Blog News

(photo stolen from Scott who stole it from Sky & Telescope)

Just wanted to let everyone know that we added a link to an interesting site called the Astronomy Minute. Our friend Scott on S/V Enee Marie provides astronomy updates once a week on the cruisers net in Grenada. He recently started posting them at http://www.astrominute.blogspot.com/. It's interesting reading for anyone who enjoys a little star gazing and he's a whole lot funnier then NASA!

The second thing is that we've been trying unsuccessfully to load video onto our blog. We've done it in the past but recently when we attempt to add a video the system just runs and runs but it never loads. If anyone has any ideas about how we can fix this, we'd appreciate knowing. We can't seem to find an answer on the blogger website. Send us your suggestions. We have some fun video we'd like to show you!

Iles des Saintes

We left Antigua 2 weeks ago to start the trip south for hurricane season. Most of our friends have already put their boats on the hard in Trinidad or have arrived in Grenada. A few are still enjoying some time in the Grenadines. We are far behind the pack and are enjoying the quiet anchorages and great sailing that you find in the summer.

From Antigua we sailed 45 N.M. to Deshaies, Guadeloupe. We overnighted there and then continued on to Iles des Saintes 34 N.M. south. I don't know how to describe how wonderful it is in the Saintes. Quaint, charming, picturesque yes but, so much more. In this French community it is more about how it feels then just how it looks. I was talking with a women in a cafe ( one of the only people I came in contact with who spoke any English) and she described it well. She simply said, "the sweet life." Life in les Saintes is certainly sweet!

A view of the town of Bourg.

The government building that houses customs, immigration, police, etc.

A few street scenes from Bourg.

Motor scooters are the preferred method of transportation.

A walk through town takes you past beautiful homes painted a rainbow of colors.

One of our walks took us past the cemetery. I'm always fascinated by them, something Jim finds a little ghoulish!

The harbor is always bustling with activity. These fisherman are busy folding their nets after a day at sea.

We had a front-row seat for some sailing practice. We saw this and other boats like it out sailing quite often. There must be some races coming up that they were practicing for. These beautiful little sloops were about 16 ft. long, rigged with a lot of sail and FAST!

It's always hard to leave the Saintes but we are officially 1 month into hurricane season and we need to head south. So on July 7th we sailed to Roseau, Dominica and then on to St. Pierre, Martinique the next day. I have to pause here to tell you how great it is to clear customs on a French island. You sit down at a computer and fill in the form. The British still like lots of pieces of paper. Most of the French islands don't charge a fee. They also tell you to stay as long as you like. But the customs office in St. Pierre has to be the best. Customs is located in a bar/restaurant/internet cafe. You can have a beer while you sit at the computer and do your paperwork. I actually think it would be rude not to! Because customs is located in a restaurant they do not follow traditional business hours. The restaurant closes after lunch and re-opens at 6:30 p.m. We cleared in at 7:00 at night and ordered dinner while we did our paperwork. How many customs offices can also prepare you chicken with mustard sauce, potatoes Provence and a salad? Tres Bon!

We spent several days enjoying St. Pierre and the anchorage at Anse Noir before heading to St Lucia. We arrived in Rodney Bay yesterday and will enjoy ourselves here while another weather system blows through that is supposed to kick up some big seas for 4-5 days.

Off-season in Antigua

Things have been quiet here in Antigua. We've spent a month between here and Barbuda and it's time to head south. Hurricane season officially started June 1st and it's time to get ourselves a little closer to our destination, 12 degrees latitude or Grenada.

Before we left the anchorage outside Jolly Harbor, we were treated to the sight of these boats heading out for a day of racing. It was a beautiful sight to see them sailing wing-on-wing. Things got a little hairy when one of the boats got their spinnaker tangled up with the boom of the boat next to them. They recovered quickly and were on there way.
We left Jolly for the sail around the southwest corner of the island to Falmouth Harbour. You can see by the chart that we chose the route inside Middle Reef down the Goat Head channel. This make for calmer waters to sail in and involves lots of short tacks as you keep your eye on the reef to starboard and the shoreline to port. Don't rely on your GPS or chartplotters here. You need good, old fashioned eyeball navigation!

We've been enjoying the quiet and uncrowded feeling of sailing in Antigua in the off-season. There usually hasn't been more than 3 or 4 boats anywhere and most of the time it was our friends on Wildcat and Metalia. But it's been kind of strange being in Falmouth Harbour for the past week. We've never been here in the high season but we've seen pictures and read about the hundreds of boats that can be found here, especially during race week and the Classic Yacht Regatta. So to be here with very few boats ( there are probably only a handful of cruising boats in Falmouth, even less in English Harbour) is kind of eerie. There is absolutely nothing going on in the harbor. You rarely hear a dinghy or see anyone during the day. On-shore is the same story. Many of the businesses and restaurants are closed for the season. We are here because it's a good place for us to stage ourselves while we wait for the right weather to head to Guadeloupe. It will be interesting to come back in the high season when things are bustling.

These are the completely empty docks for the mega-yachts.
They are long gone, headed for their summer cruising grounds in the United States and the Mediterranean.

We've really enjoyed Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua boasts that they have 365 beaches, a different one for every day of the year! I don't doubt it. Beautiful beaches are everywhere. We only got to experience a few. Guess we'll have to come back!

Tomorrow we head south. We'll overnight in Guadeloupe before heading to the Saints. We can already smell the fresh-baked baguettes!

Antigua

Well, we finally completed our tour from St. Martin to Barbuda and are back in Antigua. This chart shows the route we took from St. Martin to Nevis, St. Kitt's, back to Nevis, Montserrat, Antigua and Barbuda. I know for you non-sailers you're looking at this and thinking, "Why didn't they just go from St. Martin to Barbuda. It looks like you took the long way." Well, we did but by sailing this route we had a better point of sail making for more sailing, less motoring and more comfortable conditions. We also wanted to visit all these islands. Now when we leave Antigua we'll have a good point of sail to head to Guadeloupe.

The sail from Barbuda to Antigua was a good one but eventful. We had good wind and seas and were cruising along at over 6 knots. A squall formed between the islands but we managed to cross just in front of it getting 28 knot winds but none of the rain. About an hour into the trip Jim went below deck for something and yelled , "there's a porthole open down here." I have always been afraid that I would forget to close one someday and well, someday came. Of course it had to be the forward porthole, over the bed and on the windward side. We had been taken spay in for the last hour. The corner of the bed was soaked, the spray was hitting the teak wall and door to the head and running down and puddling in front of the starboard settee. What a mess! I had my work cut out for me when we arrived in Antigua.

Then when we arrived outside Deep Bay, Antigua and went to furl the genoa the line jammed. No amount of coaxing would free it so we fall off and drop the genoa and lash it down.

Here's Jim maneuvering around the genoa as he sets the anchor.

Deep Bay is a pretty anchorage on the west shore. There is a resort there but at this time of year it was almost empty. On the hill between Deep Bay and the entrance to St. John's are the ruins of Fort Barrington.

That's Merengue all by herself in Deep Bay.

That's all we have to show for the past two weeks in Antigua. A few days later, I came down with a bad bout of flu. I spent a week in bed with a fever, chills, cough, well you get the idea. Jim hung the quarantine flag on me! It was good that we had moved to Jolly Harbor the day I got sick because there are all the conveniences we needed like a pharmacy and nice grocery. We've now moved to Falmouth Harbour where we'll do some exploring while we wait for good weather to head south.

Beautiful Barbuda!

Beautiful Barbuda!

Somehow that seems like an understatement. You have to see this pristine, unspoiled island to believe it. I suggest you mix yourself a rum punch, put on some island music and sit back in a comfortable chair. We're taking you to Barbuda!

We first heard about Barbuda, oh about 25 years ago. We were watching "Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous" and they were featuring a new resort called The K Club that had recently opened on Barbuda. The resort looked beautiful but it was the long stretches of undeveloped, pink sand beaches that we remembered some 25 years later. We were excited to finally get here!

I think that when most people dream about going cruising, they picture themselves anchored off of a pristine, unpopulated beach with nothing but waves lapping on the shore, the sounds of the sea birds, the beauty and the solitude. The reality is there aren't too many places left like that. We found all of that in Barbuda.

Pink Beach north of Coco Point on the west shore of Barbuda.

This picture is not color-enhanced. The sand is a soft pink color and feels like powdered sugar.

No, there wasn't anyone around to take this picture. Prop the camera up on something and set the timer.

The beach in front of the Coco Point Lodge which was already closed for the season.

The K Club which was featured on that show all those years ago is now closed, the once beautiful resort falling into disrepair.

The only other living things we saw all day. Oh yes, there were some wild horses that roamed down the beach around sunset.

After Pink Beach, we moved a few miles to the north to anchor near Low Bay. A few days later the sailing vessels "Metalia" and "Wildcat" pulled in. We met John & Marie and Chris & Pam in Grenada last year. The 6 of us decided to take a tour of the Frigate Bird Rookery, the town of Codrington and do a hike to some caves on the east coast.

First a little bit about Barbuda. Lying 30 miles north of her sister island of Antigua, Barbuda is 14 miles long by 8 miles wide. Unlike the more mountainous islands that surround her, Barbuda is flat. It is difficult to see from offshore until you are very close. The population of about 1,600 seem to fiercely protect their island from development.

Inside the Codrington Lagoon is the Nature Reserve of the Frigate Bird. According to our guide, Clifford Joseph, Frigate birds come from all over the Caribbean to nest here. The Magnificent Frigate Bird can have a wingspan of up to 8 feet. They can fly at speeds of up to 22 mph and at heights of 2,000 ft. But oddly enough they can neither walk or swim. Clifford told us that if a bird accidentally lands in the water, 2 others will swoop down and clip it's wings lifting it out of the water. They are aggressive birds that we often see stealing the catch from other sea birds. Clifford says he sometimes has to fight them off when they try to steal fish from him as he empties his traps. But they have earned their name as they are a magnificent sight to see gliding through the sky.

This is a type of jellyfish found in the lagoon, one that doesn't sting.

Because the males leave after mating, all these pictures are of females and their young.

Marie, Chris, Pam & John with Clifford and Wendy in the background.

The photographer, thoroughly enjoying himself. It was a beautiful place!

Next, we were off to see caves on the east coast of the island.

Jim, Wendy and Chris grabbed the seats with the view. Wheeeeeeeee!

Our guide, Calvin Gore telling us a little about the area. A naturalist, elected official on the Barbuda Council, tour guide and owner of thoroughbred racehorses, Calvin was a very interesting guy.

Back in the town of Codrington we stopped for a lunch of fresh Barbuda lobster and goat stew at Jackie's restaurant. Jackie lived in New York for awhile but home kept calling to her. Barbuda seems like it would be an expensive place to live but as Calvin told us, "What we make, stays in our pocket. We don't have all the temptations of things to spend our money on."

A waterspout forming out to sea.

Another beautiful beach. Are you tired of it yet?

This is the narrow strip of sand between the ocean and the lagoon. The fence was put in to help hold the sand, which washed away during a bad storm.

Clifford (our guide in the lagoon) applied to the government for this piece of ocean front property 30 years ago. Smart guy! No one but a Barbudian can own land here and it gets passed from one generation to the next.

If you are cruising the Caribbean, Barbuda shouldn't be missed!

Montserrat

We finally made it to Montserrat. We’ve sailed by twice before and were fascinated by the combination of beauty and the destruction that we knew the volcano had caused. We wanted to stop and see the island up close

Montserrat is known as the Emerald Isle of the Caribbean because of the lush green hillsides and because it became a haven for Irish Catholics fleeing persecution. Montserrat is the only country apart from Ireland that observes St. Patrick’s Day with a holiday and a week long celebration.

Montserrat is probably best known for two things, the rich and famous that used to visit and own homes here and the Soufriere Hills volcano that drove many of them away. First, a little about the rich and famous.

In 1978 Sir George Martin, best known as the producer for the Beatles, opened AIR Studios in Montserrat. Many world famous singers and bands recorded here. They included Paul McCartney, Stevie Wonder, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Buffet, The Police, Duran Duran, Elton John, The Rolling Stones, Sting, Phil Collins and many more. Then September 17, 1989 Hurricane Hugo struck the island damaging 95% of the buildings on Montserrat. The recording studio was never re-opened.

The islanders rebuilt and then on July 18, 1995 the volcanic activity began. Over the next few years Montserrat would be racked by irruptions. The beautiful capital city of Plymouth was buried in ash. Montserrat was once an island of more than 11,000 residents but now only about 4000 remain. We took a tour of the island with guide Joe Phillip.

The Montserrat Cultural Centre.

Joe showing us around the cultural centre. We toured with the Aussie's from S/V Bristol Rose. They were lots of fun.

Checking to see how my hands match up to Paul McCartney's.

(Better not tell him my maiden name is Mills!)

View of the Little Bay anchorage from the cultural centre.

You can see by the map that more than half of the island falls within the “Exclusion Zone.” This area is usually off-limits, depending on the level of volcanic activity that is occurring. Because of that, we didn’t get to see the ash-covered town of Plymouth, once the capital of Montserrat. But we did get to see it via a film that we viewed at the observatory. Imagine a church that is buried so deep in ash that only the steeple is visible!

Joe often stopped to show us “before pictures” so we could get a perspective of then and now. The changes are amazing! What's really amazing about this picture is that there is an irruption happening and no one is paying any attention! I guess when there were more than 2 a day, they just got used to them!

This is a view of the mud flow down the island that buried many homes and a bridge.

There are homes all along the side of the volcano. They fall within the exclusion zone and are no longer inhabited.

Rain turned the ash to mud. The mud flowed down the mountain to the sea, burying everything in it's path.

A rock from the volcano. It weighs next to nothing.

Joe is showing us a before picture. This was the intersection of several roads, a river and a bridge. it's now all buried under 30 feet of mud.

Here's a before picture of a beautiful 3 story home......

...and here's the after. Only the top part is visible.

An interior shot, the room is buried in mud.

This picture shows mud up as high as the archway between the 2 buildings.

That's Joe's van and the roof of a house.

Ash flow on the east side of the island.

In contrast, the remaining part of the island is very beautiful. A new capital is being built in Little Bay on the northwest coast. The people of Montserrat continue to make a good life for themselves.

We left Montserrat on Tuesday, May 26th for the sail to Antigua. By going to Montserrat first we had a much better point of sail to Antigua. We arrived in Jolly Harbor on the west coast where we cleared customs (quick and easy which is contrary to what we had heard about Antigua) and spent the next two days doing the usual provisioning, re-fueling and filling water tanks. Then it was on to Barbuda, a long-awaited destination for both of us. We’ll explore Antigua on our way back south. Stay tuned for Barbuda!

St. Kitt's 2009

We had a GREAT time in St. Kitt’s! We went to St. Kitt’s to visit our friends Mike & Renee (S/V Jacumba) who moved there abut 6 months ago. They spoiled us rotten and we loved every minute of it!

First, our trip from St. Martin. We left on Monday, May 11th with several course possibilities in mind. We decided to skip the short trip to St. Bart’s followed by the long sail to Antigua because of the wind and sea direction. We opted to head either to Statia for the night or try for the long run directly to St. Kitt’s. We thought we might be better off taking advantage of the good conditions to St. Kitt’s because the wind and sea direction that was predicted for the next day would make for a difficult sail from Statia. We had those kinds of conditions last year and we weren’t interested in a repeat! The only problem was that we wouldn’t make landfall in St. Kitt’s before dark. We are not familiar with the anchorages and didn’t want to attempt anchoring in the dark so we opted to push on to Nevis where it’s easy to pick up a mooring ball off of Pinney Beach. We are nothing if not flexible! It was a good sail with 4 ft. seas and 18 knots of wind. We thought we’d spend a day or 2 exploring Nevis but the weather wouldn’t cooperate. It rained Tuesday and most of Wednesday so when we got a break Wednesday afternoon we headed over to Whitehouse Bay, St. Kitt’s and anchored next to Jacumba. It was nice to be anchored in a quiet, secluded bay after 2 months of traffic and city lights in St. Martin.

Let the entertainment begin! Mike and Renee took us all over the island and to Nevis. We spent 2 days in St. Kitt’s last year and toured Basseterre and the north end of the island including Brimstone Fort (look at last years blog entry for great pictures). Mike has a car provided to him by the company he works for so he and Renee showed us around the island, especially all the great spots along the southern peninsula.

Here’s how our busy week went:
Wednesday - Arrived in Whitehouse Bay. Drinks with Mike and Renee onboard Merengue.

Thursday – Went to see the condo that Mike and Renee were renting, did some laundry at their place and then went for drinks and dinner at the Shiggidy Shack.

Friday – Mike and Renee treated us to dinner at the Beach House, a beautiful, ocean-front restaurant.

Saturday – Island tour. Stopped to see the Reggae Bar and the Spice Mill, two more beach-front locations. Then Mike showed us around the property that will soon be Christophe Harbour. The development will include a golf course, home sites, marina, a Mandarin Hotel, shops, restaurants and more. Mike has been hired as the Project Manager. The views from the golf course are going to breathtaking! Mike drove us around in his Landrover so we could see how the course will be laid out. No other vehicle could have made it through! Then it was on to Basseterre for lunch and some shopping and then a drive up the east coast to Ottley’s Plantation. Ottley’s is a resort built on an old sugar plantation overlooking the sea. For anyone looking for a truly laid-back vacation, this is the spot. We ended the day with a drink at the Shipwreck, another beach bar where the monkeys come to visit. What a great day! I kept saying, I feel like I’m on vacation!

Stopping for a drink at the Spice Mill.

This will be the view from hole #3 of the golf course. That's Nevis across the channel.

The Landrover took us where I never thought we could go. They had blasted part of the course the day before so we had big boulders to go over and around.

Digging the whole for the next round of dynamite.

Another beautiful view from where the golf course will be. The new marina will be built where the salt pond is.

Ottley's Plantation.

A monkey on the grounds at Ottley's Plantation.

Eating a mango......

Oh look, here's another monkey eating a mango. Seems like they're everywhere!

The view from the main house.

We loved the way they blended the old with the new like this swimming pool next to the beautiful stone wall.

The Shipwreck Bar at the end of our day.

Hey, what does that sign say? Green Bay, WI 2,604 miles!

One of the guys from the restaurant was feeding the monkeys bananas and apples.

Sunday – The Domino Rematch! And the dunce hat goes to……Jim! Wendy won but Jim lost so Merengue still has to carry the hat around, till next time that is!

Mike happily passes the hat on to Jim.

We make the loser take a lap around Jacumba.

Monday – Night out at the movies to see the new Star Trek film. St. Kitt’s has just built a new movie theater and it is probably the nicest one we have ever been in. It has stadium seating, chairs that recline, a really big screen and good popcorn. Oh yes, and the movie was good too.

Tuesday – Day trip to Nevis. Mike was going there for work. He was meeting a landscaper to get a tour of a nursery and some of the properties on Nevis so he could learn more about tropical plants. Renee, Jim and I got to go along and thoroughly enjoyed the trip across the channel on the car ferry, the tour of the nursery and the drive around the island.












One of our stops was at the Hermitage, an inn that is a collection of cottages built on a 17th century plantation. The main building was beautifully furnished with antiques.

Wednesday – Lunch at the Spice Mill and then a lazy afternoon on the beach.

The view of Nevis from Cockleshell Beach.

The beach bar at the Spice Mill restaurant.

The view of Nevis from the beach chairs.

Another great day with great friends!

Thursday – Dinner at the Stone Wall, a restaurant in a garden setting in the heart of Basseterre. The food was excellent!
Friday – Farewell dinner on Jacumba. Yes, we really had to leave but it was hard. We had a wonderful time and we’ll miss hanging out with Mike and Renee. Thanks for everything guys!