Antigua again - and home to the rain

Monday 12th started with the anchor clattering up and Blue Pepper pointing South. We made swift progress to cover the 30 miles to Antigua, then continued down the west coast and around the corner to Falmouth, a huge natural harbour with a lively shore-side scene. The next morning we sailed through a gaggle of racing yachts outside the harbour and around the SE corner of the island to Nonsuch Bay, dropping the hook off Green Island. Another beautiful spot and a perfect anchorage protected from the Atlantic swell by a long reef.

Wednesday was February 14th - and Valentine’s Day! - so in the afternoon we headed back to Falmouth for a romantic dinner ashore. Whilst Falmouth is a great sheltered anchorage, it doesn’t have the charm of English Harbour right next door (a mile or so by sea, but you can walk between them in a couple of minutes).

It’s smaller than Falmouth but we managed to find a spot to anchor off the appropriately named Galleon Beach and spent the morning exploring Nelson’s Dockyard followed by lunch on the beach. Our son’s had got me a brilliant birthday present - a make-your-own-rum experience based right behind the beach. It was fascinating and fun and made for a very mellow afternoon (it’s essential to keep trying the rum you’re making to make sure it tastes right!)

The next day saw us raising the hook for the last time and motoring back round to Falmouth harbour, where we tied-up in a marina for the first time in more than 2 months.

And sadly our Caribbean cruise came to an end, and it was good-bye to the sunshine, warm water, white sand beaches and rum… and back to wet old England in February. But we have resolved to do it all again!

So that’s all for now - the journey back to the Mediterranean starts at the beginning of May. The longest, hardest sail.