Many of the guests had early flights, so breakfast was earlier than usual, so once again we were all up and active by the time the sun came up. The seas were choppy and the wind was strong, so it was necessary to send the luggage over to shore separately from the people, and to keep it dry, it became quite a process. Before the departures, we did manage a final group photo!
I was with the second group, and recognizing that we were likely to get wet I kept a dry shirt under the tarps to change into once on shore. Despite that preparation, we were got fairly drenched. A final new and exciting experience! There were goodbyes and then some effort to sort out the taxes that we thought we had arranged the previous day. I made a call, but wasn’t convinced, so when a van stopped to ask what we needed, we were able to get Wayne to take us first to the airport, and then to Dickinson Bay for me.
At the airport I said farewell to the friends who had first told me about the Florette and this very special sailing, wishing them safe journeys back to Tennessee (Bill and Elke) and Bernd (Germany). And I headed off to another night on Antigua.
As I’ve said and written before, my search for new experiences is what drives me and gives me my “juice”. I’ve never done anything remotely like this — sailing, exploring islands beyond the sandy beaches, living in a bunk bed in close quarters with shared toilets. And while I’m pretty certain I couldn’t do this as a lifestyle, I see the appeal of the laid back, pirate life.
This is the final chapter of the Caribbean Sailing Adventure; until next time (May) I will be staying closer to home.
