040102 Happy birthday Ralph.

We awoke at our usual time, had breakfast and took all of the awnings down in preparation for setting sail to Antigua. We first ran into town to try to locate more of that good French bread, but stores are still closed for Easter. Did manage to find a corner drugstore type in which we were able to buy TP, then back to the boat. We've got a long sail today and Tim kindly suggested putting up the rear awning so that there would always be shade. It makes a huge difference for those of us who are either susceptible to heat exhaustion or who are a little sunburnt. We quickly made up an easy lunch so that while we're sailing we don't have to spend anytime below on a major tilt.

Sails hoisted and we're on our way. Scott and I spent some time identifying a new dark tern (bridled) then Tim sounded the whale call. False alarm! We'd all leapt to our cameras/binoculars for nothing! A few seconds later he did it again and had to convince us he was telling the truth. We altered course to try to catch up with them. (Because there are no engine noises, they often don't know you're there until you're upon them.) We soon realized we were in the middle of the largest pod that Tim had ever seen of Pilot whales. They were surfacing everywhere, crossing just under the bow and resurfacing only 15-20 yards away. Spectacular!

Bill got the next excited sighting when he looked behind us to see a large dorsal fin right beside our trailing dinghy. Orcas! 3 of them, checking us out for our potential as food. They were longer than the dinghy itself and would move smoothly underneath it then come up to the stern. Rolling along underneath to view the keel. They stayed too short a time to have their pictures taken of course then heeled off to join 3 others who appeared to be headed to another sailboat in the vicinity. Magnificent and big! No mistaking those distinctive black and white markings.

We've been viewing Montserrat off our port side since late yesterday afternoon and there's no question that it's still got some steaminess about it. The clouds just hang differently over that island and obscure it more. Big rollers made lunchtime awkward, but we each took turns making our way downstairs to load up our plates. Scott renamed us the SS Somnolent after Bill, Patti and Debbie retired to the depths for naps. I cat napped on deck.

The angle of the boat with sails necessitated wedging oneself between the wall and the bed or seat in order to stop yourself from careening across. Standing up amidships and riding the swells up and down is like surfing and is great fun.

We made Antigua by 3:30ish and Tim took us first into English Harbour which winds in and back surrounding Nelson's Dockyard and old naval base (1670's) which has much of the old stonework and carefully restored buildings from that time. Charming and beautiful.

We made our way back out without anchoring and motored a short distance north to Falmouth Harbour where all of the big boys are. This is the site of the Antigua Classic boat race that Tim so enjoys. Many large sailing vessels at the docks and backed up to walls. A much more cosmopolitan city with many more restaurants and shops. We anchored next to a small private beach with a couple of small tidy buildings which we later discovered were schools. We sat for a little while admiring the variety of boats in the harbor and watching the pelicans and turns diving just off the sides.

A swim was in order so we motored over to the large public beach just inside the mouth of the harbor. Being public, the majority of the sunbathers were natives and the music and social interactions were fun to listen to/watch. The beach was sandy, but the ocean floor was covered with long grassy plants once you got past the surf and it was strange swimming through shrubbery.

We motored back, cleaned up and took the dinghy to the Yacht Club then took a walk through town and found we could connect easily through to English Harbor as well. We toured the old town (seeing as much as we could in the dark) knowing we'd be back tomorrow to buy T-shirts and take pictures. We ended up back at the Last lemming restaurant in the Yacht club and all had the special of the evening: Mexican food! A combination plate with skewers of shrimp and scallops, a chicken burrito, and roasted peppers, chorizo and melted cheese. Margaritas for most (Scott is still trying to define the perfect rum punch.) Back to the boat for bed.

[smk]