We actually entered English Harbor just after sunrise the morning following our frolic on Guadeloupe. Dieter had radioed ahead, and we were met at the mouth of the harbor by a young lady in an outboard. Since she seemed to be someone official with the harbor, Sara and I were concerned that our nudity would cause a problem.
Birgit assured us that "We've come here many times. Naked is not a problem."
Indeed, it apparently was not a problem. The lady directed us to an anchorage not far from the harbor mouth. The boats were anchored very close, allowing only about six feet of clearance between us and the boats already anchored to the port and starboard of our assigned slot. There was absolutely no room for our boat to swing at anchor, which necessitated setting anchors fore and aft. Forward was not a huge problem as Dieter had that anchor line attached to a power winch. There was no winch aft, and Dieter's other anchor was stowed. It fell to me to break the anchor out, check the line, tie it off, and drop the anchor as nearly exactly aft as possible. Dieter then engaged the small propeller on the "iron wind" to push us forward enough that we were reasonably confident that the aft anchor was set. We would have to pay close attention to be sure that we didn't drag.
Two youngish couples were on deck on the boat to our starboard watching us set anchors in the nude. We were so close that one of the guys aboard the other boat was able to use a normal speaking voice to ask us if we stayed nude all the time or just stripped to set anchors.
Thinking that we were being mocked, Dieter adopted his more German accent, which sounds stern to an English-speaker: "We stay nude at all times on board and ashore."
Undeterred by Dieter's accent, the fellow on the other boat asked, "You don't get in any trouble being nude here in English Harbor?"
Apparently intending to soften the impression Dieter created, Birgit responded, "No, not at all. We came for Sail Week last year and stayed nude the whole time; and we have anchored in this harbor many other times and stayed nude. No one has said anything about us."
Our interrogator on the other boat looked at his three friends with a grin. The two men instantly dropped their shorts on their deck. It took the brunette lady a moment longer to remove her bikini top and bottom. Interestingly, the blonde lady took off her bikini bottom but left her top on. Since she was shaved, we couldn't tell whether she was an authentic blonde. After they stripped, our interrogator went below and came back on deck with a bag which he was tying off. He called over for us to throw him a line, which he tied off to the bag, and then dropped the bag in the water. We pulled the bag on board and found that it contained six cold bottles of Ayinger Pils. The three nudes and one bottomless on the other boat waved and said "thanks" in unison. Even Dieter was impressed.
We spent part of the day resting and part doing routine work on the boat. After an early dinner, Dieter lowered his dinghy (actually an inflatable Zodiac with a powerful outboard) and said "let's go."
Sara asked, "Where are we going?"
Dieter responded, "There is one bar in this harbor that I like. I want a drink and I want to show it to you." Sara looked down at her stunning, but totally nude, body. Dieter dismissed her obvious concern, "You are lovely lady. No one cares that you are naked."
Birgit was taking this all in stride, leading me to think that they had done this before. Rather than get into a debate with Dieter, Sara and I meekly climbed down into the Zodiac. Dieter took us through a channel in the harbor where no boats were anchored and tied up to the seawall. Dieter led us, barefoot, across an asphalt road into an old building. In the 18th Century (and perhaps longer) English Harbor had been the primary base of the Royal Navy in the Western Hemisphere. The buildings which had supported the fleet and housed its men ashore had been preserved or restored and now housed bars, restaurants, an inn, and a museum. We were entering a pub named The Blind Eye. Presumably, a reference to the fact that Horatio Nelson once commanded the fleet based in English Harbor. The pub was busy, but nowhere near as crowded as I'd expected.
Upon entering, Dieter turned to us and asked, "Is beer acceptable?" We nodded yes. Dieter got the barman's attention and held up four fingers. Dieter then pointed at a vacant high table in a corner. The barman nodded his head.
We followed Dieter to the vacant table. Dieter could see me looking around. "This bar is much more expensive than the others in the harbor," he said. "For that reason, it draws fewer and better behaved customers."
A few moments later, an extremely beautiful young lady arrived at our table with four pints on a tray. Setting the beers on our table, she said in a pronounced English accent, "I don't know why you've got all of your kit off, but Paul the barman says you're ok, so here you are."
We sipped some of the best beer I had drunk in some time. I asked Dieter what is was, but he shrugged. "I do not know. The house draft, I believe."
About fifteen minutes later, our beers were all low. The beautiful server returned and I ordered another round. Looking at Dieter, I said "my shout."
When the server returned with our beers, she said, "I know that it is none of my business, but why are you four standing in a pub completely starkers?"
This question led Sara to tell the story of our trip. The server exclaimed, "You sailed from Martinique to Antigua with absolutely no clothes?" Sara smiled and nodded affirmatively. The server tried to act shocked. However, I think I saw a gleam of interest in her eyes.
When the server again came back to clear empties and take our order for a third round, we questioned her. Her name was Zoe. She was originally from Yorkshire, but had gone to university in London. She and her boyfriend, Derek, had received their degrees (with honors I think, but I never really understood how the British say that) the previous spring. Rather than start into the rat race immediately, they had decided to take a year or two to bum around the globe. They had been on Antigua for about a month. Zoe's degree was in something called "Modern Artistic Technique." She was waiting tables at The Blind Eye. Derek was an engineer or some sort, and had spent the last couple of weeks helping with repairs and modifications to the serious racing boats.
When Zoe came back to see if we wanted a fourth round, we declined. However, Dieter, in his "command" voice, told her "you and your Derek shall visit our vessel tomorrow" and gave her our anchorage location.
Zoe smiled at us and said, "Your boat sounds nice. We might just do that." I almost said "yeah, right."
There is a reason I don't gamble: my predictions are often wrong. Sara and I were doing calisthenics on deck (we were leery of swimming in the harbor) a bit after nine the next morning when we heard an outboard approaching. Going to the rail, I recognized the beautiful Zoe seated in the center of the boat with a solid looking run man steering the outboard. I called out to Dieter, "we have company."
Derek brought the small boat very smartly alongside Dieter's boat. I caught the line Zoe tossed and Derek put out two fenders before I pulled them closer alongside. Derek called up to Dieter "permission to come aboard, sir?"
Dieter, again using his "command" voice, responded "permission granted as soon as you have all of that clothing off." Zoe and Derek didn't hesitate, pulling off their t-shirts and dropping their shorts. Both had gone commando.
I put the ladder over the side and first Zoe then Derek climbed up. They had left their clothes in their dinghy. I liked this couple already.
Probably noting the pronounced tan lines Zoe and Derek sported, Sara came up with two tubes of sunscreen, handing one each to Zoe and Derek. Zoe turned to me with the tube and asked "Would you do my back? Sara, would you help Derek?"
I did not need to be asked twice. I carefully spread the sunscreen evenly over the back of Zoe's neck, her shoulders, and down to the small of her back. As I straightened up to hand her the tube, Zoe said, "Please go on, would you?"
I glanced at Sara, who smiled and gave me a nod. Ok. I proceeded to spread sunscreen over one of the most beautiful female posteriors I have seen, then down the backs of her thighs and on to her heels. Looking over, I saw that Sara was giving Derek similar treatment. Finished with her back, I handed Zoe the tube of sunscreen, saying "You can do your front."
Zoe gave me a smile that rivaled Sara's. "This time" she said. "Thank you."
Sara and I put new coats of sunscreen on each other. As we finished, Zoe asked "so, do you do anything on this boat besides sitting around starkers?"
The truth was that we had not expected Zoe and Derek to act on Dieter's invitation the night before and had not planned anything. However, I had an idea. First, I asked Zoe and Derek "do either of you need to be somewhere later?"
Zoe answered "I have a shift at The Blind Eye at 6:00 p.m."
Looking at Dieter, I said "why don't we take them out?"
Dieter acknowledged "good idea. You will have to transfer our aft anchor to their dinghy; I don't want to tow that." That was simple enough and only took a few minutes. Dieter radioed the harbormaster to say that we were leaving temporarily but would be back later in the day and that we were leaving a dinghy at our anchorage.
Dieter motored out of the harbor and then we raised sail. There was a brisk wind. It was a good day for racing, and the last races of Sail Week were in progress to the northeast. Dieter set a close-haul course. At Sara's suggestion, Zoe and Derek stood in the bow so that they could enjoy the wind and spray and their naked bodies.
Sara and I stood more nearly amid-ship with our arms around each other's waists, watching as the wave sprayed over our new friends. Sara leaned to me, "they're a nice couple, aren't they?"
I had to agree.
"And they're both so good-looking, "Sara added.
Later, Dieter saw a cruise ship moving at a right angle to our course. "Let's say hello," Dieter called to me. I nodded.
With some deft tacking, Dieter put us on a course parallel to the cruise ship about 100 yards off its port side. Sara, Birgit, Zoe, Derek, and I lined up along our starboard rail and began waiving. We saw passengers on some of the decks; however, at first, no one paid us much attention. As we drew closer, we could see cruise ship passengers begin to point and gather along their rails. Dieter brought us close enough that the cruise ship passengers could clearly see that we were all nude. As we waved, a few passengers waved back and I saw a few applauding. As we cleared the cruise ship's stern, I glanced at Zoe. She was smiling broadly.
