December 28, 2022

After last night, we were even more on guard about the anchor dragging while we slept.  In the middle of the night I heard some banging going on.  This can happen for many reasons.  Sometimes it is the chain pulling.  Other times it is the water hitting the broad side of our hull.  And, sometimes, it is a mooring ball getting pushed into our hull.  Steve got up and determined that our bridle had come off.  The hinge on the clip had broken off.  So, he zip-tied the bridle on and I let the chain out to reset the bridle.  When we pick up our anchor, I will need to cut the zip tie off to get the bridle and chain up.  Luckily, we are headed to the North Sound Marina, where we had our boat stored for the winter.  That is where we are going to meet Kirsten, if she ever arrives.  And, there is a chandlery onsite.  So, hopefully they will have a replacement connector and we can get that fixed today.

Kirsten’s flight out of Seattle was delayed and she missed her connecting flight from New York to Antigua yesterday.  She was rebooked on a flight this morning.  We are waiting to hear if everything goes well.  She has been trying to fly to Antigua since Friday.  Today is Wednesday.  Most of her vacation is already used up travelling and she hasn’t even arrived yet.  It is really too bad. 

As soon as Kirsten arrived, we picked up the anchor and moved to our favorite anchorage in Antigua, right off of Bird Island.  We actually anchored at the far end of Rabbit Island and then determined that the wind was too strong there.  It was a shame because the view from there is gorgeous and we were protected from swells.  However, we decided to anchor off of the center of Rabbit Island to get some protection from the wind.  We were thrilled to see that our new British friends were already anchored there.  (We had told them where to anchor the night before.)  As we were motoring in our dingy to do some snorkeling, they dingied past.  We invited them over for Margaritas around 5p – sundowner time.  

The Marie at Rabbit Island

There was one other gorgeous boat in our anchorage called the Maria.  It was a refurbished wooden boat from the 1930s that looked like it was once on a river.  They kept to themselves, as most people on the larger boats do.  We waved to them and their crew a couple of times, however. 

It felt so good to snorkel.  We saw a few fish and different coral formations.  However, we didn’t see any lobsters off of Lobster Island.

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