Both David and Jackie and Christy and I are always watching the weather, especially when there is an upcoming trip. We can see that high winds are coming for Monday/Tuesday which is why D + J decided not to stay in Nonsuch – even though it’s apparently beautiful and protected by reefs, it’s no fun in a big blow.

This morning is quite calm and David calls to say there is not enough wind to foil so kaibosh on that plan. They have decided to go to North Sound at the top of the island and ask if we want to join them – it’s a tricky entrance and we could follow them in. They have to be back in Jolly for Tuesday, when they go on a pier and get ready to haul out for the season next Friday. The offer is enticing but looking at the weather Christy and I decide we should head south sooner than later, we don’t want to get windbound in Antigua for a week and be stressed for time returning to Grenada. We have a tentative schedule to return to Grenada, stopping at certain islands on the way. A lost week would be bad.

We’ve decided to check out today, go to Montserrat which is about 25 nms west of Jolly. It’s one more place to see before the end of the season and it takes about 10 nms off the return trip to Deschaies in Guadeloupe. We had planned to stay in Antigua a bit longer and especially go to St. John’s to visit Hemingway’s, the restaurant run by the children of Lowell and Anne from Dominica, but that will have to wait for next season also. We say our goodbyes to D + J, I do the Sail Clear thing and we head in to find Customs and check out.

Nice to see Customs here is as backward as any place. Go here, come back, go there, come back, go here, come back, then you’re done. Thankfully all the stops are in the same small building.

While I’m checking out, Christy starts chatting to a Canadian couple who have been 100% boat people for 9 years. They’re from Barrie, keep their boat in DR during hurricane season and rave about it, say it’s way better than Grenada or Trinidad, especially since they stay on the boat during the Canadian summer. Will have to consider that next year.

Worst though, in my mind is they scare Christy out of Montserrat. Oh, it’s a difficult anchorage, oh, you have to watch out for ash from the volcano getting in your engine. That’s it, Christy doesn’t want to go. I’m pissed off and secretly curse these two Canucks, but writing this now on Sunday, maybe it was for the best, but not because of what they said.

That’s it, the trip to Montserrat is off. Instead we will stay overnight here one more time (technically illegally), depart very early tomorrow for Deshaies. We won’t check in to Guadeloupe, but just sleep there and again, very early on Saturday morning, we’ll make the long sail to Portsmouth. This is actually very prudent since the big winds that were predicted for Monday/Tuesday have shifted earlier, now arriving on Sunday. We had expected to be get to Deshaies on Saturday but the new plan gets us way ahead of schedule instead of potentially behind.

So what to do today? We go back to Milu, get some gear together and decide to explore the town of Jolly a bit. On shore, we ask about renting a golf cart for the afternoon (it’s now about noon). We find a local woman selling fruit who says we need to talk to Red. She calls him and I talk to him. US$30 for the afternoon, he’ll meet us in the parking lot in 10 minutes. The nice woman tells us where the golf carts are and I wait there while Christy explores the nearby (excellent) sports facilities you can use if you’re staying at the marina.

The golf carts are all pretty sketchy, only one of them looks like it works and sure enough, when Red shows up, that’s the one he gives us the key to. No deposit, no pay up front, no check my driver’s license. Here’s the key, call me when you are done. I think we have honest faces.

Off we go in the tinker toy. It has an auto-brake and Red tells me not to use the actual brake since the recoil spring doesn’t work. Works beautifully, just slow down a bit before your stop.

We’re going to check out the golf course on the south east side of the harbour so head that way. On the way, we pass the marina office and Christy goes in to check out mooring/docking fees. We’re definitely thinking of leaving Milu here next Christmas. This marina is WAY better than Z’abricot and we love the island. Could consider having the Plaxton’s join us here in a quay-side condo perhaps.

Just past the marina office is the golf course. That’s a bit of an embellishment but it is a track. Around the same grass caliber as Flemingdon although the greens are a little sketch. Two-putt max greens. Still, it’s US$39 for 18 holes (they have two, 6 hole sections) or US$78 for a month! No need to book tee times here, she says. However, she says you must book THE golf cart (as apparently there’s only one for rental – I guess others have their own carts). The rental clubs look pretty scrappy.

Next we carry on towards Mosquito Bay and check out all the canal condos. Looks like many monohulls pulled up to some of the condos. Mosquito Bay beach looks very nice but not a soul on it. Maybe there are too many mosquitos. We’re just trying to knock off some of the 365 beaches, this is #4.

We drive back around and go to Jolly Beach. THIS is a beach. It’s huge, almost the entire south end is occupied by the massive Jolly Harbour Resort. Looks like a 3.5-star all-inclusive. Would be fun I suppose. At the south end of the beach is a much smaller, mush posher place, can’t even visit the bar if you’re not a guest. We walk back towards the north end and jump in the ocean to cool off.

Near where the golf cart is parked there is a little open air restaurant, quite a few people there so we decide to check it out. (None of the other places seemed to take walk-ins or were not appealing enough.) Takes a long time to get served but we have two excellent shrimp kebabs and a soda each. They actually give us ice, a lime and a straw in a glass! Usually, when you order soda you just get the can. Pretty reasonable price too. We give her a nice tip.

Walk back the boardwalk to the golf cart. It’s about 4 pm, we cruise around the gated community behind the marina, Christy checks out the sports centre there – VERY nice. It’s free if you’re in the community or you can book tennis courts at the office.

We head back towards where we picked up the cart. I called Red earlier and told him we would be there about 5 pm, so we have time to hit the grocery store that is right there, then head on over to drop off the cart. Red is waiting, I give him the cash and off we go. Would do that again for sure.

Back on Milu, Christy makes excellent hamburgers which we eat in the cockpit on a lovely evening. Wash the dishes and get to bed early, we are planning on a first-light departure.