Well, here I am and it’s yet another day in Antigua.   Brenda’s settled in at home in CT and my friend Craig arrives in a short while for a week of sailing.  I expect to be underway and bound for the BVIs by Sunday evening.  We hope to stop in St Martin and perhaps St Barths along the way, but it looks like that a coming north swell will make the St Barths anchorage unpleasant.  Alas, an extra day enjoying French food in St Martin.  I expect we will find a way to adjust.

A friend of mine sent me a note a few days ago asking “what great boats arrived in Antigua today?”.   That’s a good question as it does seem that, as the classic yacht regatta gets closer, more and more iconic yachts are making their way here every day.

Just for fun, and it was fun, I walked around Nelson’s Dockyard today and took some shots of a few new-comers.

Of course, it’s debatable if there is a more iconic yacht than Bolero, the Olin Stephens designed 72′ yacht launched in 1949.  She was first to finish in the Bermuda race three times and set a speed record for that race that stood or 17 years.  Her current owners have lavished attention on her and she’s a sight to behold. This article from Yachting is worth reading about the history of this very special yacht.

Here’s a modern classic from Gannon and Benjamin in Martha’s Vineyard.   This isn’t the first photo I have posted of Juno but what a beauty she is and to see these two magnificent yachts right next to each other.  What a sight.Want to see more about Juno.  This link has a number of additional photos.

Perhaps the most remarkable arrival today is the schooner Columbia, a replica of the famous fishing schooner of the same name launched in Essex MA in 1923. Years in the planning and construction, Columbia is true to her history.    At 141′ long, she is sleek and a sight to behold.   This is an excellent article and gives a good feel for how much thought and care went into bringing her to life.  I wish I could be here in Antigua to see her stretch her legs.  Alas, I have to leave before the racing begins.

You get a feel for the attention to detail down to how carefully her jib is stowed.This video of her launch and sea trials is worth viewing. Of course, there are still plenty of “big girls” that dwarf these classics here in the harbor.  How about this lineup?  “Excuse me, can you spare a bit of Grey Poupon?”Just about everything here seems bigger than the next.  The masts tower into the sky. To give you a feel for the scale of these monsters.  This closeup of the mast on the left above has someone working aloft.  As I type away, I a feathered visitor seems completely unconcerned that my hands were typing away so close by. Well, I could go on all day about the magnificent yachts here in Antigua.  Perhaps I’ll, close with shot of a rising nearly full moon last night.  What a view. Yes, just another day in Antigua and what a day it is.

It’s almost time to meet Craig at the dock and head out to Pandora, a welcome “tot” of rum and a swim.  Yes, that will surely set the tone for Craig’s visit.

Welcome to Antigua for yet another day in the winter home for the icons of yachting.

 

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.

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…

I wasn’t sure what to have as a title to this post and was thinking that I might use yet another reference to whacking moles.  However, as has been the case with so many issues that have come up this winter, I thought that something about it being a “pain in my AIS” was more fitting.  So, that’s the title…

Anyway, dear reader, I have certainly had my share of “technical challenges” with Pandora this winter and it is worth noting that, for the moment anyway, the FINAL mole was whacked into his hole as of this morning.

When the SSB radio crapped out a while back we had a power surge that also took out the AIS transponder.  AIS, the following link is a bit outdated as the system is required on much smaller vessels now but not on those as small as Pandora.

Automatic Identification System, is a program similar to that used by aircraft designed to make it easy to identify who’s going where and how close they are likely to come to one another.  From my perspective, it is a terrific safety feature to have aboard as it allows us to monitor other vessels in the area and to determine if they are a threat to us.

Getting the AIS repaired proved to be problematic and we ended up having to purchase a new one.  That was very painful but it had to be done.   The installer, with the hope of saving time for the installation, made a point of replacing it with one from the same manufacturer so that it could use the same cabling and simplify the installation.   Well, it did include the same cables but getting it up and operational proved to be anything but simple.

As so many hours are in the SSB replacement job, I opted to do the AIS installation myself.  The electrician labeled the wires so I’d know which went where.  Simple yes?  Not!

I put it in place, powered it up and it sent out a signal but didn’t show up on my plotter.  Fast forward a day of fussing along with a few hours of diagnostics this morning it still didn’t work.  After we had exhausted every possible option the manufacturer finally suggested, “just switch the two wires and see what happens”.   Well, it worked.  All better now.  Of course, we won’t talk about the hours I messed around with it and all the back and forth with the installer.

With a functioning AIS I will be able to see all the big boats on my plotter and will be able to see them on my chart plotter including how fast they are going and how close they will come to me.   As an added bonus, those ships will also be able to see Pandora, assuming that they are looking, which they sometimes aren’t.  You too can track Pandora using this system on your smartphone.   Check out this link “where in the world is Pandora” to learn more 0n how to, sort of, “friend” Pandora and keep track of where we are.

All better now.  So all that’s left is to pay for all the work that’s been done over the last few weeks.  It’s going to be interesting to see what the bill says.  I guess I’ll find out tomorrow.   It’s going to be interesting, that’s for sure.

The good news is that Pandora is operational now and ready to head off into the sunset.   Let’s hope that no more moles show up.

Enough of that for now.  Let’s talk about boats, no make that REALLY BIG YACHTS.    How about the Maltese Falcon, an ultramodern square rigger, a nearly 300′ long technological wonder, as it were?   She’s one of the largest, and certainly the most technologically complicated sailing yachts in the world today. 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 XTB Broker Review provides an overview of the trading platform that allows investors to access various financial markets, including stocks, forex, and cryptocurrencies.  And given the fact that he made his m0ney in Tech, it stands to reason that Falcon would be so technologically advanced.

Her rig, known as Dynarig, was originally designed as a way to power cargo vessels. She’s known as The Maltise Falcon, but as I motored up to her transom I realized that she’s actually “Falcon” from Malta, the country where she’s registered.  Oh yeah, I get it.  Clever.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.

Falcon is now owned by a charter company and it is no longer used as a private yacht.  However, if you want to sail on her you have to pay for the whole kit and kaboodle.  No renting a cabin on her, it’s all or nothing.   Check out these photos and videos.  Amazing.

Want a video tour of your charter option?  Check this out. 
You really get a feel for her “hugeness” when you see one of her 17, count em, crew on deck.   Big boat, little crew person, by comparison. 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?

As amazing as they are, I can’t help but wonder what sorts of moles their crew must spend countless days whacking into their mega-yacht holes.

For me and Pandora, and I don’t want to jinx it, perhaps the worst is behind us but there is one thing for sure keeping her running well can sometimes be a big pain in the AIS.

I can’t wait till I get the bill.  As they say, “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it”.   Well, I’m asking and my fingers are crossed.

Wish me luck.

Well, that’s it.  Brenda caught a cab for the airport on Sunday and I am on my own until Friday when Craig arrives.  I’ll focus on Craig’s arrival as I don’t want to think about the fact that I won’t see Brenda again until the 17th when I fly to Baltimore to see our son Rob, daughter-in-law Kandice and mother of our granddaughter Tori.  I can’t wait to see them all and Brenda will be there when I arrive too.

So, here I am ALONE in Antigua, admittedly a magnificent place that I couldn’t even have imagined visiting until a few years ago.

Alone or not, I’ll just have to make the best of it by having ice cream each day and take pictures of some ot the magnificent yachts here in the harbor.   Yes, ice cream and sailing yachts.

And what better yachts to focus on than the magnificent “J” class, the America’s Cup racers from the 1930s, of which there are only eight in the world, with another three in the development/build stage right now.  Already, there are more of these remarkable racing machines in existence than was the case when they were raced for the America’s cup during the Great Depression.  There is a website dedicated to the class.    It’s worth checking out.

As I understand it, the class was revitalized by Elizabeth Meyer who funded the rebuild of Shamrock V, the first of the “Js” to be rebuilt back in the 80s.  Actually, most of them on the water now are replicas built from the original plans as the boats themselves didn’t survive.

There is a special event here in Antigua in a few weeks, the classic yacht regatta, probably the largest gathering of classic yachts in the Caribbean each year.   Antigua is also the place that many of these huge sailing vintage America’s Cup yachts make their home for the season and I think that there are 5 or so of them here right now.   In May they will head up to Bermuda to race in conjunction with the America’s Cup event itself.

Brenda and I were here for nearly a month in March and now that we are back, many of these beauties are still here.  I know that they have come and gone for other superyacht regattas in St Barths and the BVIs.

These boats, while each unique, have a similar hull shape and are not to be confused with most any other classic design.  With most over 100′ long, they are sleek and fast.  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 built in the Netherlands and was completely refitted just a few years ago.
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.   Learn more about her here.
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 available for charter if you have the coin.   She looks fast from the bow. 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”.   Check out her site.Want to charter but prefer a grey ride?   Check out Seawave. She’s fast too.  The site says that she cruises at 9kts and has a top speed of 11kts.  Pandora goes 9kts and she’s less than half as long.   Heck, skip this and go with Leopard if you want fast as she’s 4x faster.
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.    Check out her site.  Lot’s of great information about this remarkable yacht.

However, classic or not perhaps the queen of the fleet here in Antigua, if age and heritage is any measure, would be Mariette, also a Herreshoff design but she’s an original and was launched 102 years ago in 1915.   What an amazing boat.    Check out some great photos and information about her history here. 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.

And what better place to view the scenery than where Brenda and I had her “departure dinner” on Sunday before she flew out for home.  Did I mention that Brenda’s gone home?  I miss her, even if the Grand Dames of Antigua are here and she’s not.

I can’t believe it.  After months of frustration, the SSB long distance radio is back and running and it feels wonderful.   This morning I was actually able to talk to someone in FL as well as Bonaire.   To be able to say “can you hear me now?” and get an answer… Perfect.

I won’t recount all of the SSB trials and tribulations but I began to have problems months ago and it finally gave up the ghost back in late January.  Unfortunately, and for a number of reasons, not the least of which was a major misdiagnosis by the electronics guy that getting everything back in order has taken a really long time.    However, it works now and that’s good.

The only thing left to do will be to wrestle with the electronics guy when he presents me a bill that will likely include time spent on “a wild goose chase” or should I say “wild mole chase” for hours, no make that several days spent hunting for the real problem.  Anyway, days before the tech came to the same conclusion, I as pretty sure that it was the tuner but it wasn’t until he and I both reached out to ICOM tech support that he finally realized that the tuner was a major part of the problem.   Oops.  Very expensive Oops.

So, here we are again in Antigua, Falmouth harbor and Brenda flies out tomorrow for home.   I am sorry to have her go but she has a conference in TN that she wants to attend so that’s that.

Our trip south this winter was shorter than normal for a number of reasons, but it looks promising that we will be able to spend more time aboard next winter which will give us the time needed to go further south and spend time exploring the Windward Islands, perhaps as far as Grenada as well as many of the islands we had to skip this year due to a lack of time.

My good friend Craig will arrive on Friday to spend a week aboard while we make a run for the BVI.  It will be a lot of fun as it’s almost assuredly a downhill run and we have plans to stop in St Barts, St Martin and then in the BVIs where he will fly home.

After a few days spent cleaning up Pandora and no doubt visiting with other cruising friends in the BVIs, I’ll fly back to the states for two weeks to spend time with our son Rob and his wife Kandice as well as our new granddaughter Tori before I head home to CT with Brenda to get our house and gardens in shape for the spring.

After all that, I’ll head back to the BVIs in mid-May to bring Pandora north for the summer.  There are plenty of projects that will need to be done on her before I head south again in the fall as well as a solid list of “land home” projects like remodeling yet another bathroom that will keep me plenty busy.

Of course, I hope to fit in a bit of cruising in New England but Pandora will have plenty of time to rest after the many miles she will have traveled during our first winter in the eastern Caribbean.

It’s remarkable that we are here, Brenda and me, after so many years of being together and I have to say that I would have never imagined that I’d  ever be in a position to say that we have now spent five winters afloat and have spent so much time heading up and down the U.S. East Coast, sailing in the Bahamas, Cuba and now the Eastern Caribbean.   Who knew?

So, back to now, today, here in Antigua.  It was great to get up this morning and see this beautiful sunrise.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.

One of the squalls arrived after sunrise and left a beautiful rainbow in it’s wake.  I have posted so many sunrises and rainbows, you’ll just have to trust me that these are not recycled.  Honest…really.

When we were in Les Saintes last week I was impressed with how clear the water was, even near the docks and by the number of small fish that schooled near shore.   I wish that I could take underwater shots that look this good.  These “minnows” are about 6” long and are fished for by the locals.  They are pan fried whole and eaten, I am told, like French fries.  Yum… I guess…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 Oosterschelde, now doesn’t that just roll off the tongue, is a three masted schooner training vessel from the Netherlands.  She will celebrate her 100 anniversary next year and is still going strong.  We have seen her in a number of harbors, most recently when she arrived in Antigua this morning.  She’s a bit rough but has nice lines.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.

After that, it’s north I go and back to sort of “real life”.   Let’s hope that I can keep the moles in their holes until I get back home.