Back to the Island!

Yes, we're back in Antigua, the land of the singing frogs, iridescent blue green-throated hummingbirds, and whispering palm trees fringing white beaches. And also ...the land of tropical downpours, which is currently what we're experiencing! The weather has been gray and overcast, definitely a bit unsettled, with gusty squalls sweeping through periodically. Some rains, like this one, are torrential white-outs but usuallly short-lived and often pass in just a few minutes. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the cool breeze on the aft deck, sheltered from the rains by the sunshade screens enclosing the cockpit. 

Ron and I arrived on Wednesday afternoon, and as always, it was nice to be back aboard!! Equinox is looking good and we've spent the past couple of days getting some necessary  things done in between dodging the raindrops. We timed things right at The Epicurean,  stopping in when they had just re-stocked the fresh vegetables, so provisioning was a delight. We're making a concerted effort to use what we already have aboard, so with the fresh veggies, we'll be having some delicious gourmet meals in the next few weeks! We've also enjoyed reuniting with cruising friends here at the dock in Jolly Harbour; seeing familiar faces is always welcome!

And so it goes: we've been checking boat systems, water levels, fuel levels and such, inventorying supplies, stowing items and prepping for departure. A big treat this morning was having a diver come clean the hull right here in the slip; usually we do it ourselves when we're out on anchor. We're pretty meticulous about it, so the hull wasn't in bad shape, but having it done now not only saves us several hours of (disgusting) work, it will  allow us to time our departure better, so we can use the good weather to cruise rather than clean! 

Amid watching the weather and checking various marine forecasts for the Leewards, Caribbean sea and points north, we've been debating different return routes. We both would like to visit different ports and places we didn't have the chance to see previously...and there are still so many places to see! It's the usual struggle: the lure of the unknown versus the pleasure of seeing favorite spots....how to decide? Always hard to choose, but either way, we'll enjoy it!