They Weren't Kidding.

We anchored in Freeman's Bay, at the entrance to English Harbour. It wasn't easy as a catamaran with one engine is almost unsteerable in reverse. Reversing is very important in anchoring since you drop the anchor, then back away from it, letting out chain as you go. We managed to find a spot on our second or third attempt, but when the wind came up on Friday evening, we began to drag. Discretion...valour...all that. We fled to one of the arms of the inner harbour, Ordinance Bay, where we anchored at the entrance at about 8:30 p.m. We were made to move in the morning because we were a bit of a hazard for the enormous boats cluttering up the harbour for charter boat week, but at least we relocated in daylight.

Then the wind came. It howled. It blew. It wailed. And with it came rain. Serious, torrential downpour rain. Rain such as I have never seen here before. Rain that did not stop for two days. We discovered every leaky hatch in the boat. It was wet. It was cold (seriously). It wasn't much fun.

Then again, we're living on a boat in the Caribbean. How bad can not much fun be?

And the weather did end. The sun came out and dried everything up nicely...yes, even the mattress under one of those leaky hatches. And almost before we knew it, it was time to go home for Christmas.

WW has a penchant for getting the wrong days for these flights home. Last year he told me Tuesday, then checked online on Sunday to discover we were leaving that day in three hours!! This time I checked the flight several days before and learned he was only one day off this year. Perhaps he'll be spot on next year.

We had to miss our friends Moroccan theme party (an excuse for couscous, as if you need one), but the trip home was uneventful. We spent a lovely Christmas in the Laurentians at Lake Anne, and New Year's with our friend Lorna in Val Morin. I skipped the midnight -38C tobogganing. Can't imagine why.

We headed back to Antigua on January 7. And therein lies a tale, which will be told in another post.