I first sailed to Antigua 27 years ago aboard the 55 foot steel ketch ‘Queequeg II’. We sailed from Boston, stopped in Bermuda and made landfall in the Caribbean at St. Barts. From there we worked our way to windward and sailed into English Harbor just before Christmas. Some of the crew flew back to Boston while I stayed on for another 6 months. Last fall, I reconnected on Facebook with Doug, one member of the original crew. He was excited to know that I was living and working here and I was more excited to hear that he was sailing his own 47 foot sloop ‘Trinity’ down to the Caribbean where he would spend the season sailing with his wife and four young children.
Last week, Trinity sailed into English Harbor after sailing from New Hampshire to the BVI, St. Barts, and Nevis. It was a perfect place for a reunion; the same harbor where we parted ways 27 years ago. We spent the next three days catching up with each other, getting to know his family and visiting the island. We hiked up Strawberry Hill, collected specimens at Fossil Beach and enjoyed an afternoon sail to Rendezvous Bay aboard Trinity. They plan to be here for another week or so before they head ‘down island’ to Grenada. It was wonderful to see an old sailing mate again. The bonds we formed years ago were strengthened by the challenges we faced on our first offshore sailing experience and will continue to last despite years apart. You can follow Trinity’s progress on their own blog at http://sailingtrinity.blogspot.com/
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ReplyDeleteDon't know if you still check your site, but I just discovered it while doing a search for Queequeg II, the John Alden steel ketch I lived in Boston on in the summer of 1982. I had boarded in Edgartown, from where we sailed to Boston before maintenance & refits before we were to cross the Atlantic to the Azores. Laney Stephens and Hank Cross were the owners. I loved the boat, loved them, loved the experience of living aboard, but came to believe the transatlantic voyage would be carry more risks than I wanted to run. I ended up sailing from FL to Antigua that winter on Raffles Light, w/many stops along the way, and recall hearing that QqII had arrived in English Harbor and then left shortly before we did. I'd love to hear of your experiences aboard! Beautiful, beautiful boat, and a mixed bag adventure on her...