Last Antigua Moments

As we prepare to begin the sail back up to the States to leave EcstaSea for the summer, we took full advantage of our last days on Antigua.

Shirley Heights where you can not only see the panoramic view of the island, but dance the night away to the awesome steel drums, is still one of our favorite places. So we went back several more times to drop into the Caribbean beat and enjoy the best "dark and stormy" rum drinks on the island!

We also returned to our favorite coves to anchor out, snorkel and do what we do best....nothing at all.

The Captain (altho it's really the First Mate's job) dove on the anchor,  checking to see that it is well set---notice the thumbs up!!!

He also enjoys diving down and picking up the conch shells just to look at their beautiful pink colorful undersides
:

And he always puts them gently back where he found them...

And now we are ready to sail on up to the British Virgin Islands on our way north. Thank you Antigua and Barbuda for our wonderful winter time with you...

Backyards

In our Tucson home, I start my mornings out in the hammock on the backyard patio. My loving husband makes me a big cup of coffee and there i sit and swing every morning. And i notice that except for the clouds moving by, my backyard is pretty much the same every morning--not much changes. The beautiful mountains are still there to the north, the trees are still in the same place, and the hummingbirds still come for their nectar.

But not here on EcstaSea...Every morning the loving Captain still makes me a big cup of coffee and i sit on the veranda (cockpit) and look out into my backyard. My ever changing backyard--depending on which way we are swinging on the anchor. And that is one of the many gifts of living on EcstaSea. The constant reminder of the transient, temporary, and ever-changing nature of life!!!

Somehow living on land causes us to be more forgetful of this law of nature, as we are not living in a setting that moment to moment changes.  And living on the ever moving, fluidness of the ocean, we remember and honor the way it is.
And so we wanted to share some of our backyards with you...

The island of Montserrat with the plumes of smoke from it's volcano.

Bird Island in Nonsuch Bay.

Another gorgeous sunset...

Another rainbow leaving it's pot of gold on the little island in the sea....

And another over an island in North Sound. There is no lack of rain or rainbows here in the Caribbean.

Sharing our backyard and sunset with another...

February's full moon rising between the masts at Jolly Harbor....

Just hanging out in our backyard...our ever-changing, transient, temporary, yet perfect backyard!!!