Antigua and Barbuda
Remarkable sailboats, kitesurf paradise, friend's boats and impressive scenery.
‘Champagne sailing’ — that’s what we call a day of sailing as we experience it on the way from Port-Louis on Guadeloupe to Falmouth Harbor on Antigua. On March 1st, we race through the waves, beam reaching in the best of conditions. Not far off the coast of Guadeloupe, Silvio sights a breaching humpback whale, i.e. one that shoots out of the water and throws itself on its back.
We spot ROCINANTE right off the coast of Antigua and are very happy to meet our friends from Wädenswil again after a short break. We anchor side by side in Falmouth Harbour, right next to some superyachts. These are impressive to look at and there’s always a lot going on with the crew bustling around. ROCINANTE hops onto our boat this evening and we spend a few days and evenings with aperitifs, food, exploring the place and looking at beautiful boats in ‘Nelson’s Dockyard’ near English Harbour.
Together we make our way east to ‘Green Island’. That’s where we meet FLUX III and ALEXANDRA again. We spend the days on the beach and Silvio gets his money’s worth by kitesurfing. Silvio offers Andrea a few hours of kite lessons at the kite school ‘40 Knots’, which is located right on the beach. Andrea has great fun, but unfortunately the wind disappears after the lessons.
The next day we explore the south side of Green Island with ROCINANTE. The children fly our little pink kite together and we even watch a ray underwater.
The morning after, we set off for Barbuda with little wind. The island, located north of Antigua, is completely flat (the highest point is 44m above sea level) and difficult to spot from sea. We anchor within the reef in the south of the island, where we are well protected from the waves.
When we snorkel for the first time, we realize how much Hurricane Irma changed this beautiful island in autumn 2017. The underwater reef is destroyed, as are many of the houses in the only town on the island. It is frightening and sad to see how the island has developed since, or not. Before the hurricane there was no land ownership, afterwards land was sold to investors – as this was promoted as an opportunity for rapid reconstruction and tourism development. There are now two luxury hotels including an irrigated golf course on this arid island and the beach in front of it is protected by a barrier – to keep away the sargasso seaweed that otherwise washes up everywhere.
However, a lot of houses in the main town of Codrington have not yet been repaired even after almost 6 years. Help was promised, but apparently not provided or the funds were lost somewhere.
The people of Codrington are friendly and give us a warm welcome; we eat at a fun little restaurant and watch a group of students hopping and riding a donkey around the school grounds during their lunch break. There are so many wild donkeys on the island that they are almost a nuisance. After a beautiful day and evening on the Pink Beach, including kite flying and a bonfire on the beach, we eat braised cucumbers again at ROCINANTE. Early the next morning we set off towards the west, aiming for Saint Martin.
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