Antigua
Trip Start
Oct 15, 2005
1
7
10
Trip End
Aug 15, 2006
More Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda
Friday, March 10, 2006
We have exciting news since last we wrote. On Al's birthday (February 22nd) we became grandparents. Denise (Bob's wife) gave birth to 6 lb 15 oz Ayla Lee in Philadelphia. Mommy, Daddy and Ayla are all doing great and she is a doll (see photos). We will be flying home on the 14th to meet the young lady!!!
Free Spirit continues to be a pleasure
Admiral's House- Nelson's Dockyard
. What a comfortable cruising boat! We had Antigua Rigging make some adjustments to the rig but that is all we have had to do for months. On February 19th we moved from Falmouth Harbour around to historic English Harbour and anchored off the beach at Galleon Bay. We loved it so much that we were there until the 27th. Those were 8 busy days. Sunday nights on Antigua are an island wide party at Shirley Heights above English Harbour from 4-10. There is a huge barbecue dinner and three hours of steel band followed by another three hours of pop and reggae band and vocalists. Sunset from Shirley Heights is spectacular. It is a long hike up there from Galleon Bay which can be done either by road or the shorter but even steeper hiking path up the side of the hill. Al and I decided to take the road with the hope that we would be offered a ride somewhere along the way. After climbing the steepest part from Galleon Bay to the main road, we were rewarded by a ride from a local fellow, Victor, on his way to party and to sell the beaded jewelry he makes. During the ride we all realized we had met at the bar at the Coconut Grove on Valentine's Day! What a party!!! We saw everyone we had met on the island including Ian from Antigua Rigging who would not charge us for a brief rigging check and just told Al to buy him a drink when he met him in a bar. Al bought him a couple that evening. No one visiting Antigua should miss this party.On the morning of 20th Al and I lowered the genoa to take it to the sail maker for some stitching repairs
Admiral's Inn at Nelson's Dockyard, English Harbou
. I thought I had clamped off the halyard but in my rush to help Al control the sail with the wind under the trampolines, I did not. We also had no knot in the halyard line so it quickly disappeared into the mast. Al was incredulous that I had let that happen. I quickly radioed Ian at Antigua Rigging and explained my error. He was most sympathetic and told me that he would meet us at the Slipway dock at 9 AM the next morning to fish our halyard. Al sort of forgave me and we took the sail in to A and F Sailmakers for the repairs. After lunch aboard Al went ashore to collect emails and weather and I was reading aboard when I suddenly realized Free Spirit was moving. I took a deep breath and realized I would have to quickly motor away from the "approaching neighbor" and get the anchor up in a very crowded anchorage. I must have been a sight to behold running back and forth between the helm and the windlass. It is a pain to release the harness from our chain and wouldn't you know, when I most needed it to release easily it did not. I have the bruises to prove that! There was a British yacht "Lady of Lorien" anchored near us and the gal was also alone on board. She called that her husband should be back soon and would assist and she put fenders along her starboard side which pleased me as I feared sliding into her. I figured if I got the anchor up I could motor around English Harbour until Al returned. As I was inching up the anchor and running forward to move the pile of chain so the windlass wouldn't bind, Mike (from Lady of Lorien) sped up in his dinghy, climbed aboard and directed me to our anchor
Admiral's Inn- Nelson's Dockyard
. I went further in to shore and reset in the very hard sand and weed. Mike and I agreed that I was well dug in and I breathed a sigh of relief. With many thanks I invited Mike and Angie over for cocktails that evening. When Al returned we both agreed that all of his assisting others had paid off!We had a wonderful visit and heard interesting stories about their trip across the Atlantic on the ARC arriving in St. Lucia and then their trip north to Antigua. When we parted for supper we arranged to go grocery shopping together the next day in St. Johns. We took the bus from English Harbour across Antigua to the capital. We were all craving fresh fruits and vegetables so we began our shopping day at the local produce market. The ladies there gave us cartons for our selections, we paid and arranged to pick up our purchases on the way back to English Harbour. Since this was Mike and Angie's first visit, we took a circuitous route through town so they could see the highlights and then headed out to Woods Mall and the largest supermarket on Antigua. This walk turned out to be more challenging than we expected because not only was the distance greater than I anticipated but there were no sidewalks and considerable traffic. Al was beginning to question the wisdom of this shopping excursion when we finally crested the last hill and saw the mall (yes a decent sized strip mall) in the distance
Atlantic Rowing competition boat
. This larger version of the Epicurean Market at Jolly Harbour had great selections and we filled more than one cart! Thank goodness for all the stowage on Free Spirit and our large freezer. There were van cabs outside the market so the four of us loaded our provisions and the driver took us back to the produce market to pick up those purchases and on to English Harbour. We now had the challenge of getting all of this back to our boats. Al and Mike decided it would be best to unload our stash outside Nelson's Dockyard right next to a rickety dock and they would move the dinghies to collect us. Rickety is actually an understatement. Angie and I had a real adventure moving all of our purchases onto the dock without falling through. But we survived and it was certainly the most efficient way to get all of our purchases into our dinghies. By the time we had everything stowed we were exhausted and took a swim and had an early supper. That evening we were invited to Lady of Lorien for dinner on Thursday. The 22nd was Al's birthday. It was also the day Denise and Bob were to visit the doctor and perhaps the day Denise's labor would be induced. Instead, she went into labor that morning. Bob called Bill and he emailed us immediately to tell us "the action had begun". All day I was stitching a baby gift, hoping things were going well for Denise. We spoke with Bill that afternoon and he had not had further word
Atlantic Rowing competition boat #2
. I had made a reservation at Trappas for Al's birthday dinner. We were in the cockpit having a drink and watching a gorgeous sunset before dinghying into shore. I asked Al to photograph that sunset so we could show our grandchild not realizing that at that moment Denise was giving birth! We enjoyed an outstanding and very reasonable dinner at Trappas. Mike and Angie were there with an American couple, Gust and Jan who had also sailed from the Med on the ARC. We visited briefly on our way out and suddenly they broke into Happy Birthday which of course was joined by all dining. As Al blushed we agreed to meet at the piano bar at HQ2 a Nelson Dockyard restaurant after we checked our on-board email for further "labor developments". An email from Bill was awaiting us and we knew Denise and Bob had a daughter. Bob had also left us a message on our satellite phone but we couldn't reach him so we took our phone with us to shore, met our friends and bought drinks for all and finally reached the excited new Dad to hear the details. What a phenomenal birthday present for Al! He and Ayla will always be able to celebrate together. It was particularly appropriate that Gust is an obstetrician and Mike is a pediatrician. Thursday we were back and forth with Bob and Denise checking on how everyone was and receiving photos via email. We picked up our repaired sail and talked about the baby constantly
Bar at Admiral's Inn
. We were delighted to have dinner plans on Lady of Lorien. Angie and Mike are fishermen and served us a fabulous Thai fish curry with fish they had caught on their trip from Guadeloupe to Antigua and flash frozen. We brought a salad with locally grown lettuce and tomatoes that was a welcome relief from our usual frozen veggies. I may have mentioned how difficult it is to get good lettuce on the islands since it is imported and doesn't travel too well in this heat. Mike and Al spent quite a while discussing the ARC and the trials and tribulations of a yacht called Oystercatcher XXV. This 72 foot Oyster is owned by the owner of Oyster and came across on the ARC. Mike explained that during the passage the boats on the ARC encountered one serious tropical storm and one hurricane. Despite forewarnings via the ARC communications net, Oystercatcher XXV did not divert as the others did and one night at 2:30 AM, moving without sails up, they were dismasted. The crew had to cut off all rigging including their huge in-boom furled main. Last Mike had heard the yacht had headed back to the Canaries for repairs. However, that morning both Al and Mike saw Oystercatcher XXV motor into the Antigua Slipway sans mast or rigging. Evidently the new mast had been shipped over and Antigua Rigging and a crew from the European manufacturer were going to step the new mast and secure all the rigging
Copper and Lumber
. This became the entertainment of the English Harbour anchorage. We later learned that the new mast had some of the same flaws as the original and many adaptations were necessary. For days the mast would be craned on and then off. Sometimes the yacht was in the water, other times it was on the hard.On Friday morning we were raising the genoa when it caught partway up and two of the Profurl sections separated. We tried to lower it but it was stuck! Great...and of course the wind began to pick up. We did our best to secure the sail and discussed our options. Al got out the Topclimber (bosun's chair) which of course we had never test rigged on Free Spirit. It took us a while to get it rigged correctly and then we had the challenge of getting him over to the foresail effectively. He had been up and down a couple of times before we got the knack and he was able to release the bound genoa. Once we got the sail down we had a time flaking it with the wind under the trampolines. I hope no one videoed that process! Despite the larger work area on a cat, the wind under the tramps adds an interesting dimension to raising and lowering one's genoa. Al immediately radioed our "new buddy" Iain for assistance. He was so backed up with work he asked us to bring Free Spirit around to Falmouth on Monday evening and he would look at it Tuesday first thing. Shortly thereafter we were HIT by a cat full of Frenchmen who had anchored too close for the swirly conditions
Copper and Lumber #3
. Al swears the French have spatial relationship problems as they all seem to crowd anchorages. Earlier that day another Frenchman on a monohull finally moved when he had to jump onto Free Spirit to keep his boat from hitting us. The Freeman Bay / Galleon Beach anchorage on the edge of English Harbour is so popular that it gets really crowded and one has to warn off those who try to squeeze an extra boat in. Knowing a little French is an advantage!We enjoyed a long weekend of Happy Hours at the Mad Mongoose, pizza at Cap Sud, lots of reading and swimming. That Monday we had Kathy and John, (the Windsor, Ontario couple I mentioned last time) and Mike (Cal 35 American with the lost dinghy) out to Free Spirit for cocktails. Mike was heading up to St. Maarten the next day to enjoy the festivities associated with the Heineken Regatta and Kathy and John were headed home at the end of the week.
First thing Tuesday, Al picked up Iain and after examination, Iain said he could not address the problem until the following week. Al and I were getting itchy so we decided to motor up to Mamora Bay and anchor off the St. James Club for a couple of days. There were some pretty rough seas but we managed to work our way successfully between the reefs and settle off the beautiful, calm beach at the St. James Club. They were most hospitable and assured Al that we could use their beach lounge chairs and dine or drink at any of their restaurants. Al was in heaven! There were times when the wake from the water-skiers was a little annoying and we did get run into by a hobie cat (no damage) but all-in-all we had a wonderful time in Mamora Bay.
On Friday the 3rd the seas had calmed considerably and we decided to motor up to Nonsuch Bay
Copper and Lumber Bar
. I had visited Nonsuch by car on my first Antigua visit and was eager to be able to explore the huge bay. We dropped our hook on the edge of Browns Bay close to Harmony Hall one of Antigua's finest restaurants. Al headed to shore to check it out and returned with a reservation for dinner that evening. Harmony Hall offers its beach and pool to visiting yachtsmen and has a lighted dinghy dock and a superb art gallery and local crafts shop in addition to its sugar mill bar. The dining room is a combination of terrace, covered deck and indoor/outdoor dining and they northern Italian food is scrumptious. Al was in loved his homemade tortellini appetizer and his mixed seafood grill. The folks at the adjoining table were anchored next to us on an Oyster 56. After dinner we were chatting and there were some jokes made by them about Oystercatcher XXV and its owner. The next morning we took a dinghy tour of much of the huge bay. Al said he felt like was on the Chesapeake on a calm day. The shoreline was a wonderful mix of rocky cliffs and Caribbean forest. There were lots of birds and magnificent homes. There is considerable new construction underway in some parts of the bay. We dinghied out to Green Island to check out the anchorage and the reefs. On shore we saw this huge yellow sun tent with yellow chaises and a folding table with an ice bucket and wine or champagne
Copper and Lumber Company Hotel
. We were wondering who it was when we realized it was the infamous owner of Oyster and Oystercatcher XXV. About mid-day on Sunday we left Browns Bay and anchored between Green Island and Bird Island behind a long reef. It was spectacular to sit in the calm anchorage and realize there was nothing but this reef between us and Africa. We could have stayed here for days! But on Monday we had to motor back to Falmouth Harbour to meet our buddy Iain on Tuesday morning. On our way south we ducked into Indian Harbour beneath the expansive cliff top home of Eric Clapton. It was lovely but a little tight for us, especially with the Atlantic swells creeping in. We needed water so we headed into English Harbour to the Slipway. There was an enormous sailing mega yacht (at least 200 feet) entering at the same time so we slowed to give him room to negotiate the tight harbor. Watching them maneuver that vessel was amazing. They had to turn around to be able to back into the Slipway dock and then they stuck out far into the channel. Al decided we should anchor and have lunch and then he would dinghy in to check out the situation before we attempted the approach. We had an interesting time squeezing into the fuel dock with them out at an angle. I never thought we would see quite so many huge vessels as we have encountered. While we were at anchor we unexpectedly ran into Eric and Kathleen, from Toronto, sailing on Mad Dash. We had met in North Sound, BVI while dining at Saba Rock. We arranged to meet at the Mad Mongoose for Happy Hour after we moved over to Falmouth Harbour
Dockyard
. We had a delightful visit and decided to stay at the Mad Mongoose for dinner which we all enjoyed. Yesterday, Tuesday, March 7th, Iain again came to Free Spirit, climbed and checked the forestay and orderd a new connector sleeve for the forestay. We got our laundry done, extended our cruising permit, caught up on email, moved temporarily back to English Harbour and the Slipway and then came back to Falmouth Harbour where we now sit. We are about to raise the genoa again and prepare to head out sailing for a few days. When we return on Monday it will be to the Slipway marina where Free Spirit will stay while we are in the States. We will be having a number of places touched up on the gelcoat while we are gone. I will be in Philadelphia with our granddaughter and her parents for my entire visit. Al will fly up to Providence and drive to Hartford and Duxbury to see his brother who is recovering from surgery and his parents. Hope all is well with all of you!
