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Merry Christmas From ZEPHYR

So here we are in Barbuda for Christmas. 

We spent the last week roaming around Antigua anchorages.  We had Five Island Harbor to ourselves most of the time where the beaches were full of small, perfect, shells.  I’m going to make a necklace with mine.  Nancy had a dentist appointment on Wednesday, so we headed to St. John on Monday, but we found there is no longer an anchorage there.  It has been taken over by cruise ships!  As many as 5 a day!  So we went around the corner to Deep Bay which was a nice spot.  There is even an old sailing ship-wreck to dive on.  Unfortunately the visibility was poor so not much to show for our efforts.  But we got to sort out our new equipment which was a plus.  The beach was long and perfect, with a fort overlooking the bay.  

Zephyr (top boat) at rest while we make the climb to Fort Barrington overlooking Deep Bay

The large Royalton Resort took up much of the area and during the day we were surrounded by the buzzing of idiots on jet skis.  It was often entertaining but also terrifying.  We didn’t hesitate to use the facilities however, with numerous pools, and hot tubs.  We had to buy a dinner pass to eat there as they don’t accept cash.  But, for $60US we could eat at all the restaurants and drink as much as we wanted.  

Royalton Antigua Resort in Deep Bay

And we wanted a lot!  Anyway, on Wednesday we went to the front of the resort to get a cab and they wanted to know our room number in order to let us out.  We told them we weren’t staying there and they were shocked that we could have gotten through their front gate security.  We said we came from the sea side and they were nonplussed.  Finally, I made up that we were on a day pass, the security didn’t know what that was but seemed satisfied and let us get in the taxi.

AJ the cabbie drove us to the dentist, where Nancy was reassured that her crown was okay and she just had a minor chip.  “Not to worry” said the dentist.  AJ then took us to the Supermarket, which had everything you could want, except they were out of milk.  Sad.  As he was driving us back to the resort we were concerned that we wouldn’t get back in.  Sure enough, the first gate guard was suspicious about the “day pass” but wrote our name down on her clipboard and waved us through.  Fortunately when we got to the reception area there were three different groups checking in so we picked up our huge bags of groceries, put our heads down so as not to make eye contact, and ran the gantlet!  No alarms went off and the secret resort police didn’t detain us.  But somewhere our name will be filed on the Unreconciled list.  It is a very nice resort, if you like the mediocre food, canned music, Stepford village sort of place.

So, having taken care of food and teeth, we decamped 30 miles North to Barbuda.  We are anchored west of Cocoa Point before a 4 mile long pink-sand beach.  

View from our Barbuda anchorage… Robert DeNiro’s Nobu Restaurant
Santa found us!

It is a bit rolly, but the breeze is pleasant and the water is transparent.  We’re going in to do our workout and then have a lobster luncheon prepared for us by Inoch the Lobster Guy at Shack-A-Kai.  All very civilized if you ask me.  We’ll be here for a few days, then off to the eastern side of Antigua for more of the same.

Inoch, our lobster chef and all around good guy
It’s confirmed… there is no WiFi in paradise!

Merry Christmas, from Randy and Nancy!

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8 Comments

  1. Jackie NcGuire

    Reply

    Sounds heavenly! Enjoying your blog & photos – have a very Happy New year!! Love Jackie & Jim

  2. Tracey Wade

    Reply

    Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and smooth sailing ⛵️

    Beautiful views and great adventures 😀

  3. chris

    Reply

    Sounds idyllic! Glad you found Inoch and lobsters, rather than processed resort food. Your story of social engineering the staff there made me realize that Security Theater™ exists everywhere, not just in computers and TSA.

  4. Vicki Terronez

    Reply

    I hadn’t read your blog for a bit and caught up with 5 of your posts. You are on the adventure of a lifetime and I am lucky to get to see it through your eyes! I am enjoying all the photos and your writing wit! The history of the bay you were in a while back was great!

  5. J. Abdy Collins

    Reply

    Hi, see that you are virtually next door to Szel in catamaran marina.
    I will come over and see if you are around.
    Jamie

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