Leaving Deshaies we knew that the winds would get up while crossing over the channel to Antigua. Sure enough the winds increased and were between 25 – 30 knots. We all wore our life jackets and settled in for the morning. It was a fast crossing and we were in Jolly Harbor before we knew it.

Dad raised the Antigua flag and look what else we now have, a NZ flag. Not long after raising it some kiwis went by on a charter catamaran and yelled out that they were from Nelson.

We all decided we needed a little culture and caught the local buses to St Johns. The mini van to town had air conditioning and was actually a pleasant ride for EC 3.25. The bus depot in St Johns was right near the fish and meat markets so a busy area with lots of people buying and selling. The main street of St Johns was busy with cars, fruit & veg vendors and lots of clothing shops.

Redcliffe Quay, the historic district near St Johns harbour was once the slave trading area for the town and has been renovated and painted with duty free shops for the tourists. Quite a different area to the rest of town and anything we have seen for some time.

The bus trip to English Harbour was interesting. Our rasta driver did not leave until his bus was full and everyone had paid there EC 4.00. Once on the road we passed through lots of communities honking and tooting to everyone along the way. He seemed to know everyone and got lots of waves back. The door on the left side of the bus was left open the whole trip I guess for breeze or perhaps it didn’t close. Hmmm at least no one fell out. Far better driver than our ride back! 
We wandered around Nelson’s Dockyard Marina surprised at the super yachts that were already here. It’s a picturesque place. The fort at the entry to the harbour has great views back to the Marina.

It was a nice change of scene off the boat for the day.

We moved up to Deep Bay ready to head to Barbuda. The winds were pretty strong and were meant to continue into the early morning. We climbed up to Fort Barrington with views to St Johns and out over Deep Bay.

We wandered along the lagoon to the hotel at the end of the white sandy beach. It was so nice to sit and look out at the boat.

We tried to sail to Barbuda to see the pink sands but the winds would not cooperate so we sailed changed course and headed to the french island of St Barths.