We have been in Falmouth Antigua for nearly a month and the winds have been pretty relentless.

Just about every day, and overnight too, we have short but intense rain showers. They arrive all of a sudden and depart just as fast, leaving a lovely rainbow, or two.

At daybreak the view is pretty nice too.

And at night.

Even the clouds look wonderful at night thanks to my “Night Site” photo capability on my phone.

Even though we have been sitting here, unmoved, for weeks now, the scenery changes with the hours. Huge yachts coming and going and a constant parade of tiny boats from the Yacht Club buzzing around the harbor

We have been enjoying an occasional Tot Club event and one that really stood out was aboard a megayacht. The yacht was out on the pier in Nelson’s Dockyard. Huge sailing yachts lined up like “mega sardines”.

The captain and first mate had joined the Tot Club the prior evening and invited all of us to visit for a cocktail party and Tot ceremony. Everyone huddled inside due to the, you guessed it, a brief rain shower.

The boat was huge, nearly 200′ long. Long expanse of teak up to the bow. We were told that forward, set into the deck, were compartments that open up to reveal a crane that launches 30′ tenders, his and hers. The level of sophistication of these yachts is amazing.

At the end of the night, everyone “walked the plank”, back to the dock.

Nice neighborhood. A massive open expanse of decking aft on this yacht.

Not all the yachts in the harbor are huge. With the strong wind there are foil sail boards. They zip along the surface at an alarming pace. Pretty amazing.

And some really tiny yachts showed up over the last few days. These boats, and two have come in already, are finishing up a qualifying passage from Logos Portugal to Antigua. Those that “qualify” can compete in The Mini Globe, 2025, round-the-world race beginning here.

The race, as crazy as it may seem, is for tiny, 19′ tiny,, single handed boats, doing a series of legs that takes them around the world, beginning and ending in Antigua. Well, at least they are going thru the Panama Canal, instead of around Cape Horn.

For the moment, I will just say that compared to the “world’s toughest row” that race with rowing boats from the Canaries to Antigua, seems like a “walk in the park”. Those rowboats are longer than these boats. Crazy. More to come as I learn more.

Imagine sailing a tiny homemade plywood boat, matching a design from 1955, around the world?

And it’s a very long way…

● Leg One, Antigua to Panama, 1300 miles. Truck across Panama, keels on, rigs
o. (organizers will pre-book Trucking, but entrants are responsible for
loading and transport costs).
● Leg Two, Panama to a ‘mystery island’ of entrant’s choice (8 day stop) then to
Tahiti, total 5200 miles, 7 day pit stop, then to Tonga , 1500 miles, 8 day pit
stop, then to Fiji, 500 miles.
● Leg Three, Fiji to Darwin 3000 miles, 8 day pit stop, then to Mauritius 4200,
10 day pit stop, then to Durban, 1500 miles, 14 days pit stop, then to Cape
Town, 1000 miles, ( this can be anywhere or nowhere depending on the
weather, but if a sailor sails direct to Cape Town and makes NO pit stops , no
advantage is gained. )
● Leg Four, Cape Town to St. Helena, 1800 miles, 8 days pit stop, then to
Recife, 1800 miles.
● Leg Five, Recife to Antigua, 2500 miles.
● Total 23500 miles

And here we sit, with the wind howling while these intrepid sailors slog their way here, just to prove that they can.

With regards to going somewhere, with Brenda flying out on March 1st, we have to take a short term view of the weather and with no end in sight for the moment regarding the unusually strong “Christmas Winds”, late this year, we really can’t head south to Guadeloupe, where I had hoped to spend a week or two before coming back to Antigua later this month. As the winds are likely to be strong thru the end of the month, I couldn’t take the risk of heading south only to learn that getting back to Antigua would be a slog. I really don’t want Brenda’s last time aboard in the Caribbean this year to be unpleasant.

Several friends who ventured south over the last week reported that it was indeed, “salty” so our plan to stick close to home was a good one.

So, here we sit on our mooring.

The weather has been lovely with days in the mid 80s and nights in the 70s. Except for the passing shower, it’s been relentlessly sunny so between the wind and sun, the batteries have been up to snuff every day.

What will we do next? Who knows but it’s good to know that it’s not snowing here, unlike at home where there is the expectation of upwards of 6-8″ of snow.

Yup, all dressed up and nowhere to go. At least there is a happy hour to look forward to.

And, while we wait I can focus on finding a leak in our dink, fixing a leaky pump on the watermaker, cleaning the bottom for the second time, even if it didn’t need it, along with cutting off the engine lock that I lost the key for, picking up stuff for dinner, getting laundry done…

Oh yeah, and the occasional trip to the beach to languish in the gentle surf.

“Oh Bob, shut up, just shut up! It’s frigging snowing up here…”

Our son Christopher has often said that many boats look more like a sneaker than a boat, referring to many runabouts that we have seen over the years.

Recently, a superyacht Captain made a similar remark to me the other day when talking about many of the contemporary yachts that have launched over the last few years. In spite of the massive amount of money it takes to purchase and run one of these massive yachts, 100 will launch this year alone. That’s a lot of billionaires flexing their muscle and looking to make a statement.

Not unsurprisingly, he is skipper of a beautiful, and I’d say timeless, sailing yacht, one of the largest in the world. He’s been in the business for many years now and has captained both motor and sailing yachts all over the world.

His comment, aside from reminding me of Christopher’s comments, got me thinking about which designs will stand the test of time.

Over the last few years, it seems that many of the huge yachts, and they are getting bigger every year, are straying far from what had traditionally been seen as “classic”.

This one, dare I say, does look like a sneaker. Perhaps on the cutting edge of “different” I do wonder if this design will be considered “cutting edge” in a few years or just “out of fashion”. I guess that time will tell.

She is Sea Wolf X a new launch in 2024. Built in Italy, she was designed to be as fuel efficient as possible and her catamaran shape does save a lot of fuel relative to other similarly sized boats.

She is certainly a unique design and I wonder how she will wear in a decade or two.

The owner of Norn surely tossed out the norms when he commissioned his newest yacht a few years ago. In my opinion, she is impressive and in her own right will stand the test of time.

His last boat, Scat, looked similar and turned a lot of heads when she launched more than a dozen years ago. You can see the resemblance. I do think that these designs, in spite of looking so different than the typical white yacht, are unique in a good way.

Of course, what is now considered classic these days might have been considered groundbreaking when they hit the water so long ago.

For me, I tend to favor those that look what I would call “classic” with beautiful sweeping lines and stunning transoms.

One that comes to mind is Nahlin, which I have written about a number of times. This yacht was launched in 1930 and after nearly 100 years still turns heads wherever she goes. She is classic in every way and as long as she has an owner that can support her needs, I expect that 100 years from now she will still be considered beautiful.

She didn’t always look like she does now back before Dyson rescued her from oblivion.

She looks much the same now as she did when she was launched back in 1930. Of course, her steam engines have been replaced by modern diesels.

Nahlin has a lovely figurehead. The name Nahlin has native American roots, hence the figurehead.

Next to her is Sea Wolf, who just came in today. She was built in 1957 as a commercial ship and ultimately underwent a major refit in 2019 to change her into a proper yacht. To me, she has beautiful lines and clearly follows the idea that “form follows function”. This link takes you to a bit of background about the boat and owner. It’s unclear to me if the same owner has her now. Interestingly, he also founded a flight museum in Canada, Vintage wings of Canada, with an impressive collection. I guess he likes classic stuff of all types. Nice boat too.

Her engine compartment.

Under way. A beautiful go-anywhere yacht that has clearly been everywhere.

Another favorite is Talitha, built in 1930 looks a lot like Nahlin, but with two funnels. She has had a number of owners over the years but since the late 80s she has been owned by Getty family of Getty Images fame, now into her second generation with them. Her first owner was the head of the Packard motor car company and for a while she was owned by Woolworth department store family.

Crew tend to be shared between these classic yachts, with members serving on various boats over time. As Talitha pulled into the marina the other day I could see crew on other boats shouting welcomes to the crew of Talitha. I guess it’s like a reunion when they congregate in a harbor.

And speaking of reunions, the skipper of EOS arranged a fun run and dock party last week to raise money for two local charities, one, The National Sailing Academy of Antigua and the other, The International Yacht Restoration School , IYRS, out of Newport RI, that brings Antiguan youth to the US to be trained in Marine Systems so that they can return to Antigua to work on yachts.

I am particularly excited about the IYRS charity as I started a this program a few years ago with a friend, to bring youth from Antigua to Newport for a 6 month program in the Marine Trades to help feed the next generation of marine tradespeople in Antigua. We have our first graduate and another on the way to Newport in the spring. After three years of working on the program, it seems to be really taking off.

Our first IYRS graduate, Ishmael, on the right, with his mom and brother at the party. HIs brother is also going to join the program. As you can imagine, their Mom is very proud.

The evening, following a 4k fun run with perhaps 200 people, mostly crew from other yachts.

It was a very festive evening.

Captain Martin of Eos, asking everyone to donate.

And, giving out raffle prizes.

The biggest “kiddy pool” of beer I’ve ever seen.

Eos on the dock. She will surely stand the test of time as a beautiful yacht.

According to Wikipedia EOS is owned by Barry Diller and Diane Von Furstenberg and was launched in 2008. She was, at the time, the largest sailing yacht in the world, with a LOA of 300′.

EOS towers over the dock. Note the figurehead. Diane, I believe.

And now, to the left Talitha.

This is just a few examples of beautiful yachts that have stood the test of time. There are many yachts whos designs test the limits of what should a yacht look like and I wonder how they will be viewed in a few decades.

Obsidian, is also a new build and quite arresting to look at. As she is so sleek looking, I expect that she will stand the test of time but I guess it’s still too early to tell as she is only two years old. One of the crew members told me that he unusual metallic paintjob is so difficult to patch, that if she is scratched she will have to be fully repainted.

Cutting edge yes. But a sleek look.

Not your “father’s yacht”. Interesting but does look a bit sneaker like.

Interestingly, in order to keep a yacht looking tip-top, it has to be completely painted every 4-5 years. With that in mind, the owner will only have to live with a scratch for a few years.

With a big yacht, and they are getting bigger every year, monthly expenses run upwards of $500,000. And that doesn’t even count new paintjobs to fix those scratches.

Well, I could go on and on about all the yachts in Antigua but one thing for sure is that this whole business of mega yacht ownership is growing every year and it’s hard to imagine how these harbors, already packed, will address the influx of new hardware.

Like the smaller cruising boats that we have, they don’t go away after a decade so the total number is growing every year and the harbors aren’t getting any bigger.

I guess I will have to just remain content with little old Pandora for the foreseeable future.

Not bad for an old girl. And, to my eye, she doesn’t look much like a sneaker.

But I guess you will have to be the judge.

It’s Sunday morning and we are back in Antigua, aboard Pandora, having arrived on Tuesday. Somehow the first few days were incredibly hectic but today seems a bit more relaxed.

Perhaps it’s the view from Pandora’s cockpit? Well, if you disregard the fact that it is quite windy.

This morning Brenda and I headed ashore for coffee at this lovely waterside café. I had learned about this place, tucked into the head of the harbor, from a friend and it was the first time that Brenda visited with me. Very charming.

The last week before departure from our “land home” was hectic in the extreme but now we are back in Antigua. Getting the house winterized and a last minute decision to have a heat pump installed with the hope of weaning us off of oil deliveries was probably a good example of us, no I should say me “biting off more than we could chew”. I am pretty good at that. Brenda just loves the way that I keep us busy in the extreme 🙁

Now all of that is behind me, at least the home things, but I seem to be plenty good at filling my days here as well. Cleaning the slime of 7 weeks off of the bottom of Pandora, and doing a number of small upgrades and fixes. Cruisers say that spending time aboard a small boat is “fixing boats in exotic places.” Yup. Others say that “everything on a boat is broken but you just don’t know it yet”. Seems that way to me.

However, some owners don’t have to worry about all that. Sure, their boats are being fixed in exotic places but not by them. They just write checks. Well, actually their “family office” writes checks. A good example is Jeff Bezos’s boat Koru, on the dock here in the harbor, is surely having stuff fixed. She’s the big black sailing yacht on the left with the three masts. At least for now, she is the largest sailing yacht in the world. I say “for now” as just about every year a new biggest one is launched. What’s the fun of being a babillionair if you don’t have the biggest yacht?

Of course, what is a photo of Jeff’s boat without a photo of Lauren, his girlfriend/fiancée and chopper pilot, decorating the bow. I wonder what the next owner, and I suppose that he will build a bigger one soon, will think about having Lauren leading the way…

And, what is a mega, mega yacht without a support boat that houses all his toys. They left the harbor yesterday, passing by Pandora. Perhaps they are heading to get stuff fixed. Probably but don’t worry, as both of his boats are less than a year old, and surely under warrantee.

And speaking of big boats, it is interesting how the yachting business has changed over the years as it relates to what was considered “mega”. To the right, Sir Richard Dyson’s 1930s yacht Nahlin, considered large at the time at nearly 300′. He had her fully restored from a sunken 1930s wreck for a reported $70M.

While she is about the same length as today’s mega-mega yachts, she’s peanuts in weight and cost when compared to the huge one to the left (below), Black Pearl, that cost nearly 3x as much. While Sir Richard’s yacht Nahlin isn’t available for charter, you can “rent” Black Pearl for $1,230,000 a week, plus expenses. Don’t despair if that sounds like a lot of money, you can always find some friends and split the cost ten ways. For five for couples it would only be a quarter mil for you and that special someone. Feel the itch? check out her specs here.

And if you are thinking “how can the charter cost be that much?” The estimated operating cost for a year for Black Pearl is upwards of $50,000,000 so they’d have to charter her full time for 10 months just to break even on the expenses and that doesn’t take into account the coat of the build. I doubt that they even come close but, “if you have to ask, you can’t afford it.” Of course…

To give you a feel for the differences between these two boats, while they are sort of the same length, Black Pearl is massive at 2,964 gross tons and Nahlin, a puny 1,356 gross tons. Do note that Nahlin is farther away in this photo but she’s much more svelte than Black Pearl in spite of her 300′ length. Of course they are both big compared to Pandora at a micro-puny 14 tons.

One thing that’s worth noting is that in spite of having “more money than God”, sometimes they can’t get a spot at the dock. I was told that all slips in Falmouth and English Harbor, when it comes to mega and mega, mega yachts, have been booked for months. Nahlin moved into a slip a few days ago and Black Pearl still sits out on anchor.

The yachts on the dock are jam packed like so many sardines, no make that whales.

And, in English harbor, which is loaded too, it’s hard to make out where one boat ends and the other begins.

I have written about many of these huge yachts in the past but a good roundup of some is in this recent post if you follow this link.

The upward trend in yacht size is pretty much universal in all size ranges but especially at the top mega-mega end of the spectrum. Even Pandora at 47′ is large compared to the average cruising boat back in the 80s when most were under 40′. Now Pandora is smallish compared to others. However, with the amount it costs to keep a boat in good shape going up every year, I am not sure that I’d want a bigger one. No, I take that back. If I “didn’t have to ask how much” I’d totally have a big one.

With the billionaire gang growing by leaps and bounds and surely headed for new highs in the US in particular over the next few years, the average size boat is bound to continue going up as there is no shortage of megagazillionairs that want to have the biggest and best.

Oh well, no mega or even micro-mega yacht charters in our future but one thing that I can cling to is that their view isn’t any better than from the cockpit of little old Pandora. Yesterday we spent the day opening and closing hatches as rain showers passed overhead. And each time, leaving behind a beautiful rainbow.

And, for those yachts, err boats, that don’t have a pastry chef on board, there is always Jean Marie, who delivers fresh pastries every morning in his dink for Isabella and Eric of La Brasserie.

Oh yeah, sometimes I do feel like it would be nice to have a bit more luxury aboard Pandora like AC perhaps when we are on the hook, but I have to remind myself that there are some hearty souls that, for reasons that elude me, row the entire way across the Atlantic to arrive here in Antigua.

One of the biggest races every winter is aptly called “The worlds toughest row”, leaving from the Canary Islands all the way to Antigua, a distance of 3,000 miles. The first team arrived here yesterday, after something like a month and a half of rowing offshore.

They were greeted by an enthusiastic crowd in Nelson’s Dockyard.

Later that evening another group of rowers, and I am unclear as to where they were from and which race they were a part of, arrived in Falmouth Harbor. Brenda and I happened to be heading back to Pandora when they approached out of the darkness.

And passed us as they reached the dock where a very enthusiastic crowd greeted them. It was a full boat and it was hard to imagine having enough food and water for such a large crew on a small boat. It reminds me of the Brenton Fisherman’s prayer, “O God, Thy sea is so great and my boat is so small.”

I guess that applies to just about everyone that heads out to sea in a small boat, rowing, plain vanilla, mega or mega-mega yachts, but some boats are a lot bigger than others so I expect that they need a bit less of help from the Almighty. Well, at least until things go all to s**t and stuff breaks.

I’ll be thinking about that when I head east from Bermuda in June, bound for the Azores.

Until then, perhaps I will have a rum punch while enjoying the same view that the big guys have. However, I’ll be making the drink myself as Jeeves is nowhere to be found.

I will just have to adapt…

It’s hard to believe that another year has come and gone and it is now 2025.

In a few days Brenda and I will head back to Antigua and Pandora. Brenda can only stay through the beginning of March but I will be aboard for a few weeks before heading back to Antigua with Pandora and home to CT for a bit.

This year will be particularly complicated due to the fact that I am taking Pandora to the Mediterranean where Pandora will be based for the next few seasons of cruising.

Between now and my departure from St Maarten in mid May for Bermuda and the departure for the run to Horta, I will be back and forth to home. I will admit that all the prep and running around is a bit overwhelming with so many unknowns.

Getting appropriate crew is also an issue as there are so many legs.

In addition to a run to Trinidad and back in March to get a few things tidied up following Pandora’s refit, I will also need crew to run to St Maarten and then on to Bermuda. From there to Horta and a month later, on to either Portugal or Spain to put Pandora up until the following spring when Brenda and I will spen time aboard exploring Spain for a few months.

When we return to Pandora next week it will surely be a big change of climate as the temperatures over the last few weeks have whipsawed from mid 30s into the near single digits. I’d certainly prefer warm…

For New year’s eve we had a small group of friends over for a formal dinner and it was great fun and as I put away many of the holiday ornaments a few days after that I will admit that I was happy that the craziness of the holidays were behind us.

Not a white Christmas but a charming view never the less. Pretty cozy home we have.

Pandora is still sitting happily in Falmouth Harbor Antigua all snug and sound. She has been alone, with regular visits from our “boat sitter” Jean Marie, who has been keeping an eye on her since I left just before Thanksgiving.

Here is a screen shot of AIS, that shows where she is on her mooring in Falmouth Antigua. She isn’t alone in the harbor but it’s not terribly crowded.

But as the year wound down, for those who were in the Caribbean, it was a hopping place.

And, speaking of the holidays and New Year’s Eve in particular, in the Caribbean, all roads lead to St Barths where the “beautiful people” whether they arrive by plane or yacht, hang out for the holidays. And while it is busy all season, the absolute highlight of the season is New Year’s Eve. And for the .001% set, it is the place to be seen.

We have visit the island a number of times and have always been struck by how crowded it was, most any time. And, to make matters worse, it has always been rolly in the harbor, as the waves curl in around the point, making everywhere subject to a nasty surge.

The harbor, Gustavia, is very scenic and even when it’s not busy, it’s busy.

The inner harbor can’t really get any busier than the photo above shows and the only way to visit after the harbor is full is to anchor out. And, unlike just about any other place in the Caribbean, you can not book a slip and have to just show up if you want to get on the dock.

I understand that if you want a spot on the dock in the harbor for Christmas and especially New Year’s Eve, you have to show up before Thanksgiving and plan on staying for weeks. Can you say “saved seat?” And, most areas of the docks do not even have a place to plug in so their generators are running full tilt the entire time. I wonder if they need fuel if they have to go away? “Saved seat!” Probably not, so be sure to fill up before you arrive.

At most any point during the season it’s very busy and on New Year’s Eve, downright crazy. This AIS shot on the big night. Hard to imagine that many boats crammed into such a small space.

And ten days later, busy but not nearly so packed.

To look at all the boats anchored off of a very small island on that special day it’s hard to imagine how they can accommodate everyone. With so many of the yachts being “mega” doubt that there are many problems at the dinghy dock. “James, please drop me and Buffy at the quay and head back to the yaaht. I’ll ring when we are done dining. Oh yeah, don’t forget to take Fifi to go pee pee.”

With a need to show up weeks in advance for a spot, many owners fly in to join their boat. So, how to get there?

One way to arrive is to fly into the tiny local airport, one of the trickiest anywhere. A very popular pastime on St Barths with the “mere mortals” is to stand at the top of the hill at the top of the runway and watch the planes come in overhead and quickly drop down to the runway. To be aboard one of those little planes must be terrifying.

Of course, only the “little people” fly commercial and anyone who’s anyone has their own plane. However, who would land in such a dicey place if you have a chopper that can take you to your boat?

And that’s just what they do.

A notable example of “doing what I want, when I want” is the giant yacht Kaos, pronounced, perhaps fittingly “Chaos”. She is huge at over 361′, fresh from a year long refit under her new owner Nancy Walton, daughter of the late Walmart co-founder Bud Walton. Ms Walton paid over $300,000,000 and then commissioned a year long refit. And that was a major upgrade for a yacht that was only launched in 2017.

Unlike most very large yachts, this yacht is classified as a ship which allows here to have more guests, in this case 31 in 16 cabins served by a crew compliment of 45. Those classified as a mere “yacht” can only house about a dozen guests beyond crew, who usually outnumber the guests. This distinction is significant as with a “ship” designation comes a lot more specific requirements and expenses.

This video was produced when the yacht was for sale and gives a remarkable tour of her, information not often unavailable for many private yachts, err ships.

Check out this link to see the specs for Kaos.

Ok, now we know how to get aboard your yacht if the local airport is a bit too scary for you and your guests.

And speaking of megagigantic yachts, how about Koru, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s new boat that reportedly set him back a cool half billion? It is technically the largest “true” sailing yacht in the world.

But wait, still don’t want to land in St Barths and you can’t land a chopper on a sailboat. Too much stuff in the way.

What’s a mega billionaire to do?

No problem, just get a “shadow yacht” and this is Jeff’s Abeona, all 245′ of her. She is all you need to store all of your “toys” and your girlfriend’s chopper. Just fly into St Barths, land on your support boat and take the launch over to your “actual yacht”.

So, a bit of information about Abeona. She’s a huge yacht in her own right and cost a reported $75,000,000.

And, setting aside the combined purchase cost of $575,000,000 purchase price for a “brace” of yachts, they cost approximately $50,000,000 a year to operate. And that doesn’t take into account the cost of land homes, choppers and private jets.

When you just consider crew, 36 on Koru and 45 on Abeona, including medical crew, that’s a lot of mouths to feed.

Perhaps the most expensive guest to take care of might be his girlfriend Lauren Sanchez, who is also the or at least one of the helicopter pilots.

This is an interesting brief history of the use of figureheads, culminating with Lauren herself.

So, if you want to celebrate New Year’s Eve properly, take your yacht to St Barths and arrive in style on your own private chopper. How much will it set you back? Don’t ask…

As the great financier J.P. Morgan once quipped, “if you have to aske how much it costs, you can’t afford it”.

In spite of it all, we had a great time over the holidays, St Barths deprived, though we may be.

And no, I can’t afford it…

Back in November, a friend of mine, Patrick O’Brien, visited Antigua to spend a week getting a feel for the place and to do some painting.

I had met him about a year ago shortly after he became the president of the American Society of Marine Artists, a group of about 400 artists that are particularly drawn to the sea.

Of this group there is a small subset that are recognized as among the best in the world of Marine art. Patrick is one of about 40 that are so recognized as “fellows” and his work certainly stands out among the group.

Brenda and I visited his studio recently and learned that he has also been active over the years in other areas beyond marine, including children’s book illustration and, of all things, dinosaur art.

The minute that Brenda saw the books, she whipped out her phone and ordered a few titles for our grandson Rhett.

Patrick has also taught locally at the collage level for many years and while his career has had a number of twists and turns, he’s been focused on Marine art for many years now.

When we were in Antigua, we headed out three days, twice in the morning and once near sunset, for Patrick to paint.

I have written some about those outings in recent posts and enjoyed watching the process of him choosing a spot, setting up his easel and finally, blocking out the image on the canvas. This link covers, along with other topics, our first outing for him to paint.

I have hung around artists for years but had never really sat with someone while they painted and the experience was great fun.

This piece, the third of three that he did, was painted high up on a neighboring hill, Shirley Heights, perhaps the best place to view the sunset in all of Antigua. In the background is Falmouth Harbor and foreground, English Harbor. When Patrick painted this piece, Pandora was on the dock, the left point of land in English Harbor.

Patrick wasn’t able to finish the piece before it got dark as the light falls very fast in the islands. He finished up the piece in his studio.

When I called Patrick last week to tell him that Brenda and I were going to be visiting our son Rob and his family, only about 45 minutes from his studio, he invited us to join him.

He told me that he wanted to give me one of the pieces that he had worked on while in Antigua when we visited. As you can imagine, I was thrilled.

I assumed that he had one particularly in mind and was stumped when he said “choose one”. Oh boy as they were all so wonderful.

So, here is the finished piece we chose, painted by Patrick, high atop Shirley Heights. And we were there…

Brenda and I are thrilled to have the piece, a real O’Brien displayed in our living room, well lit by the special gallery lighting that we installed a number of years ago to display our growing art collection.

What a wonderful piece. Thankyou Patrick.

One of my favorite parts of cruising is to watch the sun set and enjoy the waning light. What better way to commemorate my favorite part of the day than this piece? Well, that and a rum punch, while sitting on the bow of Pandora.

Brenda and I have accumulated a fair amount of art over the years, a lot of it marine related so the addition of one of Patrick’s pieces is a wonderful milestone for us.

After a week with him in Antigua and, now, a visit to his studio, I have gained a better appreciation of his work and what it takes to create a work.

We all think of painting as, well, painting. But a lot more goes into the process for someone like Patrick who is very focused on accuracy, both on the vessels in the piece as well as the setting as it looked during the period that he is focused on capturing.

Imagine the level of detail needed to recreate an image of “old New York” as in this piece.

In spite of the “antiquity” of his subjects, he is quite adept with technology and has many videos on YouTube. This short video is one of many on his YouTube channel and goes into some of the steps that go into the creation of one of his pieces, much of which happens long before he puts a brush to canvas.

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Based on his visit to Antigua Patrick has decided to do a major piece that will depict English Harbor during the time that Lord Nelson was stationed there. Many of the buildings, while authentic and beautifully restored, were not there, or looked very different, than they do now.

While Patrick was in Antigua we met with retired island archeologist Reg Murphy, PhD, who has shared a treasure trove of information about the Dockyard. It was fitting that Patrick should meet Reg as he was the architect for the UNESCO designation of Nelson’s Dockyard as a world heritage site.

Careening ships was an important part of the Dockyard, a process enabling the cleaning of the bottom of a ship. Along with cleaning, copper sheeting was applied or repaired to keep the bottom clean and free of invasive toredo worms that, like termites on land, eat wood, especially in the tropics.

These plans are of the structure used to careen ships in English Harbor when the harbor was the headquarters of the Royal Navy.

One of the things that Patrick often does as he is preparing to do a complex painting is to recreate the scene digitally so he can assemble the buildings and “fly” through them to find the best perspective. This rendering is of the capstan house, which does not exist any more as part of his preparation for the piece.

This rendering is one of many that Patrick will prepare and assemble into a lifelike view of what the Dockyard might have looked like when Lord Nelson was stationed there.

Today all that remains of this structure are reproductions of the capstans themselves, one example of how different the place looks two hundred years after Nelson was there.

In spite of all the time Patrick spends reconstructing ships and the sea on canvas, he has spent little time on the ocean. I am working to change that and have invited him to join me and my friend George for a run from Antigua to Trinidad in March. It will be interesting to see if that experience changes how he views the ocean and recreates it in his work.

Patrick and I first spoke of a possible visit to Antigua about a year ago and I am thrilled that, based on his visit, he is now planning to create a major piece focused on English Harbor, a place that has become very important to me.

I can’t wait to see what he comes up with.

Paint away Patrick!!!