Monthly Archives: November 2018

Here I am, home again in CT, after a week in Antigua to welcome the Dawgs and The Salty Dawg Rally to the Caribbean.  They had a tough slog on the way down, some saying that it was the most difficult run in nearly a decade.

Faced with persistent SE winds, about 25 boats had to stop in Bermuda for fuel repairs or both.  Others kept heading south, working hard to make their way against relentless headwinds.

With the fleet about equally split between making landfall in the BVIs and Antigua, the expectation was that about 30-40 boats would end up in Antigua.  However, with some boats taking nearly 2 weeks to make the run from Hampton, VA, as they passed the BVIs, a number of Antigua bound boats, out of time, stopped there instead of continuing on to Antigua.

I was bummed about that but certainly understand that crew has only a limited time to be away and with Thanksgiving early this year, schedules were tighter than usual.   And, speaking of Thanksgiving, this year it was on November 22nd, but next year it will be nearly a week later, on the 28th, which will take a lot of pressure off of schedules for both skippers and crew.

Anyway, when I arrived in Antigua on November 12th, there wasn’t a Dawg in sight excepting a few that had happily made their way north from Trinidad to meet up with the fleet.   Unfortunately, with nobody in “town” I had to put off the first event.  However, by the time our next event, on the 14th we had a respectable showing so we carried on.

The plan was for the boats to congregate in Nelson’s Dockyard and a number of Dawgs did just that. It was nice to see our rally flag being proudly flown in such a historic spot. Our first event, held at Rhythm of Blue Art Gallery was a great way to kick off a week of celebration for skippers and crew.  Nancy Nicholson, who owns this lovely gallery in English Harbor, timed her season opening to include us and it was a great evening, complete with a terrific reggae band, rum drinks and great sushi appetizers. I expect that Angie of Club Sushi, at the Yacht Club, had a hand in providing the sushi.   I’m no expert but Angie does make great sushi.

Nancy was joined by her mother, Lisa Nicholson at the opening.  Lisa and her husband Desmond came to the island in the 50s and were instrumental in establishing the charter and tourism trades on the island.  The Nicholson family had a lasting impact on Antigua.  I have a book with photos that Nancy’s father Desmond took in the 50s and will be posting them soon.    They are wonderful and show the remarkable transformation that the area has undergone over the decades.

Nancy and her mom.  Note Nancy’s colorful pottery behind them.
True to form, Nancy brought in a great band. It was a lovely evening. A number of “early Dawgs” joined in the fun. But wait, more Dawgs. The ever generous Antigua Yacht Club hosted three events for us.  Count em, three.  That’s a really remarkable showing of how welcome the Dawgs are in Antigua.

I presented a rally flag to AYC Commodore Franklyn Braithwaite.   Franklyn has been tremendously supportive of our efforts to bring the rally to Antigua.  Franklyn is a fixture in Antigua and an accomplished Olympic sailor.   I guess you could say that Franklyn is truly a “Dawg’s best friend”.
And, speaking of the best friends, Janie and Geoffrey Easton, have worked tirelessly on our behalf with local businesses and government agencies to smooth the way in Antigua.   Without their help, things would not have gone so perfectly.  The clubhouse is a great spot to spend time with friends. AYC even opened up the clubhouse for a “down island briefing” hosted by Bill of Kalunamoo to help the Dawgs learn about the best spots to visit between Antigua and Trinidad.  Bill and Maureen have explored the islands extensively over the last few year and were happy to share their experiences. The Dawgs even took time out for a jam session in the Dockyard.  Once again, the Royal Navy Tot Club of Antigua and Barbuda, regaled us with a “tot of our own”.   This is a wonderful tradition of raising a glass to the Queen, yes that Queen, every evening at 18:00 to carry on the now discontinued British Navy tradition of issuing a “tot” of rum to it’s enlisted men.   What wonderful historic surroundings of Copper and Lumber, in the Dockyard.   The rum was good too.
North Sails opened up their shop for a cocktail party, complete with crepes for all.  I missed this event but heard it was a lot of fun. And, of course, our arrival cocktail party at the Admiral’s Inn, a wonderful spot to enjoy history, and an “adult beverage” in the heart of the Dockyard.
We also had our arrival dinner, the capstone of our week of celebration in Antigua, at the Inn.  Happy Dawgs. Me, I was happy to stay at the Inn myself for a week and had some really tasty cups of coffee while enjoying the sights from the deck.Well, here I am, writing about all this and we are on the tail end of a cold snap with temperatures in the low teens.   All I can say is that “it will be better by May”.  Yes, and shortly after that Pandora will be back in the water.  Something to look forward to.

Antigua next November?   Yes, indeed.  I’ll be there.  And, if you are too, you’ll have a great time, I guarantee it.  In fact, plans are well underway and I’ll soon have details of what’s in store for our arrival by mid January.

Arrival dinner?  Sure, we got that.  How about Celebratory Week, Antigua style?

And what a great style it is.

Oh yeah, come January you can click here to sign up and get more information about the 2019 Fall Rally to the Caribbean, you’ll be glad you did.

Well, it’s finally happening, after a long run south, with a stop in Bermuda for many, the Fall Salty Dawg Rally participants are beginning to arrive here in Antigua.

That’s a good thing as am here with lots of parties planned and I just hate putting on parties when nobody shows up.  When I arrived on Tuesday, there was, in fact, nobody here from the rally which was a bit of a bummer.

I should note that I came to Antigua the easy way, by plane, flying in for a week to enjoy all the festivities with fellow Dawgs.   As they say, “nothing goes to weather like a Boeing 737”.  Sadly, I’ll have to leave before some even arrive as there are a number of Antigua bound boats still up in Bermuda, waiting for a window to head out.  It’s been challenging weather, that’s for sure.

The weather here has been unusual here as well with more rain than normal.  As a result, Antigua is remarkably green.  This island is normally fairly dry this time of year, but now it has a beautiful tropical look I’d usually associate with the lush islands further south.

I am staying at the Admiral’s Inn and it’s a lovely spot with beautiful grounds, authentic, although updated, from Lord Nelson’s time on the island.   This is the view from the end of the hall.  What a spot. The gardens are really amazing.  And you can’t beat this as a spot to have morning coffee.  That’s my friend Craig, in the blue shirt reading a good book.  He arrived yesterday to join in the festivities.  And, there are plenty planned. In my second year as Port Captain for Antigua, I continue to be struck by how generous everyone here has been in helping set up a really wonderful series of arrival events.  Forget the notion of an “arrival dinner”, here in Antigua think “arrival week”.  Of course, we will still have our official “safe arrival dinner” at the end of the week at Boom, overlooking Nelson’s Dockyard but we will also have plenty of other events that will keep our early arrivals busy and make the Dawgs feel at home in Antigua.   Click here to see the full list of activities.

As I write this, on Saturday morning, perhaps 15 boats have have arrived but more will be coming into port over the next few days.   Many will tie up in historic Nelson’s Dockyard, the only operating Georgian Dockyard in the world.  And, to make things even better, they can enjoy this fabulous harbor for about the same cost as they’d have to pay for a mooring in some US harbors.

Our events began two days ago and the first of the many planned events was a special evening at the Rhythm of Blue Gallery in English Harbor.  Owner Nancy supplied the Dawgs and many local friends with free rum drinks, wonderful passed appetizers, sushi actually, and she even hired a terrific reggae band that really kept things hopping.Nancy was joined by her mother, Ann, at the event.   Her parents were early in coming to the island to set up a fledgling charter business, I believe.   The two were great hosts for the event. A few boats arrived that day so we had some Dawgs in attendance.  My friends Bill and Maureen, on the left, had come up from their summer “home” in Trinidad, aboard their Kalunamoo.  Later in the evening we were invited to a special talk, complete with free wine and cheese, at the Antigua Yacht Club by Andrew Dove from North sails who spoke about his 40 years as a sailmaker.

Last evening we were treated to a wonderful event at Copper and Lumber, in the dockyard by one of my favorite groups, The Royal Tot Club of Antigua and Barbuda.  I  won’t repeat what I have written about this group except to say that they meet every day to toast the Queen.  I am not sure of the exact count but I believe that we had more than two dozen Dawgs with us.  It was a beautiful, historic setting.  If some how, you missed what I have written in the past about the Tot Club, click here for a post from last season. It’s a great group.

During “arrival week” we will welcome more and more of our members to Antigua for a great line-up of events, most at little or no cost to the Dawgs.  And to cap things off we will have our arrival dinner here at the Admiral’s Inn, perhaps the most scenic spot in Antigua.   Last year, this event was really well attended and I am hopeful that most will be on-island with us this year as well.

It’s been very rewarding to me, as I worked with many here on the island to set up this year’s arrival events, to see how enthusiastic everyone is about the rally coming to their island.  In particular, the Antigua Yacht Club, local businesses and government officials have made it very clear that having us visit is very important to them.  Given their enthusiasm, I am confident that next year’s events will be even better.   Charles, “Max” Fernandez, the Minister of Tourism, will be with us again, for the second year, which is more evidence that Antigua really appreciates our making their island a destination for the rally.

If you didn’t get to Antigua in time for our event week, be sure to put Antigua on your itinerary for later in the season and for next year’s Salty Dawg Fall Rally to the Caribbean, or should I say the “Salty Dawg rally to Antigua”.   I personally guarantee that you will be glad you did.

If Antigua is still on your travel plans before the end of December, make a point of being in Nelson’s Dockyard so you can ring in the new year.  There is nothing quite like fireworks over the fort guarding the harbor.   Brenda and I did this, along with other Dawgs last year and it was fabulous.I expect to have a full list of 2019 arrival activities posted on our site this coming January.  If you missed this year’s arrival events, you’d be well advised to put Antigua on your schedule for next Fall’s rally.  I know I will.

Now you see why it’s so easy to say, and that’s not Fake News, that we are deep into the Dawg Days of Antigua.

It’s Wednesday afternoon and I am here in Antigua, anxiously awaiting the arrival of the “fleet” of Dawgs heading our way.   I  flew in yesterday afternoon, and I am here to say that flying is a lot simpler, and faster, than getting here by boat.  However, I’ll have to leave here to fly home after only a week.  That’s such a bummer, let me tell you.

The harbor is nearly empty with only a smattering of small boats here.  Our good friends, and live aboard couple, Bill and Maureen on Kalunamoo, arrived a few days ago from Trinidad, where they spent the summer, out of hurricane harm’s way.  It’s good to see them but I am sad that our paths won’t cross again until next year, perhaps in the summer.However, spars or not, there is plenty of tonnage here, made possible by Anna a 365′ behemoth, recently launched in the Netherlands, the largest yacht ever built there.  There’s only a handful of yachts in the world that are larger.  And she’s owned by, you guessed it, a Russian,  Dimitri Rybololev and she cost an astounding $250m to build.

That sounds like a lot but it’s really not all that much when you consider that he has an estimated worth of $7 billion.  That’s 7,000 millions!   What’s even more amazing is that he still has that much money after settling with his ex for a whopping $4.5 billion divorce settlement awarded to her buy a Swiss court.  But don’t worry about Dimitri because the award was later reduced to a piddling $600 million after the couple settled amicably.  Isn’t that sweet?  Me, I’d be pretty amicable if I got $600 million.   At 1/4 billion, she’s just bristling with cool stuff.  Including her own chopper.  You can be pretty confident that you have plenty of funds available if you have one of these on board.Of course, having two “garages” to keep your tenders makes a pretty clear statement as well. You can really tell how big she is compared to one of the crew up forward.  And, this guy is only one of 30 that work aboard full time.  Quite the payroll.   Need to know more in case you are thinking about having one built for yourself?  Check this link to get the skinny. Dimitri is a smart guy naming his new boat after one of his daughters as she won’t be divorcing him any time soon.    I expect is pretty good friends with Putin. 

And, speaking of Putin who also seems to be pretty fond of our president, I was struck by this sign at the Skullduggery bar in Falmouth, promoting a special rum drink.  At $5EC, it’s quite a deal as that’s only $2 US.  Thanks Mr President.  
If you disagree, don’t blame me, I’m only reporting. 

As far as the Salty Dawg Rally is concerned,and that’s why I am here in Antigua, the 40 or so boats that are headed my way, in spite of delays caused by a really bad run of adverse winds, should begin arriving over the next few days.

I expect that more than a few of them will be happy to have a Trump Punch.  At $2US it’s about the best deal in town.

Of course, that will only be the beginning as we have plenty of fun events planned to help welcome the fleet to Antigua now through Thanksgiving.  

One way or the other, Antigua is about to really go to the Dawgs and I am looking forward to that too.

It’s Monday morning and I am heading to Antigua tomorrow to welcome the Salty Dawg Fleet to that beautiful island.  That’s the good news.  The bad news is that NOBODY has arrived yet and it’s still going to be a few days until the first members of the fleet will show up.

The problem is that weather in the Atlantic in November is generally not all that great.  As the summer SW prevailing winds begin to give way to the NW and NE winds of winter in the fall and early winter, things can be pretty unsettled.  As November is toward the end of the hurricane season and when insurance companies say that it’s OK to head south, that’s when most sailors move their boats to warmer climes to enjoy the winter season of sailing in the tropics.

Well, this year’s Salty Dawg Rally to the Caribbean has been pretty challenging with persistent SE winds making it tough for the fleet to make their way south to Antigua or the BVIs.   Additionally, it was a pretty rough crossing of the Gulf Stream due to strong NE winds the day before much of the fleet crossed, kicking up a pretty confused sea, and a number of boats had to stop in Bermuda to fix broken gear.  The winds after the GS were also fairly light and not from a favorable direction so many other boats had to make a stop in Bermuda as well for fuel before heading out again.

Add to all of this, a low forming north of Puerto Rico that will cross the likely track of the fleet, and it gets pretty interesting.   As a result of all this, the fleet is running behind and I am going to push back some of the events I have planned in Antigua to celebrate their arrival.

When I scheduled the first few events a few months ago I knew that there was some risk that we’d have to move it back and as of yesterday the full impact of delays to getting the fleet there in time, became clear.

So, off to Antigua I go tomorrow to wait.  However, my friends Bill and Maureen of Kalunamoo are already there, having sailed up from Trinidad last week so it will be fun to spend time with them.  My friend Craig will also be flying down on Thursday to enjoy the fun so I’ll be plenty busy.

Of course, staying at the Admiral’s Inn won’t be particularly tough duty.  It’s a really beautiful place.    What a spot to sit and work on a nice cool G&T.   No, make that a rum punch.  It’s the islands Mon!And, don’t forget about the infinity pool looking over historic Nelson’s Dockyard.  Yeah, I could do that too.  Now that I think of it, perhaps another totally excellent spot for a rum punch.  And speaking of rum.  How about hanging out a bit with my friends from the Tot club, better known as the Royal Naval Tot Club of Antigua and Barbuda .  As a relatively new member, there’s still lots of Royal British Navy history to explore, along with an appropriate, make that a responsible, measure of rum.

I remember, well I sort of remember, becoming a member last spring and have a photo to prove it.   I say “sort of remember” as some of the details are a bit fuzzy.  Of course, after all of those “tots” it’s hard to be clear about anything.  But, it was fun and I, sort of, learned a lot about British Naval history. That reminds me, I don’t want to forget my “official” Tot Club shirt.

Anyway, I’ll make the best of this trip, one way or the other.

So, back to the Rally fleet and their run south.   It’s always tough to make the run from the US coast to the Caribbean and this year is a proving to be somewhat more challenging than most.  So far, only a bit of discomfort and some adverse winds. “That’s easy for you to say Bob!  You aren’t out there.” 

That’s true.  So, let’s hope that things continue to go fairly well for the fleet and that everyone arrives safely and without incident.   If you’d like to follow the fleet’s progress, click here to see a map of the fleet as they make their way south.  Put SDR in the “group” section along with the date range.  The fleet began to head out on November 1st but you may find it easier to see what’s going on with a narrower date range.

This is the location of the fleet as of Monday morning.   The fleet is roughly split between Antigua and the BVIs.  I have notated “the” destination, Antigua so you can see how much farther they have to go.  Yes, it’s a long way off but only 90 miles farther than the BVIs.Conditions may get bit rough for the fleet with the low that is going to cross their path as they get closer to the islands.  It’s fast moving and while it may bring winds in excess of gale force if they get stuck in the middle of it, it’s not looking quite as organized as it was forecast to be just a day or so ago.    The low is the dark blue section to the right.   This screen shot is of about 06:00 EST today and is currently east of the fleet’s track. However, by Wednesday, when many boats will be at about the same latitude as the stronger winds, it is expected to cross their track.   Chris Parker, the weather router for the rally, suggests slowing down to let the low pass.   Good idea. As they say, when you are on the ocean in a small boat “it’s always something”.

And, speaking of waves, which I sort of was, I came upon this video of the largest wave ever surfed, a 95′ monster a few years ago in Nazare Portugal.    It’s huge, and yet, in this short video, predictably looks smaller than it really is, a frustrating reality for anyone that has been in heavy weather on the ocean and has tried to document the conditions to share with their friends.

Ever wonder what those big rollers you see on the ocean look like when they reach shore?  Perhaps they look like this.  Ok, I said 95′ but who beyond the guys at Guinness care about such a fine detail.   It’s just a frigging big wave. And wonder what it’s like to get knocked down by such a wave as it crashes down on you?  No, me neither.  Anyway, this short piece shows what happens when a wave, again in Nazare crashes over a surfer and jet ski.  And so, you are saying that you do this for fun?Nazare, were these videos were taken, is of particular interest to me as Brenda and we were there, not by boat, a few years ago and were impressed by the size of the waves, even in the summer.   Interestingly, while there is a small well protected harbor nearby, many of the traditional boats that fish the coastal area are launched and retrieved from a ramp on the beach, pulled up by a tractor, in sync with the waves.   The boats have rub rails on their bilges to allow them to be dragged up by the tractor. And, as the videos showed, it gets pretty “sporty” in the winter so, to keep everything from washing away the breakwater is made up of huge concrete “jacks” that are more likely to stay put when those enormous waves come pounding down on them.I wrote about this beautiful village, waves and all, in a post when Brenda and I were there.

Still want more?  This post is mostly about the local fishing boats and what they catch.  I just love boats.  All sorts.  Perhaps this boat photo will tempt you to reconsider skipping my post and click on the link to read more.  So, there you have it, the Salty Dawg Rally fleet making their way south,  some wacko dudes surfing some of the world’s biggest waves and lovely Nazare Portugal during the “off season” when the waves aren’t all that big.

Well, that’s it for now.  Tomorrow I’m off to Antigua to welcome the fleet, when they finally get there.

It’s Monday morning and it looks like the bulk of the 80+ boats that are participating in this year’s Salty Dawg Fall Rally to the Caribbean will soon be underway and heading out to see.

And, as each participating boat carries a unit to transmit their position, you, like me and others that are “armchair sailors” this winter or those who have access to the Internet, can follow the fleet, in real time, as they make their way south.

There are three destinations for the rally, and in alphabetical order, Antigua, Bahamas and the BVIs.   Of course, as fleet captain for Antigua, I am all about making that destination the best of the bunch.

One way or the other, through the support of Ocens Satelite Systems, you can log into the Salty Dawg Rally page (SDR) to see the location of every boat in the fleet.  As of now, there are only a hand full of boats underway but the current weather looks like the bulk of the fleet will be underway in the next day or so.

I encourage you to open the SDR tracking page in your browser and follow along. Below is a screen shot of the page you will pull up, taken this Monday morning.  As a point of reference, the “green” boat, Willow, left earlier than the most of the fleet and is now in a good position to carry pretty good winds all the way to Antigua.     Several other boats, Quetzal and Ariana also left earlier and have stopped in Bermuda.  I expect that they will head out again soon.

In order to see the fleet, put SDR in the “group” area, on the left side of the screen and put the date range that you wish to see below that.  You can also choose how speed is displayed by choosing “KN” for Knots, as an example.   You can also choose to see only one particular boat by selecting that under “name”.  Anyway, it’s fun, so check it out.   BTW, the page works best on a Tablet as it’s easier to “pinch” the screen to see the area that you are interested in.
In the next few days you will see many more boats, and the screen will get really crowded with tracks, as others head out.

Most of the fleet opted to wait a few days before heading out as the winds were not particularly favorable, especially for crossing the Gulf Stream.   As a result, some headed down the Intra Coastal Waterway to Beaufort to depart from there once the wind was from a more favorable direction.   Another benefit of being in Beaufort is that it is south of Cape Hatteras and also a lot closer to the Gulf Stream so they won’t have to go as far to cross it and be in calmer waters.

The GS is a particularly nasty place to be when the wind is out of the North East, which is what’s been going on.  This GRIB file shot shows the winds as of a few days ago.  Note that the wind “flags” show wind in the teens from the NE.   You do not want to be in the “stream” when the wind is from that direction.  It kicks up waves that can be at least unpleasant or dangerous.  Below is what the wind forecast looks like for today, a lot better than from the NE even though the wind is from the south and much stronger. Not ideal as they really want to be heading south themselves and east is out of the way.  However, going east before heading south is a good idea as the winds will likely be from the east as their trip progresses.

The plan for most, I’d assume, will be to head east until the wind shifts more to the east and then turn south.  Actually, that’s exactly what Willow has done, now that the winds where he is are from the east, as is shown on the Ocens chart that I put above.

So, back to Antigua and the destination for about half of the fleet.  As port captain for Antigua, I have worked hard to arrange a number of events to make the fleet’s arrival in Antigua fun for everyone and with the help of local businesses and particularly the Antigua Yacht Club, there’s a great lineup planned.

While these events have been organized with rally participants in mind, I am happy to have other cruisers, that’s you, join us in the fun.  There’s no extra charge for “non-members” to come to our events this year so if you are planning to be in Antigua, please join us.   We’d love to get to know you.  I put an overview of what’s in store in an earlier post back in August.

Click here to see a full list of activities that we have planned.

There’s dinner events, happy hour mixers and even an opportunity to join in the fun with one of my favorite groups, The Antigua and Barbuda, Royal Navy Tot Club.  Just try saying that three times fast after a healthy “tot”, or two of fine rum.  Join us and you’ll see for yourself.

One way or the other, please stay in touch and follow the fleet.  Who knows, perhaps you’ll catch the bug and be one of us next year.  For sure, Pandora will be making the run south to Antigua with the Salty Dawg Rally to the Caribbean next fall.   I’d imagine that the registration for the 2019 rally will be opening in January.

Want to go to Antigua?  It’s not to early to begin planning for next year or to follow this year’s fleet.    And, if you go, you’ll see fabulous sunsets like this, nearly every night.  Perhaps you’ll even see the fabled “green flash”.  We have, more than once, actually.

Want to learn more?  Let me know, I’m all about Antigua.

Oh yeah, if you want to see what’s in store if you decide to cruise to Antigua and the islands south to Grenada, you can register here to see a free webcast that I did recently for the Seven Seas Cruising Association.

You’ll be glad you did, I hope.