Well, it’s been 10 days since we arrived in Antigua and we HAVE NO IDEA when we will be able to leave.  Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful place as witnessed by the view from our cockpit a few moments ago.    It’s been a dramatic morning with squalls coming through the harbor several times an hour bringing gusty winds and rain, only to be followed by brilliant sunshine moments later.  Pretty dramatic.  Not a bad spot to be and hey, the decks are salt free. While Antigua is a neat island, the Caribbean is a big place and we really don’t want to be in one place for too long as there is just so much we want to see.   The first problem is that the SSB still isn’t installed, although it might be finished by early next week.  Second, the winds continue to be very strong and while going to Guadalupe is a reach both ways, the waves are really big, at about 10′ and the north swell is also up, which would make for a really bumpy run.

This means that it would likely be a CLM (Career Limiting Move) with Brenda if we were to head out into that.  Unfortunately, Chris Parker, the weather router we use, says that lighter winds, than the 20-25kts that are currently blowing, won’t arrive for the “foreseeable future”.     We are hopeful that sometime next week there will be somewhat less wind so we can make the run to Guadaloupe.

In particular, our interest in visiting that island is because it would be the first on our trip with a tropical rainforest.  The other islands we have visited are much more arid.  Guadeloupe is quite mountainous, nearly a mile high and as the trade winds from the east pass over the island the air rushes up the mountain, cooling, and driving the moisture out of the clouds as rain.  From our many years of growing orchids and having a greenhouse, we are anxious to see tropical plants in-situ, as it were.

Anyway, that’s our plan but “whack-a-mole” issues and weather “issues” are winning out for now.

Our son Christopher will be flying in from San Francisco on the 15th so that means we have to be back here to greet him, limiting our travel window too.  We are very excited about his visit as we don’t see him very often.   We have reserved a slip in English Harbor at Nelson’s Dockyard, a very scenic spot.  It will be interesting to tie up there as we will be Med-moored.   This means we will drop our anchor as we approach the tie-up bulkhead and then back up against the bulkhead, using our anchor to hold off.  From our stern we will tie up lines to shore and tighten up everything to keep Pandora straight and off of the bulkhead.    Good thing we have a bow thruster as there is no way we could pull this off without a way to control the bow as we back down on the anchor.

What will make it even more fun will be that we will be doing all of this maneuvering as we thread ourselves between two other boats, all the while praying that we won’t lose control and bump into them.  Meanwhile, folks on shore, who are blissfully not at risk from us, will stand by ready to take photos, of what they hope will be our inevitable crash, fully prepared to exclaim wth great glee, “Look at that, they have absolutely NO IDEA what they are doing”.   I guess you’ll have to stay tuned to hear how all THAT goes.

And speaking of broken stuff, I decided that I should post some photos of the “mortally wounded” SSB.  The inside of the unit looks impossibly complex.   At first glance, not so bad.  I see a lot of OK pieces, right?However, upon closer inspection, the extent of the damage becomes obvious. And that’s not all…  Oh, so that’s why “can you hear me now?” didn’t get me anywhere. The moral of this story is clearly that salt and electronics don’t mix.  Frankly, given the harsh environment that this equipment functions in, or not function as it were, it’s amazing that more stuff doesn’t die a nasty death.   So, as soon as our new SSB winds it’s way through the import agent, who BTW gets 4% for his efforts, I am hopeful that this will all get sorted out.

In the meantime, Brenda and I are working hard to keep busy and not focus too much on what all of this costs.    Enough of that…

So, the other day we took a bus from the nearby marina into St John for the day.  When I say “bus” I mean a sort of panel van and not a particularly big one at that. As we made our way to St John, the bus stopped often for passengers to get on and off, many laden with bags of groceries.  Counting the three up in the front, including the driver, the bus had a capacity of 15 when  the jump seats were folded down into the aisle.  It was really, really tight and quite an experience.

St. John is where the cruise ships dock and was very crowded.  Outside of the immediate dock area it’s much different without all of the T shirt shops. However, once closer, it’s a much more manicured. The ships, and there were three or four of them, loomed over the downtown area.  And, of course, plenty of stalls catering to the “I need a souvenir from Antigua, cruise ship crowd”.   Not hard to choose, or not, as just about every booth had exactly the same stuff. Not a lot of creativity.  Perhaps they know their customers and when 10,000 new ones show up each day, know what sells.
Much of the downtown area, less the cruise ships, reminded us of some of the places in Cuba we visited last winter except this, a Burger King.  A bit depressing but hey, everybody loves a taste of home I guess.  And no, we didn’t eat lunch there. Anyway, it was an interesting day but alas, we came away empty handed.  No tchotchkes that called out to us.  Oh well.

So, pinned down, what next?  What’s a cruiser to do…

Here’s an idea.  Let’s go to a cricket match!   It seems that the West Indies team is playing the UK team and cruiser friends of ours offered us tickets to join them on Sunday.  We have never been to a cricket match so it should be an interesting day.  Stay tuned for scintillating commentary soon.

Well, I guess that’s about all I have to report for now.  Perhaps I’ll close with a shot of all the “big girls” in the super yacht marina nearby.  Lots of brightly lit masts.  Note the red lights at the top of the masts.  That means that they are over 100′ tall and need a light to warn off low flying aircraft.  And, I will tell you that many of those masts are 200′ tall including the masts on Marie, the 180′ yacht Brenda and I sailed on in Newport two years ago.  She came in yesterday.  Perhaps I’ll stop by to see if I can borrow a cup of Chivas.  So, for now, just pinned down in paradise.  It could be worse, it could be snowing.

dAs I sit down to begin this post, it’s blowing like stink which I understand is the expectation for the next several days at least.  We had hoped to head down to Guadalopue this week but with the very strong winds that will have to wait.

But, that’s only one of the reasons that we will have to stay put for a bit as “whack-a-mole”continues to rear his ugly head or “heads” as it were.   As I have written of late and more times than I can count, it seems that there always something to fix on a boat and sometimes the problems take years to develop and suddenly…up pops another mole.

Since installing the SSB from “old” Pandora onto our “new” Pandora, I have had nothing but problems with the reception on the unit.  It worked last season mostly and sort of on my way south this winter.  However, since being here in the Caribbean, the performance on the unit as gotten worse and worse.

Finally, about a month ago it got to a point that I wasn’t even able to communicate with anyone, even in the same harbor.  So much for “world wide” communications.  And, NO, you can not HEAR ME NOW.

I had someone look at the unit in St Martin and thought that it was fixed but nope.  So, now that I am here in Antigua, I decided to go to an electronics repair place and have things checked out once and for all.

So, here’s the deal.  On “old” Pandora, on occasion, when we were in some particularly heavy weather, I noticed a leak over the nav station, perhaps from a leaky deck fitting.   Unfortunately, and mostly unbeknownst to me (you tend to see what you want to see), some salt water dribbled into the control unit for the SSB which was mounted behind the instrument panel.   Well, it turns out that some salt water had gotten inside the unit and had done some major corrosion to the sensitive electronics.  The problem is that the corrosion was a progressive thing so the unit worked for several years, but not now.  When the repair guys took the unit to the shop and opened it up.  Not good…

So, no repair possible and now I need a new unit.  And, it’s going to cost several boat dollars.  Painful.  I know that I generally post photos of damaged or destroyed equipment, a sort of before and after deal.  However, in this case, the whole “before” thing is just to painful (read, expensive) and I don’t even want to put up any pictures.  You will just have to imagine “rust” and one of your favorite electronics thingies and you’ll have a pretty good feel for the whole deal.

Anyway, the part/parts are on order and will be here in a few days.  Ha!  It’s only boat dollars.

As you can imagine, yesterday was a painful as the extent of the damage became clear but I won’t share the blow by blow of the diagnostic process.  However, as they say,” it could have been a lot worse”, although it’s plenty painful.

While I was running the electronics guy/guys back and forth to Pandora in the dink to deal with the SSB, I spied a rigging company and stopped to talk to one of the guys.   I asked him if he’d be interested in teaching me and Brenda how to do soft shackles.   Yes, I know that your first reaction to such an opportunity is bound to be something like “Bob, Bob, I want to learn too!”.  Well, sorry but hold that thought for now.

So, at 17:00 yesterday I met Bishop the soft shackle expert at the dinghy dock, a very nice guy from Antigua Rigging, who had agreed to come out to Pandora and put on a “soft shackle thingy making class” for me and Brenda.

I took a sort of step-by-step series of photos of the process but believe me when I tell you that the final or stopper knot isn’t for sissies.  However, Brenda, with her deep history in fibers, caught on much faster than I did.   Sorry, but you moght not be able to look at the photos that follow and exclaim, “Bob, I get it. Now I know how to make soft shackles”.

First of all, a soft shackle is a short, spliced piece of high tech Dyneema yacht braid.  It’s very flexible, soft but stronger than steel.   used in many applications aboard where line must be very strong as well as UV resistant and also non abrading.    This sort of shackle has a loop in one end and a stopper knot on the other end.  The idea is to put the knot through the loop and tighten it up so that you can attach things to the shackle.   Dyneema braid is used in an application where the attachment point must be very strong but flexible.

First, perhaps I am getting ahead of myself but this is what we wanted to make.   On pandora I use these to attach temporary blocks to things as they are easy to attach and remove.  In particular, I use them to temporarily attach preventers and snatch blocks, lines that help manage the boom when we want to be able to control things in the event of a jybe when conditions are rough.   Anyway, just trust me, they are handy to have on board.

This is they…So, here’s our teacher Bishop, a lifelong resident of Antigua, beginning his lesson. with “Now, boys and girls, pay attention”.The first thing you do is to decide what size you want the finished product to be, say 12″ long and measure out four times that amount. Then you use a fid, or wire to pull one end of the line inside the line itself.   You end up with a loop at the end where you pulled the line into itself.
Then you take one end of the line and make a loop.
Then put another loop with the other end. Pull that end through the other loop,  Then you end up with something that looks like a pretzel. After that, well you just had to be there.  It’s not easy to explain but you put the lines through and through like some sort of demented snake or rabbit running in and out of a hole and around a tree…  Got it?  Don’t feel bad, I didn’t either.You pull it tight and put the knot end into the loop end and you have a soft shackle.    Remember the photo of what it looks like from earlier in the post?  Now, wasn’t that easy?  “Bob, your instructions suck.  I have not idea what you did after the first few moves”.  Not to worry, come to my SSCA Essex Summer Solstice event the weekend of June 17th and sign up to learn yourself.  We have Chuck Poindexter and yes, that’s his real name, from Sound Rigging Services who will be running a workshop so you can learn to make them yourself.

So, there you have it.  After a frustrating day spent listening to a loud sucking sound from my bank account because of a little salt water on the SSB that happened years ago, Brenda and I needed to actually accomplish something.  So, Bishop came to the rescue.

Now we know how to make soft shackles or in Brenda’s case, some very stylish and super strong bracelets.  You too can have a tiny bracelet that you can tow a large SUV out of a ditch with.  Handy, right?  She even made a “belt” for Pandora’s mascot, Louis.  Actually, it looks a little bit well, you know.  Oh Louis!Enough of that.

The other night, before we were feeling SSB poor, Brenda and I had dinner at Nelson’s Dock Yard.  It was beautiful.  While we had a cocktail a lovely little hummingbird entertained us.  Actually, is there any other type of humming bird han “little”.  Then he turned to face us and showed off his iridescent green head.  It looked like a beacon. The view from our table of the tiny harbor.
As the light faded, the place looked more and more beautiful. The restaurant was named Pillars after the pillars, remains of a building that once stood in the dockyard. After dinner we went for a walk through the boat yard.   It was a beautiful winter, shirt sleeve evening.   “Bob, don’t rub it in.  We get it.  Warm and lovely”All and all, visiting Antigua has been wonderful if expensive from an SSB perspective at least and with the strong winds we won’t be going anywhere until things settle down a bit and the new SSB is installed.  I understand that it will arrive in Antigua within a few days.

However, I also need a special power supply to convert the 24 volts that my system has to the 12 volts that the SSB needs and that won’t come in until the end of the week, at least.   I won’t bore you with all that except that I really want the unit to work and that’s what I am told I need.

So, while we wait for “stuff” and weather, we will continue to explore the island and perhaps rent a car for a day or two.  As luck would have it, the electronics guy has a friend who rents cars.  Who knew?  I don’t know if that’s good or bad but I’ll let you know how it goes.

Until then, and in lieu of yet another sunrise photo, how about an amazing rainbow from early this morning.    I have to say that as photos go, this one “looks like a million bucks” or at least like way more than a few boat dollars.   Let’s hope that there’s a pot of gold at the end, we’ll need it.

So, for now, sans SSB, absoulely nobody can hear me at all.   Hopefully, with a new unit and a lot less “coin”, I’ll be able get an answer of “yes” when I key the mike and say…”can you hear me now?”

I guess it’s up to the mole…

We have been anchored in a lovely harbor, Nonsuch Bay, on the most eastern end of Antigua for the last few days along with perhaps 15 other boats.  At first glance, it looks very exposed as the view east, the direction of the prevailing winds and no land, between us and the other side of the Atlantic, to block the wind.   Fortunately, the trade winds have been pretty light for a few days so it’s been particularly calm here.   I understand, from Bill on Kalunamoo, who we are traveling with, that this place is most popular when the winds are light, hence the large number of boats.

As we left the harbor, we passed this “sailing” cruise ship.  I think it would take a virtual hurricane to get this baby moving under sail alone. This was more my type of “cruise ship”.  I expect that there is a very good ratio of crew to guests on this beauty as it’s a private yacht.  In my next life perhaps…  Perhaps not…Anyway, as we made our way down the coast toward Nunsuch Bay we passed some really dramatic scenery.  Not particularly lush as Antigua is a dry island but beautiful, never the less.   That’s Kalunamoo, Bill and Maureen’s year round home (the boat, not Antigua), BTW.  However, in spite of the “nothing between us and Spain thing”, the water in this harbor is flat calm, compliments of a reef that breaks the waves completely. Nearby there is a tiny, oh so scenic beach.  I took our dink there for a walk.  Not the dink.  I went for the walk.  The dink stayed on the beach, of course.   The area near the beach is rugged and I couldn’t find a trail, but the cove, lovely. Pandora’s new mascot and crew member Louis, (that is to be pronounced with a decidedly French accent, of course as he is from St Martin, on the French side) was happy to lounge for the afternoon on one of the “chaise” lounge chairs aboard Pandora.   He has settled in nicely to life aboard Pandora. One tradition with couples aboard cruising boats, well at least the ones we know, is to get together for “sundowners” and pot luck suppers.   And, last night we hosted a gathering aboard Pandora for the “crews” of six boats.    Louis was quite excited and spent much of the afternoon waiting for his “friends” to show up.  He gazed longingly at Kalunamoo, waiting for Bill and Maureen to visit, particularly Maureen as Louis is French, of course.Finally they arrived.  He was happy that the “guys” stayed up in the cockpit talking shop, while the “ladies”, his favorite of course, were down below with him.  He took this group shot.  Nice collection, he thought and he had them all to himself.  However, he did keep a low profile so as to not dominate the conversation.  Besides, his English is still a bit rusty. Everyone contributed and what a spread it was.  Yum…As if to put a final “capstone” on the evening, the sun put on a wonderful display with a perfect setting.  And you know how much I just love sunsets. It is evenings like this that are among the best of cruising and to be in a “far away” harbor among friends is a great way to spend time together.  Yes, home is indeed where we are and right now that’s aboard Pandora.  Besides, Brenda likes to say that her favorite part of cruising is “being anchored” and we have been anchored in a lovely spot indeed.

Oh yeah, one more thing.  It’s looking like our son Christopher will be visiting in March which will be terrific.  Louis is excited to meet him, of course.

 

The sun is just peeking over the horizon here in Falmouth Harbor here in Antigua and it’s going to be a beautiful day.

We arrived here after dark on Tuesday after making the 85 mile run from St Barths.  It was a very lumpy run but compliments of a large cold front, the wind was from the west and behind us all the way.  Brenda wasn’t too pleased with the lumpy conditions nor were Bill and Maureen aboard Kalunamoo who also made the run but at least the wind was behind us the entire way.

The harbor in St Barths is very exposed to the west, as are most harbors in the Caribbean, so when the front arrived just after midnight on Tuesday morning, the wind clocked around and all the anchored boats found themselves on a lee shore.  The inner harbor is very tight there and it’s full of mega–mega yachts that spend much of the winter there.

Anyway, as the wind shifted things got pretty chaotic in the anchorage with a number of boats dragging their anchors.  Fortunately, we didn’t have any boats close to us behaving badly although it became quite rough.  Our plan was to leave the harbor about an hour before light so I was up for a number of hours before our departure keeping an eye out for “visitors” dragging down on us.

Around dawn a squall came through bringing with it heavy rain and gusty winds but after that finally passed we got underway for Antigua.  I stayed up from about 01:30 on so I didn’t get much sleep.

Our run to Antigua began with light westerlies and we were pretty comfortable motor sailing along.   A few hours into the run I noticed a number of big boats approaching from the west with spinnakers up bearing down on us and soon realized that they were competitors in the Caribbean 600, a popular distance race that begins and ends in Falmouth harbor, where we are now.

It was an amazing sight to see these boats, many with familiar names like Rambler 88 and ICAP Leopard bearing down on Pandora in the early morning light.  As they approached, the view was spectacular with Saba framed in the distance by billowing clouds.The first to pass us, Green Dragon, was sporting the Volvo Ocean Race logo on it’s bow. They were very close as the passed our bow at double digit speeds.   I waved to the crew on the stern.  The helmsman looked uber serious. And then they were gone.
The view of these powerful machines in the early light was something to behold.To see boats like this on the ocean and have them come so close isn’t something you see every day.  I’ll bet that even the most jaded owner would be interested it this shot of his boat. Although perhaps unhappy that he was behind this one.   At least I think he was behind.   Perhaps not…
They were this close.
So, after about 13 lumpy hours at sea,  “Are we there yet?”, we finally arrived in Antigua. Yesterday, after a day ashore here in Falmouth and English Harbor, we passed Rambler 88 and ICAP Leopard, now tied up at the marina.  A few years ago I saw Leopard off of Newport and the last time I saw Rambler 88 she was in Palm Beach last year with her predecessor Rambler.   I wonder if the owner of Rambler 88 still owns both of the boats.   That would likely be less painful for him than mere mortal boat owners like me.   

Boats like these are campaigned all over the world and huge containers of gear are shipped, along with them, from race to race.  And don’t forget all those crew. These are the really big kids of the racing world.

A short walk from Falmouth Harbor is English Harbor, home to Nelson’s Dock Yard, the ancestral home to the British Navy back when Europe’s major sea powers were duking it out here in the Caribbean.  This well protected little harbor has been beautifully restored.The waterfront is chock full of magnificent yachts from all over the world. I expect that the dining is far better now than back when Lord Nelson was hanging out here.  However, I am afraid that even now, it can not hold a candle to the French islands.   “Can I have a baguette?”  Sorry, no such luck.   It’s more like “wonder bread”, a sort of “I wonder how they can even call this bread”, sort o bread.    However, it is served in a very lovely setting so that has to be good for something.  Right?“Sir, would you care for some bread, such as it is, with your fish and chips?”  “No, I’m fine, really.”
One particularly nice thing about the area is that there are “appropriate” businesses in the restored buildings.  Even the old sail loft is now an actual sail loft repairing sails. The ruins of the sail loft on the waterfront is now a nice inn and restaurant.
I doubt that Lord Nelson was able to enjoy afternoon tea in a spot quite this nice. Brenda and I plan to do just that when our son Christopher joins us here in a few weeks.   Well, we hope he will be able to get away from his job and come here.  Fingers crossed.  “Chris, are you reading this?  Come see your mother!”I wonder if Nelson stood here to have his portrait painted way back then.  No, I expect that the tree wasn’t nearly as impressive back then although I am sure it was there overlooking the entrance to the harbor.
All and all, this is one of the most interesting places that we have visited yet and we have been told that, as you head further south, it just gets better and better.

Last night Brenda and I, in deference to the island’s British heritage, of course, sat up on Pandora’s bow, Gin and Tonic in hand, and toasted to the sunset.  The view of the marina in the distance was beautiful in the evening light.  It was almost as pretty as the view of the CT River from the deck at the Essex Yacht Club back home, actually.   Almost…Well, it’s a short distance to a number of other wonderful islands so perhaps over the next few weeks we may visit Nevis, St Kitts, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, The Saints or perhaps another island who’s name escapes me right now.

Good news! Some islands are French so there’s hope that we will find good bread again.  I can’t wait.

One way or the other, wherever we go, these islands are steeped in history and I am looking forward to learning more.

 

Well, here we are in St Barths and seeing, for the first time, where the really big dollars go when they visit the Caribbean.  The staggering display of wealth here is unrivaled, and I find myself wondering just how somoene can accumulate so much in a single lifetime.

There is a remarkable amount of “hardware” moored in the tiny harbor or, if they are over 200′ long, outside as that’s the limit on size if you want to tie up to a dock..  And tie up they do as they are lined up like cord wood.  It’s an impressive display of wealth.This is the harbor that the boat I crewed on from Long Island to Ft Lauderdale last fall was coming to for Christmas.  As you can’t reserve a slip here, you just have to show up and hope that there’s room.  And, as the owner wanted to be there during Christmas, the highest of high season, the crew was going to bring the boat down a full month early just to hold their spot for the four days she planned to be aboard.

As we neared the harbor, we passed this lovely sailboat complete with umbrellas on the aft deck.  You know, it’s imperative to keep Buffy out of the sun.  That’s of course, unless you plan turn in your sun wrinkled Buffy for a new one down the road.    Go ahead Buffy, you look terrific with a tan. Outside of the harbor is where anyone who is unlucky enough to have a boat that’s over 200′.  Perhaps the Queen of the fleet in this regard is Eclipse, the second largest yacht in the world at 533′ long, owned by Roman Abramovitch, the Russian Oligarch.   This yacht cost something like $500,000,000 to build back in 2010.  I guess that the recession didn’t hurt him much.  I am sure that it pays really, really  well to be on Putin’s good side.   Believe it or not, Abramovitch also has a home on St Barths.  It must be a pretty amazing home if staying aboard Eclipse with the 70 crew isn’t pampering enough.  Want to learn more?  Check out this description of the boat.  And, if you are one of the 10 or so people in the world that could afford to charter such a boat, it’s available if you have the coin.  Sorry the photo is from so far away, but it was the only way I could fit it all in a single photo.    Ashore, you can see why the “well coined” want to spend time here.  It’s very beautiful with tree/palm lined shady streets, all with charming sounding French names.   Well, perhaps not all that shady.  We walked by this lovely little church as a service was underway with sounds of the congregation wafting out of the open doors and windows.  I’ll bet that the parishioners give generously to the church with the hope that they will be absolved of any number of possible sins that they may have committed in the name of capitalism.  Sin or not, I’ll bet these visitors to such a high end and rarefied paradise are having a great time.  My mother used to tell me that “the wealthy are miserable”.  Based on this place, I am not completely confident that she was correct in this statement.  Sorry Mom, I am fairly confident that was the only time you weren’t correct, so don’t worry.

The area surrounding the tiny harbor is lined with lovely restored historic buildings.
Even the ones that are in various states of disrepair look positively lovely.    There’s me too although,  I hope, not in a similar state of disrepair.  Don’t you just love my fashionable hat?  I am old enough to want to stay out of the sun and subscribe to the belief that “there is simply no such thing as a good tan”.   Are you listening Buffy?And, speaking of the “little people”, from a financial perspective only, of course, I love these little trucks.  It would be great fun to “deliver stuff” around town back home with one of these.  “Brenda, I’m off to the dump again.  Isn’t my new truck the cutest?”  Bummer that these aren’t offered in the U.S.   My driving one of these things would positively horrify my older son Rob who favors multi-ton behemoths.And, when I wasn’t busy ogling the massive mega-stuff in the harbor, the St Barth’s Yellow Submarine caught my eye.  I have no idea what this is all about but it’s yellow, for sure.  Earlier in the day yesterday we cleared out of St Martin to make the short run over to St Barths.  As we were leaving the lagoon it was really impressive to see the long line of huge yachts lined up to squeeze their way through the narrow lift bridge.  P2, all 140′ of her, was ahead of us.  We know the owner of this yacht.  He also owns Marie, the 200′ ketch that Brenda and I were guests on two years ago in Newport.   P2 is carbon fiber and a very fast boat.  She’s now anchored out near St Barths too. This ketch, complete with plumb bow and bowsprit is beautiful  Love the light grey hull. Very tasteful. Everything on these yachts is massive.  Consider the size of the boom on this huge sloop.  The crew member on deck looks tiny under the mainsail traveler.   Imagine the loads on this when she is heeled over in a stiff breeze. All and all, this part of the Caribbean is the place to see and be seen if you are fortunate to have the “coin” to play the game.  And, it would seem, with about two dozen mega,mega yachts in this harbor or nearby suggest, the ability to accumulate massive amounts of wealth is alive and well and if you have it St Barths is the perfect place to flaunt it.

The good news is that although just about everything here is hugely expensive, Brenda and I can still go ashore confident that when I say “yes, I think I’ll have another baguette” it won’t set us back more than a buck.   Well, that’s the one thing we have in common with the rest of the residents.

So what about dinner for the little people here in St Barths?  For dinner tonight Brenda’s cooking duck with a fig preserve sauce.  The only sad part is that our dishwasher seems to have left us so cleanup will be left to me.

Such is life here in St Barths,even for us “little kids” but don’t feel too sorry for me as I’ll will be drinking French wine while cleaning up and it’s less expensive than in the U.S.  Thank goodness or we’d be reduced to a diet of bread and water.

But we aren’t.

Editor:  For those of you, you know who you are, who are interested in seeing where we are, Pandora’s AIS is back in business after being off for about a week or so and, of course, we continue to update our position every day.  You can learn more about this on the home page button “Where in the world is Pandora”.

And yes, for the moment, all the moles have been soundly “whacked” into their holes and everything aboard Pandora is in working order.  Hopefully, it will be more than a few days from now until another mole rears it’s ugly head again.