At last all our yachts are safely in from their crossing of the Atlantic.  Yesterday (Thursday 11th December), our last yacht, Ursula, a Spanish yacht which has crossed via Cape Verde on her own, arrived in Antigua to join the rally.  She arrived just in time for the departure party!  This morning, our first yachts left for other parts of Antigua and further afield in the Caribbean.  The first off was Chsalonina (or 'Chisel' as she has affectionately become known) who was heading for Bird Island, a lovely secluded beauty spot with a well protected anchorage, the other side of Antigua Island from Jolly Harbour.

The yachts will now cruise under individual programmes to get to Panama in early February.  Many are cruising locally for a week or two, so that they can enjoy the traditional celebration of Christmas at the historic port of Nelson's Dockyard in the south of Antigua.

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'Traditional' Christmas out here is not quite the same as in Europe.  There is no sign of snow,

holly or warming log fires; sleighs and reindeer are a bit thin on the ground too.  But Father Christmas did arrive by helicopter in the middle of the afternoon, and the shops do have fake Christmas trees and strings of lights.  In historic Nelson's Dockyard, a really festive event gets underway in the middle of Christmas day.  Champagne, rum-punch and food suitable for the scorching heat is the order of the day.  Together with steel bands, jazz and a good "jump-up".  Turkey, plum pudding and all the trimmings are tucked into the previous evening, on Christmas Eve.

Once Christmas is over, some yachts might stay on for the New Years Eve special Pursuit Race. Like everything out here, it's a bit different from the usual.  For this race, if no suitable French yacht can be discovered, a (slowish) yacht is dressed up in French colours and sent off.  Then in the manner of Admiral Lord Nelson chasing the French fleet across the Atlantic in 1805, all the other entrants set off to harry and overtake the unfortunate dastardly victim, and no doubt attempt to blast him out of the water.  All this is in pursuit of another excuse to repair to the bar and cheer the poor 'Frenchmen' up.  But sometime one has to break away from this tropical paradise and head westards towards Panama

In preparation for all of this we had a briefing, yesterday afternoon followed by a great party given by Jolly Harbour Marina and the Antiguan Tourist Ministry.  What a party - it rivalled the one we had on the beach at the Castaways Restaurant last Monday - which was also courtesy of the Tourist Ministry.  Very naturally that party ended up with a dip in the sea, which sorted out the girls from the boys.  The departure party one was a bit more formal, with a great jazz trio and more rum punch.  We took the opportunity to present prizes for the photographic and quiz competitions.  The photo-competition was overwhelmed by, not only some fabulous photography from Roundabout, but also proof of probably the biggest fish (a tuna) which has ever been landed on a rally yacht; a number of us will try some at a beach BBQ at lunchtime today.

So Roundabout had to get a prize, and Eddie walked away with the trophy.  Not to be outdone, Miss Tippy produced a handful of excellent photos, and Annie attempted to down their prize on her own, before Dad could get his hands on it.  Whilst, Lucy Alice walked away with the quiz prize after outstanding and consistent performances in mid Atlantic.

All in all, everyone is having some great R&R in Antigua, after some long, hard but enjoyable times afloat.  Yachts are being mended, the fishing yarns are getting longer and a few sore heads are being snored off in the sunshine (and showers).  Apparently, "Yo doan't waant to hurry in Antigua maan.  Juss relax".

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