Sunday morning, at anchor off a tiny cove at the end of Green Island, we bob in the nearly windless sea. Africa lies over the horizon.

Enn and Dana arrived the other day, late in the evening. We managed to miss them. Rogers cell phone works fine here if the call comes from Canada, but not a t all if the call is a local one. So Dana and Enn spent their first night in the Copper and Lumber Store Hotel.

We have trekked up the Tot Club trail from Galleon Beach to Shirley Heights, an interesting climb up a dry stream bed overgrown with small trees and creeping vines, populated by hermit crabs and huge black butterflies the size of bats, through old grave yards dating to the 1790's, past the army cistern and the officers quarters on the top, to the lookout restaurant bar overlooking English Harbour, from whence we saw almost the whole of Antigua, and the sea to the North west. Montserrat, 30 miles westward spouted steam and ash to a great height.

I have some pictures, and will see if we can get them them up. Soon we will sail back to English Harbour for a barbeque with a steel band up on the Heights. Tomorrow we set sail for Montserrat.

Maynard has put his mouth on the wind. "Gentle breezes" he wished us, gentle breezes we have. We need 15 to 20 knots to push Django along, we have 5 to10. I haven't seen trades like this before. It will be a long motor sail to Montserrat in the morning.

Preparing for guests

Well, here we are a week later and still no movement. It is deceptive, but we have completed quite a few tasks.

The new propellers failed to arrive, so putting off our haul out and bottom painting, which means that K and I have had to scrape away six months of marine growth from Django's bottoms. This has gone reasonably well, considering. We have ordered and installed a new anchor chain, such a joy, no more rust all over the fore deck and trampoline, and we have treated the bimini with a waterproofing agent. It has only a bit more life left in it, and will be the next item on the replacement list. The head has been disassembled and a new siphon break installed in the outlet line. This has put an end to head worries for the foreseeable future.

This evening, Enn and Dana arrive for an eleven day stay, and we will be able to start cruising. This evening is also the seventh and final tot in the Tot club initiation. Following this, we are expected to call a mismuster, which involves the drinking of yet another tot, all before Enn and Dana arrive.

I'll let you know how it all comes out later.