Day 5:

 Antigua was home to some space-command antenna back "in the day" and more recently a huge hub for a server-farm for online gambling by SlySoft which makes it the perfect location for pirating adventures.  Our shore excursion is to be on a 92-year-old pirate ship with snorkeling and bay-swimming, including walking the plank, and drinking rhum.  Arrr!  As we settle and wait for the group of the shore-excursion to get together, an unsigned calypso percussionist team is playing some off-the-cuff beats in-key to my delight.  Becky is still feeling a bit sick but staying up-beat.  It's warm (as it has been this whole trip) at around 80 degrees.

 I record the calypso band here.  Calypso Antigua.

  We board the "Black Swan" right next to that shop in the picture above (and depicted below) with ease and find a seat.  Untraditionally, two loud PA speakers are playing pop music as we sail out about a few miles and into a bay.  I got a kick out of the yellow sign (click picture to read).



 I wore my patch for the occasion, and a tunic, of which I wore when I "walked the plank."

 I indeed walked the plank and plummeted the 25 feet or so into the briny drink (which is rather brave for me as I am ascared of height a bit) fully clothed and swam back to the ship and climbed onboard.  We then took a small dingy out to a further location where there was some reef for snorkeling, though it was very murky, though I was able to make out young trigger-fish, butterfly fish, various wrasses and parrot-fish eating coral, barely.

  We returned to the boat and now everyone was allowed booze now that the snorkeling was over (a safety issue) though if you weren't going to snorkel you could've drank earlier.  There was some rhum-punch but I opted for straight rhum.  The serving wench scoffed by I mentioned I was old enough because (and showed) I had hair on my chest so she laughed.

 Music blaring on the way back, a dance competition began, as well as a conga-line which we joined-in all fun.  A limbo competition was going-on up-deck as well, and everyone had a good time.  A nice super-drunk elderly lady took our picture at the end.

 We wanted to shop around afterwards but Becky had a "feeling" we needed to get back to the main ship, "The Adventure of the Seas".  Turned out we were 1 minute from being locked-out so we made it back on-time!