Antigua

First, back in Prickly Bay Grenada,we had promised you another photo from the top of ILENE's mast but it got lost in the bowels of the computer's memory until now. Ilene is standing on the deck to starboard, confident that I would not drop any tools on her head. My sandalled heel is in the lower left.

Our passage from Deshaies Guadeloupe to Green Island off the southeastern tip of Antigua, was nine hours. The Course was 033 magnetic, which we obtained steering courses of 025 to 040 -- Northeast! We were able to do this because the winds were from the east, like they are supposed to be. So we sailed all the way on a close starboard reach (except that for about a half an hour they came a bit north and 020 was as close as we could steer, and we were off the dotted line). 

Several fronts came through and we had one exciting moment that was over too quickly for Lene to panic. The first front came through unannounced by any visual sign of clouds, rain or gradually rising wind.  After clearing the northern end of Guadeloupe, and continuing in light wind, Roger put up the big Genoa after taking in the small jib.  We also had a reefed main. The winds were about ten knots and Auto was at the helm. WHAM! Twenty five knots and we were overpowered. Auto could not react quickly enough and we heeled to port and buried the port cockpit coaming, letting several tens of gallons of seawater into the cockpit and dowsing  things and splashing Lene’s I-pad (it dried and still works.) The water rushed out of the back of the boat which is open and through the drains. By putting auto on standby, steering closer to the wind and hauling in the Genoa, order was restored. But our new rule for ocean passages is to NEVER put up the Genoa. When the wind is too light to make the speed we need with smaller sails, we will motorsail. 

A big reef across the whole next picture creates the shelter for the western side of Green Island where we were.  It is shown on the charts but not buoyed – but it has a pretty good marker on it now, however: a big dismasted sailboat lying on its side – the end of someone’s dream. 

We anchored the first night in Ricketts Bay. We were the third of three boats to arrive. The other two were on moorings and when one of them left the next morning we uped anchor and took the mooring. No charge. We had a lot of peace and quiet and even a rainbow was sent our way.

But during the period from 10:30 to 1:30 the next day, three large catamarans came out of Nonesuch Bay, a huge bay further in than we went. Two of them drove right to the beach and discharged about 100 people 

and the third anchored behind the reef and 50 snorkelers jumped off. 

These folks had come from one or more cruise ships by bus to Nonesuch Bay, then to us by catamaran.

In the afternoon we took the dink clockwise around the island into Nonesuch Bay. It is huge, about two miles by 1.5 and its east side is separated from the thundering Atlantic rollers which have come all the way from Africa only by a reef. 

There were many available free moorings but while the reef protects against the waves, it does not protect against the wind and with a strong breeze, we elected to stay put. We anchored our dink on the beachy part of the island to the northeast and watched a a parasailing show put on by a girl from Poland with excellent English who was working as chef on a seventy foot cat. An amazing sport for the young and fit who have good balance.   

Actually by setting foot on that beach and by staying for two nights instead of one, though we flew the yellow flag, we did not technically comply with the customs law which allows one night before you report to customs and if you stay aboard.

Next day we were off to Falmouth Harbor, where we stayed last winter. 

Roger would have preferred to stay at Nelson's Dockyard in English Harbor next door with a med mooring (stern against the seawall), and the price was only about double the cost of our mooring  in Falmouth. Roger did get himself a coveted tee shirt from here.

In either place we are one of the smallest boats with others upwards  to 200 feet in length such as this little craft. 

Note the two people sitting on chairs on the foredeck and the kids playing in its swimming pool (under the crane, forward of the mast)! But our cute little kitties are illegal immigrants and would probably jump ship and get themselves and us into trouble with the authorities.  We stayed in Falmouth for four nights. Highlights:

We took the local bus into the capital, St. John’s, where the big cruise ships dock. There we visited the Museum of Antigua and Barbuda, in the old court house. Yes, Roger is a bit of a nut for museums. It tells the geological history of the island, a bit about the aboriginal Carib Indians, the planters, the slavers, and the difference between pirates, buccaneers and privateers, illustrated by the unfortunate case of Captain Kidd. And it included a bit of the modern history of the islands. In truth it is not as well done as the museum in St. Martiin that Roger visited last winter, which covered much the same ground.

New Year’s Eve was celebrated on the parade ground of Nelson’s dockyard. The band was late coming on, loud and not terrifically good and we had to pay a $25EC “gate donation” which was unexpected.  Several hundred revelers participated. They included owners of 200 foot yachts and a local cosmetologist, not that one could have told who was who, even in daylight. The fireworks clearly cost more per capita than the big July 4 show in New York, but were nowhere near as extravagant when compared absolutely. We left when the fireworks ended. Staying up past midnight was quite a feat for us given our normal 9 pm bed time.

We took a hike, partly a rock scramble, from Pigeon Beach, which we had passed to starboard on our way in to Falmouth, 

up over a cactus studded hill 

and down to Fort Beverly which guards English Harbor.

This picture shows only the outer harbor, whose anchorage was too crowded for us. Ft. Beverly is the low peninsula in the middle of the picture, and on the other side of the harbor, stands Shirley Heights, also loaded with cannon back in the day, to deter the French from attacking the English. Here is the inner harbor, with a fraction of the boats that had been there New Year's Eve, still sticking out like a porcupine's quills.

Our final stop on Antigua was at Jolly Harbor, to check out of customs and spend the night.  Dead calm prevailed in this hurricane hole, where we stayed last year. Lene enjoyed the supermarket: Jarlsberg cheese! Sugarless peanut butter!

This posting has been written in Nevis where we arrived safely on January 4 and expect to spend a week.