We don’t talk too much about work. I mean, with the beautiful scenery and underwater adventures who needs to hear about the sunny days spent in the salon researching and writing? Nonetheless, we chose not to stop work while we sail so some days are spent catching up with clients and drafting legal documents.There have been several challenges to working, not the least of which is the draw of the beach, including difficulty connecting to the Internet or getting fast enough speeds to download documents or perform research. Unfortunately, this has sometimes meant that when we find a place with a good connection we tend to stay instead of venturing out the way we thought we would. It means more time in marinas and less time on deserted beaches.
However, on Friday I finished and filed a brief that had been looming since St Maarten. We celebrated by heading out to Barbuda, Antigua’s sister island about 26 miles to the north. Barbuda is famous for being surrounded by coral heads that can reach out and grab a less-than-vigilant boat. We got there with enough light to see a perfect anchorage, avoided the coral banks, and dropped the hook. For the first night on our trip it was just R and me, no lights from land or other boats. The sky was light up as we camped out on the trampoline admiring the stars. As a special treat, the Southern Cross is visible right now although it will soon retreat below the horizon again.
In the morning, we had a quick breakfast and swam in to the beach (snorkeling the coral banks on the way). We walked about six miles round trip of perfect, pink sandy beach, watching needlefish hunt just below the surface and turtles pop their heads up from grazing the patches of grass.
After swimming back to the boat, we were called back to Antigua by real life responsibilities. Roger has a few motions to write and so we need Internet again. This is the problem with being lawyers at sea.