We had two reasons to be at Jolly Harbour - Derek & Mandy were stopping there and the supermarket was there. Also, Escape had moved there and Sam and Jo were still onboard. We ended up having dinner with them on Duplicat as we stayed in the cheap seats (on a buoy).
Next day Anthony and I met up with Sam and Jo and Derek and Mandy to head to the ziplines at Antigua Rainforest. A great time was had by all, though some of us have enough kinetic energy to make arrivals "interesting". We think Derek winded one Ranger with one particular landing :) After the ziplines, drinks turned into lunch turned into dinner cooked by Sam and Jo. Very tasty it was too!
Another plan was hatched. Sam and Jo would join us on a sail to Barbuda. They'd then jump off and find accommodation and make their own way home. So on Sunday, we picked up fuel at 9am and Sam and Jo jumped onboard. We were soon sailing to Barbuda having a great time in E5/6 with up to 30knots apparent. Not sure we've convinced them that cats win, but it was very comfortable doing an average of 7knots in lumpy seas without effort :). We had to use some eyeball nav to get into the anchorage. Once anchored up in Low Bay, we decided the swell was a bit much to land the dinghy, so Sam and Jo stayed the night on Duplicat. I'd like to tell stories of the fun night, but we were all tired and hit the sack early.
Next morning, the swell was still up. Sam and Jo swam in, and we dinghied in with their kit and ours. The arrival was fun but relatively dry. The beach was stunning!
We'd arranged for a tour of the frigate colony and a visit to Codrington with George Jeffrey. He was a great guide. The Frigate birds were awesome.
After that, we had some great barbecue jerk chicken in the village before heading out to Two Foot bay.
Finally we visited Cocoa point. We think this will be our next anchorage!
We got the water taxi back across the lagoon leaving Sam and Jo in the village. We got a bit wet getting the dinghy sorted and back onboard but nothing too serious. We may see Sam and Jo in Jolly Harbour in the coming weeks, but we had a cracking few days with them and hope to see the again regardless.
Alas, Derek & Mandy will be headed back to the UK before we get back to Antigua, but as we owe Mandy a trip out on Duplicat, they'll just have to come back and see us again in the Caribbean sometime soon :)