I feel like I’ve been admitted to boat-watching heaven! The quantity, size, variety, shapes and colors of boats which are anchored in English and Falmouth harbors are staggering.

With all the plastic charter boats around us this lovely Canadian schooner provided aesthetic solace for our souls. She was built in Lunenberg, Nova Scotia, by Stevens Brothers.

We had two great day sails on the way up to Antigua. From St. Anne on the bottom of Martinique we had a broad reach all the way to Dominica. The wind was in the mid 20’s, gusting to the high 20s for most of the trip and Beowulf was flying. With long periods at 17 and 18 knots we averaged 14 knots for the sail. We hadn’t expected to be anchored in Dominica before sundown, but with the quick trip we were settled in by 1330 – and so had time to contribute to the local economy by taking a “jungle river ride” with a local. The river was lovely, but what was really interesting was the bar at the end of the trip. Accessable only by boat, the collection of tourists and locals was like something from a Harrison Ford movie.

We were off the next morning early for Antigua, clearing the anchorage at 0715. The wind was down a bit, and slightly further forward, as we first reached across the channel towards Guadaloupe, and then sailed up the leeward side of this French Island. By the time we were at the N. end, off Deshaies, we were thinking about the record for the Deshaies-to-English Harbor race. As it has variously been owned by the 200+ foot schooner Adiz, and the maxi-sled Sleighride (not to mention the winner last year, the 140+ foot Maricha lll) we thought it would be interesting to compare times. We don’t know what the official record is, but Beowulf took 3 hours and 2 minutes to cover the 42 miles…did I mention it was a great sail!

So now we’re anchored in Falmouth Harbor, Antigua. Abeam of us is an exquisite Canadian Schooner, Highlander. She must be all of 120′, with several feet less freeboard than Beowulf,and the prettiest lines we’ve seen all winter. And I’ll bet the crew has really good foul weather gear too!

There are several hundred other boats – Wally’s, Swans, Sleighride, all sorts of maxis which look pretty mini compared to the big boats. There’s even a re-creation of a full-rigged ship – the Rose.

We’re not sure if we are doing Race Week. We have heard so many horror stories about collisions that we may decide to spectate. Depends on what we find out about where the race committee would have us starting and how crowded it will be.