APRIL = ANTIGUA

    As in 2011, Persephone spent the month of April in the country of Antigua-Barbuda.  Most of the cruising community assembled in Antigua for the annual Classic Regatta.  The race is only a five day event, but the partying starts the week before.  The Classic is co-sponsored by the Mt Gay Rum Company, which supplied copious amounts of rum at nightly 'Red Hat Parties'. 

Mark and I 'relax' the morning after a 'Red Hat Party'

The Classic is a race among beautifully restored antique yachts (or modern replicas) of all sizes.  The yachts have so much highly varnished teak, they look like floating pieces of furniture.

The starting line for the Classic Regatta

  
We all had a blasts during the two weeks of camaraderie...  Many of the cruisers have made reservations at the Betty Ford Clinic !  But not the crew of Persephone....we were off to Barbuda for  more adventure.....

PS....I am trying to catch up with the past couple of months when the Blog was in suspension (Red Hat Parties ??)   Persephone arrived in Rodney Bay, St. Lucia yesterday and will be here for the next several days.  Sould get caught up in the next couple of postings......

Blog is Back.....

It has been nearly three months since I posted a blog.  In the past three months,  a lot has happened aboard Persephone.  In the next several postings, I will bring you up to date.   Most importantly, my Dad (age 88) pasted away after a relatively short illness.  In early May, Persephone was docked at Jolly Harbor,  Antigua while I flew back to the States to attend the funeral. 

It has been 18 months since I visited the States (or driven a car...Yikes !!).  Attending the funeral was important; not only to say 'good bye' to my father, but to get re-acquaint with family and friends.  

A couple folks in the Blog-o-Sphere wrote and asked if I had lost my appetite for cruising.  Another friend wrote and was worried that I was spending too much time at anchor and may have lost my spirit for adventure.  Bob on 'Pride' figured I just drank too much rum and fell into oblivion.   Let me assure you all that none of these scenarios are true.  Any fleeting thought about giving up the cruising life (and there haven't been any) would be quickly crushed by the following:

This is Connecticut's famous Mystic Seaport   May, 2012



This is one of the 360 beaches on Antigua  May, 2012

This is Ian's Sabre 452 (a big sister to Persephone) at
her dock in Mystic, CT   May,  2012

The is Persephone anchored at Jolly Harbor
Antigua   May, 2012



Pictures sure speak a thousand words.....   !!