Francis is back

Francis Gobinet grew up fishing, snorkeling, boating and windsurfing in the North Sound just like i did. I first saw him jumping out of his dad's little boat on the beach where i live about 15 years ago. He was about 9 then i think. Anyway, from day one he has been full of action and personality. I took him to a windsurfing competition in the British Virgin Islands way back when he was 12 years old, and he did very well. We actually sailed down from Antigua on a yacht and as he was at home on the boat as he is today. Some of us just like being at sea more than on land. Anyway, years later after i had started my company, Adventure Antigua, he worked with me on my Scarab doing the "north sound eco-historical tour". He stayed with me long enough to gain enough experience to set off onto the big yachts which base themselves here each winter. Off he went to Europe working as crew on million dollar yachts and gaining not only experience but also "yacht master" certificates as well. On paper, he is now the most qualified member of Adventure Antigua and will be working with Tony on the Eco Tour for the season. When the big yachts leave Antigua at the end of the season in April, Francis will leave us to do more sailing with the big boys. By then, i hope, Tony will have enough coaching and experience to become a full time skipper on the Eco boat. Wish them both luck if you see them. The top photo is of Francis posing during a photo shoot recently. FUNNY! I am not sure who took the pic. The other photo is of the kind of yachts Francis works on in the summer.

blogging aint easy.....

Up until my last blog entry, I was managing to quite regularly write a few lines about my company and life in Antigua, but then as you can see I stopped.
I find that when trying to do anything "creative", I must be relaxed and in a positive mood, and over the past few weeks I haven’t been there. As you would have seen if you had been keeping up with the blog, boat troubles were taking their toll on the company, the crew and on me. After the 15th the problems didn't stop. Although we didn't have to cancel any tours, we did have to use the Xtreme boat a few times to do Eco tours. We also spent long hours after work on several days getting the eco boat ready for the next morning. We left there after midnight one day, and that was after doing a tour that day as well. Tony worked far too many hours over the past month, and I am grateful for the dedication and calmness which he showed when dealing with all the problems. Several eco-tours came back on one engine, and the crew that we have did a great job of making sure everyone was back on time. Actually I think many of the guests didn't even know that we were running on one engine. Our philosophy is "the show must go on" and more important than anything else is the dedication to making sure that our guests have a great time. I think from the reviews I have seen on the various forums that we accomplished this even in these difficult times.
Altogether I have probably had to fork out about US $18,000 in parts and labor and I still have more work to be done. For both boats we keep spare engines, and I have 2 extra ones for Xtreme and one for Arawak Odyssey (the eco boat). All three have been used and abused to get the boats up and running at 100%, so now they have to be fixed back up in order to be on standby for the next round of problems. And that is the thing that anyone in this business has to be prepared for and to accept. Problems on boats are as sure a thing as getting wet when you go snorkeling. Not everyone likes getting wet but you have to accept it and are prepared to deal with it. If you keep on swimming you won't feel the cold brought on by the wetness. "Keep on swimming" wasn’t that from "Finding Nemo"....I love that movie. It’s a prerequisite for my tours you know.
Anyways.......we are in the keep on swimming mode here at Adventure Antigua and there are some exciting new changes that I will mention in the coming days. I am going to have fun with this blog again and hopefully you can too. Since I haven't been posing lately...here are a few pics for ya.
(The first one at the top is of some friends on the front of the eco boat who came with us to give the engines a proper test when we had finally finished all our work last Saturday)
(The one below is of us running the boat hard to make sure she was 100%, and the last one I took while doing the Eco tour on the Xtreme boat. It was the first time I had done the eco tour in ages, and I enjoyed it.)

Eco Tour on for tomorrow.....

Well after working about 40 hours over the past three days, Tony just called me to say that the Arawak Odyssey is up and running again. On saturday we took managed to change the bad engine with our spare, but we had troubles Sunday afternoon last nite getting it running well. We left last nite at about 8 pm with plans to get at it early today. It hadn't been started in quite a while and the "injectors" on several of the cylinders were malfuctioning. Anyway, all day tony and a young mechanic called Joel worked in order to change injectors and then to change the power steering pump which had also failed while sitting for a year. Anyway, she seems to be running well at the moment and tomorrow the repairs of the engine we pulled out begin.....
They say boats are "holes in the ocean you throw money into" and i think they are totally correct with that one. Anyway, this has been a very costly few weeks with three mechanical failures, and i hope its over for the moment.
None of my equipment is old which is the crazy thing......people keep saying "i can't believe you have had these problems".....I guess i just havent been lucky with my engines. Oh well.....its over now!!!!!! All smooth sailing (powering) from now on. This photo is of Tony, the hero this weekend, doing what he loves best. In fact, its what we both love.....being on the water at sunset fishing for dinner.

trouble better only come in threes!

Well as i have already blogged, i had one of Xtreme's engines fail, and one of the Eco's propulsion system fail.....we got those problems fixed in a day each and were "back on the road again". A friend told me after the last problem that bad things come in threes. Jeez did she have to say that?!!!?? They call that "goat mouthing" here. Anyway, sure enough problem #3 came running along at 20+ MPH on Friday afternoon. JD, Junior, and Trevor were doing the Eco Tour and Tony, Francis and I were fixing our Pillars of Hercules mooring.

Tony had been doing some maintenance on Xtreme during the morning and in the afternoon we went off in Xtreme to fix the Pillars mooring which was getting a bit worn. We finished doing that quickly and decided to do a bit of exploring. I will save that for another blog tomorrow or something. Anyway, i get "the phone call" from JD just before sunset. When something is wrong JD has a pretty unique tone and i knew immediately that it wasn't good. He said he had just finished the tour and was coming into Jolly Harbour when he noticed some white smoke coming out of the exhaust. This has happened before and is never a good sign!!!

The last time it was a crack in the "exhaust manifold" which caused coolant to seep into and run through the exhaust system.

Tony went down early on Saturday morning and noticed that the oil dipstick had water beads on it! Great....even worse!

Essentially there was only one option in order to get up and running for the next trip which is scheduled for Monday: get the spare engine set up and replace the leaking one with it. Its easer and faster this way....kinda like what we did recently with the Xtreme's yamaha engine. All day yesterday, Tony spent his time disconnecting the bad engine which is a tough job, and in the afternoon we positioned the boat on the sea wall in the marina in order to have it pulled out. Tom from AMS sent one of his guys with a crane and in the rain, we pulled the bad one out....and put the rebuilt spare engine in. That took about 3 hours and was pretty nasty....we have done this quite a few times now but this was particularly difficult for some reason this time. Anyway, Tony has been down there at the boat all morning hooking this spare up and i am gonna go down to see if we can get it started now. It has about 8K worth of new parts and a new paint job so it looks great, but it hasn't been started in about 8 months so we are a bit nervous. We had maintained it well during the period so fingers crossed!!!!!

This is a pic i took when we were coming back from fixing the mooring. In my opinion its moments like this that make all these problems disappear. Know what i am sayin?

The other article this month....

Was on the Xtreme Circumnav again today in lovely calm weather for a change, but we did manage to get some rain before lunch which "wasn't in the brochure". Anyway, after lunch the weather was perfect and Rendezvous was more stunning than usual. One lady said it was the most beautiful beach she had ever seen. I feel the same way most days too.

Its kinda late and we have another early one tomorrow so i am just going to show the article from the Travel Guardian. I guess i should mention that in the winter Xtreme leaves an hour earlier that the Eco most days in order to get to the Stingray city park in between cruise ship arrivals. They have exclusive contracts with the cruise ships to do tours for them at 9 am, 11 am, 1 pm, and 3 pm. We have to get there at 10 am in order to make the tour work and this means super early starts for the boys (and me) on Xtreme. It is nice knowing that we miss groups of 150+ who arrive at 11 am though especially when its just us in the park at 10. Here is the very English and very nice Guardian article (http://travel.guardian.co.uk/article/2006/dec/05/cricketworldcup.caribbean#more-article) :

Cricket widows (and widowers) should be sighing with relief.
In March 2007 the game that has separated countless couples for days at a time is coming to the Caribbean in the form of the Cricket World Cup. For six weeks, a tropical smorgasbord of nine countries will be offering bountiful attractions to appeal to both parties.
On November 1, Antigua and Barbuda celebrated 25 years of independence from Britain, the former colonial master of the twin-island nation. The islands have produced some of the finest test match cricketers in the history of the game: from Sir Viv Richards, whose 20-year-old record, for the fastest test match century ever, still holds, to Richie Richardson and Curtly Ambrose.
International sporting success, fused with a lovely coastline and the gently undulating landscape of the interior, has propelled the islands into the Caribbean tourist super league.
Without a single private beach on the islands and a population of under 70,000, you can always find a secluded, palm-fringed stretch of powdery sand, lapped by cobalt-blue waters, on which to unwind with a local Wadadli beer. Windward, Galleon and Half-moon beaches are among the best.
Antigua is also blessed with some of the finest coral reefs in the Caribbean. Eli Fuller’s Eco-Tour runs a seven-hour trip around the craggy north-eastern coast, with the accent on the zoology, ecology and history of the reefs and mangrove stands.
The boat passes Georgio Armani’s palatial summer home before mooring off Great Bird Island and disembarking passengers to look at pelicans, ospreys, tropic birds, laughing gulls and herons. You will also see one of the world’s leading ornithological research stations and breeding grounds for endangered hawksbill turtles, at Jumby Bay.
But the highlight is snorkelling over a coral reef just off Hell’s Gate, a small, eroded, limestone island. Hardy souls can swim out to it and then climb through caves to a whirlpool and across a natural bridge to gaze down on blue parrot fish and rays.
Read the full article……
Donning flippers, face mask and snorkel and plunging into the insanely clear turquoise water transports you to a sub-aqueous wonderland. Coral clusters the size of a small village rise on either side of you. Schools of fish coded in hallucinogenic colours pass nonchalantly by while jelly fish pulse in rhythm to the current.
Back on land, you can jump aboard a jeep for a tour of the island and rain forest. Specially converted open top Land Rovers take you to inaccessible spots that a hire car could not cope with. Ask for the driver called “Kill Bill”. He is an entertaining and informed guide who will stop to pick indigenous fruits and point out everything from the cacti Rastafarians use to keep their dreadlocks natty to banks of wild, roadside lemon grass.
No Sunday in Antigua is complete without a barbecue “jump-up” party at Shirley Heights in the south. These take place in the crumbling ruins of Fort Shirley, a former 18th century garrison for British troops at nearby English Harbour. As the evening extends into night, live steel bands give way to reggae, dancing and concerted drinking.
Don’t be part of the foolish majority who fail to make time for Barbuda, the nation’s second, and much smaller, inhabited island 48km to the north. A day trip is easy – the island is just 90 minutes away by ferry from Heritage Quay, in St John’s, or 15 minutes by plane.
Once on Barbuda, walk some of the 13-miles of pink-tinted coral sand making up Palm Beach. Having worked up a hunger, you might stop off at the horizontally laidback Martello Beach Bar for grilled lobster, fresh from the adjacent Codrington Lagoon.
Next, perhaps hire a boat and a guide and head for Man of War Island, the mangrove-rich home of the Caribbean’s largest breeding ground of frigate birds. Watch amorous males, with their eight-foot wingspans, inflate their great, bright red neck pouches as they cruise nonchalantly on thermals attempting to attract a hen. The Barbuda Warbler is also to be found here - its only habitat on earth.
Back in Antigua, art lovers can head to Woods Gallery (001 462 2332) - an artist-run co-op on the island with keen prices. It has bi-monthly exhibitions and openings where you can mingle over wine with local artists and collectors.
If you want professional pampering, the island has limited spa options: try Carlisle Bay and Antigua Yacht Club Marina Resort.

Woods Art Gallery show all this month.

The Woods Art Gallery has an exhibition entitled "Young Artists", and somehow at 34 years old, i was invited to show some of my pics. I had them printed at Island Photo by my good friend Justin Nation, who is probably one of the most talented artists on Antigua. He did a fantastic job of printing them, and the show went very well. There was quite a variety of art on display and if you are going to be in antigua this month you should take a trip down to have a look. I was quite surprised by my photos because they look so different when blown up big and in frames.

I am gonna try to put the ones i used here. These were not the titles i used:

Maltese Falcon in The North sound on Jan 1st.

Portuguese Man of War i saw in Brazil

I put three photos of the frog i saw in Brazil together into one frame, but here is one.

Bahia, Brazil. Bike ride in the rain.

Redonda Boobie and Chick.

jolly harbour at nite

Evo - HDR

They look way better huge and rich. Anyway, you get the idea. Hope you enjoy em and go have a look at the other more professional artwork if you can get the chance. Woods Gallery is next to Carib Photo in the Woods Mall.

famous? who me?

On the Antigua message board i saw someone posted a thread letting me know about a new article they had read on Antigua which had a good plug for my tours. I will try to get a copy of that to put up here, but another one that came out this month was in Englands The Sunday Times Travel magazine. It was written by Nick Redman. This wasn't the final version and he may have edited it a bit. I can't find the final version online and didn't get it emailed to me. The photos are excellent too if you manage to get a copy i am sure you will enjoy. Anyway I hope you enjoy the read:

They"re very friendly, assures Eli, the guide, as we squint down from the floating jetty. "They"re just like the rest of the people on the island." The black shapes flapping in the Caribbean waters below don"t look much like the rest of the people on the island, unless those are rubber one-pieces they"re disguised in. Pretty unlikely, this far from a Berlin fetish bar.

I craved an adventure in coma-inducing paradise and now I"ve got one: half a mile off the coast of Antigua, I'm contemplating a marine eco-enclosure teeming with stingrays, and I have to say they"re rather unusual looking. Doubtless you"ll agree if you"ve ever seen one up close. If you haven"t, simply take a tadpole to your local service station, inflate it to the size of a Spacehopper, release all air, reverse over the result to really mess up the features, and you"ll get the picture.

I may have oversimplified things a little. In fact the stingray plays a crucial role in the waters of the Caribbean, for it is the vacuum cleaner of the deep - hence the spaniel-soft eyes high on top and an utterly unrelated mouth in its pale, soft underbelly. Sure, it looks a sight to anyone other than Picasso in his Cubist phase, but at least that way it can hoover the sea bed without too much fear of concussion.

What is more, stingrays possess unique powers to seduce humans. Our party of nervy Brits and overexcitable Americans discovered as much on Caribbean cruise with a difference: Eli Fuller"s extreme tour of Antigua using a 45 foot powerboat. Leaping from the jetty with snorkels and a splash, we were treated to one of the warmest welcomes in the West Indies as the inhabitants of Ray Park waltzed around us like camp, caped counts at an Austrian ball. A caresss here, a nuzzle there, even a love bite for the ladies - when the gang resurfaced after half an hour with the amorous beasties, one woman realised she"d have a bit of explaining to do to her boyfriend back on dry land.

On dry land, chances are you wouldn"t associate a holiday on Antigua with the call of the wild. This being the Caribbean, there are so many demands on your time - chief among them doing nothing whatsoever. Upon the palmy beaches, along the goat-grazed ways of bougainvillea and canary-yellow timber homes, the island affects indolence so convincingly you guess the authorities must add something to the drinking water.

There was certainly refreshingly little action at my designer-colonial hotel, Carlisle Bay. Unless, that is, you include casually devouring trios of dwarf bananas which arrived mysteriously in your room, artfully placed on oblong plates; or admiring at length the fashionable cream-and-darkwood interiors from the balcony daybed, or toasting sunsets with a(nother) martini. Some folks signed up with Sembi, a gentleman employed by the hotel to take guests power-walking in the village. Personally I found it better to let him do it for me while I exercised my iPod on a sunlounger.

That was two days sorted. But for all the allure of reclinable beach furniture, there comes that Caribbean moment when thoughts turn to What Lies Beyond. I was becalmed in a sea of rum punch when it happened to me. From nowhere a mountainous swell grew, out in the bay, the waters rising uncharacteristically into jellied heights that wobbled momentarily then sank, sending the horizon of moored boats into a clockwork rocking. The land and the sand paled into insignificance by comparison with the high-seas drama developing. It was exhilarating, enticing, like another Antigua beckoning. It was time to push the boat out.

And what a boat it turned out to be. I got the lowdown on Eli"s mean machine the following morning from a sympathetic hotel receptionist who understood my need to experience Antigua beyond bonsai bananas. (She duly plucked a leaflet from a drawer with long maroon talons.) The vessel was bobbing idly at anchor in Jolly Harbour when I first glimpsed it: a glorious 45 foot purpose built powerboat, sleek as a sabre, with the dazzling white looks - and the power - to cut a veritable Miami Vice dash across Antigua"s blue deeps. Eli had bought it mere weeks previously, in Florida, sailing it home in six heady days: down via Nassau, Turks & Caicos and St Martin, en route encountering some infamous Pirates of the Caribbean - Mackenzie Crook and the cast. Together they"d rummed it royally.

"This tour is called Xtreme," Eli announced, as he eased the powerboat out past million-dollar harbour villas painted butterscotch and pink, supported on concrete piles 30 feet deep, like a tropical Venice. The T-shirted human cargo of 15 or so shuffled, seeking to find comfy positions on banquettes, or in obliging partners" arms. "We"re going to be travelling at 40mph so watch out for hats and loose stuff." There were a few involuntary whoops, a few gently greener complexions and one lost hat as the boat rose and belly-slammed in a rollercoaster motion. We were off.

Antiguan born and bred, Eli Fuller has been showing visitors the hidden beauty of his home turf and surf for 20 years or more. The reefs, the mangrove forests and the wildlife. The insane blowholes in the eroded limestone rocks that spew the sea skywards, like whales do. The deserted white-sand beaches and all the other elements you might think incompatible with a major-league package-holiday destination.

Away from the sunlounger, seen from the choppy wilderness of the sea, a wilder world unfurled as we whipped along: looking to shore it was moody and forest-cloaked, huge and forbidding, any hotels too small and insignificant to compete. In places it was humped violently into coral lumps and volcanic peaks - pristine as it must have looked to the seamen who came here for construction timber in the 17th century, when it was one of the most densely wooded islands in the region.

Waves frothed and lunged like rabid dogs at crazily angled strata rising from the neon Caribbean. Pelicans rested in haughty silhouette, motionless on jagged outcrops. And when later we snorkelled 60ft over the sea-bed boulders that had tumbled into the blue from the dramatic rock Pillars of Hercules, it felt like a dream sequence. There were coral fans and darting grunts blue and yellow, trumpet fish down deep. And blue tang, seemingly lit from within. A colonial anchor lay far below, broken and barnacled. Another island altogether.

I say another island. In fact Antigua is a buried-treasure-map fantasy: so many tiny uninhabited outcrops where you can spring-clean your soul in the breezes along a bleached beach, no trace of man as far as the eye can see. In this respect it"s unique among the big Caribbean destinations, with a score or more barrier islands and reefs scattered off its northern shores.

Here turtles feed on grassy beds, bonefish and young barracuda breed, and stingrays do their housewife routine, cleaning up shells and cockles from the seabed and clucking at their lascivious husbands. Local wildlife is engaged in a constant battle for supremacy with more exotic species: Giorgio Armani, for instance, whose new villa slides by far above us, high on a bleak western headland. It"s a sleek giant composed of two edifices, one black, one grey, in the designer"s signature tones. They work rather well with their earthy surroundings. How very considerate. How very this season.

Eli displayed a healthy tan across his good-looking Caucasian features, heightened by the mystique of a baseball cap pulled low. And he displayed a healthy scorn for local powers that be and their apparent disregard for Antiguan concerns when big bucks are at stake. Swinging the boat in off bumpy waters to pick up more of the party at St John"s harbour, he indicated an innocuous-looking pale-blue storage depot. "Designed and built by the Japanese - it"s Japanese Fisheries," he yelled over the roaring breeze that yanked at the long hair of women holding on for dear life up front. "We vote alongside them when it comes to whaling and in returns Antiguans are conned into letting these things be built. But they"re designed for trawlers, which is not how we fish and so they"re actually useless to us."

On along the western coast the waters calmed to vast sheets of aquamarine and powder-blue, a waft of molasses from a rusty plant, glimpses of decrepit cannons as we bounced past distant St James Fort trailing a wedding train of foam. In the 18th century the British chose Antigua as the nerve centre of their local naval activities - pitted with indents and hidden coves it offered safety from storms and the savagery of pirates. Centuries on, weathered relics in iron and mossy basalt, distract you at every turn. It ain"t half Nelson.

Suddenly the sea was mad again, signalling the treacherous north of the island, boiling itself incessantly into molten troughs and peaks. After the drama of the stingray swim it was a touch too much for some as the PowerCat soared then hull-floppped ear-shatteringly. "We"re off to the chiropractor the minute we get back," one American (hopefully not too litigious) was heard to whimper, clambering in defeat back from the prow. My thoughts were turning for some reason to the Tupperwares of pasta-twist salad I"d seen Eli"s team stash aboard discreetly, back at Jolly Harbour.

I cannot recall a more beautiful picnic anywhere, ever, than that served by Eli on tiny Green Island. Black and red mangroves twisted up from waters now still and dark. Here was an eerie place of silent spreading acacia trees, coconut palms and thrusting finger cacti that emphasised the seductive strangeness. I hid around a tiny headland from the group (now pally and talkative). The trunks I"d packed weren"t fit for mass scrutiny, but more importantly, I wanted to be alone on the demerara sands. Squinting as I lay, wet from a swim, I saw at eye level only strewn coconut husks thrown up by the tide, conch shells pink and erotic, and cloud kingdoms bunched on the horizon. This, I decided, would give any mainland five-star a run for its money.

They"re fragile places, these islands - breeding grounds to osprey, turns, Red Billed Tropic Birds and such endangered species as brown pelicans and the (definitely lesser spotted) West Indian tree duck, but also ripe for development. "I grew up with the luxury of these places," says Eli. "If you"re going to protect tourism, you"ve got to keep them." He talked of Bond-movie-lair style developments in the vicinity, for which "the first thing the developers did was bulldoze all the red mangrove. You"d go to jail for that in Florida.

"A beach without a hotel can be an attraction. But to the powers-that-be, a beach without a hotel is a liability. If you want to lose an election simply don"t encourage construction. Ecologically we"re in the Stone Age." The boat rolled like a whale in the mouthwash swell as we made for port down the eastern side. The sea leapt and sprayed those at the back. Some of them sensibly wore goggles, protected against a Caribbean not about to be tamed. Not yet.

Back on the "road" again.....

Well after two drives to English Harbour, two to St. Johns, and one to Jolly Harbour the Eco Boat, "Arawak Odyssey", is back running with two propulsion systems. I think i must have spent 4 hours on the road today running around which is pretty hard to do in little Antigua, but it was worth it. Tony and Junior (one of the new guys) worked a very long, greasy, hot day in order to get everything taken apart and put back together once i got all the bits. It was dark by the time they finished putting back in the fixed propulsion system, but we are ready to do a private charter with the boat tomorrow. Today we had another private charter on Xtreme which JD said went very well.
The winds have calmed down a bit and the skies tonight are beautifully clear. It looks like it will be a busy weekend for us with some super weather though. Although i am not going to sit back and relax with my orange "crocs" up and think we won't have any more mechanical problems.........I think we are all happy at the moment:)

do boats ever have problems?

OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They never stop having problems, and this is something I never get use to. It’s the same with all the boats in this business. One of the other boats in this business had worse problems this past week. Anyway, this past Saturday one of my 18 month old Yamaha engines on Xtreme had a major failure. We had a charter on Sunday and managed to do the whole thing with just two of the three engines. She still cruised at 30 mph easily but wouldn't go much faster. It was fine though because it was only a group of 6. I knew that with a full boat we would be challenged to get near 30, and the two remaining engines would be fighting to keep up. Anyway, I had prepared for this situation by buying the blue boat that you may have seen in recent blog entries which carried two of the same engines. On Tuesday, my mechanic, Tom, took off one of the blue boat's engines and swapped it with Xtreme's bad one. New ones are about 17 grand each in the USA!!!
Anyway, we were back in business today with a full boat. While we were out there though, I had a call from Captain JD saying that one of the Eco boat's drives (propulsion systems) had jammed. I had purchased two new ones 11 months ago too!!!!!!!! They are about 5 grand each landed here in Antigua. I have some old ones which may be able to be used to repair the jammed one tomorrow. Anyway, I cancelled tomorrow's eco tour unfortunately, but I am assured by the engineers in English Harbour that they can use the two old drives to fix the jammed one. They also said that they can do it quickly......We will see, and I will let you know tomorrow.
Someone told me that these things come in threes but that hasn't been my experience. I wish it were, but I am on like number 23 not 3!!!!

happy new year!!!!!

Well, i am sure that some of you who check this site from time to time thought that i have given t up, but i had just been taking a short time off. In fact last week was a very difficult week for me. One of my captain's, Adam, had his last day working with us just before Christmas and both boats have been extremely busy since then. We worked every day last week including sat and sunday. By the time i got home each nite i was sooooo tired that writing blogs wasn't possible. Anyway, i will try to be better from now on.

The holidays for me were good and it was nice seeing old friends and family. Work was tough but fun. We had many repeat guests which was nice and for a change we had quite a few private charters. Its been windy and fairly choppy and my old bad knee has been giving me some trouble. This year i hope to do something about it as driving the boat makes it worse immedeately. This shot is of my favorite boat in the world, The Maltese Falcon. I know i have mentioned her many times this past month, but i never get enough of her. Last night she was anchored between my home and Long Island's "Jumby Bay", and as the moon rose overhead, she was all lit up naturally and by her own lights. What a thing to see.......for dreamers like me.
Hope all of your dreams come true or get closer anyway in 2007. More later..............

Merry Christmas Everyone

i hope you have a wonderful day with family and friends wherever you are. It's a sunny and windy day here in Antigua and all my family are coming over to the house in a short while for b'fast and prezzies. So exciting:)

Later a massive party at my dad's house with extended family and friends. Hope your day will filled with joy and happiness. Will do a proper blog entry tomorrow. for now this is just a collection of images i had on my laptop. found a program that compiles them. Enjoy!

christmas cheer

This blog entry is gonna be a short one.......yesterdays got kinda long and last nite just kicked my butt. My mom decided to have a last minute get together, and i decided to invite my crew and some friends. In the end, we probably had about 60-70 people come and go throughout the night, and it was a lovely bit of "Christmas Cheer". We went through a vast amount of alcohol and lovely snacks made by my mom and a friend of mine. Apart from the regular Cavalier Rum i got two bottles of English Harbour Five Year Old rum which vanished very quickly. It is lovely and if you are here on holiday try to find a bottle to take home......yum!
Antiguans love any excuse to have a party and just like many places around the world, this is the time of year for parties.
We started up at around 7:30 and i think Chopper started "kicking" them out at about 12:30 am........
We all had a lovely time and it was lovely to spend an evening with my crew, friends and family. I hope that everyone enjoys the parties and cheer of this holiday time. Sounds corny, but the "Peace on Earth and Good Will to All Men and Women" is what i'd like to leave this blog entry with.

Antigua's Seasons

I always find it very funny when people say to me "I just couldn't live in Antigua because you don't have seasons". Although we don't get cold here we do have very specific and noticeable seasons.
Just yesterday, someone was saying that they couldn't wait until spring time when the Marlin come around in large numbers. I guess that's the biggest change you notice here with regard to seasonal changes....the change in species of migratory animals. Winter time sees many animals that are fleeing from the cold weather that is chilling out North America. When I got back from being away from Antigua for a month the first thing I noticed was the number of Osprey and other birds. I have also seen many kingfishers and Red billed Tropic Birds. There are so many species of birds that arrive here or pass through at this time of year. But its not just birds, the Humpback Whales will be here from about the end of January until April which is always something we boaters look foreword to. See these amazing creatures up close is something special indeed. Make sure that if you are here during that time you keep you eyes open because you may see them "breach" or spout out in the Atlantic. We tend to see more dolphins in the winter as well but they are here year round. Another species we get here in large numbers during the winter is the "tourist". Some fly all the way from Europe while others migrate by ships all the way from the US Mainland. Since we want to show them how cool our island is, we tend to get quite busy at this time of year. As the winter gets old and signs of spring show up we see other animals showing up. For me, it’s the time of year to get my fishing tackle set up. Mahi Mahi (the Hawaiian name for Dolphin FISH) school in large numbers here in the Caribbean at that time and apart from being great fish for sport fishermen, they are absolutely delicious. We often go camping in Barbuda for the Easter public holidays and will eat plenty of Mahi Mahi then. Yum I can't wait......then again there are some great things to eat coming up this month too...... Another funny thing that visitors to Antigua comment on is how surprised they are that we have Christmas Trees and eat turkey and ham for Christmas. Why not? I think i'd like to eat ham and turkey more often myself, but for sure at Christmas time. I know it's strange for people who are used to snow and freezing temps during the "holidays", but its still the same deal down here give or take 20 degrees. hehehe
Anyway, back to the seasons before my stomach makes too much noise with all the talk of ham and turkey.......
As spring turns into summer the big game fishing heats up with the massive Blue Marlin congregating off-shore in large numbers. They are very difficult to catch but can be a fisherman's dream "fight". Some of my crew and I am hooked on hooking marlin and you can read about it in the blog entry about Tony.

This is also the time of year when massive flocks of migratory birds show up in the islands to lay eggs and feed their chicks. To assure this all works out there are also even bigger schools of tiny pilchards and other small fish hatching out. These poor creatures almost at the bottom of the food chain are gobbled up by birds, dolphins and other fish. It’s a tough time of the year for them for sure.
For me these days, the summer is my favorite Season with all the cool things that started in spring reaching their full potential. It is also "hurricane season" but mostly the weather is best at that time of year. I just love the clear waters and calm seas of the summer and it is when we have the smallest number of migratory "tourist" species here, and because of the free time we end up playing more. Fishing, diving, camping, traveling to other islands, carnival,.....there is plenty to do with our freed up time in the summer and usually the weather makes it all worthwhile. The chicks are starting to leave their nests and are all getting fishing lessons from their parents. You should see the Laughing Gulls. I swear that they have designated teachers giving flying and fishing lessons. As we pass though Rabbit and Exchange islands in August we will see 20 little grey juvenile laughing gulls sitting in the water around one adult. I am not kidding either……it makes us laugh every year. Another bunch of animals that are nesting in the summer are the endangered Hawksbill Turtles. Do you know that one in 10,000 eggs will eventually become a mature adult. The rest just don’t make it. Anyway, these beautiful majestic reptiles nest between May and November and each female can lay over 400 eggs during that time. You will learn all about them on the Eco Tour.
Of course there is a chance that the weather will do the opposite and a destructive hurricane will cause trouble, but that just adds to the excitement of the summer. Remember that over the past 50 years we have been hit by 6 hurricanes, so the chances are pretty slim even though they are there.
As summer comes to an end, the winds calm down even more and the heat seems to slow you down a bit if you are one of the unlucky ones who has to work on land. For us, it means more swimming and snorkeling. The months of September and October can be very hot and still, and sailing can be tough. Powerboating is perfect then though, and it just happens to be the time of year when the Wahoo fish start showing up in large numbers. Wahoo are a delicious fish shaped very much like a muscle packed torpedo with stripes. They fight extremely hard and Tony, the self proclaimed “Wahoo King” longs for this time of year to catch and eat wahoo on all his days off. IT really is a beautiful thing to be out on the water with friends when the deep blue water is totally glass calm. We have been fishing many times where we caught so many fish that we had to come in early……so much fun and action. …..but there are other times as is the case with fishing when we have been out there all day and ended up with nothing. Those days are still fun because the people I go fishing with just love the sea. Late in the “Fall” the weather changes a bit with the sea chilling a bit down to the very low 80s and the air dropping a bit. American cold fronts can make it all the way down here too making it quite windy and for us…a bit chilly. Visitors laugh at us when we mention that we are getting cold (since for them 83 degrees is a dream come true), but you do feel and see the changes throughout the year. It’s just as interesting as anywhere else that you may call home.
I am sorry, but I know it sounds cheesy saying I love living here. I just can’t help it….......
The photo today is of a humpback whale we saw while doing the eco tour. The guests on board was awestruck....which always makes me happy. I added another of me releasing a blue marlin (most of the marlin caught here are released to figh again another day).

test drivin'

We the weekend went well with Saturday being filled with more Super Yacht excitement, parties, the traditional Half Moon Bay hangout as well as Shirley Heights. Monday it was back to reality though with setting up Eco Tour and trying to do a little work on the new little boat.
Chopper and I had tried to launch the boat to do a test run earlier last week and found both batteries to be flat. I had charged them properly at home and now we had to hook them back up and see if they were working. Getting to them wasn’t easy but putting the heavy marine batteries back in was “cake”. I had picked up Tony after dropping off the food for the Eco Tour, and we quickly managed to drop the batteries into their tight compartments. I wanted to swing the motors over before tailoring the boat all the way to the marina. The port engine turned over immediately, but the starboard one just clicked. We have a special marine battery isolator which showed that both batteries were fine, so it had to be something wrong with the connections or the engine itself. I checked all the engine fuses and tightened up the battery connections. Still no luck. The engines had worked well when I was up in Florida so I was sure that it was just a simple problem.
Finally, I broke down and called mechanic Tom who said that I had to clean the leads and connections to the battery and try it again. Something so simple, and yet that was the answer right there. The engine burst to life as soon as we turned the key.
Rudy, who lives down the beach from my home where we are storing the boat isn’t working at the moment and was helping Tony and me. When we were all set I asked him if he’d like to come and test drive it with us. He enthusiastically said yes. He had been working at The Lord Nelson Beach Hotel for nearly 20 years until it was handed over to new owners last week. I think I will dedicate a blog entry to that story another day.
We towed the boat up to Shell Beach Marina and launching pad and quickly backed her into the water. I wanted to run the engines for a few minutes before letting Tony reverse off the trailer. Another problem we had was that we had no anchor, no lines (ropes) and no fenders. If the engines cut out because of bad fuel that had been stored for months inside the tanks then they would drift up onto the coast or even reef. We ran them for a while, and they purred quietly without a problem at all. When Tony backed off he looked very happy and so was I. As soon as I had parked the truck and trailer, Tony picked me off the dock and we were off. Rudy had never been on such a fast boat and Tony was sure it was faster than Xtreme. He was excited and I could tell that he was convinced that we had to keep this new boat. I agreed too. She was stronger than I though and ran pretty well. It would be a perfect “run about” for us on days off or on holidays, and both Tony and I were sure that we could use her for small private charters. We raced up through the Long and Maiden Island channel passing the huge mega yacht Midlandia with its wealthy guests playing on the jet skies and kitesurfing equipment. We pulled into Bird Island channel a few moments later where JD and Trevor had just returned from a hike. After making sure our VHF radio worked we said goodbye to them and set off for Jolly Harbour where we could buy the things we needed for the boat. It was fairly choppy as we passed Prickly Pear Island and the bumps were exactly what we were looking for. The boat ran well through them and there didn’t seem to be any flexing in the hull.
I saw Rudy studying the coastline intently and I realized that he probably had never been down the coast of Antigua by boat. I asked him and sure enough he had no idea where we were passing. He came here to work from St. Lucia 20 years ago and had not been out boating further than the islands of the North Sound where the Eco Tour takes place. I explained to him all the places we were passing and this little test driving of the new boat became its first tour too
After a few hours and a nice lunch in Jolly Harbour we were off again back up the coast to pull the boat out of the water. I think that after a good cleaning and a small amount of fiberglass work she will be ready for action. I am still waiting on some quotes for these repairs now. The pic above is of the boat sitting next to Harriette’s house down the beach from where I live.

Antigua Super Yacht Cup

Yesterday i was hired by AcquaFilms to be their skipper for a day of filming the Super Yacht Challenge, and i have to say that it was amazing. First of all let me describe the conditions. It was a very windy day probably averaging 18 knots with big swell rolling at about 7 feet. The sky was clear and it was setting up to be some fantastic sailing. Only yachts of 100 feet and over could sail in the small event and some of the most famous big boats in the world were at the start line. The Maltese Falcon that i have written about was there as well as Mirabella V. These are 2 of the largest sailing yachts in the world that have both broken so many world records that it’s just not funny. These are SUPER YACHTS and we were the only press boat out there to witness some of the most amazing sailing in history. Usually with winds like that these multi million dollar ladies are held back to avoid "breakages", but with the owners on board and egos behaving even larger than the yachts, there was no holding back these heavenly bodies.
On board was Roddy filming with his gear all covered in waterproof protection as well as another still photographer who was working for the organizers. They both agreed that by the end of the day they had taken the most dramatic images of their careers. Since there were no other press boats out there, we were able to concentrate on getting close to Maltese Falcon and the other Super Yachts as they charged through the 30 mile course. At one time we were 30 feet away from the leeward rail of the Maltese Falcon as she roared along doing speeds over 20 knots. There is hardly any point in describing how this boat looks when you are up close to her on the dock in English Harbour, and even less point trying to describe the sheer power of a yacht that size with all her unique sails out slicing through huge waves at a frighteningly fast rate of speed. Waves were being torn apart and thrown over her deck and people on the deck were hanging on. Flying fish were jumping and gliding out of the way as if being chased by a sea monster. It was awesome....totally awesome. Remember this yacht is 289 feet of luxury that many people think is just a fancy power yacht with sails. Trust me, this yacht is a sailing machine like no other ever built.
What sucks, is i have to do it again! Wait until Roddy does a demo video.....I will put it here for sure!

fixing up boat number 3

Yesterday, I spent time working on the newest boat that we purchased recently. If you remember the main reason I flew up to the USA to check it out and eventually buy it was because I was looking for spare engines for Xtreme. I got a steal of a deal on it and thought I would just take the new motors off, keeping them for spares, and then I could sell the old hull and trailer. As I said, I started to think about keeping it after it arrived here last week, and have had two “boat people” inspect her since then. Tom of Antigua Marine Services and Nik of Small Ship Consultants both have looked at it, and both agree that the old 1985 Wellcraft isn’t in as bad shape as I thought. Tom specialized in engines but has diversified into fiberglass repair and rebuild too. He checked it out on Saturday. Nick is a boat surveyor and fiberglass specialist. He managed the repairs done on the Eco boat a while back and is an expert in my judgment.
Anyway, yesterday Nick met David and I down at the boat and spend 2 hours doing a major survey of the boat to gain a better understanding of what was needed in order to “fix it up”. At the end of it, he told me that it wasn’t that bad at all and that I could use for fun as it is, and if I was gonna do charters all I needed to do was some fiberglass restructuring up in the front. Anyway, I told him to come up with a plan and some costing for him to manage the job. I am excited about keeping the boat to possibly do less expensive private charters for couples and very small groups, as well as possibly some sort of ½ day snorkeling trips. We’ll see once Nick comes back with a quote. I think it would be cool to show the work being done on the boat on this blog as well.
On another note, I have been hired to take Roddy and Ian of Acqua Films through the Yachts taking part in the Super Yacht Challenge which starts today. The races will be over 4 days and it looks windy. I can’t wait to be up close to the Maltese Falcon as she races with all her sails up in the Atlantic. Will take a few pics if I can take my hands off the wheel. The photo is of the “new boat”…..Its small and has loud colours, but I think will pass for what I have in mind for it. If not it will be great for fishing on our days off

National Heros Day

Every year in Antigua we seem to get another holiday thrown at us, and this past Monday was National Heroes Day. The former Gov. tried to make it V.C. Bird Day after the old loved PM who led the island into independence, but it didn't happen before the new Gov. got into power. Of course, they couldn't go along with anything that had been thought up by the old guys and had to change the name to National Heroes Day. They knew that most of the island wanted to acknowledge VC Bird, so compromised with a holiday celebrating all of the past "heroes".
Anyway, we don't usually run tours on public holidays, but had pre-booked several people on the Eco Tour for that day. Adam, Tony and Trevor took the guests out and seemed to have a great time too.
I decided that it would be a good opportunity to take my mom and grandmother out boating. I haven't had the chance to take my grandmother out since she's been here which I felt bad about, and it was such a lovely day for it: great sunshine and about 14 knots of wind to keep it coolish.
I called my sister Nell, and my other sister Fran who just arrived from the UK and told them to invite who they wanted. Captain JD said he'd come with us too so it was a nice little "lime" (social gathering).
We ended up leaving the dock in Jolly Harbour at about 2 pm after we had carefully taken nana on board. My grandmother is 87 years young and has had a knee replacement. The rest of her hinges are not that great but she can still walk on her own. On the boat it’s a little different so we did give her some help getting in and out later on.
We were in Xtreme which is a little more difficult for someone like nana than the Eco Boat is, but she says that she likes "shocking people" and also thinks that she can do anything. I love that kinda attitude and hope to have it at 87 if I am still around.
I zoomed out of the harbour once we had made it past the no wake zone and headed north to Five Islands Harbour, where sadly they are cutting up the beautiful hillside of Pearns Point for development. I say sadly because it was such a beautiful bit of natural coastline with lovely original forest. I say forest only in the Antiguan sense of the word, but it was and still is pretty thick in certain areas. There are not many places left in Antigua that have this kinda vegetation. We cruised way up into the harbour and went around the West Coast's Maiden Island which is owned by JD's family. We saw a big mega yacht doing a photo shoot with several beautiful models and zoomed past them and their jet-ski toys. From there we cruised into Jolly Beach and kept going past Coco's and Coco Bay then on past Fry's and Darkwood Bays towards Turners and Johnson's Point. The waters were lovely and I think apart from the winds, my grandmother was having a lovely time. We were doing about 30 mph going into winds of about 15 knots so there was plenty of wind straitening out your hair......if you were lucky enough to have that much. I didn't have to worry about a bad hair day. ha ha
As we left the calm Caribbean waters of Carlisle Bay, it was time for the Atlantic which I knew would be a bit of a surprise for some on the boat. I remember Nana telling me when I was a kid that she would go on "Nothing Smaller than the QE 2" and here she was about to go into the Atlantic on a 45 foot off-shore powerboat. Nell doesn't like the Atlantic either and there were another few people who had no experience in big swells. Anyway, I had slowed down as we rounded the point into the Atlantic and everyone seemed fine. We had about 2 miles to go to get into the protection of Rendezvous Bay and Xtreme's design carried us there comfortably. Later Nana said she loved the "beautiful" boat and that she though it was a very feminine boat. "I can tell when a car is masculine or feminine and the same with your boat. It is a lovely woman". Hmm I wasn't sure about this comment, but she enjoyed it so that part was cool.
Rendezvous was perfect....well almost perfect. The beach is truly one of the best in the Caribbean, and I love going there every time. One of the things that makes it so perfect is the fact that it’s difficult to get to: it’s in the Atlantic and not close to any other bays, its got a terrible "road" going to it but its difficult even in a jeep, and there are no shops or buildings in sight. All these things make it very quiet. Most of the time we go there we are alone and when people are there they thing that there will never be anyone else coming. It fools many people as it did the two naked men who were sun bathing on the beach when we arrived. woops!
We went up the beach from them and we helped nana get down the ladder into the water. I then took her to the beach where she and my mom chilled in the shade for an hour. I almost fell asleep on the soft sand. Its soo funny when in life you sometimes rediscover things that you take for granted. The sand felt so soft and perfect something I hadn't noticed in ages....and I felt totally relaxed laying on it.
When we got back to the boat I decided to head up to Falmouth Harbour where the Yacht charter Show was finishing that evening. As I have spoken about in the blog several times, the yachts are totally amazing. We stopped at the marina and all got off to go and have some Italian coffee and gelato.....yum! roddy and Ian of Acqua films met up with us after doing a shoot for one of the yachts. Nana isn't into coffee or Italian ice cream and had a beer instead. The ride home was the best, and with the sun bursting through a rain cloud over Montserrat the water was golden.
JD drove and I took a few shots of the gang sitting in the back of the "bus".
National Hero's Day ended up being a lovely day out for us, and my family enjoyed the time we could spend with one of our very own heroes. Nana has been a beacon of support and strength for her family members for about 80 years and never give up. Hope to do a trip like this again soon.

living here

Antigua is home for me and another 70 thousand (give or take 20 thousand) and although i have lived for short periods in several other places, i find it hard to believe that i could comfortably resettle somewhere else. That being said there are many negatives about living in Antigua. The other day "Tom from Michigan" on the Antigua message board said something that i really liked; "a view of the bay is worth half the pay". I know that by living here i am missing out on many opportunities that are available outside of this tiny rock, but the view from here is hard to beat.
I have been back in Antigua for a week after being in Brazil for a month on the first proper holiday i have had in nearly 7 years, and during the week i came to remember how lucky i am to be alive and well in Antigua. This island can be such a fun place to live. Last week in between doing three trips around Antigua’s beautiful coastline, i enjoyed the Boat show and its lavish cocktail parties (A special thanks to the boys at Acquafilms for the invites), Shirley heights and "The lookout", Abracadabra Disco on a Saturday night, the traditional Sunday Half Moon Bay bodysurfing, tea on the gallery looking at the sea.......etc.

For a tiny little island there are lots to do and see and the view can be pretty fulfilling if you are prepared to look.
If you are just gonna be here on holiday there are a few things you have to experience, so don't just stay in the hotel. Get out and explore. It’s worth it!
Let’s take Half Moon Bay as one outing that you could try. I wouldn't get a cab. Rent a car since that will be a bit of adventure in itself:) Remember that you can stop anywhere and ask for directions.....you will need to anyway. When you get down finally to the beach after passing some of the loveliest views along the way, you will be pretty thirsty and a stop at "Smiling Harry's" is a must. Harry is one of the coolest guys in Antigua who operates a very laid back bar and food shack at the entrance of Half Moon Bay. Burgers, chicken and fish lunches are great and even though its not fancy by any stretch of the imagination.......it is very good and worth a stop. Drinks and food are cheap and i wouldn't bother bringing your own. When you get to the beach there are a few things to remember. First, the waves in the middle are always stronger than they look, so be careful. I had a very good friend break his neck there just by getting tumbled badly. That being said, i body surfed for about two hours yesterday and loved every second. Don't take anything into the water except your swim suit (that has been securely attached to your body). If you are a lady you will lose your top, so remember the warning.
Don’t ever think you can take sunglasses in as i have found many just out beyond the waves lodged in the reef.
The second thing to remember is that when you are gonna go into the water you must remember to put your towels and stuff up high enough. I keep seeing people's things get wet by waves washing up on the sand.
Third: take a walk to the right as you look out to sea and go all the way to the end walking over and around the rocky point. You will then get to the first of Mill Reef's beaches. As long as you don't walk up on to their property you will be fine to enjoy the beach and the lovely waters. Its usually more private there. A nice place for a romantic stroll with your loved one.......
Anyway, i am sure there are other suggestions that people may have about 1/2 moon bay, but you just gotta go have a look before our gov. sells it off to some big developer. Harry has told me stories about "investors" being shown around. Ya never know.
The photos here are of some kids playing football on half moon bay and one from Shirley Heights looking down and Nelson's Dockyard and Falmouth Harbour. Hope you enjoy as much as i have done.

now we have 3 boats

Before anyone thinks that we got another big fancy tour boat let me immediately let you know that this is not the case. Let me explain:
Last august after doing 1300 hours we had some problems with one of the engines on Xtreme. They are super high tech low emission "outboard engines" and we had one of them start giving problems because of bad fuel. I found out very quickly how much parts were gonna cost me and decided that it would be better just to have a spare engine. The biggest cost when you have engines giving problems is the time the boat won’t be working, and we can't afford down time during the busy months. I looked at buying a new spare engine and then at used one but wasn't having much luck with prices. I started to think that it wouldn't be much more expensive to buy a small used boat that had the same model engine. This way I could have a little run about boat for fishing and playing as well as having a working spare engine on the ready. Engines don't like sitting in storage waiting to be used, and i would hate to put take the spare out of storage and find out that while it was sitting it had developed problems of its own. Anyway, I started looking for a boat around 20 feet long that had a single Yamaha F225 outboard engine……I found a few nice ones but the prices I was seeing were way outta my price range. One evening I found a 1985 30 foot wellcraft scarab with 2 of those engines on the back. The engines were new with only 180 hours and the best thing was the price. I knew that the boat couldn’t be as good as the pics showed it to be for the price he was asking, but he described the engines as being like new. It was the engines that I was after anyway, so an older banged up boat wouldn’t be a big deal. I would sell it or fix it up, but the engines were worth the price he was asking. The next week I got on a flight up to Florida to have a look at it, and negotiate a final price if I was going to go ahead and buy it. We went for a ride in the intercostal waterway and she ran well. The hull itself is in rough shape, but not a total wreck like I had envisioned. The outside of the boat is very nice actually with a new paintjob, and with some fiberglass work to the inner structure the boat would be solid. He was selling a trailer as well, which sweetened the whole deal for me. We agreed on a price, I paid him a deposit, and I flew home to find some more money. Anyway, this week we finally have received the boat here on the island and it is sitting down the beach from where I live. Now I have to decide what exactly to do with it. I have had several people come to me wanting to buy it even without the engines which I guess is one option, but all my crew think we should fix it up and use it for fun and possibly some private charters or smaller snorkeling tours. This Saturday I am meeting with someone to try and get a quote for the job of fixing the inner structure, and I think this will help me decide what to do. I know that I could do the job myself which would be significantly cheaper, but fiberglass work is a big hassle. Whatever happens it will be interesting and a bit of fun watching the restoration. I will take some pics of the boat tomorrow. For now I am gonna throw in one of my first wellcraft scarab. That was the first proper boat i got for my tour from Julie Patterson back in the old days of Adventure Antigua. This latest boat is exactly the same design but 4 feet smaller.

More changes coming

Unfortunately, we are saying goodbye to three of our crew over the next 5 weeks. Before leslie started working for the company, he was working nights at Big Banana restaurant in St. Johns and has been made a very good offer to work full time at their newest place that opened last week. We wish him good luck and will miss him. If you stop in for pizza in St. Johns at the Big Banana look out for les there.

When Adam started working for me he had told me that it would only be for a short time until he got his business started. He has gone out and secured a loan and purchased equipment to do specialist vinyl signage as well as other equipment to do t-shirts. He is very creative and artistic, so i am glad that he will be able to use his talent in his own business. Look out for some new t-shirt designs soon too. Adam will be with us until the holidays at the end of the month.

"Chopper" (David) had always planned on going to medical school and will be starting next semester in Grenada. We are all excited about this and wish him luck with his studies when they start in Jan.

With three guys going we will be getting three new guys.....I have spoken with three promising fellas and i will let you know here as soon as they come aboard. One of them who may come to work is an old veteran Adventure Antigua crew member too. We'll see if it all works out. Since this post is kinda small and simple i am gonna put a few extra photos. Enjoy the pics!