Antigua

February 25-March 2 - Antigua (St. John to Jolly Harbor)

The anticipation of making landfall at a new destination in the early morning always brings excitement and some anxiousness. In the early morning darkness, the island’s lights and the navigational lights, at times, look very similar. In spite of having the GPS, you still need to reconcile your position with what’s ahead of you and to ensure you are where it says you are. In my opinion, the attention given to this moment is not unlike that of a hunter in wait of his prey. Your alert, take note of every detail, look for reefs, buoys, wind position, lights, other incoming and outgoing traffic and what you need to do on the boat to prepare for landfall. It’s an exhilarating moment.

In the case of Antigua, we actually were heading to a nearby waypoint that was different from where we thought we were going. So things weren’t reconciling. But that soon became apparent and we made a small course correction and headed for St. John, Antigua‘s capital. Soon afterwards, we were joined by two cruise ships, all heading into the same harbor channel. What fun.

All went smoothly and shortly thereafter we were anchored safely in one of the three anchorages of St. John.

Antigua has well protected harbors, forested hilly areas and lots of beaches. Like most of the Caribbean islands, it was discovered by Christopher on his second voyage in 1493. What I did find out about his second voyage is that he was accompanied by a small armada - 17 ships that time. So often, when we hear that Columbus discovered such-and-such-a-place, in reality it could have been one of his ships that actually discovered it, not Chris himself.

Historically, like so many of the other islands, sugar plantations and salt ponds were worked by slaves. In those days salt was the key ingredient used not only to enhance the flavor of the food but rather it was used as a food preservative.

For the British, Antigua remained a strategic island. One of the more notable personalities who was in charge of its ports in the 1700’s was Lord Nelson. Turned out he was a real stickler to rules and thus kept the island’s harbors closed to any other commerce but British (certainly not to that renegade former British colony - America).

St. John has that same slightly tacky and disheveled appearance of so many of the towns in the Caribbean. Some of the architecture is notably interesting and does have some nicely designed historical buildings that are brightly painted well preserved. But there are many other buildings that are in disrepair and in need of serious rehab.

As we walked around town, we first were accosted by the tour guides and taxi drivers. They were after the cruise ship tourists. But as soon as we told them we were off of a yacht, they mostly left us alone. We wandered through town and found the public market, the fish market and the meat market. The meat market was gritty. This was not the kind of place you picked up a Styrofoam package of irradiated meat. This place gave you the feeling that the animal had just been slaughtered and that the meat was still warm. Having just read Michael Pollen’s “Omnivore’s Dilemma” I really connected with the environment.

One of the more architecturally interesting buildings we saw was the Anglican church, built in the early 1800’s. Inside it was all mahogany-like wood ceilings and pews. Dark but nice affect. Afterwards we ended up at the King Casino - it was air conditioned and had GREAT wi-fi for free.

When we got back to the boat, we spotted a fort that was near us. We took the dinghy in to check it out. Fort Louis turned out to be a wonderful find. It is out on a peninsula, overlooking the harbor entrance as well as a very nice beach. Unfortunately, the buildings are in total disrepair, but the canons are there still pointed ready to fire on incoming Spanish or French frigates.

The following day, my friend and ex-Cal Poly colleague, Darren, arrived from San Luis Obispo. Coincidentally, we had had enough of St. John and were ready to move on. After we hooked up with Darren, the three of us motored (all of an hour) to Jolly Harbor.

Lisa and Renz, fellow cruisers who we had met in St. Martin, were anchored in the harbor. We decided to rent a car together to see the island. The sojourn started that very afternoon as we drove southward towards Carlyle Bay and English Harbor. We stopped at a fort, which had a great view of the islands of Montserrat and Guadeloupe. We even spotted the rehab unit owned by Eric Clapton. Nelson’s Dockyard also was of interest. A place where in the 1700’s they brought in ships for repairs.

We also stopped at a fruit stand that had pineapples and mangos for sale. But at $10 for a pineapple, we balked. How could such plentiful fruit cost that much? Was it because we were tourists? (We later found out that that was the going price. Guess we‘ll be eating canned fruit instead.)

Obesity is wildly out of control in Antigua. We have not seen it this bad other than at Wal Marts in the U.S. Women seem to be afflicted most. Even young teen girls. This is going to be a huge health issue for them in the near future.

We stopped by to watch a cricket game that was in progress and with the help of Lisa (who is from New Zealand), and one of the local players, got to learn a lot about the game.

The next day as I was starting to make coffee, the propane ran out. With Lisa and Renz also needing propane, finding it became the day’s primary objective since we had a car at our disposal. Finding the filling station became sort of a geo-cache game - without a GPS. We kept getting hints from helpful and friendly locals as to where it was, but it took many tries to home in on the place.

We dropped off our bottles and went out to lunch at a beach resort. It turned out to be a place where many cruise ship tourists spend the day. We discovered that the severe obesity problem appears to afflict these Anglo-Saxons too. Lots of rotund, whitish-red folks walking around in skimpy bathing suits. It was not a pretty sight.

The following day we all met at the Java-Go-Go coffee shop. Free internet. Need I say more? The rest of the day, Lahaina Roads sailed along the western coast of Antigua in a brisk 15-20 knot breeze. Darren got a chance to steer the boat, handle the sails and sheets and tack a few times. After a good sail we put into Falmouth Harbor, among other cruising boats and super yachts. It was time for a cocktail and dinner.

St. Barts to St. Martin and on to Antigua

February 21-22 - St. Barts to St. Martin

The following day we didn’t leave St. Barts until 3pm, mostly because of errands we still wanted to do but also because we had opted to stop at Le Select bar. We ended up spending more time there, talking to more cruisers and meeting other tourists.

It only took a half hour to motor to Anse de Colombier, a small beach on the north side of St. Barts. Although there were supposed to be some good hikes around the area, we never got off the boat and in the morning left for St. Martin with one stop-over along the way.

Ile Fourchue was a small, barren-looking island, a few miles north of St. Barts, right on the path to St. Martin. It made a great stop. A mooring was available, so there was no need to bring out the anchor. The snorkeling was excellent. We saw a variety of fish and coral, including a shark, barracuda, what looked to us as a dying, but good-sized, lobster and lots of colorful reef fish.

After our snorkeling we continued onwards to St. Martin. This time we headed for Oyster Pond, a small, peaceful, protected lagoon on the southeastern side of the island. The lagoon is surrounded by large hotels and private homes. One side of it is Dutch, while the other side is French. We splurged by getting a slip at the Captain Oliver’s Marina. We were here, as a way to get Kristi and Rob to the airport Tuesday morning.

February 22-23

Kristi rented a car after we got docked. We decided to circumnavigate St. Martin by car. We weren’t too impressive with the infrastructure and the housing that we saw. A lot of it was run down. The big fancy villas were behind gates. Certainly there were the moments of beautiful panoramas. But otherwise, the island is made up of the more ramshackle buildings in various states of disrepair, poor roads with huge holes and in some areas, dangerously open sewers along the shoulders. What I did not see, were all the iron bars on houses that were so typical in Puerto Rico. These people must steal less - was my conclusion.

During our circumnavigation of the island we got errands and shopping done too. It was the last evening for Kristi and Rob, so we decided to eat out at The Dinghy Dock Restaurant and Bar. Their happy hour is unique - they hand you the bottle of liquor and you pour your own drink. We each needed only one drink. Dinner was exceptional, particularly for a bar-type restaurant. The seared tuna steak that three of us had was the best.

I had an interesting conversation with a Dutch couple later on who went on to tell me that they had sailed a lot when they lived in New Zealand. The funny thing was that they mentioned that one of the sailing ethos they have in Holland is (and he said this in Dutch) - “The time to reef is when you first think about it.” Interestingly enough, that’s been our motto all along and one I‘ve lived by for most of my sailing years. I suppose from that conversation one might conclude that sailing theories are pretty universal.

The next day, we all got up very early and took Kristi and Rob to the airport. It’s always hard and yet emotionally awkward to see friends off at an airport. In a way it’s seems so superficial. But the flights looked like they were on time, so they each checked in and Dave and I returned to Lahaina Roads. Soon were underway to St. Barts in heavy seas and twenty plus knot winds.

On our crossing to St. Barts (as a stop-over to Antigua), Dave and I saw some whales breaching and making a big fuss! They were a quarter of a mile to starboard, so it didn’t make sense to take pictures of the event, but it was pretty special to see those giant mammals come to the surface, perform and then dive.

When we got to Anse de Colombier, we found out that each day we cruise, we continue to learn. Today’s lesson was - tie the solar showers down on deck before leaving port. We had lost our large eight gallon solar shower overboard. Darn!

February 24 - On to Antigua

We left Anse de Colombier on a blustery late afternoon day. The wind was gusting and the swells were steeper than normal. We’d had a rough night, not particularly restful. The boat had continuously rolled back and forth.

As we got out, the good news was that the wind was southwesterly. With Antigua lying southeast, it made for a decent sail. We continued on our course for about two hours and then the wind started to clock around and eventually became light. We started the engine and motored for most of the rest of the crossing. We even got rained on

We entered St. John's right along two large cruise ships that were coming in at the same time. We found one of the three spots to anchor in the harbor and got settled. Darren Kraker, a friend of mine from San Luis Obispo and Cal Poly, will be joining us here for a week.

St. Barts

February 18-20 - Saba to St. Barts

At first it started out like it was going to be a good sail from Saba to St. Barts. We hoisted all of Lahaina Roads’ sails, including the mizzen and were doing over five knots in the right direction. Well that soon changed. The wind dropped and pretty soon we were not making much headway - about two knots. We started the engine.

We got into Gustavia Harbor in St. Barts early in the afternoon. We anchored amongst a number of boats in the outside harbor. The big boys (the super yachts) were visible inside the harbor and we knew there were moorings in there too, but the likelihood of finding an available one, was remote.

We took the dinghy in to register at the port captain’s office and to check out the town. It’s a very charming U-shaped harbor with tidy buildings surrounding it. You can instantly see what the old salts liked about this harbor - a beautiful anchorage that’s relatively safe. As is typical around these islands, the Spanish, French and Brits all fought over this place. Also, the Swedes got involved when the French gave it to them in exchange for free port rights elsewhere. But then many years later they in turn sold it back to the French - which is what it is today.

On Friday, we took a hike up to Fort Gustav. We headed up a windy and narrow road that runs from town up a small hill. Lots of cactus and other dry-climate vegetation, including a very huge and gnarly looking tree. At the top, there wasn’t much of a fort. A couple of fake canons and a functional lighthouse. But the view was panoramic. In the distance, you could see from St. Martin all the way south to St. Kitts, with a number of islands in between.

On the way back, we went through town and walked up towards what we thought was another fort. It turned out to be a working garrison, not open to visitors. We continued onward walking down the street and saw some of the spectacular villas with infinity pools and views that were spectacular. No other adjective would do these views justice. Looking out from the pool was an azure blue sea with nearby rocks, islands and reefs. What a view.

During our walk, we ran into a British couple (Dick and Mary) who also were cruising the Caribbean. We later met up with them at Le Select, a local hangout known by the cruisers as one of the more affordable bars in town.

When we got there, next to us, was a gregarious group of Americans, who we struck up a conversation with. After a brief chat, we found a number of coincidences in our lives. Like Dave, Larry was a private pilot. The other couple they were with were Whitby 42 owners and were cruising the Caribbean (Dave‘s boat is a Whitby 42). Larry’s niece had been in the Peace Corp in Nicaragua (Kristi‘s son was in the Peace Corp in Honduras). Larry‘s son works in San Francisco as a wine importer (do I need to say that I like wine?) and lives in the East Bay in the Oakland/Berkeley area (very near to where Meredith lives). And the best part - we found out that Jimmy Buffet owns a home here, keeps a boat in the harbor and when in town, often ends up performing informal sessions at a local bar (I don’t think Dave meets the criteria of a parrot head, but he does own most of Jimmy’s albums).

I think that one of the best parts of traveling is meeting people. It’s so refreshing to find people our age leading such full and exciting lives. For example, the one couple lives in St. Barts part of the year, the other part they divide between Philadelphia and New Jersey (Hhmmm….must be grand kids in those other places - I’d live here a majority of the time). Dick and Mary divide their time between England and the Caribbean. Tough life.

That evening the four of us went out to dinner (which we don’t often do) to a French restaurant. We had been told by Larry (who lives here), that it was one of the best and most reasonably priced restaurants. “B4” turned out to be a great find.

On the dinghy ride back to Lahaina Roads, we scooted past one of the super yachts and peeked into a series of elongated portholes - inside was a large weight training room with all sorts of equipment. Although a bit on the conspicuous consumption edge, it would be nice to have a workout room during the cruise.

Incidentally, if you’ve been following the blog, you saw a photo I posted of a wild looking Captain Nemo super yacht that we saw at the Baths in Virgin Gorda. It turned up here. I researched it on the internet and found that the Hamilton belongs to a Russian billionaire who reportedly maintains a fifty man private security cadre on board to ensure his safety. Its earlier sightings were in the Mediterranean. Apparently, it gets around.

And speaking of posh, Dick, told an interesting thing about the word’s origin. It actually is an acronym meaning portside out/startboard side home. When the wealthy traveled by steamer from England to the USA, they preferred their cabins to be on the sunny side of the ship. Hence, they requested cabins on the portside going west and on starboard going home.

Today we're heading to a small anchorage on the north side of St. Barts. After that it's back to St. Martin to drop off Kristi and Rob. After that Dave and I are off to Antigua.

Saba Island

February 14-17 - Kristi Actually Arrives

The airport scenario was strange. The video monitors stated that flights were on time and announced that flights had landed, when in truth, the flights never even had left their points of origin. In Kristi’s case, on our third adventure trip to the airport, the monitors stated that her flight was on time. Soon afterwards, the monitors announced her flight had landed. In fact, her flight was still in the air and did not land for another half hour. But her flight did indeed land and Kristi did, in fact, arrive.

As soon as we got to the boat, we decided to get out of Margot harbor and sail to Grand Case, a quaint beach town with shops, French restaurants and bars along the beach. We ended up anchoring near Lisa and Renz’s catamaran, a couple we had met earlier in Margot. That evening, we had cocktails on their boat and afterwards went out to dinner at one of the beach-front restaurants (not to be confused with the fine French restaurants that were there but were a bit too spendy). The cruising life can be so grueling, at times.

The next day, we sailed to the Dutch part of St. Martin to spend the night in Simpson Bay. The plan was to position ourselves for a sail to Saba Island the following day.

To get into Simpson Bay, you need to go through a bridge that opens at particular times. We planned our arrival and queued up. At 5pm they had the outbound vessels exit. At 5:30pm, as an inbound vessel, it was our turn.

At first, some boats that had appeared to be at anchor, were now starting to move towards the bridge. It was like a race - all the boats started to head for the gate - large and small. We lined up with some of the super yachts, who ended up right behind us.

The bridge is not a huge one - allowing for a maximum width of about a 56 feet. We went through just fine and at the other end were greeted by revelers at a bar that happened to be positioned well to see the boats traverse the small channel.

The following day, we listened to the weather - SE winds of 15 knots, with gusts up to 20 knots. Not a bad forecast. Again we went through the bridge. When we got out of the harbor, the winds were a little bit stronger than had been forecast, but not bad. We reefed the main and unfurled a little bit of the headsail. Soon we were cruising at about 5.5 knots, on a beam reach and had Saba in our sights.

It’s interesting to sail around here. Once out, you can see a number of other islands 30 or 40 miles away that are other countries. Right now we’re sailing to Saba Island. In a few more days we’ll sail to St Barth’s, Nevis and Antigua. All, relatively short distances.

As we approached Saba, it looked like a foreboding island - a big rock jutting out of the ocean with side wings that dropped straight into the sea. We found an available mooring, tied up and relaxed for the evening.

In the morning we dinghied over to the small harbor and found a taxi to give us a tour of the island. Billy, the taxi driver, was a local, born in Saba. He was a bit of an oddball, but in a nice way. He took us to the towns of Bottom (the capital), Windward and St. John’s and showed us a bird’s eye view of the small airfield.

Saba’s history goes back to you know who - Christopher Columbus! He discovered it on his second trip to the new world and didn't think to much of it. The Spaniards claimed it anyway. But eventually a group of British sailors claimed it for England, after they were shipwrecked in Saba. Then later the French claimed it in 1635. Shortly afterwards, Holland sent people over from the neighboring island of St. Eustatius to take up residence in Saba. Finally, in 1816, Holland formally took control of Saba and it has since remained a part of the Dutch Antilles.

Historically, Saba was a seafaring island with various nationalities. Today, Saba still has a variety of people who make it their home, including Brits, Scots, Dutch and blacks. It’s a neat and tidy place. We found out from Billy that you can paint your house any color as long as it is white with green trim. All houses must have red roofs. Saba has a medical school and the tourist trade going for it. It has a rain forest, beautiful hiking paths, diving and eco lodges with beautiful ocean views.

We had lunch at Scout’s Restaurant. We had a table that was on in a room at the edge of a cliff with a spectacular view. It was a bonus that the food happened to be tasty too. Of course with that view, anything may have tasted good.

After we got back to the boat, we went snorkeling. We enjoyed it, but the waters were deep - more suitable to diving. But I still got to see a turtle and some nice coral formations. We truly enjoyed our day-long excursion of Saba.

Tomorrow we off to St. Bart’s.

Margot, St. Martin

February 11 - St. Martin

I had confused the spelling of this island a number of times. The crux of the problem is that half of the island is Dutch (the southern end), while the northern end is French. The Dutch side is called Sint Maarten and the French side is St. Martin. The island was split many years ago in a peaceful manner. Dutch settlers liked the southern part because of the salt ponds, while French settlers grew tobacco and sugar cane in the north. Today, all they really have is tourism, yachting and duty-free shopping.

February 13 - St. Martin

We’re still in Marigot Bay. It’s a comfortable and low-keyed kind of a town, with lots of restaurants and shops. We took the “dollar bus” to Philipsburg (the Dutch side) and were not impressed. Very touristy along the beach and mainly attracts the tourists that come from the cruise ships.

Back in Margot, we hiked up to Fort Louis, which offers a beautiful panoramic view of the area. The fort has an interesting history. Built in the late 1700’s, it was once attacked by a British flotilla consisting of some 200 men. The French garrison only had about thirty men in total, but fought the Brits off, sending most of them scurrying back to their ships and imprisoning others. Interestingly, the Dutch also came to the fort’s rescue and had snuck around the fort to catch some of the other British troops.

Enough history - in the afternoon, Dave and I went by dinghy to the airport to pick up Kristi. Rob stayed behind because he wasn’t feeling well. To get to the airport by dinghy, we needed to go under one of two bridges that lead into Simpson Bay. Luckily, we found a bar that was located right across from the airport with a dinghy dock.

At the airport, Kristi’s flight already had landed by the time we got there. As we waited, all the passengers came out except Kristi. Apparently something had gone wrong.

We headed back to the Lahaina Roads. As we passed under the bridge leading to Margot, we noticed big swells coming in. Then we saw a large tender being hit by a breaking wave. It was a bit unnerving to see huge swells (some breaking) in the harbor.

When we got to the boat, it was rolling violently from side to side. The anchor chain was being jerked hard with each passing swell. It was going to be a rough night. We decided to move in a little closer to the marina where there was more protection from the swells. We checked to see if there was an available slip in the marina, but they never got back to us. I’m sure they were full.

Needless to say, it was a rough night. None of us got much sleep with all the violent rolling the boat did all night. This morning, things are a little more settled. We’re again attempting a run to the airport. Hopefully, Kristi will turn up this time.

St. Martin

February 6-8 - The Bitter End

The Bitter End is on the north side of Virgin Gorda. Apparently, Columbus thought the island resembled a plump woman lying down and saw fit to call the island Virgin Gorda. The spot we were anchor at was beautiful and reminded me somewhat of the South Pacific. Surrounded by hilly islands, palm lined beaches and reefs it looked idyllic. The water was crystal blue.

The hotels have done a good job developing their resorts without overwhelming the surroundings and the environment. The buildings fit in neatly and the bars and restaurants neatly adjoin the white, sandy beach. From one end to another is a brick promenade. It’s a bit touristy and attracts many charter boats, but it’s nicely developed.

We snorkeled at one of the reefs and saw a colorful variety of soft and hard corals, turtles, long, spiny sea urchins, tiny crabs, eels and lots of fish. Apparently, there were some canons in the area too. But we missed them.

In between two islands lies a sandy cay named Saba Island. It’s really tiny consisting only of a large waterfront restaurant/bar and a small resort. We hung out at the bar for happy hour one evening because they had a good wi-fi connection. Later in the evening, after dinner, Dave and Rob went in to watch the Superbowl game on a large outdoor screen at one of the other pubs.

The following day we motor sailed back to Spanish Town to formally check out of the BVI and prepare for our night crossing to Anguilla and St. Martin. After dealing with immigration and stocking up on some provisions, we anchored out to the island of Fallen Jerusalem (I don’t have a clue where the name came from). Like the area of the Baths, the anchorage had huge granite boulders along the shoreline.

On the way to the anchorage we passed by a huge, 200 foot, ultra-modern yacht. It looked more like a space ship than a yacht that had just landed on the water. When nightfall came, the yacht had lights all along the hull that brightly lit its surroundings. Definitely ostentatious.

After dinner we headed for Anguilla.

February 9-10 - Overnight Crossing to Anguilla

Often times, from what we read, the crossing from BVI to Anguilla is not an easy one. The chances of big seas and high winds are high. We got lucky. The crossing was an uneventful thirteen hour motoring journey, under a beautiful starry sky.

For Rob it was exciting because he had never made an overnight crossing. We did our standard shift routine of one hour on, two hours off, which seems to work well for us. 'We encountered some shipping traffic during the night and in the morning light saw the outlines of Anguilla, a low profile island with no mountains. A couple of hours later we anchored in Road Bay.

After preparing to go to shore, though, we had a change in plan. The harbor looked pretty dismal - same old bars and restaurants lining the shore. Dave suggested just pulling up anchor and heading out to St. Martin, just five miles to the south of Anguilla. Otherwise, we'd have to go through all the formalities of customs, immigration, fees, etc just for a one night stay.

An hour later we were anchored in Margot Bay, on the French side of St. Martin. And now, in the morning, we're sitting at a French café, having a café American with a baguette with butter and jam…and internet. Ah, the good life.

Anageda Island

February 4-5

Wi-fi at the Spanish Town marina was an fleeting enigmas - it came and went for no apparent reason (mostly went). No one knew where the antenna was located to be able to get a stronger signal. This had a humorous effect - there were a number of people walking around like zombies looking for a wi-fi signal (me included). I’d see somebody with their laptop sitting under a tree and with great expectations walk over to them and ask if they got a signal, but the answer was usually no.

We left the Spanish Town marina in the morning. We had gotten fuel and topped off the water tanks. We headed up the coast towards the Bitter End anchorage. But as we got outside, a nice breeze came up and Dave suggested that we consider going to Anegada Island and then return to the Bitter End the next day. We sailed on a close reach, with hardly any chop. Unbelievable!

We got to Anegada in about three hours, after a smooth and easy-going sail. Making it through the reef was a bit tricky since the last buoys appeared to be missing. We proceeded slowly and cautiously through the channel keeping an eye on the depth sounder while Rob and I stayed on the bow as look-outs. We anchored in about ten feet of water.

Anageda is different from the other islands in the BVI in that it is very low and flat. It looks more like the Bahamas. With all the surrounding reefs and its low elevation makes it treacherous for navigation. As a result, Anageda has over 300 wrecks.

The following day we rented bikes and toured the island from one end to the other. It did have some beautiful beaches and good snorkeling spots, particularly in the northern part. But the (mostly) dirt and sand roads didn’t make the going easy. We got back to the boat exhausted.

In the morning, after breakfast, we had a good sail to the Bitter End, on Virgin Gorda.