A few days ago Eric and I left the safe haven of the BVI’s to sail eastsoutheast to Antigua. It was blowing 20+ on the nose, waves up to 10′ also on the nose so not a comfortable sail, but we needed to go. Not only do we have plane tickets to go home for the holidays, but we had a small weather window before it got worse. After a long day we were blessed with a full moon and passed close to Saba, St Kitts and Nevis while reading about their histories, culture, and things to do in the cruising books. We will go back to them when the time is right.

As we got closer to Antigua, the first thing we noticed were the mountains and all the  beaches. Jolly Harbor, where we are staying, is quaint but not small. Many houses on the water with docks behind them reminds me of Florida. But not.  Neither of us can believe we’ve never been here before. The people are friendly, everyone here says it is safe, and we feel the beauty that surrounds us in the people who live here, those who visit, and the island itself. Yesterday a couple yachts came in after crossing the Atlantic. It’s nice to be in a place where everyone welcomes the traveler, and where likeminded sailors are plentiful. Cruisers are a different breed. We have wanderlust. We appreciate the simple things, and are not afraid of hard work for the moments of sheer bliss. We make friends easily, even if we know we may never see them again. We help each other out. This list could go on but should be saved for another blog.

The farther south we go the more we meet like minded cruisers.  The states were awesome. I call the USA the “land of plenty”. If you want or need anything it is one click away with free shipping.  The rest of the world does not have this luxury. Buts that’s OK. We learn to live without, to fix things instead of tossing and buying new, and cook from scratch.

As for Antigua, we will take a tour when we return, and then start harbor hopping. Barbuda becons us to come and kite and windsurf. Evidently it has beaches that are ridiculously long with not a soul in sight. Now that’s something we can wrap our wanderlust arms around! Look forward to some photos to share on that blog!