Good Morning from English Harbour, Antigua. It’s another fine Caribbean morning with sunshine and fair winds.

Veteran Yachting and Radio personalities Joel and Judy Byerley began the  regular 9 a.m. broadcast on English Harbour Radio (VHF Channel 68) with news that two Humpback whales were jumping clear of the water off Falmouth Harbour. Apparantly they were heading for the entrance of English Harbour. I wanted to jump in my dinghy and head out myself but my inflatible is not large enough or fast enough for the task. I’ll try and get some photos.

The crew from Fleurtje, our resident Schooner, are having a Fleurtje Crew Night at the Mad Mongoose tonight. That should be good fun. I’ll go down and see if I can get some pictures of them in costume before they throw their names away! Everyone knows Fleutje is for sale. If you happen to have a few spare million you can call Ian McConnachie of Nicholson’s Yacht Sales at +1-268-764-2942.

Yachties here are preparing for Abracadabra’s next party on Saturday night. The dress theme is Gangsters and Molls. Abra parties are always eventful. I’ll let you know how it went.

News This Morning:

Dee Caffari now plans to be the first woman to sail solo around the world in both directions. The Open 60 plans were announced this morning at the Collins Stewart London Boat Show. She’ll be up against the world’s best sailors in the 2008/2009 Vendee Globe. For the full story go to Yachting World

HRH Princess Anna has presented the prestigious RYA Yachtmaster of the Year award to Dr Philip Meakins, a General Practitioner in Southampton. Yachting Monthly

The Volvo Ocean Race 2008/2009 Notice of race has been published. 11 legs and 8 in-port races are scheduled. the race begins on 4th October 2008 in Spain. Sailworld 

All eyes are on Freemantle for the start of the 2nd leg of the Velux 5 Oceans Solo race. Starting time on Sunday 14th is 3 p.m. Aussie. Velux 5 Oceans.

Those are my choices for the best stories of this morning. Please remember you can contribute to these pages in any of the Categories. Start by registering on the top right side of the page. You can also list your nautical items and boats for auction and sale. That’s free until 1st March. If you put up your advert now I’ll leave your items up past the 1st March. Please tell your friends.

Cheers,

Anthony.