I can’t believe that Brenda and I will have been in Antigua for a month and, as of yet, have not left the mooring. It’s Valentines day and we are still experiencing Christmas Winds.
What did we get for Valentines day? Wind, just wind. And food.
Don’t get me wrong, I really enjoy Antigua but to be here for this long without even turning on the engine, is not quite what we are used to. How many times can I motor to the marina and back in my dink?
At least the view is always wonderful at night, especially when a full moon is rising from the east.

We had thought about making a dash to Guadeloupe a few weeks ago when there was a two day lull in the wind, but those who did head south reported that it was “lumpy”, “sporty”, “challenging”. Whatever it was, had we left it would have been a CLM “career limiting move” for me with Brenda as we tried to claw our way back just a few weeks later as it’s still really breezy.
So, here we are, making the best we can although I will admit that I am going a bit stir crazy and have done more “busy work” to keep my self occupied than I normally do.
In addition to the many things, all small, that have been in my plate for the last month, I have enjoyed “yacht spotting” as Pandora’s mooring is directly adjacent to the main channel heading out, or into, Falmouth Harbor.
Because of the wind, there have been very few cruisers heading out but the big boats continue to come and go.
As it’s been so busy this season, with every slip in the marina fully occupied, there are always a number of really big boats anchored near the mouth of the harbor.
With the waves breaking over the reef at the entrance of Falmouth, large rollers are causing these huge yachts to rock from side to side, sometimes quite alarmingly.
One that seems to be pretty stable is Kaos, as huge as she is, is just over half the length the largest yacht in the world. Of course, that yacht is owned by someone from the middle east.

Many yachts are lit up brilliantly at night but none more dramatically than Kaos. Their bespoke launch is also a sight to behold at night, with lights under and above water. Sadly, I haven’t taken a photo.

Kaos is unique as she is classified as a ship as opposed to as a yacht. This is because she is in excess of 300 gross tons and therefore has to comply with a lot more rules, which is a very expensive proposition, I am told. However, he guest capacity is nearly double that of mere yachts, 31 guests, not counting crew.
As I mentioned in a prior post, Kaos is owned by Nancy Walton, heiress to the Walmart family fortune. Well, at least part of it. Enough, it seems.
At over 360′ long Kaos is huge, carries a compliment of 45 crew attending to a maximum of 31 guests. Imagine the complexity of such a vessel. And, at $300m an expensive one at that.
Well, is it sufficient to say that Antigua caters to the mega yacht crowd and Nancy and her “boat” are at the top of the pack.
Ok, enough about yachtspotting.
What about our plans this spring?
As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am leading the first ever Salty Dawg Rally to the Azores, scheduled to depart from Bermuda on or about June 1st. After the 2000 mile Atlantic crossing and arriving in Horta, Brenda will fly and meet me for a month of cruising the islands before she wings to Scotland for a few weeks of touring with an old friend. At that point, I will continue on to Spain, likely Almeria about 150 miles past Gibraltar, in Southern Spain.

Why Almeria? Well, there is a website/app Navily that combines Google Earth images of the coastline overlayed with anchorages and marinas for the entire Mediterranean, and other areas. A terrific feature of the program is that you can fill in the details of your boat and inquire about dockage at any particular marina with a few clicks. Using this service I methodically worked through just about all of the marinas between Gibraltar and as far north as Barcelona, literally dozens of marinas, asking about pricing for the 7 months that Pandora will be laid up from early August until the following spring.
Each of the symbols mean anchorages, marinas and other features that you can zoom in on. This is a Google shot of Almeria, well part of the city.

I heard back from nearly all of them and learned that pricing for storage, most commonly in-water, ranged from a low of about 4,000 euros to more than 8,000. I have also spoken to a number of cruisers with experience in this area and Almeria came up time and time again as a good place to store for the winter.
The marina, Puerto Deportivo Almerimar was on the low end of pricing and also offers both in-water storage and on-the-hard. With 7 months away and basically unsupervised, I am inclined to have Pandora hauled instead of worrying that something might happen with her so far away. And, with her floating (hopefully) for that long, I’d feel compelled to have someone keep an eye on her and that would surely add up to even more money over the many months.
The marina is positively huge with over 1,100 slips. They also have space on land if I choose that route. Note that the marina is protected from the Med Sea by a large breakwater. Given the relatively featureless coastline, without any natural inlets, the only option for marinas is to build one into the coastline and that’s what nearly all of them look like, large or small.

This photo gives a feel for just how many slips there are.

The marina is not directly in the city with the beautiful historical architecture as that one is twice the price. and it’s not worth the extra cost to be closer to the attractions. One option, when we are aboard, is to move to the more expensive marina in city center or rent a car.
Based on some of the videos that we have watched, there are lots of beautiful places to visit a short distance from the marina. This video gives a good feel for what’s in store, as near as I can figure.
Lots to look forward to but for now, here we are in very windy Antigua. Not a bad thing in late February when it’s snowy at home.
Better think about Valentine’s Day and sunny beaches.
It’s time to go for a swim and think about what is to come.
Almeria? I go there.