Antigua and Barbuda

Two-man hammock

We left Antigua on Saturday the 5^th of May, and headed for Green Island. It started raining on our way there so we brought our waterproof kits out. Once we had anchored, it was off the side of the boat we went with big splashes! Ashton had me on Talisman jumping off of the side of the boat with him. . .he also thoroughly enjoyed dunking me beneath the water whenever he got the opportunity. As it grew darker, I swam back to Jangles for dinner. My sister had put the hammock up and had spent the afternoon lazing about in it, reading off of her small ipod screen (does wonders for ones eyesight I’m sure). We attempted to do a two man hammock and it worked! Robert called over from Talisman (yes, we were that close to their boat) that Rebecca was like a caterpillar in a cocoon, who would emerge as a butterfly once the dinner bells went. And sure enough as soon as dinner was ready, out she came. My mom had spent the afternoon making malva pudding (YUM!) so Robert and Lee came over for some dessert and a drink. It was meant to be a supermoon that night but the weather had the sky covered with clouds. . .we got glimpses of light beneath the sheet of cloud. 

The next morning, Robert came to fetch me in the dinghy for our next adventure. We went onto Green Island and found a trail to follow. We began running it but as it grew smaller and smaller we decided it was probably better to climb over the trees and avoid the thorny bushes. We made it to the other side of the island in no time and explored the little beach in the next bay. After trying to go down a couple more paths that lead to dead ends, we decided to go back on the path we came and go around the island on the dinghy. The dinghy ride had my heart racing as I looked at the very shallow water beneath us. . .watching as we somehow glided over the rocks and coral. We picked up a buoy and sun-tanned on the dinghy for a while. . .listening to the peaceful morning and the calm waters that came with it. The sky started spitting and remained that way for the rest of the day. I took the kayak to Bird Island and picked up a bouy to go snorkeling. As I snorkeled away from the kayak. . .looking down at nothing but blue which turned into black. . .I slowly started to get the chills and freak out slightly (ok maybe a bit more than that as I swam frantically back to the kayak, almost falling over the other side of it as I climbed back in). My short 5-minute swim had me untying the kayak and heading back to the boat. I decided it would be better to snorkel from the boat to the beach. Robert, Ashton and Lee joined me in snorkeling. We saw quite a few fish, a massive hermit crab and lots of seaweed, sand and coral. We all watched in amazement as Ashton started diving for the first time with his snorkel! We were all gobsmacked as he kept on going over and over again. . .he was thoroughly enjoying himself. We swam back to our boats and showered up all nicely (well Jangles did anyway as Talisman was conserving water at this point. . .). We headed to Talisman for a lovely dinner cooked by Kerry. Her salads are notably amazing. . .broccoli and caramelized onion salad, delicious! Robert and I washed up the plates and cutlery. It was a very interesting experience as Roberts kitchen is very clearly a bachelors kitchen as it has one small sink and next to it an even smaller sink that you could probably stack 3 cups in. Also, due to the limited water supply, I had very little water to wash with. This just went to show how much we carelessly use water normally and how it is possible to use less. Dessert was milktart and cheesecake. . .after another night with the greatest company in the world, it was time for bed.

The boys with their beers

The next day we departed for Barbuda and arrived midday. On the sail up we went through some serious downpours. We found out however that Talisman began filling up their tanks as they stood outside catching some water to use. Bucket after bucket and the rain kept on coming. Once anchored in Barbuda, I spent the afternoon doing some schoolwork and canoeing around the bay. It rained throughout the afternoon and into the evening. . .we saw Robert and Lee on deck catching water once again.

Talisman flying its screecher

Water here they come!

Talisman crew

The Tuesday morning we all went to shore to explore the island. It began raining just as we had finished beaching the dinghies. We took shelter beneath a roof and waited for a while. The rain got lighter so Robert, Lee and I decided to head for our run. We ran and slipped and slided in mud and over rocky ground. We went a while down the one road when we started heading back to look for the others. I felt like Sherlock Holmes, as we looked for Ashtons small shoe prints on each road we tried. We eventually ended up back at the beach where the dinghies were and waited there. Robert and I went swimming in our full kit and our shoes came out all sandy and sparkling clean. Everyone turned up again at the dinghies and headed back to the boats to move onto the next bay. On the way to Low Bay, we caught a few small albacore and a barracuda, which we threw back into the water. We motored to the next bay and Lee took photos of us all on deck whilst we took photos of them all on deck. We arrived in Low Bay and immediately headed to the pink sand beach. We spent the afternoon on the beach. A local showed us small red fruits on a tree that he called seaside grapes. We searched the little tree for red fruit to pop into our mouths. We went to the restaurant to see about pricing for dinner but decided to have dinner on Jangles instead as it was extremely pricy. My mom and I had a swimming race to the boat (I won but the waves were hammering us) and my dad towed Rebecca on the canoe. The day was completed with a sunset that filled us with awe and a dinner with Talisman aboard Jangles.

Small Albacore

On the beach

                                        

Jangles in the sunset

Towing Ashton on the dinghy

Towing Rebecca

Gorgeous sunset

Amazing moon

Jangles Crew

Ashton snorkelling

Wednesday arrived with Robert in his dinghy once again. We headed for the pink sandy beach for a morning run. One thing about running along the beach is that it is incredible hard on your calve muscles! After a few minutes Robert and I started walking down the beach. Our run consisted of short jogs, then walking, with an occasional swim thrown in there too. After the run, we took our dinghies to the reef to snorkel. On the way we saw a giant turtle popping its head up occasionally. The reef was beautiful; it was filled with gorgeous corals and a few small fish. Since Ashton had taken to diving with his snorkel at Green Island, he was back doing it once again. After a while I began shivering as I slowly turned into an ice-cube, it was at that point when we headed back to the boats. Talisman was heading back to Antigua that day and we took a vote aboard Jangles to see whether we would be going with. . .as all three girls hands went up in favour of going, the captain lost his battle. It was anchors away and off to Antigua we went. We had a great day of fishing on the way back down to Antigua. We caught around 10 fish in total, one of which was a 1-meter barracuda. We also found out that we threw a couple of Spanish Mackerels and kingfish back as we had mistaken them for being skipjack’s. We realized this as Talisman radioed us and said they had the exact same thing! Mom then reeled in a big black tail tuna and I pulled in two Tunny's, which we ended up keeping. The bug has bitten my mom as she now sits and stalks the rods, waiting for them to go off so she can grab them before anyone else. Once we had arrived in Antigua, we had the Talisman crew over for a lovely fish dinner that they didn’t catch.

Barracuda

Mom with her black fin tuna

On Thursday morning, Robert and I were still suffering from the beach run the previous morning so we had tea on his boat instead. We hired a car for the day to go shopping. We went to the big shopping mall in St. John’s and filled the car to the brim with shopping parcels . . .the car also gained two new people as we picked up some new friends from the airport. We went to Trappas for dinner for a birthday and I ran into a friend I had made at Shirley Heights a while ago. I also befriended two new people from Switzerland as well. On the way back to the boat, a donkey ate the birthday boy’s cake. The donkey’s owner wanted to marry me and was handing out leaves as well as lemongrass. Rebecca also tried to take the donkey but I don’t think it would quite fit aboard Jangles very well. The evening was concluded with ABF’s (Absolute Bloody Finals) aboard the deck of Jangles.

mom and dad

kerry and Lee

Robert

sisters <3

Friday morning began with a small run, which was followed by geocaching. The geocache was by the pillars of Hercules (natural pillars formed by crashing sea waves) . After getting our shoes drenched and searching for what seemed like ages, we eventually stumbled across the cache. The find was treated with some ice-cream from Seabreeze café. Talisman was leaving that night to head back to Trinidad and time seemed to slip away faster and faster knowing that goodbyes were just around the corner. I went with Robert to check out at English Harbour. The lady behind the immigration table complimented me on my perfume, claiming she could smell me from across the room and that I smelt so good! It suddenly got hot as my cheeks blushed pink. We went aboard Talisman one last time for dinner before they left. Kerry made an amazing sweet potato and caramelized onion salad that I could of eaten all night long! As we were having a great time, the time rolled around that we had been dreading. It was a quick bittersweet farewell and off Talisman went into the distance. I watched as they grew smaller and smaller, eventually disappearing all together around the corner.

Talisman and Jangles together

We will never forget the times we spent with the beautiful people aboard Talisman...the adventures we embarked on and the company we shared will forever stay with us. Thank you thank you thank you. . .