Even before I arrived home, my smartphone messenger rang. A colleague is having problems and cannot receive the required C1D visa in time for his arrival and deployment on the Emerald Sakara, and whether I could possibly step in at short notice for two weeks from February 17th in Antigua.
What should I do? I didn’t have any specific commitments or appointments and three weeks vacation at home were actually enough. So I agreed and enjoyed the remaining time on my idyllic island in the permanent spring.
The journey ended this time in freezing cold New York City with flights from Santa Maria via Ponta Delgada and Lisbon. I spent one night in the wintry Big Apple before checking into a hotel in tropical Antigua the next day after my onward flight to the Caribbean, where I met up with some friends from previous tours.
The Emerald Sakara did not dock until the next morning, after which we were able to start the embarkation and handover. In the evening we left the port of St. John’s on Antigua in the direction of Friars Beach, St. Kitts.
With 92 guests on board, the Emerald Sakara, a beautiful new yacht that was only put into service last year, was almost fully booked. The next few days of Caribbean island hopping were like a vacation: Gustavia, Saint Barthélemy, Gorda Sound – Virgin Gorda, British Vrigin Islands, Cruz Bay, Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands, Esperanza Bay, Vieques Island, Culebra, Culebra Island (Puerto Rico). Impressive private yachts could be spotted everywhere.
On February 28, the short trip to the Caribbean was already over. I flew from Sint Maarten in the Dutch Caribbean via Paris to Lisbon and spent the night in a hotel near the airport. The next day, I flew back to my island home of Santa Maria via Ponta Delgada.
