Beautiful Barbuda

We had a great sail north to the island of Barbuda. It is the sister island to Antigua and only 30 miles north. In various travel magazines it is called the most beautiful Caribbean island that you will probably never see. And there is a good reason for that--- there are only 2 hotels on the island with both of them being extremely expensive (1-3 thousand a night) and only 1 real place to eat other than the hotels. There are miles and miles of deserted white and pink sand beaches altho they are difficult to land a dingy on with lots of undertow. But we were determined to see it after a challenge like that.

Anchored off the beach in crystal clear water, there are many turtles swimming around and bopping their heads up for a breath. But we've decided that they must be shy, as when we tried to see them or swim with them when we snorkeled, they disappeared fast. But it was entertaining to just sit on the boat and watch them all around.

We had heard that Princess Diana used to come here often and had a favorite beach named after her. Well one day going ashore we came across this sign that signified that this was her beach:

So we just had to take a selfie here on her beach:

There are 2 things that they (the travel magazines and everyone we met) say one must do on Barbuda.
One is to go and have grilled lobster at Uncle Roddy's Lobster Shack. So we called Uncle Roddy and he came and met us on the beach and drove us to his little restaurant. He told us how much he had liked Princess Diana and how when he served her she always reminded him that she only wanted to be treated like any one else.

We were the only ones at the restaurant (as seems to be typical around here--they only open if someone wants to come) and really had the best time as they grilled the lobster to perfection. We also had grilled plantains:

I (Willow) had never had lobster before, let alone a whole one and i ate the whole thing...

Uncle Roddy also told us about Robert DeNiro buying the closed K Club Resort along the beach and it's in the works to reopen with an even bigger and better resort.

The second thing they say not to miss is the Frigate Bird Colony which is the largest one in the world. So once again we struggled with our dingy going ashore where we met our guide Clifford, and he took us in his little boat across the lagoon to the colony. The first thing we saw was thousands of frigates flying in the air above the mangrove trees, but then.....
Thousands of frigate birds nesting in the mangrove trees for as far as you could see.

Frigates are big birds with wing spans sometimes  8 feet wide and are great at snatching fish from the surface of the water or from other birds. But they don't land in the water due to their wing span and inability to fly once wet.

The males sit in the trees during mating season and expand the big orange pouch making a clacking sound saying "Pick me, pick me" to the females. Of course, in all of nature (humans included), the females are the choosers and so it is that the males are the more colorful as they need to attract the attention of the ladies. And man oh man do these male birds strut their stuff:

This guy is really going all out as he lies on his back for all of the flying females to see:

It's a long mating season with males and females mating only once during that time, with the females laying only 1 egg. Once mated, the male and female take turns guarding the egg or chick while the other fishes and brings food back to the nest.

It was an amazing experience and of a magnitude that we cannot even describe. We were able to be right in the midst of thousands of frigates....colorful, noisy males, females and so many chicks!!!
We were so thankful and definitely agree that it is not to be missed.


We have never seen as many rainbows as we see here in the Caribbean, and you might think that they could become ho-hum. But they are still magical to us and we really were in awe of this complete rainbow off of the coast of Barbuda. It was ocean to ocean and so big that i couldn't even get it completely in the picture.
What would happen if we sailed right over to the end of it? A pot of gold?

We already have our pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.......
                                                           It's our love, our life, and EcstaSea!!!

Music and more...

Yes, we are settling in and finding our rhythm here on Antigua. We like to 'be" in a place until we feel that we "own" it or it owns us. And we are taking ownership of this beautiful island.

There is a high vista point on the south side of the island called Shirley Heights. It is a magnificent place to go and watch the sunset and see the island of Monserrat to the west. It also overlooks English Harbor and Falmouth Harbor as shown in this picture:

And of course, we always take the time to acknowledge and thank the sun for another day, and so made our way up to Shirley Heights to do just that:

Now another important thing about Shirley Heights is the long honored tradition of Sunday nights music venue and barbecue. People from all over the island, tourists and locals alike, meet here on Sundays and it is common for 400-600 people to gather. And we were not about to miss this either.
Now we believe that music has a unique way to take our inner joy and bubble it up and over into dancing, rhythmic feet. And we are not sure that any music does that better than steel drums. The steel drums are the heart of the Caribbean music as far as we are concerned and not only do they make the feet move but every cell begins to dance ecstatically!!!! So....ecstatically we danced the night away....

There was a band with 10 steel drums and no other instruments (none were needed) and it was unlike anything we have ever heard....

Since then we have found music everywhere around the island and love the happy feet that always show up with the steel drums and Caribbean rhythms. We dance a little triple time, a little Latin, a little free-style and a lot of whatever moves us. And the point is---we have dancing feet going on here on the island of Antigua...Yeah!!!

We also have lots of rainbows going on here:

And we have discovered the magic anchorages of the North Sound. They are a little tricky getting to because of the many shoals and reefs but well worth it. And the sunsets here are spectacular also:

Yes, we are dancing fools and "owning" this paradise called Antigua!!!

2015

Yes, it is a New Year--2015!!! And we are in the Caribbean on the island of Antigua. How did we finally get here??? That is a very good, or not so good story--depending on your perspective. But the ongoing realization that we have as we enter this new year is the deepening commitment to "letting go" of stories.
Aaahhh, stories....The memories of a past experience or the concerns of a future occurrence, but definitely NOT the current moment in time. And we are finding less and less want or need to live in the stories whether they are "good or bad", because they rob us of the richness of this present moment of NOW.
Soooo....now we are here in 2015 on the island of Antigua and we are very, very grateful!!!

We are also thankful for the 2 months we had with family in Charleston while we were trying to get to the islands.  What a rich time with Richard's Mom, 2 sisters and their families. It's truly been a deepening of connection and love! We find that the longer we are in this incarnation, the choosier we become in our choices of who we spend our time with. There is less (time) of it for us and we want to use it wisely.  How special it is that we "want" to spend it with family.

Christmas here in the Caribbean is very different than any other tradition. It seemed to be like a Christmas Mardi Gras complete with fun costumes, barbecue, champagne and reggae music. Did i mention "fun"? Lots and lots of it! Dancing reggae all afternoon...

The Captain with decorated boat in the background--different kind a Christmas indeed!!


New Year's Eve is also my Captain's birthday. Yeah, the whole world celebrates with him and i find that only fitting. So we were in port at English Harbor with lots of champagne, music and fireworks.

Family and friends sent cards, pictures and presents with me for the Birthday Boy. So what a surprise for him!!!! We even managed to sneak in his all time favorite of Sees candy. There was a Scottish fellow on the boat docked next to us and he happened to hear that it was the Captain's birthday. Even he surprised us with a couple of birthday balloons. Even one that lit up inside. Too much fun....

Music and fireworks at midnight...

This looks like a jellyfish in the sky!!!





And then of course, our favorite part of this sailing life, leaving port and finding the best coves to drop anchor in and just "be".

Slowing it all down and thanking Brother Sun for another day...

Antigua is a beautiful island, green and lush with an abundance of little yellow butterflies everywhere (even out to us on the water). The island is full of music and dance of which we truly enjoy.

Yes, it is a New Year and new experiences for us!!!

Happy New Year,
Willow and Captain

Fall Colors

Living in Tucson where there are four seasons: early summer, summer, late summer and next summer, we rarely get to see fall colors like most people. So we really enjoyed driving across the country this fall on our way back to EcstaSea where she is berthed in Charleston, South Carolina.

We drove east through New Mexico, Oklahoma, Missouri and into Nashville, Tennessee where we stayed for a few days. We stopped at the Loveless Cafe and had their world famous biscuits and I (Willow) was introduced to moonshine in my iced tea. So now that we are in the South, i will continue the exploration of my newfound love of "moonshine". Did you know that it comes in all kinds and varieties? So far, the cherry is my favorite!!!

While in Nashville, we explored the music world every night at such places as Tootsie's Orchid Lounge. Music everywhere and always along with happy hour at all hours. The Captain procured tickets to an Alan Jackson concert at the Nashville Hall of Fame auditorium. And as to be expected,
Alan Jackson did not disappoint, but delighted us above and beyond expectations.

Then on to my Captain's home town of Chattanooga, Tennessee. So wonderful to see my "Southern Gentleman's" roots.

Then on to more fall colors in Highlands, North Carolina. Magnificent reds and more reds...

And finally on into Charleston, South Carolina and EcstaSea! And just as soon as we got her into the water, it was full moon. What  a gift from the Mother once again as we settle into our ocean life. And now soon, on to the Caribbean....

End of Summer

Really….and we do mean REALLY???  where did the summer go???
Well, wherever it went, it went way too fast!!!
And now it is time for us to leave the desert and return to our ocean home on EcstaSea.
So just a few last pictures of a wonderful but fleeting summer…

Our fishing trip to Alaska…

The sockeye salmon were returning and going upstream to span and end their life cycle:

Silver Salmon caught on the Kenai River:

Richard's catch of sockeye salmon from our fly-out to a glacier lake:

Our catch of halibut and ling cod caught on the Gulf of Alaska:

And then our catch of more halibut from Cook Inlet:

Needless to say, we have lots of fish that we were able to give to friends and family and still have more in the freezer.

While we were fishing three Alaskan brown bears were playing in the stream and lake very close to us. Luckily, they paid us no mind as they were too busy eating the salmon...

The wildlife was incredible and everywhere we looked there was more to see. Eagles flying, moose crossing the roads and even a pet reindeer:

So my Captain was finally able to show me his love of Alaska and fishing, and it was quite an experience!!!

And since variety really is "the spice of life" for us, we just had to take a trip to Las Vegas. One moment in the wilderness of Alaska smelling of fish and the next glitzing it up in the casinos. From one playground to another--but isn't that what it is all about??? Really, it's all play in a play that we make up and we have the lead role and character in it. We get to produce, direct and even design our own costumes.

And Vegas is great for dancing the night away in the many discos:

The monsoon rains continued and the desert around our home bloomed with color and beauty…

And it was the first time we had ever seen flowers blooming out of this  yucca…

And as always the colorful sky above our mountains…

Yes, it has been a fast summer with so much fun. And we are ready to slow it down a little as we head back to EcstaSea, where life is slow and easy and in harmony with the wind and waves. Both the desert and the ocean support and nourish our souls and we are forever grateful to have the privelege to live with both.
"Thank you" Tucson..... and "hello" EcstaSea!!!