I wanted to begin the post with the title, Next Stop Home!, but as we head out from Antigua on our first day of what will be a passage of more than 1,500 miles, I really don’t know if we will be able to make the run without stopping in Bermuda.  I have sent in all the needed information to Bermuda customs, just in case we have to stop but I’d really like to just keep going.

The first few days should involve some pretty brisk sailing with 20kts with gusts to 25kts, on the beam.  These are just about ideal for Pandora as she clips along at better than 9kts.

Last week I cleaned the bottom for the first time in a month and it had gotten pretty messy.  Even though I had been underway for a good portion of the time, things had gotten pretty slimy.   Two days ago I decided to check it out again and while it wasn’t too bad, I decided to go over it all again. The good news is that it only took a half hour verses the hour that it normally takes me when things are a bit more advanced.

The last week was a whirlwind of activity getting ready to leave, attending events and getting ready for George and Bob, my crew, to arrive.
Last season I ran into a group, the Royal Naval Tot Club of Antigua and Barbuda.  I wrote about them a few times (just put Tot into the search bar and the posts will come up).  Forgive me but I can’t put in a link to the particular posts via SSB radio.   Anyway, I decided that I just had to join the group.

Becoming a full member of the Tot club involves learning a good deal about Lord Nelson’s most important battles along with other details of British Navy History.  It also means that over a period of 7 nights, I had to take a “full Tot” or about 2ozs of rum straight down in a single “go”.   And twice, that involves a second Tot.  That’s a lot of tots and I don’t have a lot of “reserve buoyancy” to absorb that much rum all at once and I’ll say that some evenings were not all that pretty.  At one point, Brenda said that she was looking forward to getting a late evening call from me that didn’t involve some slurred words.  Me too.  Along with all this “totting” I had to take an oral exam from one of the “totters”.

So, after a massive amount of anxiety and totting, I passed and am now a full member of the group.  The experience was great fun and along the way I was able to spend time on some magnificent yachts and visit one member’s home with a fabulous view overlooking Falmouth harbor.  When I get home, I’ll post some photos of me and some of the other members.  It’s a wonderful group of folks.

I won’t go into any additional detail for now so stay tuned.

So, back to our departure.  We left this morning, Sunday, at around 09:30 and are now about 30 miles north of Antigua, moving along at a brisk 8.5-10kts toward home.

As is so often the case when we are on passage, things break and this trip will surely prove to be no different.  I can say that with confidence as we have already had our first breakage, a batten pocket holder near the mast.  It’s broken before and I am at a loss as to how to avoid it.  I won’t go into much detail except to say that I had to drill a hole in the unit and put a bolt and washers with the hope of stabilizing it.   However, I am not optimistic that the repair will hold for very long as it’s already looking suspect.  I still have a few tricks up my sleeve, from past experience and am sure that I will be up on deck again soon for another go at stabilizing things.  Such is blue water passage making.

I have been staying close to Chris Parker, our weather router, for the last few days and he says that the weather forecast for the area north of Bermuda still is a bit unclear but we are hopeful that we will be able to avoid a stop in Bermuda and continue on to Montauk in a single leg.
We expect that the sailing over the next few days will be about like it is now and after that the wind will clock to the SE and ultimately the south which means that we will find ourselves going somewhat slower than our current clip.

There is a cold front coming off of the US East coast later this week and the exact timing remains somewhat unclear.  However, as we get closer we’ll have a much better feel for what sort of conditions we will encounter.   As our Gulf Stream crossing will be at one of its widest points, hitting adverse currents at some point is probably inevitable.

I know it’s only the first day and we are nearly 1,500 miles from home but I can’t help but speculate on when we will arrive.   If we keep going at this rate for at least a few days and don’t have to stop in Bermuda, we should round Montauk sometime on Monday or Tuesday of next week.  That’s pretty fast sailing.

Brenda’s been hard at work getting the house and garden in shape for the summer and I can’t wait to see all that.  She told me this morning that we have at least four bird nests around the house and that’s surely a sign that spring is really here, or should I say there.

For now I guess it’s time to start thinking about what I am going to make for dinner.

Oh yeah it’s pretty hot down below as we have to button things up tightly to keep the spray outside where it belongs.

I expect that before we know it I’ll be grousing about how cold we are. Ne

Well, it’s about time to leave Antigua and head home to New England waters.  I am pretty excited about being home and, in particular, about seeing Brenda again.  It’s been nearly three weeks as of today since she flew out of St Lucia.   I miss her.

My crew, George and Bob arrived yesterday and are enjoying a few days ashore before we leave.  This is their first visit to Antigua.

The good news is that the weather is pointing to a Sunday departure and some pretty good conditions for some fast sailing as we make our way to Bermuda.  I say Bermuda as the weather north of there is very uncertain so it will likely be best to make a stop there and regroup before heading out for the Gulf Stream and Montauk where we will enter Long Island Sound.

Speaking of Bermuda, I have never been there but my crew have.   As a British port, they are fairly detail oriented and have some pretty complicated processes for clearing in.  Even before I leave here I have to send them quite a bit of information about Pandora and our plans.  I also understand that the cost of even a short visit is pretty steep.  Isn’t that just so British?

So, the forecast, which hasn’t changed for a few days calls for 20-25 out of the east, perhaps ten degrees south of east, for several days.  They seas should be in the 8′ range.   While it will be a wet ride, Pandora does pretty well in these conditions so I am hopeful that we will be able to reel off between 180 and 200 miles per day on a beam or close reach.

As we get closer to Bermuda the wind is forecast to clock to the SE and South, dropping to 10-15 kts which will slow us down.  After a few days of fast sailing and lots of water on the deck, I expect we will be ready to have some more relaxing conditions as we approach Bermuda.

Today will be busy with last minute provisioning and a quick re-cleaning of the bottom.  I cleaned the bottom last week but there has been a bit of return growth that needs to be addressed.   Even the smallest amount of slime can make a big difference over 1,600 miles.

As is my custom, I will be doing posts most days while we are underway and will send them to Brenda via email to put up.  I  can’t send photos as the SSB email system is pretty slow.

And, don’t forget, you can track us, complete with speed and position updates every two hours while we are underway.   Just go click on the “where in the world is Pandora” link and follow the instructions.  If you are interested, you can also sign up to receive an email note when I put up a new post.

I guess that’s all for now.  Before I break, I should mention that I had a tour of the 150′ schooner Columbia yesterday.  She’s a reproduction of a Grand Banks fishing schooner of the same name.  Launched just a few years ago and built from plans that the owner had from way back in the 70s, waiting until he had the resources to have her built.  She’s really beautiful.    I don’t have time to write a proper post about her before I depart for Bermuda but I’ll tempt you with a photo of her.   What a boat. I guess that’s all for now.  Stay tuned.   Need to get provisions.

As I write this I am getting Pandora ready for her run north to CT and I am hopeful that a few days after my crew arrives we will be able to head out for the run north.

They say say that bad things sometimes come in threes and that was my experience in St Pierre, Martinique when my friend Craig and I visited a few weeks ago with Pandora.

For those of us that have become addicted to e-mail and our phones, being aboard has it’s own set of challenges.   I love the cruising lifestyle but being “off the grid” is a non-starter for me unless you are talking about solar panels and such.  Wherever I am, I really need to feel connected and when I am not…

Well, hold that thought for a moment…

Mt Pelee dominates the skyline from the anchorage of St Pierre and is usually shrouded in clouds. When Craig and I were hiking up the side of Mt Pelee, the extinct volcano in Martinique that erupted violently in 1902, we got a first hand feel for what they mean when they say “the islands that kiss the clouds” and in this case, those clouds opened up an dumped on us in a violent thunderstorm, compete with simultaneous thunder, lightning and a massive downpour.

Convective thunderstorms are not common in the Caribbean and even hearing thunder was a first for me in two seasons of cruising the islands.  To be high up in the mountains and experience thunder and the crackle of electricity so incredibly close was quite alarming, let me tell you.

In the hours we hiked up the mountain, we only had an occasional glimpse of anything in the distance.  This is where we parked the rental car and after a short time even that was shrouded in clouds and mist.  We never saw the distant ocean at all. Pelee loomed above us.  We were told that the hike to the summit would take about two hours.  Ha!
In the beginning there were steps.   That didn’t last long and most of the run was a scramble over slippery rocks and often rough footholds chiseled into the bedrock. Much of the vegetation was tortured and low. But lush with the near constant mist and rain, year round.These fleshy flowers were everywhere. No trees, and the winds whipped up the slope with every plant hugging the ground. In every direction verdant green on the mountainside.  Not a lot of photos after this as heavens opened and with driving rain.  We had only gone about 1/3 of the way and kept going as we assumed the rain would not last long, as is so often the case.  Not.   The trail was so steep that we could hardly climb without using our hands to help pull ourselves along.  After the rain became heavy the path started looking more like a raging brook.

The rain kept coming and got harder and harder.  Incredibly loud thunder and lightning flashes were simultaneous.   And loud? I have never really understood what was meant by the “crackle of thunder”.  I do now.   It was like the air itself was charged with electricity.

At that point “Craig, time to head back!  Let’s get out of here!”.  By that point the path had become torrent with muddy water pushing sand and small stones down the trail if you could call it that.    Someone we passed along the way was limping badly as he’d stepped into a hole that was obscured by the muddy water.

Let me just say that the trail was steep, full of raging water and we were in a hurry.   The good news is that I only fell once, on a slippery rock.   Nasty bump on my butt and arm.  Good thing I am fairly well padded.

So, back to the cell phone.  As I was focusing on my footing I didn’t notice that my camera bag was slowly filling with water.   As my camera is inside a padded section, the water pooled under it and while it was damp, it wasn’t flooded.  Oops, my cell phone was in the bottom and floating.   Mort…

Well, we made it back down the mountain and back to the car.

The day before, when we arrived in St Pierre we anchored in 50′ of water as the bottom falls quickly to over 100′ not far from shore.  I had never anchored in such deep water.   I wasn’t sure what was under us so I just put out all of my chain, some 200′.   The problem was that if we dragged even a short distance we’d be in 100′ of water with scope of only 2/1.  That wouldn’t do at all.   And, compliments of the eruption of Pelee in 1902, there are plenty of shipwrecks not far from shore and I didn’t want to tangle with them.

Anyway, the anchor held and speaking of the the volcano, the city was completely leveled by the volcano and now you can tour the ruins which remain.

As St Pierre was a prosperous city, fueled by the profits of the sugar industry, there was a lively arts scene with an opulent opera house.  Only ruins remain today. The grand staircase has been restored.  Impressive. The view of the harbor with it’s black volcanic sand. Many of the buildings are pretty scruffy.  I don’t think that the city ever really recovered from the devastating eruption.   There are some gems though like this
“duplex”.
Here’s the schooner Heron, from Maine, passing behind Pandora.  She anchored nearby.   Her owner charters her for day trips in Maine in the summer and spends his winters in the Caribbean. Heron was also in Bequia when we were there.  I was quite taken with her.  Her owner built her himself. The sunset did not disappoint. That evening, as I pulled the dink up into the davits, a line knocked my glasses off of my face.   Down they went in 50′ of water.   Such a bummer and what a way to cap off the day that I also “lost”, ie flooded, my cellphone.   Oh yeah, I also noticed that my ensign was missing.  I think it was swiped, pole and all, in St Lucia.

They say that bad things sometimes come in threes and the loss of a cell phone, prescription glasses, expensive ones at that, plus a missing ensign certainly qualify.

As far as the glasses are concerned, I have a few pairs of “drugstore” reading glasses and also purchased a new pair but it’s not the same.  Just try reading #3 reading glasses and trying to look into the distance.  Not good.  It’s going to be fun on passage, at night, trying to see what’s on the horizon.   Good thing I have a good set of binoculars.

Anyway, I’ll live but having to deal with crappy glasses and no cell phone for a month before I get home which reminds me that the cruising life can sometimes be difficult when things go “bump in the night”.

Ok, that’s about it for now.  My crew arrives in a few days and Pandora’s about ready to go.  In the meantime I am making plans here in Antigua for the arrival of the Salty Dawg Rally fleet next November and the two day event that I am putting on for the Seven Seas Cruising Association.

Yes, there’s plenty going on but at least I have a brand new pair of cheapo reading glasses to help me along.   Yea, that’s just so fun but at least I have those three bad things out of the way.

“Bob, Bob, don’t say that, you’ll jinx it.”

Ok, fingers crossed.

Editor:  Ok, don’t say it but yes I know that this post just didn’t come together.  Clearly not one of my best but I am just sick of working on it so there…

Just sayin…

 

It’s been a real treat being here in Antigua during the Classic Yacht Regatta as there are so many magnificent yachts.  In my last post I mentioned that the Tot Club met aboard a classic schooner, the beautiful Ashanti.

That evening I also met the owner of a much more modern yacht, the recently launched Atalante.   The next day I was fortunate to get a personal tour of the boat by here owner.   Atalante was built in the Netherlands at the Classen shipyard.  This yard is known for a remarkable level of craftsmanship and even though the local waters are very shallow, they still find a way to turn out really massive superyachts.

Atalante, draws her name from Greek mythology. Legend has it that she was abandoned and left to die by her mother, who wanted a son, and was raised by a she-bear.   I am always interested in how an owner chooses a name for their boat and am particularly interested in names with a mythological origin as my wife and sailing partner was a classics major so we tend to be drawn to such things.  Our own boat Pandora’s name, and her dink Hope, are steeped in mythology.    Aboard Atalante is a lovely stylized sculpture of her namesake and her “mother”. She has a graceful and classic sheer to her deck. A fore-deck that goes on and on. Her aft deck house is immaculate varnished teak.   Notice the fitting that controls the main sheet on the house.  I should have taken a close up of that.  It’s a remarkable piece of stainless work. Extraordinary attention to detail in the deck hardware.  Need to check your lipstick?  “Mirrors” everywhere.  We should all have a nav station like this.   As an interesting note, the crew quarters are as opulently appointed as the owner’s areas, not that common on many yachts where most crew live in fairly spartan cabins.
The binnacle is a work of art.  I understand that the compass base, engraved with her name was formed from flat stock with the name and logo carved into the surface and then formed into a cylinder to fabricate the helm framework.  It’s a spectacular bespoke piece of work.  This bar makes me want a nice gin and tonic.
And, speaking of food and drink.  A beautiful galley.   I’ll bet that some great meals come out of here.   Interestingly, the chef and captain are a husband and wife team.  That’s nice. A soothing traditional lounge.  No salty swim trunks here.
Love the linens in the owner’s suite.  Brenda and I are going to order new bed linens this summer.  Stripes like this would be lovely.
I mentioned earlier that she was built in the Neatherlands, not a spot known for deep water.   This video is a great look at what’s involved in constructing a yacht like Atalante.  It goes into some detail to show the level of detail that goes into building up an aluminum hull as well as getting the finished hull to an area with deep enough water to float her when the keel is in place.  The short video is worth looking at. Atalante is a beautiful piece of modern engineering, steeped in tradition.   What a treat it would be to feel the power of her under sail.   Want to learn more about her.  Follow this link to her site.

Day sail anyone?   Yes, and a G&T would go down nicely as well.  Perhaps Pandora will get some striped sheets too.

One of the best parts of being here in Antigua during the Classic Yacht Regatta is seeing the remarkable boats that congregate from all over.

About a year ago, I wrote about a group, the Royal Navy Tot Club of Antigua and Barbuda, a group that meets every evening to carry on the discontinued tradition of issuing rum to members of the British Navy, sadly stopped in 1970.    I wrote about this group in a post last spring when I first became familiar with them.

Anyway, fast forward a year and I am in the process of trying to become a member.  This involves drinking “tots” for a number of nights, 7 actually, and passing a rigorous oral exam on British maritime history.    This is tougher than it sounds, both the drinking and remembering, and I have to admit that I am stressing over the test which I have to take in the next few days.  Just how many ships went at it in the Battle of the Nile?  What’s important about the Battle of Copenhagen?   Inquiring minds have to know to be a member and that’s just the beginning.  

One of the most fascinating aspects of cruising and visiting islands like Antigua is that I am able to meet some really interesting people.   Case and point.  One of the most magnificent yachts that competed in the Classic Yacht Regatta last week was Aschanti, a wonderful schooner that was built in 1954, one year before I was “launched”.   Not that old, right?  However, I have to say that she’s in somewhat better shape.   Funny but I can’t recall being described as a “classic”. The connection is that her owner, a very nice guy, was also working on membership to the Tot club.   It seems that he decided to host one of the evening meetings of the Club aboard Ashanti.  It was a wonderful event and very well attended, as you might imagine.    The club organizers set up shop in the cockpit.  She’s a big boat so there was plenty of room to hang out.   Love the kiddy pool bar. She’s a real stunner down below.   Forgive me for trespassing.  I also heard that she has an awesome bathtub.  Oh well, I didn’t see that as even I am not that bold.   “can I peek into your bathroom”?  Yeah, right Bob…
Acres of varnish and it’s all perfect.  I wonder how often they have to pull the spars and varnish them?  I wonder if they varnish them in place?  What a job that must be.
I had to ask what this device near the helm was for.  It turns out it was used to display the course that the helmsman is to hold.   the pegs are removed and set in place to display the course.  Pretty neat.  In the day of autopilot I guess it’s not as vital, perhaps.   A lovely artifact of a different time.
And speaking of holding a course, they are headed toward the Panama Canal across the Pacific and expect to complete a circumnavigation.  And, that’s in addition to a fascinating “figure eight run” that they made.   That’s a cruise rounding both north and South America as well as passing through the Panama Canal, twice.  Sounds awesome.   I wonder if they ever need relief crew?  I would be TOTALLY available.

I’ll bet that Ashanti spends much of her time at sea under sail.  So many megayachts motor from place to place, only putting up the sails when they are on charter or when the owner is aboard.  It seems that Ashanti isn’t like that.  She’s a boat that sails well and sail she does.

The owner told me that “Ashanti picked me, I didn’t pick her.”  When you are talking about a boat with this sort of pedigree that’s probably the way it happens.  It seems that she picked well as this chapter of her life seems to be working out very well for her.

As an interesting note, I had forgotten that I had seen Ashanti when I spied her in Le Marin, Martinique earlier in the season and discovered a video of her recent Atlantic crossing.  It’s really well done and worth a look.Yes, it is indeed a small world and you never know where things will lead.  I never imagined, when I gazed longingly at her in Le Marin that I’d soon be aboard and meet her owner here in Antigua thanks to the Royal Navy Tot Club.

Ashanti is headed to the Panama Canal soon so I guess our paths won’t cross again for some time.   However, if history is any guide, the answer might surprise…