On March 11th we finally left Fajardo, PR and ended up in Sun Bay, Vieques. This gorgeous bay on the south coast features over a mile of lovely sand beach along with a picnic park, decent snorkeling and some good hiking. One day we visited the town of Esperanza and had a great lunch at Duffy's. We spent five nights here with Bonanza waiting for the winds to lay down a bit so we could start the beat to windward. During the wait, our dinghy visited the Spa for the semi annual bottom scrub and overall cleaning! The next leg was a short rough trip, to a neat well protected anchorage in Ensenada Honda where we explored the reef and the mangroves for a couple of days.

On March 18th we motored over to Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas and the following day to Lameshur Bay, St. John. Lameshur Bay is in the National Park, so we took a mooring for the night. The following day we went for a 6 mile hike to the Petroglyphs, and then motored around the corner to spend a night in Coral Bay. Unfortunately, we didn't like the anchorage so diverted to party central - The Bight, Norman Island, BVI. That night, March 20th was deemed time for a dinner ashore - ribs at the Pirate's Lair. The next morning we sailed and motored to Leverick Bay, Virgin Gorda to stage for a window to St. Martin. This 80 mile leg crosses the Anegada (aka Oh-My-God-A) Passage up-wind so it has a reputation for being quite rough.

We arrived in Marigot, St. Martin at 0630 on the 23rd after an uncharacteristically smooth motoring trip. No SOD - that is, no salt on deck! A tot of rum was offered to Neptune (and the crew) in thanks for our first smooth eastbound passage of the year.

For the rest of March we anchored in Simpson Bay Lagoon (French side under the Witches Tit) and seem to have been busy every single evening. Andy & Kitty visited us from Anguilla and stayed overnight. We also attended a street festival in Grand Case and a reunion of the Stray Dogs on Dreammaker. Exhausting, especially when you include provisioning! This is the home of $18 US for a 24 of 12 oz Heineken cans, less than $15 for Presidente and Carib. Best beer price anywhere, pop is similarly inexpensive, and grocery prices and selection are great, especially compared with the other islands.

On April 1st we passed through the Sint Maarten bridge and headed out for Anse Colombier, St. Barts. Beautiful spot, we've promised ourselves twice that next time we'll check in to St. Bart's and stay for a few days exploring. We left there the following morning at 3AM arriving in Jolly Harbour, Antigua at 5 PM. We checked in the following morning and anchored near Nancy Dawson.

On the 6th we motored the 15 miles up to Antigua's North Sound, anchoring in Jumby Bay. Spectacular beach, but Long Island is private - occupied by private residences and an upscale resort. How upscale, you ask? Well, the April special prices were $2500 - $3500 US PER NIGHT, which included all activities, food and beverage and your personal chef and housekeeper. For some reason, we only saw two guests!
The next day we moved to another spectacular beach on deserted Great Bird Island.

After that it was back to Jolly Harbour and on to Falmouth to await the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta which runs from April 16th through 21st. There are 59 entries ranging from the 24 foot Springtide to the 140 foot Rebecca and including J boats Velsheda and Ranger. We'll be rooting for Nancy Dawson of Dartmouth and Pasha of Lunenburg, the only Canadian entries. Races run from Friday to Monday just off English Harbor / Falmouth.

These folks know how to throw a regatta! I've never seen so much free booze and food. As Dave on Daniell Storey put it "these are Gold Star Days", which is cruiser talk for any day you spend no money.

There are great places to watch the races from the cliffs on the coast of Antigua off Falmouth and Jolly Harbour. Exciting watching all flavors of traditional yachts - capped off by watching the Js duel! you all know the groan your sheets make when you are close hauled and ease them off, well drop it a couple of octaves so it's more like thunder and make it audible at ½ mile and you are close! The races were blessed with 15K winds and sunshine with reasonable seas.

The cap for us was a chance to join Randy and Sue with their guests Stu and Tara on Nancy Dawson for the second race. We had a great time and particularly enjoyed the spectacle of Velsheda, Ranger and Eleonora (each 135 feet) roar past 100 meters away in line astern (see our header picture). It was great until we stalled out in several minutes of swirling winds due to their passage!

On Tuesday the 21st they hold gig races in the afternoon and the awards in the evening. The gig races were great sport, but we couldn't stay up for the 9PM awards ceremony!

Tomorrow its off to Jolly Harbour to stock up and wait for a window to Montserrat or, that failing, Guadeloupe.