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Diane's Diary3/16 Friday Today, all to soon, their visit came to an end. We were all up at 6 am as they had to leave by 7 am. We were sorry to see them leave. After they left we decided to walk up to the fort before it got too hot. We were back by 9am & decided to call Joe DeMers' friend Larry Irvine who happened to be coming to Antigua for the week while we were there. He was bringing us some boat parts & other things like diet iced tea for Larry. We cannot find diet ice tea down here. We finally get ahold of him in the pm. He's going to come down to the dockyard tomorrow & we are going to take them sailing 3/17 Saturday Larry Irvine & his family come by for a visit around 10:30. We had told them we would take them sailing bur unfortunately the wind was up to high so we didn't want to take them out on a day like that. We explored Nelson's Dockyard again with them & hiked up to the old fort. We had them over to the boat for lunch. They left around 3:30 & we hung out on the boat the rest of the day. Unfortunately the water here is polluted so we can't swim. Larry brought us a bottle of rum. Thanks Larry- we will think of you when we drink it! 3/18 Sunday Larry was kind enough to invite us to their resort for a day. What a treat for us!!! We had lunch, went snorkeling, took out the Hobie cats & Sunfish, went kayaking, & swimming in the pool. All for free!!! Larry even picked us up & drove us back. We really enjoyed the day with his family. We even took showers in their room - with unlimited water- what a luxury!!! We will have to find places like this in the future & do the same thing. Thanks Larry so much- we really enjoyed your hospitality!! 3/19 Monday Larry asked us to tour his Mom & daughter around the Dockyard while he and his son went to Jolly Harbor to play golf. We were glad to help out as they have been so nice to us. Besides, we enjoyed their company. We had them to the boat for lunch. Then we went over to Falmouth in the pm. It was very hot walking around Falmouth but they wanted to see the megayachts. Normally, we stay out of the sun from around 11- 3 when it's the hottest. I think the sun got to all 3 of us- Hillary, Grandma & I, as it was just too hot walking around. Larry came back around 3. He said the course wasn't that good as it was extremely dry. Antigua hasn't had a good rainfall in months & everything is extremely dry. Larry offered to pick us up later & take us back to their resort for Caribbean buffet night. However, we didn't want him to come pick us up & drive us back at night- especially with all the animals in the road here. Also, the Antiguans drive like maniacs! I was extremely hot from all that sun- it definitely got to me! So, we stayed home instead. 3/20 Tuesday Larry again offered to bring us to their resort for the day so how could we refuse? We really enjoyed the company & the use of the resort. We even stayed for dinner. Larry drove us back at night even though we said we would take a taxi - he insisted on driving us. While taking showers in their room we turned on the TV & got the news from NY on NBC!!! We sat there amazed, as this was our hometown news. Things didn't seem to change much. It was the first TV we had seen in months! It was strange to watch it. I must admit I missed TV at first but now hardly ever miss it. I do miss hearing the news though. We feel very isolated on the news. When you can find a US newspaper it's a day or two old & they still want over $4US for it!!! So, I never buy it. We do ask our guests to PLEASE bring us the paper though (anyone thinking of visiting us please don't forget that!). Anyway, we had another fabulous day with them. We have invited them to go sailing with us tomorrow to return the generous favor. 3/21 Wednesday Larry, Lars & Hillary came to go sailing but unfortunately the wind was up AGAIN! They drove us up to Shirley Heights so we could get a good view of the ocean. The whitecaps were really roaring. Larry & family still wanted to go sailing but my Larry was still reluctant to go out. Not that I blame him. Destiny is our home & we don't want to beat her up. Anyway, Larry decided we shouldn't go. It would have been very uncomfortable for everyone. I know they were disappointed but I think they understood. Anyway, the view from Shirley Heights was dynamite. We were sorry we didn't have our camera with us. Anyway, we went back to the boat, had lunch & hung out. They are leaving tomorrow & we are sorry to see them go. We really enjoyed their company & generosity. Thanks guys for everything! 3/21 Thursday The wind was finally down a little so we were able to leave English Harbor. Even so, the wind was quite brisk leaving & the boat was really rolling until we turned on the leeward side of the island. Then we had a beautiful downwind sail with just the jib up. It was perfect! We decided to go to Five Island Harbor so I could get the US taxes done. Larry Irvine had brought me the state Turbotax. Five Islands was just beautiful- it's what you think of as a quiet beautiful Caribbean anchorage. It will take me the next 2 days or so to do the taxes so we just relax this afternoon. 3/22 Friday I spend all day spent working on the taxes. And people think we don't do anything all day long! The water seems kind of murky here although we don't know why. I do swim off the side of the boat though. I guess I just expected to see the bottom & we can't. 3/23 Saturday Still working on the taxes and not much else. There are only about 5 other boats here & it's very quiet. We've been running the water maker every day. We are very low on water. We have to be careful where to use the water maker as the water cannot be polluted. We used it in English Harbor where we really shouldn't have & the filter got filthy from it. From now on we will only use it where the water is clean. 3/24 Sunday Well, the taxes are all done so we decide to move next door back to Jolly Harbor again so we can use the facilities- showers, beach, & most importantly, the pool. It's amazing how tired I am of salt water already! I also do an accounting so we can see how much money we have been spending & where it's all going. The rest of the day we spend at the pool. |