The beats of Paul Okenfold seem to hang in the breeze as the yacht sways at anchor in the shallow Mamora bay on the south shore of Antigua.
This for me is Caribbean central, 250 miles south of purtero rico where three weeks ago I stepped of a large jet curious as to what I would find in paradise.

Preferring to see what I could stumble into I had no plans, no reservations, and a completely unrealistic budget. Being spontaneous is all well and good, just don’t fly to paradise during spring break and expect to find a low cost hostel without a reservation…in fact don’t expect to find a hostel. Unlike Europe or Asia and the south pacific, unless you are local, its full serve and full price. After a rude awakening finding myself on a park bench in San Juan for the night, I met a fantastic couple on St John, an island in the USVI, who put me up for the night.

The next day I met up with the yacht “Anticipation” that I would be racing on in the St Thomas Rolex regatta in the following days. Staying with this couple introduced me to the “island attitude”. I have only just started to figure this out, but it comes down to doing whatever it take to stay living in paradise, where the rest is high, the salary’s are low, and its always tourist season. But to some it seems just the way life is meant to be.
I have been in and around the islands for 3 weeks now, and I am just starting to feel why island fever is, you either like the small geography, and enjoy finding the small hidden treasures, or like me feel the need to keep moving, as if it’s just too small to capture my attentions for long…or maybe it just a traveling mood I am in?

The temp of the music has increased as the lights of the shore side resort turn on with the impending sunset. The sky becoming richer in color as the music beats progress toward a state of trance. Rhythms blending with the mood as the night develops and grows deep with the expectation of excitement.

This was the Rolex regatta, a blend of excitement and expectation. I hadn’t been in a yacht race since Asia some months before, and this time I was tactician which just added to the nerves. Trepidation gave way to confidence as a lousy practice turned into a great battle with the other 40.7 class yacht. After the first three races on day on e we were tied for first place.
Day two provided another epic two races with lead changes and tactics spread over a 20 miles race course along the St Thomas coastline. Unfortunately during a start line collision we were judged OCS which dashed out chances of a Rolex prize. The final day dawned with only pride left to race for, and we romped away with a convincing win in style.

Trading the USVI for Tortola and the BVI spring regatta saw us race shorthanded to the bitter end yacht club for a second place and a well deserved lay day before racing back to Tortola in a close finish with our newest rival, an express 37 that we had nicknamed “Tom”.
3 days of windward-leeward racing gained us another hard fought third place in races where the top 4 boats were delivering corrected times within a 12 second spread.

As the party wound up our team headed for St martin and a change of pace. As we neared St martin, the mast of Mirabella V signaled we were moving into the realm of the mega yacht.

The darkness is complete, the shoreline lit from the glow of strategically placed flood lights illumination the palm trees and pathways. Two day previous after the crew left for the airport Richard and I started our delivery to Antigua, however St Barts was in the way, and just begged for us to explore this little French island.

St Barts is a unique little place, with a cute harbor, stunning national parks with open bays and lots of sea life, and a French cafes galore. Away from the reach of cruise ships and with the charm fitting for its location, it’s a playground for the wealthy and host to a wonderful range of vessels from ultra modern bells and whistles, to the splendid sights of a generation ago J-class Endeavour.

The passage to Antigua was rough tough and wet. Starting at 3am from St Barts was a little tough to wake up, but 25knts and a lumpy sea throwing green water over the cockpit soon had us alert. Such a world away from this little cove protected from the waves.
Its quite poetic, the music of Genesis “Home by the sea” is blasting thru the deck speakers. In the morning we will deliver the boat to English harbor, and the heart of Antigua yacht racing.

The next two weeks are possibly the biggest sailing weeks in the Caribbean…one adventure ends, and another beckons.