Aussie! Aussie! Aussie!

Leeward Islands

No, we did not take the boat to Australia. But being surrounded by a flotilla of charter boats occupied by Australians, it felt as if we were back in Oz. We went back to the Saintes to meet up with good friends Anne and Martin, who came all the way from Sydney to join the “Caribbean Cantor”, a group of Australians sailing through the Leeward Islands.

We first met Annie while living in Australia when Mary organized a sailing group that took lessons and did day charters with Annie’s company “Sydney Private Sailing”. Over the years, Mary and Annie became close friends and continued to sail together until we moved back to the US.

While we only expected to spend a couple of days with Annie and Martin, we were having such a good time that we joined the Aussie group, sailing with them to Pigeon Island, Deshaies and on to Antigua.

We were made honorary Aussies, renamed Berkeley West, Lazzo and the Virgin Mary, and invited to participate in the group’s race from Guadeloupe to Antigua. Annie jumped ship to Berkeley East for the race, in which we took line honors (first to finish).

We continued to tag along with the Aussies for several days. We witnessed a touching ceremony in English Harbor in honor of ANZAC Day, (Australia and New Zealand Armed Corps Day). ANZAC Day is a very special day in Australia, marking the anniversary of the battle at Gallipoli, where the ANZAC forces fought bravely against overwhelming force to a stalemate during the First World War.
The local Antiguan Police Band played both the Australian and New Zealand national anthems, along with favorites like Waltzing Matilda. What was really amazing is that they learned the music by listening to songs downloaded from the internet, as none of the musicians read music.

There was also a special Aussie dinner at Shirley Heights, the traditional Mount Gay Rum beach jump up, lunches, dinners and visits with our old buddies and many new Aussie friends. Our thanks to Trevor and Maggie, from Mariner Boating Holidays, for inviting us to join the group, and to all the Aussies for welcoming us to the party. Just as we experienced when we lived in Australia, the Aussies have a special carefree, fun-loving approach to life and it is very easy to adapt to their style.

After many sad goodbyes, and an attempt to hijack Annie onboard Berkeley East for our sail to Puerto Rico, we bid farewell to the Aussies and resumed our travels home.