Whistle up the Wind

Very beautiful, very expensive, classic boats surrounded the Rosa. Moored stern to the dock, she lay with Lone Fox to port, Stormy Weather to starboard, and both Sincerity and Gaia ahead. What Rosa lacked in varnish, gleaming fittings, elegance and speed, she made up for with enthusiasm and superb seamanship.

The sweat was visible on the brows of the owners and captains of the classics surrounding us as, each day we sailed off the dock, then sailed back onto the dock at the end of the race. Rosa hardly ever used her engine.

Our crew was varied each day. If you wanted a sail, ask Spike the skipper. The square-rigger Picton Castle had arrived on the day of the first race. Built in 1928, she was on her 5th circumnavigation with her sail training crew of 45. We took most of them over the last three races!

Even with all sails set - Jib, staysail, topsail, gaff main, gaff mizzen, and spinnaker – Rosa was not able to match the speed of the others in the light winds. Whistle up the wind was the cry, and whistle we did - and guitars, djembi, fiddle, and banjolin too. Music played each day from our decks as we sailed around the racecourse. Back on the dock the music played again, both day and night too. This was the best fun I had ever had racing!

Everybody knew the Rosa. The cheers that went up as they passed us met with cheers from us in return.

We didn’t feature in the top three places, nor the bottom three either. We actually failed to finish a single race! Come the prize giving though, it was Rosa who walked away with the coveted prize, Spirit of the Regatta.

Race week looms. I shall be on a Nakesa, Swan 57. It will be a different!

Lots of Laughs on a Boat

Last years hurricanes wreaked havoc on the reefs of the Caribbean leaving large areas of broken, damaged, and dead coral. New wrecks added to the destruction. Yet amidst this chaos, delicate sea fans survived. Brain corals, some over a metre in diameter, Elk, Staghorn and flower corals, all provide cover for the life dependent on the reef. Groupers and moray eels hide in its cavernous hollows, while Squirrel and Parrotfish feed in its shelter, and great shoals of brightly coloured Damsel, and Butterfish, all swimming in unison, flash past.

Running the dinghy up the beach, the sand too hot to stand on, it was good to sit under the shade at Sunshine's beach-bar on Nevis, cold beer in hand. It had been a great day. The morning's snorkeling around the wreck in Bugs Bay (next door to Shitten Bay) St Kitts had been one of the best. Stingrays, Needlefish and jacks vied for our attention as we stared incredulously at the colours of the smaller fish, and wondered upon the storm that had driven the coaster "Tiano" onto the rocks, torn her open, and broken her back.

Up before the sun, it was to be a long hard beat back to Antigua. Forty miles distant, we sailed eighty, to meet my daughter Nicki, and friend Jen - a deadline I dared not miss!

Since leaving the Canaries food shopping has been a challenge. Fresh fruit and veg, many new and interesting, have been relatively easy to find, and the local grown ones delicious. All of it has to be carefully sorted and washed, and stripped of all cardboard packaging, in an effort to avoid brining roaches aboard. Meat is more of a problem. Most is imported frozen but then kept in far from ideal conditions. In the supermarket in Basseterre, on St Kitts, black mildew climbed the walls and rolls of old carpet soaked-up the smelly mess under the freezers. There have been two or three occasions when the thawing chicken gave off a stomach-churning aroma!

Antigua fares better, and even has two supermarkets of Waitrose quality (at Fortnum & Masons prices). It is a joy to find familiar cheeses, cold meats, wine and other luxuries.

Classic week is coming and the big yachts are arriving daily. The J Class, Velsheda and Ranger, the huge gaff schooners Windrose and Eleanora are already here. Maltese Falcon, a striking "square rigger" of new age technology, lies alongside with Mirabella III and others. Giant Motor Yachts(?) Skat, Bystander, and others, are also here as mother ships.

Life on board has taken on a new dimension since the girls arrived. Its LOLOB -lots of laughs on boats. Gone is the wholesome smell of diesel and salt. Now its perfumes and coconut fragrance! Their presence has woken up the Tot Club too. Even the superyachts in Falmouth Harbour have taken note. Clearly this Dads yacht just isn't big enough!

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