BACK TO PARADISE ...............

About six miles north of ENGLISH HARBOUR, ANTIGUA past the 'Pillars of Hercules' and some rugged rocky coastline, is this beautiful sandy beach on GREEN ISLAND, with tranquil clear blue water and some sedate palm trees ........... It is almost as close to paradise as you can get ........... No houses, no roads, no anything ........... The perfect hideaway, as long as you come by boat ............ But despite all that, we have still managed to connect to an unsecured wifi network somewhere on the mainland and are able to post these photos right from where you see us anchored (photo above) ......... Now is that not simply "the best of both worlds" ..... And just beyond GREEN island lies the fringing coastal reef that is just begging to be explored ............ Probably tomorrow .... What day is it again?



Now a 'bird' in the hand is definitely worth about four in the bush, wouldn't you say .............



And a 'bird in a net' has got to be worth about ten egrets in the water....... Don't you think .......



Last night, notwithstanding the "Queen's" evening gown, we climbed to the top of 'SHIRLEY HEIGHTS' to an old English Fort that is the venue for serious partying on Sunday nights .......... With a steel drum band, a very fluid bar, and a smokehouse serving chicken, ribs and hamburgers, your breath is finally taken away by the spectacular view from the top ........



Our backpack is perfect for these occassions, for it has a small hole on the side near the bottom, which is just big enough for the tap on our chardonnay 'box' wine ....... This is how you tell the 'cruisers' from the 'tourists' ........ Antigua is not cheap and neither are the drinks, for every imported item gets hit with heavy import duties, for there is no personal income tax levied here ......... Those handsome people on the edge of the cliff (photo below) are Bev's 'rellos' from England ....... John, Bev and daughter Christie hail from that beautiful schooner "AMOEBA" out of Nova Scotia, CANADA and they are determined to take that tan with them ........ Canada has ice and ice for us, is something found in a glass, not on the ground ..........



Which brings us full circle to 'man-made-creations' and it is hard to beat this piece of personal mega-expenditure, that may just be an extension of someone's titanium watchband .....The megayacht "MALTESE FALCON" ....... We tried again to get it all in a single photo but failed ...... The little fore-mast with its electronic devices is really not so little, if you see the guy climbing its ladder..... And the bigger masts are free standing and rotate on bearings .........



And if perhaps you have been in the Navy and you finally retire, but you just can't seem to let it all go ...... Well then, get a yacht like this one called "SKAT", which comes complete with the 'intimidator look' and a number on the stern ....... Probably the only vessel to be totally left alone, if cruising along the coast of Somalia ........



But sadly here is "ASTOR" ...... An original William Fife & Co. schooner built in 1928, whose mast split while crossing to Antigua and that now has to be repaired, which is no easy job ............ SADNESS itself ........ While HAPPINESS on the other hand, is four maidens on a paddleboard ........



But for us, we think we'll just stick to Paradise, with its palm trees and its crystal clear water ....... With its golden sunsets and its beautiful tropical flowers ....... And we'll just keep looking for 'birds in the bushes' ............

LORDY, LORDY . . . . . NELSON

While meandering (which is the slowest form of cruising) past the islands of St. KITTS and NEVIS we, on the yacht 'ARITA', had become intriqued with the story that Lord Horatio Nelson married one Fannie Nesbitt, the plantation housekeeper, in a ceremony under a large silky cottonwood tree at MONTPELIER PLANTATION, NEVIS ................ The rest of the story we were not able to verify until we visited the Museum in English Harbour, ANTIGUA ........ For it is here that the man became famous with his strategy of keeping the English Navy ships in the Caribbean all year-round .......... The stone walls reverberate with his name, and not only the walls ............. Now most traditional ships have a figure-head beautifully carved and mounted under the bowsprit, and generally out of reach ........ The lady above, one Amanda Fenwick, is one such figurehead, and there were 'others' gracing 'Ships of the Line', all beautifully and artistically carved and painted to be 'life-like' ....... And it may have been this that influenced Lord Nelson in some special way ............



For obvious reasons we don't put figureheads on yachts anymore ......... Sad, but true ..... We now put sponsor decals on both sides of the bow, like "LANDROVER" or "ROLEX" or "HEINEKEN" or "XXXX BEER" ........



This is purported to be Lord Nelson's bed and this painting is purported to be the beautiful Emma Hamilton whose story is 'revealing' ............. (double-click on the stories if reading them is difficult) ........



The Caribbean islands were mostly controlled by the Spanish (in yellow), the French (in blue), the Dutch (in green) and the English (in red), all of whom would regularly attempt to steal islands from each other .......... And of course, pirates and privateers would attempt to steal from them all .......



Now despite all this, Lord Nelson was promoted to Vice-Admiral, the sixth highest person in the British Navy in 1801 ..... Meantime Fannie demanded he give up Emma, but he refused, and Emma gave birth to his baby daughter ....... Nelson meantime dealt with the 'Battle of Copehagen' and returned with glorious honours ..... Nelson was then appointed as Commander-in-Chief of the Naval forces being assembled against Napoleon, who had his own problems with 'Josephine', if you recall ...... Shortly thereafter both countries call the whole thing off and declare an 'Armistice' ....... Only to re-engage later, during the Battle of Trafalgar, where Nelson is eventually struck by a French sniper's lead musket ball and killed ..... His daughter, that chubby-bubby below, is named HORATIA ........



What a saga of intrigue and passion....... C.S Forester could have done so much more with his "Horatio Hornblower' stories ..... Still Lord Nelson's statue remains standing proud and true in Trafalgar Square, LONDON, if memory serves us ..... The very same city from which this beautiful 'Classic' gaff schooner "ELENA" has originated ...........



JUST BEAUTIFUL ........ BUT A BEAUTIFUL MODERN REPLICA JUST THE SAME.............. Unlike these weathered stone walls at Fort Berkeley below, ravished by hurricanes, storms and time ............. Or this 'love seat' at the Admiralty Inn in English Harbour that has seen better days ....... And could probably tell some more interesting stories .........