Yes, I’ll have a tot. We do have to keep busy, right?
Well, my visit here in Antigua is just about over as my friend Craig will arrive tomorrow and we plan to head up to St Martin on Sunday night. We’d love to stop in St Barths but there is a large northerly swell running that will likely make the anchorage there very rolly.
I spoke with Chris Parker, our weather router, today and he told me that the sailing conditions should be great, likely a broad reach in 15-25kts, but that any anchorage that might be affected by a northerly swell, in this case 7-8′, is probably best to avoid.
I guess I’ll check back with Chris on Saturday and see if his forecast might have changed. Happily, my SSB radio is now back in perfect health which is just so great. I have participated in a number of nets over the last few days and I am told that indeed they “can hear me now”. What a relief. It took months and more than a few “boat dollars” to sort through that problem. All better now.
When Brenda and I were tied up in English Harbor Antigua during our last visit here a month ago, while our son Christopher was visiting, we saw a group of folks standing outside of a bar in the dockyard doing some sort of chant. Actually, the looked positively “druidesque”, if you ask me. 
When we returned to Antigua last week, our friends Sue and Dave of SV Sans Cles, invited me (Brenda had already flown back to CT) to participate in an evening meeting of, what I now know is the Royal Navy Tot Club of Antigua and Barbuda.
Ok, sure, I’ll go. How could I say no? And, I didn’t.
So here’s the deal and once again this proves, without a question, that there is indeed a club for everything and everyone. And now that I know about the Royal Navy Tot Club I am fairly certain that the Brits lead the way in that department.
So, you might be asking yourself, who are these people that stand in a circle and drink rum? This is what they have to say about themselves.
“The Royal Naval Tot Club of Antigua & Barbuda was formed in 1991 by a small group of ‘like minded people’ who met at the end of the working day to toast the Queen and reinstate the Royal Navy’s tradition of a daily tot of rum which had been discontinued in 1970.
Very soon, others began to join the ‘circle’ and the Royal Naval Tot Club of Antigua & Barbuda developed into an organisation recognised not only in Antigua but worldwide. The Tot Club formalised itself by writing some rules known as Standard Operating Procedures. It is only possible to join the Tot Club in Antigua and well over 500 have joined to date. An aspiring member has to be invited to join by an existing member and pass though a joining routine which includes a test on Royal Navy history.
The Tot Club meets at 6 pm each evening when guests may be introduced, announcements made relating to points of interest and a reading from Royal Navy history pertinent to that day. The reading is followed by a toast which is different for each day of the week, however, all toasts end with the words ‘…and the Queen, God Bless Her’.”
All of this grows out of a long tradition in the British Royal Navy to issue rum/grog to the troops. Sadly, this tradition was abandoned in the 70s. I guess in our “PC” obsessed world, issuing rum aboard ships full of guys with big guns was no longer considered to be a good idea, and to carry on that tradition was the reason that the club was formed.
They even have an “official” website . Who knew?
So, Sue and Dave delivered me to my official meeting of the Royal Navy Tot Club. It was a hoot.
“Bob, what was it like? Do tell.” Here’s the deal. To join the club you must show up for seven nights within 14 days and “take a tot” of rum. Of course, to attend you must have a sponsor and be recommended by a full member, in my case, Willie and Kathleen. A nice couple who were sponsors for Sue and Dave. Don’t they just look so, well, so British?
I won’t go into all of the details of what transpired except to say that on your “introductory visit” you, and in this case, I was presented with a “megatot” of fine Pusser’s rum, the very same that was issued to the troops for so many years, in a rather large, or so it seemed to me, glass tumbler. The deal was, that when prompted, I was to take the “full measure” in a single gulp. And, let me tell you, it was a big gulp.
The group gathered around a table with a “tot” in one hand and a water “chaser” in the other. You really need that chaser to take away a rather substantial burn from such a gulp of rum. Well, I needed it. 
Before the tot and chaser, a passage, I guess about Lord Nelson, is solemnly read. That evening’s “reading” was shared from “the book” by Peter, a very solemn British bloke. 
After that, well, I am not completely crystal clear on what happened after my “tot” but I am confident that Sue and Dave were “inducted” and I was smiling. As near as I can recall, it was a lot of fun.
Fortunately, with the exception of the “intro” night and the night of “induction”, you can pour your own tot so it needn’t be too big and after a week of that and memorization of important facts and details, you may become a member.
Unfortunately, I won’t be here for another week so I will be deprived, at least until my next visit to Antigua, from applying to be a full member of the Royal Navy Tot Club.
Well, at least there is something to look forward to when Brenda and I return to Antigua next winter.
Don’t you feel sorry for all the sailors here in Antigua who don’t know about this exclusive club? So, what does everyone else do to keep busy if they can’t attend?
Well, last night, aboard The Maltese Falcon, it was movie night. Yes, movie night. Unfortunately, while I did spend some time with the crew of Marie, the 200′ Vitters Ketch that Brenda and I sailed on two years ago. I wasn’t invited to the movies aboard Falcon. They unfurled one of the aft sails and voilas, a movie. 
So, if you wonder what folks to do keep busy here in Antigua, now you have your answer. If you are one of the .001% crowd, movie night. For the rest of us, assuming that you know the right people, there may be a tot waiting for you here in Antigua.
You just can’t make this stuff up. And why would you want to when real life is just so entertaining.
Sure, I’ll have a tot. Just one more, for now…
She was launched in 2006 in Turkey and was built for the Venture Capitalist, Tom Perkins, perhaps one of the most successful ever. He made his money investing in early web startups including Amazon, Google, AOL and other high profile businesses. Stock and crypto investments helped him grow his wealth even further. The 
Perkins is deceased now and Falcon was sold a few years ago for $60,000,000 Euros, which is proof that no matter how much you have, “you can’t take it with you”. However, if you rank him on the “he who dies with the most toys wins” scale, Perkins was a standout.
Her unstayed masts rotate to orient her 15 square, self furling, sails totalling nearly 26,000 square feet of sail, to the optimal angle of the wind. When fully furled they are oriented fore and aft, I guess, to minimize windage. Windage? Good luck with that on a 300′ yacht. 
When viewed from her stern, the pattern of the spars remind me of a double helix DNA strand. 
Falcon was the largest sailing yacht in the world when she was launched and surely reigns supreme as one of the grandest “high tech” achievements on the water today. 
I am amazed every day when yet another magnificent yacht sails into Falmouth harbor here in Antigua. I wonder what tomorrow will bring?
The first of the J boats to hit the circuit in modern times was Shamrock V, the only wood J sailing today. She is wood on metal frames and was restored by Elizabeth Meyer back in the 80s, long before the huge sailing yachts were as popular as they are today. She has beautiful copper colored hardware, all custom, I would expect. 
While most of them have their woodwork covered while they are at the dock, they have impressive attention to detail as does Topaz.
One of the boats Velsheda, has it’s own “tender” a magnificent yacht designed to look like a classic. Bystander is it’s name, the same name as a tender owned by Vanderbilt when he campaigned a J in the 30s. Can you imagine having the ability to have a 100′ racer and a support yacht like this?
Neorion was launched in 1999 and yet looks like she might have been build 100 years ago. She was 
The attention to detail on Neorion is really remarkable. You can’t let this varnish go for even a moment. 
Now here’s a real looker, Adix. She’s probably the largest boat here in Antigua right now. She’s also new and is over 200′ long, 213′ not to put too fine a point on it. 
She has a number of “toys”. Nice little daysailer. Nice davits too. 
Everything about these yachts is huge. How about the scale of the masts on this one. 
This is a Wally tender, I think made in Italy and cost, well, they cost a lot. However, it’s peanuts compared to the “mother ship”.
Of course, there are plenty of contemporary designs in the harbor. I wrote about Leopard recently. She’s one of the fastest mono-hulls in the world, capable of speeds of about 40kts. She’s 
And from the stern. All business. 
And speaking of charter, 100′ Penelope was designed for the charter business and even makes the point on her stern, “by Luxury Living”. 
Want to charter but prefer a grey ride? 
Fast, sleek or even grey, there is nothing that compares to a classic schooner and Elena was designed by Nathaniel Herreshoff “the wizard of Bristol” in RI in 1911. Her namesake didn’t survive but the design lives on in Elena, a replica launched in 2009.
I guess that the owner wasn’t hurt too much by the recession. 
Well, I guess that’s about it for now. I could go on all day as there are many more yachts that I have not included here. Antigua, at least in the winter season, is home to the world’s most magnificent yachts, that’s for sure.
Did I mention that Brenda’s gone home? I miss her, even if the Grand Dames of Antigua are here and she’s not.
It rained a few times last night so the salt was rinsed off of the decks. That’s good as it was pretty thick after our somewhat sporty run from Guadeloupe the other day.
I have posted so many sunrises and rainbows, you’ll just have to trust me that these are not recycled. Honest…really.
I thought that this ship/tug, military I think, was pretty neat. We saw her in a number of harbors in Guadeloupe. I’ll bet that she can handle pretty rough seas. 
This ship, the 
The stern is pretty jaunty, right?
So, I guess that’s about it for now. Brenda’s leaving, the SSB is working and I am going to be lonely, well, at least until Craig arrives on Friday.
As we climbed the winding road you could feel the air get cooler as we rose in altitude. The van seemed to work pretty hard to make it’s way along the increasingly narrow and steep roads, most of which were barely wide enough to pass.
Later a pole is inserted so the vine can grow up and mature. 
Banana flowers are distinctive and lovely. I understand that it takes many months for bananas to mature and then the plant itself dies. However, little shoots come out of the base of the plant that flowered so they are removed and planted by themselves to begin the process all over again. Bananas are not grown from seed, just from shoots off of those “mother” plants. 
When Brenda and I were in highschool we purchased a banana plant that we had in our home for many years after we graduated from college. That plant, or shoots from that plant, live on today in a friend’s garden in Florida, nearly five decades later. Sorry, no bananas until “Bob” as the plant is known, found his way to Linda’s garden in Florida. He’s doing very well now, thank you.
The locals also grow coffee up in the mountains. The beans grow right on the branches and are harvested by carefully plucking off each ripe bean as it begins to turn red. 
There were many birds in these garden plots carved out of the fores. We spied a hawk looking to feast on something a little farther down on the food chain. 
Along the side of the road, plants so beautiful it was hard to remember that these are a “weed” of sorts here. Nice weeds. 
We spotted this beautiful amaryllis growing on the side of the road. I don’t know for sure if this is endemic to the island or if it was planted. Of course, you’d recognize this from the same bulbs that us northerners force for holiday bloom. These flowers were the size of a large salad plate. Beautiful. 
Not all the flowers were that showy. Some were not much larger than a fingertip. 
I saw this beautiful vine growing on a dead branch. The leaves are smaller than a pencil eraser. 
Everywhere you look something wonderful. These ferns sported fronds that were only an inch or so long. 
It was hard to focus on them when faced by what might be called the “queen of all ferns” the tree fern. They grow to great heights and look like something right out of Jurassic Park. 
Even big ferns start out little, but not that little. No short jokes please. 
There isn’t much more impressive than a stand of tree ferns in the distance. 
A mix of textures and shades of green.
As we entered the forest we were blown away by the majesty of it all. Hard to take in the scale of these trees that lined the path. 
One view more magnificent than the last.
Just huge.
Everything is competing for light. The trees grow up and everything else uses the trees to climb up too. 
Some were hundreds of feet tall up in the canopy with roots that ran all the way to the forest floor. Anything to reach the light.
Some plants very small like this vine with leaves that were barely an inch long. 
Vines of nearly every shape and size clinging to their host.
Once things drop to the forest floor don’t last long as there are plenty of fungi ready and willing to make short work of them like these beauties. 
We nearly stepped on this tiny frog who was hopping in the middle of the path. He blended in perfectly, well almost perfectly, into the ground litter. 
Along the way we stopped to do a short hike up a riverbed to an amazing waterfall. As we made our way into the forest we spied the only orchid that we saw in bloom. This one was growing on the side of the road. The flower spike was several feet tall. 
This African Tulip tree, with magnificent flowers was quite a stunner. Each individual flower was perhaps 6″ wide. Very showy and a stunning blaze of color in a sea of green. 
We hiked up the stream bed crossing first to one side and then the other as we made our way toward the falls. 
The trees towered over us. 
At one point we even did a “Tarzan” thing swinging from a vine across the river. 
Not bad for a 61 year old guy. Right?
Made it. 
As we worked our way toward the waterfall we could hear it a long way off. 
I would have loved to go for a swim but there wasn’t time for that. How about a photo op instead?
This photo of our traveling companions, Dave and Chisholm of Plantina II and Bob and Carol of Oasis, gives a better feel for the scale of the falls. 
That evening, as the sun set over the ocean to the west, we were treated to a real show, a wonderful way to cap off a great day. We even saw the elusive “green flash” something that you rarely see except when the horizon is haze and cloud free. The sun set like a giant fireball.
And, just as it dropped down into the sea, a momentary flash of bright green. 
A closeup of the “flash”. You can see it’s green on the edges. I am told that it’s much easier to see when mixed with rum. We have found that wine works well too. However, too much wine somehow makes the horizon tip a bit. How is that?
Others have told us that Dominica is their favorite island for hiking and enjoying the natural wonders of a tropical paradise and if our experience is any indication, than they are right.