At the moment we are in the marina of Virgin Gorda, the most eastern island of the British Virgin Islands (BVI's). We arrived this morning after a nighttrip of 86 miles from Saba. Almost out of the Caribbean again! Last week we enjoyed Antigua and Saba very much. We pick up the thread again at last Saturday, where the previous travelogue ended.

On our way to Guadeloupe we sail through a light grey atmosphere with ash in it from the volcano on Montserrat. We read on the internet that especially Guadeloupe, Iles les Saint and Dominica suffer from ash rain. It reminds us of the renovation of the ground floor of our house in Tilburg; there we were in the building dust for three months, everything covered with a small layer and cleaning only helps for a moment because immediately after that everything is covered with grit again. In the afternoon we stop in Deshaies, a beautiful anchor bay on the north side of Guadeloupe. We spent the night there a few years ago. But it looks very different now. Very unusual for this region, the wind suddenly comes from the west and the bay is lower shore with a big swell coming in. The houses on the beach are hit by the breaking waves and that is very exceptional. A little further down the bay we can lie reasonably well, but not really comfortable. That makes us decide to leave for Antigua that same evening instead of early the next morning. We have a wonderful sailing evening that we spend together in the cockpit and 7 hours later we arrive in English Harbour of Antigua just before midnight. We have been there before as well and with the help of the chart it is no problem to sail in in the dark and find an anchorage. Just before entering, a flying fish flies very hard against my buttocks ... au! It's a good thing that I'm standing in front of the cabin entrance, otherwise it would have flown right in.

Antigua is a real sailor's Mecca. In English Harbour and Falmouth (the bay next to it) there are many sailing yachts, including a number of big 'boys'. It is very english and there is a nice atmosphere. On Sunday we clean the ship. We polish off the ashes once more (and now nothing more because we are north of Montserrat), take away the laundry (that was in Trinidad the last time), inventory the stock of food on board etc. When I pick up the laundry in the afternoon I walk past a large Dutch ship, the 'Hartbeat', a Truly Classic of 78 feet. I start talking and it turns out that a Dutch family with children is sailing on board, who also do a round of Atlantic; Martin and Esther with their daughters Chanel and Floor of 4 and 2 years old. And two young people as hikers, Rosa and Roeland. We are invited for a drink and it is very nice to meet them and to hear how they approach and experience such a trip. In the evening we have dinner with the girls in a very nice restaurant where they only serve a 'Valentine'-menu. Very nice food in a beautiful setting; all four of us enjoy it to the fullest.
The next day we first do school and then we go for a nice walk with a beautiful view over the bays of English Harbour and Falmouth. When we come back the Lamawaje appears to have arrived as well. They know the Hartbeat of the ARC (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers; a group of over 200 sailing boats that sailed together from the Canary Islands to St Lucia last year Nov/dec). Our children are happy to see Rikke, Imme and Pipa again and they play together all afternoon on the 'dockyard' of English Harbour. Also the children of the Hartbeat and Rosa are playing a lot. Seven girls with the ages 10, 9, 8, 7, 4 and 2 years. Ticking, climbing and clambering in trees and singing 'Daughters' of Marco Borsato together loudly. The adults do some chores and chat with each other in the meantime. We all have dinner on our own boat and after that the whole crew of the Hartbeat and the Lamawaje (4 adults, 2 teenagers, and 5 girls) come to watch us on the boat and have a drink. The Brandaan is temporarily lower in the water under the weight of all the visitors ... The kids are watching a movie and the three smallest ones fall asleep in the meantime. The adults are sitting outside. Again very cosy!

On our last day in Antigua we rent a car and drive around the island for some useful groceries (gas bottle filling, spare belts, food) and some sightseeing (old sugar plantation and Devils Brigde, an overhanging rock on the east side of Antigua). On the way we tell the children about slavery, because just like in Surinam, slavery has been abundant on the plantations. Back on the Brandaan we get ready for a night of sailing to Saba, a trip of 100 miles. Unfortunately it is not a sail, but completely on the engine because there is very little wind and the wind that is there comes right from behind and only makes the sails rattle back and forth. Well, that's how we get there. We sail past four volcano peaks; those of Montserrat, Nevis, St Kids and St Eustatius. All beautiful islands that we have visited extensively before and therefore we skip them now. Saba is the last volcanic island in this list and we have never been there before. Because it is so hard to reach it is high on our wish list.

Saba is absolutely amazing!!! All four of us agree that this is the most beautiful island in the Caribbean. Even more beautiful than Mustique. Saba is one big mountain that rises steeply from the sea with a volcanic peak of 900 meters high in the middle. From the sea only steep ascents can be seen. There are few tourists (by small plane or boat from St Maarten) and only a few sailors. Saba can only be visited in light weather because of the exposed anchorage and the difficulty of coming ashore. We are lucky ... there is very little wind with a beautiful blue sky, while according to one inhabitant it has been a bad month with lots of wind and rain. We moor the boat to one of the eight mooring buoys on the west side, near the 'Ladder'; a steep stone staircase with over 500 steps leading to the village of 'The Bottom'. At the bottom of the stairs is a steeply sloping beach of large round stones where there is regularly a large surf. Until 1973 this was the only possible way to enter the island. Only then a small harbour was built on the south side with easier access. We stay on the boat for another day, do school and swim and snorkel a little further in the bay where there is beautiful coral and nice fish, and decide to enter the island early the next day so we have a full day. That turns out to be a good decision, because Saba doesn't visit you just like that ... that takes a lot of energy. We notice that the next day when we go out early.
We can take the easier route by using the dinghy to sail around the point to the little port in the south. But we choose the 'historically' more difficult route via the 'Ladder'; everyone has landed there for centuries, so we should be able to do that too, right? Fortunately, there's hardly any surf, so getting ashore is fairly easy. Carrying the dinghy up those big rocks is a bit more difficult, and those 526 steps up are killing ... especially for us 'oldies', because the girls have no problem with them. Once we get to the top we soon reach the village of 'The Bottom'; a beautiful village with white houses and red roofs, very clean and very friendly people. We decide to rent a car (at the laundromat, which 'coincidentally' also rents out three cars), because it's just as expensive as being driven around by a cab and we can be our own bosses. First we drive to Fort Hill, the harbor on the south side, to clear customs. The roads look very well maintained and clean. But we understand very well that the road between the two villages on this island (The Bottom on the south side and Windward on the east side) is called 'Could not have built'. What a winding and strong descent and climb!
After clearing customs we drive to the parking lot where the hike to the top of the volcano starts. That hike again consists of quite a few steps (about 800) through a beautiful rainforest-like landscape to the top of the volcano. What a climb ... and we've already had that Ladder ... but the reward of the fantastic view of the sea, Saba itself and the neighboring islands of St Eustatius, St Barth and St Kids is more than worth it. What a beautiful sight! And how fortunate that it is completely clear, because regularly the top of the volcano is in the clouds. And so suddenly we are on the highest peak of the Dutch kingdom.

Downstairs with tired muscles we have lunch in Windward. That'll go in! We drive to the small airport on the north side of the island and then return the car. Would the dinghy still be there and how will it be with the surf? Pretty exciting, but first those 526 steps off The Ladder. Luckily the dinghy is still there as we left it this morning and also getting away through the surf goes well except for a single wave that comes into our dinghy and wets all the bags. No damage to the camera and the rest can just get wet. Back on the boat we immediately jump into the water to rinse off all the sweat and cool the muscles. Dead tired we look back on this beautiful day with a very satisfied feeling!

We decide to skip St. Maarten and to sail directly from Saba to the Virgin Islands. The crowds on St Maarten don't attract us and we didn't want to do much more than buy some Dutch products like chocolate sprinkles anyway. And so last night we sailed away just after sunset. Until midnight we used the engine and there was no wind, after that we had a great sail, although at a high wind (because the wind suddenly came from the north and that is almost unheard of). The temperature is lovely; we are in shorts and t-shirts in the cockpit. By morning, the wind begins to pick up a bit and we spout off at a speed of a good 7 knots towards Virgin Gorda. We are 'back' on the Virgin Islands; almost 13 years ago we were here for our first vacation together in the early days of our relationship and almost 10 years ago we were here with Eline, who was 6 months old at the time. We have very good memories of both vacations and so are looking forward to spending the next week here and catching up on old memories.