Hello Antigua!

So it has taken me a while to start writing this blog. It has been three days since we flew out to Antigua to join Tin Tin in Falmouth Harbour but these days have flown by and distraction levels have been high and the sheer beauty of this place has stopped me focusing.  Ruth (9) my wonderfully bright young niece is currently asking me complex questions about the 5th Harry Potter book she is reading so i am trying to answer them as I write - you can now imagine the  level of distractions.  Perhaps now is not the time to be starting my blog but i suddenly felt inspired to.  Stopping now to answer important HP questions!

                                     Lottie looking the part in Falmouth Marina, Antigua

       Looking out over English harbour and Falmouth Harbour from Shirley Heights 

Ridiculous  superyachts making Tin Tin look small!

We joined TinTin in Falmouth Harbour where she felt comparatively tiny compared to the Super Yachts she was dwarfed by.  Who owns these beasts? They are ridiculous but wow!!  Papa Paul and Uncle Mark were there to welcome us aboard after an impressive sail across the Atlantic form Cape Verde only taking them  a meer 13 days 11hr - 2252 nautical miles at an average of 7knots!  Their other crew , brother-in-law Kyle and friend Niall, had departed back to England that morning and we sadly missed crossing paths. Sounds like they had quite the adventure!                                                                                   

Kate has gone off with her other two girls, Lottie (7) and Beth (3), for a little row to the beautiful deserted beach ashore.  Lottie has really mastered her rowing and Bethie is being a great navigator.  Currently Papa Paul (Skipper) and Uncle Mark (First Mate) are pulling apart the generator to decipher why there is diesel leaking out into the crystal clear waters!! Its been leaking diesel into the bilges and when we pumped the bilges this morning we saw the slick shiny stream polluting the water NOT ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY  as we so intend to be!  So we’ve got a local dude coming this afternoon to fix the problem. We should be able to set sail to Guadaloupe once the generator is fixed - fingers crossed!

Its a different pace of life here on board, especially with lots of little nieces to get organised ( i fully comend mummy Kate). Tin Tin is is most certainly not a small boat but she feels pretty tiny with this  loveable crowd!  Not complaining one bit, however, as it is so special to be sharing this adventure with them.  Also, only two weeks of wonderful madness with this bunch of little people as the Szym family leave the boat in two weeks and head home.   Beth has just come aboard and wants to contribute to the blog - “we didn’t see anything just a wreck and bluuuuue water” she’s  also worried about Gerry her toy Giraffe because he got wet and so we’ve put him in the sun to dry.  We’re setting sail now so i must go - all hands on deck!

So wonderful to be sailing finally, after being anchored for a couple of nights off Galleons Beach in Freemans Bay, suddenly i remembered why i was here …yes sailing!!  We hadn’t been sailing long until i saw green faces appearing on the girls.  Poor Lottie was the first to go, then Ruthie and i think Bethie just got the sleepy sickness and collapsed on a seasick mummy Kate.  I was waiting to be caught too but survived, I’m very lucky.  It’s rare that i get seasick  - touch wood.. I remember that feeling though, sailing when i was the girls age and feeling so icky that i wanted to jump off the boat… anything was better than feeling like that! Poor little green munchkins - hopefully they will find their sea legs soon.

We decided to anchor in Willoughby Bay which had a precarious entrance as there was only a narrow channel with reefs either side, evident as the telltale white surf crashed over the shallow coral.  Perfect spot for snorkelling!  Slightly sheltered as the reef took most of the power out of the waves and endless reef to explore.  The water couldn’t be any more turquoise even if you put a filter on.  i was in heaven and the girls too once we got some lunch down them and ickiness had subsided.  We took Snowy (Tender to TinTin) out to the centre of the reef and chucked over the small grappling anchor so she wouldn’t drift away whilst we explored. I had forgotten this magical underwater world that made me feel instanlty tranquil and totally in awe.  I swam up towards the breaking waves over the reef which was a struggle as the current was quite strong and one of my
Bethie getting ready for
       a snorkel
arms was taken up by the go pro stick which i was trying to get some good footage with.. the coral was sadly disappointing as quite a lot was no longer alive, it maybe that it had been battered by the crashing waves or/and more likely and distressingly global warming.  So so Sad. 

I ventured further away from the break and to a calmer part of the reef where there was more life.  I was playing with my new toy (go pro) and filming small fish life swimming around the more vibrant coral, when a large Spotted Eagle Ray swooshed past me much to my surprise.  i mean it was huge- bigger than me with a tail twice the length of its body and it almost touched me.  Not just one but two and they were circling around me so gracefully, not menacingly (I don’t think) although i have to admit i was a little intimidated but perhaps more because i was so in awe of their beauty such magnificent graceful giants flying through the water with their huge  wingspan (roughly 2m). I tried to follow them but my flippers couldn’t keep up and they disappeared into the hazy blue.. I hauled myself up in a ladylike manner back onto snowy in such a daze as if it had all been a dream.  How lucky am I!?! An experience i won’t  be forgetting in a hurry, thats for sure. Thanks Kate for my awesome snorkelling gear!

Back on board, I wanted to see if my go pro had caught them and it certainly had,  I can’t believe I captured them on video, just amazing! Am now National Geographic official camerawomen taking on the wonders of the ocean- perhaps this is my destiny.  Watch this space.  (Camera skill may need a little improvement!!)  GoPro footage to follow and moire photos too.  Struggling to upload photos onto here with very limited Wifi!

A beautiful sail back to a new anchorage in the setting sun, I really wouldn’t want to be anywhere else on earth right now.  Oh and did i mention a turtle popped up to say hello and welcome us.

With the moon full i was inspired to practice yoga on the front deck, so peaceful yet a lovely powerful energy almost enhanced by the water which surrounds me.  Could this get any better? Rain stopped yoga but bed awaits. I shall sleep well tonight (if Lottie who I’m sharing my cabin with doesn’t wake me up at 3 in the morning saying its time to get up and embrace the day… No Lottie it’s still nighttime and even princesses and Ariel need their sleep)  

Now sitting up on deck as I write this, I can hear the crickets singing in the trees ashore Pigeon Beach and the gentle lapping of water around the hull of TinTin.  The moon is almost full and is lighting up the almost still surface of the water.  It is so clear and light from the moon that you can see the bottom and our anchor chain resting upon the sand. A few little mozzies have just nibbled me so I must adjourn.  Must eat more garlic.

Oh goodnight paradise, I can’t wait to spend another day with you. 

Panda, over and out.

x