come in all shapes and sizes--not to mention shades (no, not of gray) but of fun! Yes, dear reader and readette, the fun has begun. Certainly there was great entertainment value to our previous month in Falmouth with the mast/inverter/outboard repairs--but only for the schadenfreude in all of us (yes, in you too...I can see the smirk from here!) Well, smirk on...we still haven't managed to get the wind generator working. (Anybody want to bring us an new ammeter for the panel?)

So here we arrived in the Month of May in Nonsuch Bay on the east side of Antigua. There is No Such Bay, you Say--ha ha ho I Bray Anon more and Much. Not only is there Such a Bay as Nonsuch, but as Luck May Say it's a Bay to Touch for all cruisers. Wide, but not too wide--deep, but not real deep--and smooth, just smooth enough. As the little girl exclaimed, it's Just Right. About 1 mile square, it faces east but is protected by a shallow reef across the mouth. Green Island is to one side, and forms the entry channel into the Bay. Nice.

There are a couple resorts--and associated wifi transceivers--around the Bay. One resort is closed for the summer, but the other is quite nice--reasonable prices and the obligatory infinity pool necessary for the brochure photos. The resort is not very occupied this time of year, but we did meet a couple here from Canada on holiday. Mike and Toby--he just left the New Zealand Special Forces (after 4? tours in Afghanistan) and she a Canadian nurse who also spent time in theatre. It's good to have allies.

The reason they picked here for holiday is that there is a kiteboarding school, for this Bay and Green Island is an ideal location to get pulled along like a modern day Mary Poppins. (She actually used a kite with which to travel, not an umbrella--one of those little known tea party facts. One of the requirements to pass the school is to sing a refrain of "Let's Go Fly a Kite" before ending a run.) Kiteboarding is on Julie's bucket list--now is that a fortuitous circumstance, or what! The instructors are fantastic--2 guys/2 gals/2 Poles/2 Germans--smiling all the time. What's not to like? I doubt they check their stock portfolio much, but who's to say? In any event, she's taken 4 lessons but is at a stopping point now due to a bum knee. She talked her loving husband into trying as well, and must say it promises to be a hoot. I haven't been on the board yet--just drug around in the water--but that's next. And, a kite takes up less room on Mistress than a Laser would! Just think, when we get home, we can be the crazy old couple kiting up and down the Severn River, waving at all the Mids at the Academy. Yee haw!

Once we're done here, this weekend or early next week, it's off to Guadeloupe. It's not too late to make your reservation for your comfy berth on Mistress! Come join the fun, and leave the WSJ at home.