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.

It’s mid February and we have now been aboard for about two weeks, the amount of time it generally takes for me and Brenda to settle in once we”ve moved aboard.    It’s also about how long it takes to decompress from the pressures of the holidays and “land”.    Since our really annoying passage from the BVI to St Martin we have enjoyed both the Dutch and French side as well as a short side trip for a few days in Grand Case.  I talked about that spot in my last post but it was just so lovely that I have to share a few more images of our visit to that lovely town, home to the largest concentration of French restaurants on the island.

But, before I get into it, this is the view that greeted me this morning as I put the coffee on.  What a beautiful way to begin the day.   Actually, that was yesterday’s sunrise, but I wanted to use it so let’s just make believe it was today.  Not to put too fine a point on it but it was dark when I got up today but a view, very similar to this, and you’ll just have to believe me on this, was to be had shortly there after.   “Bob, Bob, don’t be so pedantic, it’s exhausting,  MOVE ON ALREADY.”  Ok, but just about every day’s sunrise is beautiful.  SO THERE!When we were in Grand Case, Bill and I went for a walk on the beach.  I loved this view of umbrellas, more like a flock of butterflies.  Do butterflies “flock”? At the end of the beach there was a wrecked sailboat.  This is Bill taking in the scene. The beach went on for perhaps a mile with a dramatic “cliffy” end.  White clouds are endlessly fascinating to me.  “Yes, that and sunsets Bob.”

We went out for Valentine’s dinner with our cruising buddies from Kalunamoo, Maureen and Bill, to a very nice French restaurant.  Good choice because French is about the only choice in Grand Case.  The weather was very cooperative as it seems that the stronger winds that plagued our trip here have abated for the moment.  The view from Pandora on the calm waters was pretty amazing.  Yes, I know, it’s that whole puffy cloud thing again. Our table at dinner was overlooking the water.  What a sunset.  You can see the showers in the distance, it’s the dark band coming down from the cloud. Brenda and I did some shopping earlier in the day and enjoyed the sights.  I was surprised to see an old Morgan in parts.  I wonder what the story behind this car is?  Morgans are still made in England and are eagerly sought after by collectors.   This one would take some doing to get back on the road.  However, it would be a fun story to tell.  “Oh yeah, I found this car in St Martin behind a lovely French restaurant.   Had it shipped back to the States….”I loved the ferns growing up on this doorstep.Yesterday morning we headed back to Simpson Bay and made the 09:00 bridge.  As we were waiting to enter the bay a large spotted eagle ray swam by Pandora.  She/he was about 4’ from wingtip to wingtip.  A majestic sight.This training ship has been in port here for a few weeks.  It’s a bit odd with it’s green sails.   She’s a big girl though so I guess she can dress any way she wishes.The entrance into the lagoon is impossibly narrow with a rocky shoal protruding into the channel on port side. Since moving back here I have been consumed with “whack-a-mole”, yes, boat repairs.  When we tried to pull up our anchor in Grand Case the windless failed.  No warning or grinding sound, just no “weighing” except by brute muscle.  It was an exhausting job.  After hours of “analysis” I decided to scrap it and get a new one.  It looked nasty.    Looking at this photo now I realize that I could have saved myself a lot of time if I had just realized that it was hopeless from the get go.  However, sometimes “ugly is only skin deep” but not with windlesses, it woudl seem. Fortunately St Martin, both the Dutch and French sides are “duty free” so prices are competitive with the U.S. and in some cases, less.  There are two large chandleries on the Dutch side, Island Water World and Budget Marine.  However, Island Water World has a much larger selection and as luck would have it, windlasses were on sale.  They even had a 24V unit in stock.  How lucky was that?  I can not tell a lie but I’d have paid most anything.  The store manager helped me set things up by taking parts from several units and putting them together so I’d have enough power to pull up the anchor in a package that would integrate with the electrical components already installed on Pandora from the failed unit. It took some time to get everything settled but I was very pleased to have been able to find that they had everything in stock.   Thank goodness that the unit failed here instead of somewhere more remote.  Lucky me.  Yes, very, very lucky.

It took hours to remove and diagnose the old unit but once out about a half day of work got the new one in place and cleaned up.  And, as a special bonus, the anchor locker is now all tidy and clean.  Doesn’t it look like a “million bucks”?  Actually, it was less than two “boat bucks” not counting the multiple hammers I wore out “whacking” down the moles.   However, whatever the price, my aching back says “priceless”.  I also was able to pick up my repaired mainsail and will install it today.  Hopefully, it won’t be too windy as getting such a big sail up can be challenging.   Fingers crossed that it goes smoothly.  My friend Bill has said he’d help.

So, with the mainsail repaired and the newly failed windless back in business I have “whacked” most of the moles back into their holes for the moment.  Of course, that doesn’t mean that the SSB is back in service yet but hopefully, I will be able to run some new power cables to get that in shape today. Well, I’ll at least have the materials on board.

So, our plan is to take advantage of light winds in the next few days to make our way to St Barths where we will stay for a day or so before heading further south to perhaps Nevis or St Kitts.  After that, who knows.   Brenda and I would like to visit some of the islands, like Guadeloupe, a group sometimes called “the islands that brush the clouds” that have rainforests before she heads home from Antigua in mid April.

Perhaps I’ll close with a shot of last evening’s sunset.  It was beautiful and enhanced by a wonderful Mexican chili dish by Brenda.  To call it chili doesn’t do it justice. Yum.Oh yeah, one more thing.  Meet Louis, Pandora’s new mascot.  Brenda “adopted” him in Grand Case a few days ago.   Louis comes in his own “match box” bed, complete with a pillow, blanket and mattress.  Of course, the sailors suit is, as Brenda would say in a high pitch “mousy” voice, “just soooo cute”.  Louis will be traveling with us for the next few years until our Granddaughter Tori is old enough for Louis to live with her and tell her all about all the wonderful places he traveled with her Ya Ya and grandpa.

Just like me and Brenda, Louis seems to be settling in nicely to the Caribbean cruising life and enjoyed sharing stories with us during our candlelight supper last night.

I guess that’s about it for now.   Yes, a few more “moles” whack at and then on to other adventures.

Louis tells me that he’s about ready too.

 

It’s Tuesday morning and we are anchored off of Grand Case, a charming little French seaside town on St Martin.  This spot is known for the many French restaurants and shops that line the waterfront, the largest concentration on the island, I’m told.  It looks, well, very French.   Not surprisingly, they even have a little bakery in town.  Can I have another baguette please?  Actually, yesterday I bought two…

The anchorage is a bit rolly but picturesque.  There is a pretty impressive concrete pier to tie the dink up to complete with some pretty good sized waves breaking on the nearby beach. Getting off and on the dink can be a bit challenging with the surge and there is no way that many would brave the surf to land a dink on the beach.   That’s Pandora off in the distance, center. There is also a small airport in town and every so often a plane comes in from over the water appearing to barely clear the main street and boats in the harbor.   This one came in just a few moments ago.  It sure looked like it was awfully close to clipping the buildings on shore.  “Yes, please, I’ll have some landing gear with my foie gras.”Yesterday Brenda and I walked downtown to look in the shops.  It’s a pretty town.  Very quaint.   And yes, it looks very French.  Funny thing. A little Catholic church right in town.   Oddly, I hear that they do the entire service in French.  Why is that, I wonder?  It’s pretty amazing, even the little kids have learned to speak French here.  I never learned.  Too hard. This is where we are having dinner tonight with friends.  Even this place is French.  Go figure. Most of the restaurants have large tanks of lobster on display.   These are bigger than they look.After our walk, more of a short stroll actually, we stopped for a drink at a bar near the town dock.  The bar had set up a number of “samples” on the railing running down to the dock.  It was a very inviting and creative way to show their wares, I thought.   Just try that on a “public” pier in the US.  “You can’t do that. Get those drinks off of private property.  It violates the separation of government and private enterprise”.  No wait, perhaps with Trump that will no longer be a problem for us.    Something to look forward to. The view of the harbor as the sun went down was really nice and put even more “happy” in our “happy hour”. As the sun set behind the hills it was really beautiful off to the east.Pandora looked her best in the evening light.As we sat in the bar a few planes landed at the airport.  It looked like we could nearly touch them as they passed overhead.  “De plane, De plane!” If you get that joke, “you are really old now”. A beautiful view of town from aboard Pandora once the sun went down. Oh yeah, remember “whack-a-mole”?  Well, he’s back at it again as my SSB and AIS both failed yesterday.  Yacht repair in exotic places once again.  I think I have tracked it down to a failed DC/DC converter.  More to come on that.  Besides, we will be back in Simpson Bay to pick up my mainsail as the new part for the batten will arrive tomorrow.   I’ll have to try and get all of this fixed so we can make a run to St Barths over the weekend.

“Fixing the boat again Bob?”  Yes, I’m afraid that’s true.  It’s always something.  Isn’t it just grand?