Green Island

December 26th, the day after Christmas. It's Boxing Day here in Antigua. Back in the States it's 50% off everything Christmas related. Songbird and Merengue head out of Falmouth Harbour for Green Island.

Here's Merengue (left) and Songbird (right).

Green Island is a small island on the east coast of Antigua. Located on the outer edge of Nonsuch Bay with a barrier reef to protect it, it's a beautiful spot to spend a few days. The snorkeling was great.

During a walk on the beach we discovered this large rock that was thrown up on shore by the big surf. This sea anemone was clinging to the rock, high and dry but still alive.
The anemone was an amazing bright red color.

The tentacles dropped down as soon as we moved it back to the water. We weren't sure if it would survive. No telling how long it was out of the water but we'll hope for the best.

One afternoon, Pat and Carol took us out on Songbird for a lazy sail around Nonsuch Bay. Well, it was lazy once I got that mainsail out. Protected by a barrier reef, Nonsuch Bay is more like a big lake with nice winds but no waves.

Our hosts, Pat & Carol. Songbird is a Hunter 410.

As we left Green Island we could see the island of Montserrat. The volcano has been very active lately. That's not all clouds above the peak. Notice the large plume of ash billowing out the top.

The dome of the volcano grew about 60 meters from Dec 30 - Jan 2. You can see the ash flow on the picture below and we're about 30 miles away!

You can follow the activity at www.montserratvolcanoobservatory.info.

Lucky for us, Antigua is upwind of all of this.

Heading to English Harbour for New Years and sailing past The Pillars of Hercules, beautiful rock formations that guard the entrance to English Harbour.

We thought English Harbour might be too crowded because of the festivities at Nelson's Dockyard but we found a beautiful spot to anchor off of Galleon Beach. We got all dressed up for dinner ashore but the rain started about 6:30 and didn't quit until almost 11:00. It was pouring too hard to leave the boat! The good news was that the sky cleared in time for the fireworks and we had a beautiful view from Merengue's cockpit.

We celebrated New Year's Day with lunch at Catherine's Cafe, a great French restaurant on the waterfront in English Harbour. We hope everyone has a wonderful 2010.