A New Year & New Adventures

 

Approaching Jolly Harbour, Antigua

A new year arrives and hopefully new adventures too. We saw most of the night in with the crews from "Imagine of Falmouth", "Izzy R" who kindly hosted the early part of the evening, "Spirit of Argo", "Banyan" and "Baidarka" at Nelsons Dockyard in English Harbour. Somehow managing to stay up until the early hours watching the firework displays from Wandering Star safely back on board before the rain started.

The amazing colours going through the gap at Five Islands

I always love the new year and the prospects of what it will bring - the people we will meet and the places we will go.  2013 was a big year with the selling of our beloved Alianna and the moving aboard our new home Wandering Star. Along with all the highs and lows that accompany buying and selling a boat.

On the fuel dock at Jolly Harbour getting water...
should have got fuel!

Keen to kick start this year we moved on from Antigua, stopping briefly at Jolly Harbour, an old favourite with happy memories of when we first started out nearly 10 years ago. It was a crappy downwind sail from Antigua all the way to St Barts.  We choose a lighter 15-20kts forecas before the stronger winds picked up but the forecast was lighter then expected.  The sails flogged, shaking the whole rig violently with the beam to swells.  We were only making 3.5kts, not what we had passaged planed on at all. So we started the engine and motor sailed the whole way - a nail biting experience as we had been running the fuel tanks down for Sim to extract them when we haul out. Now we had barely enough fuel and a whole fleet of the most expensive mega yachts you will come across to get past anchored off Gustavia,the capital of St Barts.  But we made it in running on fumes and picked up one of the free mooring balls in the marine park at Anse de Colombier on the west end of St Bart's.  We both love this spot, the pretty beach, crystal clear water and great snorkelling make it a favourite despite the incredibly gusty winds kicking in again. The buoys are regularly checked and maintained so we always feel safe here.

It doesn't look it but these are pretty big boats in Gustavia, St Barts

We spent a painstaking morning extracting fuel from one tank where the pick up pipe does not reach and moving it to the other to give us more usable fuel.  We oiled the teak cockpit floor and seats and pottered on with a few projects enjoying a few quiet but blustery days before we arrived in St Maarten to start preparing for my sisters arrival at the end of the week and our impending haul out.

                                                            Cute guy at Jolly Harbour

Pretty Fuel dock at Jolly Harbour

Big boat full of naked people - St Barts!

Anse de Colombier, St Barts

Simpson Bay, St Maarten

Going through the bridge to Simpson Bay Lagoon

                                   Going through the new causeway bridge in the lagoon

Anchoring off what is referred to as the "Witches Tit"!

 

Green Island, Antigua

Kite surfers at Green Island

Sim and I have been keen to get over to Green Island on the east coast of Antigua since we got here. In fact it is the reason we came to Antigua in the first place instead of hot footing it all the way to St Maarten. But what with the gusty winds, big seas and Christmas shenanigans it has taken a while to get our selves into gear and find a weather window under 20kts.  Sure we could have gone with more wind but Sim and I agreed along time ago that we were not going to beat ourselves or the boat up trying to get somewhere in uncomfortable conditions if we didn’t have to. Boxing day the wind eased enough for us to motor around there with our mighty 85HP engine making easy work of it despite the lumpy ride.

Green Island anchorage

Green Island and the waters around it are protected by a large reef making it the perfect sport for sailors, snorkelers and other water enthusiasts, namely kite surfers.  Although the island is private all beaches in Antigua are public.  These beaches are beautiful; white sand so soft your feet sink in. Small rock pools to poke around in and seas so blue it’s like looking into the eyes of mother nature.

Green Island on the east coast of Antigua

There are a couple of anchorages to choose from.  A favourite is Ricketts Harbour which is a little more secluded, headed by a small beach and rocks to snorkel on down each side. Ten Pound Bay is also very idyllic, but is a tight spot for just one boat so we tend to visit by dinghy.  Though frequented daily by the day charter cats these are usually gone by the afternoon. But if you like to people watch, the north side of the island is where it is all happening with mega yachts and lots of kite surfers adding splashes of colour to all the beautiful blues.

Palm trees and beach at Ten Pound Bay

Sim and I have had a very relaxed time kayaking, swimming, snorkeling and walking on our own deserted stretch of beach.  Underwater a lot of the coral is pretty dead and covered in weed but there are still plenty of fish about and things to look at. The kite surfers are just totally awesome and these windy days have been just ideal for them. Sim wishes he was 20 years younger!

Brisk windy days for the kite surfers

It was the perfect place to spend my 37^th birthday, chilling with Sim in one of our favourite anchorages, eating cupcakes, swimming, snorkeling and doing all the fun things that cruising is supposed to be about.

Christmas Daze In Antigua

Pigeon Beach, Falmouth Harbour

The last couple of weeks, in the count down to Christmas have just flown by.  We have been swept along by all the charms that Antigua has to offer. The beautiful scenery and vivid colours make this little island one of our Caribbean favourites.  The nature trails within Nelson’s dockyard national park are stunning, panoramas where green meets blue as sparkling seas and jagged land collide, the white glow of the sandy beaches, pretty pink flowers and plenty of fluffy goats are a huge joy to walk around. Add to that the allure of Nelsons dockyard with stone pillars, beautifully restored 18^th century buildings and ultra modern mega yachts, its hard not to be affected by it all. 

 

Middle trail and the hike between Falmouth and English Harbour

The wind has been blowing hard for weeks, but it’s kept the temperatures nice and cool; far more civilized. We have had lovely walks with Jon from yacht "Imagine" and even Sim with his crippled knees appreciates the exercise when the views are so good.  Not to mention there is plenty of eye candy around.  It’s quite amusing to sit and people watch, identifying the scantily clad crews of the mega yachts, the plump, socks and sandal wearing, camera wielding cruise-ship tourists and the old ex pat yuppy Brits in their floaty white bohemian clothes. Not to mention the odd shabbily dressed cruiser. 

 

Falmouth Harbour

Of course, as we have had the anchor down for a couple of weeks it would be wrong not to get on with some boat maintenance. Sim has managed to put the chipping hammer through the deck twice! Though this did not come as a surprise, we knew it was looking suspect, it will just be added to the list of items that need to be welded when we haul out.  I have had the sewing machine out and have been fairly busy.

 

Sim working!

Christmas day has been and gone.  We had a fab day with breakfast at the dockyard - a result of Jon’s misinformation about the Christmas Champagne party starting at 10.30am, and therefore arriving a little early.  Come midday though, we had bought our bottle of fizz as everyone started to arrive in their glad rags and Santa hats. It’s a sponsored charity event with all profits going to the Hourglass foundation. Naturally we were keen to make our contribution and left a little sozzled by 1pm so Sim could cook our Christmas lunch with sides of veg, crackers and Christmas pud supplied by Jon. It was a splendid meal with all the trimmings.  We were over fed and over watered (ok -wined) just as you are supposed to be on Christmas Day.  A Merry Christmas to you all.

 

Merry Christmas Everyone

A walk to the windward beach

A walk on to Fort Berkley

Christmas Day

Mingling With The Mega Yachts

Stad Amsterdam in Falmouth Harbour

We have arrived in Falmouth Harbour, Antigua, and our pit stop for Christmas and New Year. Now the sea miles are behind us we can breath a sign of relief that despite the Christmas winds (periods of stronger winds over the winter months) kicking in early this year, we made it up the island chain fairly quickly and without too many hairy moments.

A boisterous sail from Guadeloupe to Antigua

 We are anchored among the mega rich and affluent; it’s hard not to get distracted by all the super and mega yachts and nautical bling that are moving in and out of the harbour.  There is some serious money around this end of the island.  Silver haired hooray, ex - pats rub shoulders with the young and beautiful crews of the mega yachts and the floating elite.  Shaggy haired Rasta’s add to the eclectic mix.  Fine dining restaurants in old colonial buildings are just a stones throw from roti shacks with their plastic flower décor, plastic table cloths and Christmas decorations that have been up all year. I like it here.  The bars are fun and lively.  The historical English Harbour where Nelson reluctantly made his home is just a short walk away.  This time of year the temperature is cooler, our bodies not permanently oozing salty water.  There are plenty of walks within the Nelsons Dockyard National park.  The small beach we are anchored off is always busy with a bar at each end and people trying the new popular SUP's (stand up paddleboards) – always entertaining when tiny, bikini clad girls try to master the art while crossing the marked channel as a 200 ft+ mega motor yacht bares down on them.

The Yacht Club

What is strange is the serious lack of other boats.  Despite the bay being filled with floating Gin Palaces there is a substantial lack of cruising boats.  I guess the stronger winds have kept other cruisers from moving about quite so much.  So for now we sit here, admiring the view, the boat surges fore and aft  as a swell creeps in but its not uncomfortable.  Sim has the chipping hammer out and is making those oh so familiar sounds that only steel boat owners can achieve!

Nelsons Dockyard, English Harbour

Pretty Nelsons Dockyard

These are just the baby boats!

Customs & Immigration

Abramavich's old yacht Le Grand Bleu that he gave to a friend.  Note that the sail boat on deck is a 70ft Super yacht!

Nearly full moon and masts of the mega yachts.

Harbour Daze, Antigua



Falmouth and English Harbour

 We have been in Falmouth Harbour a little over a fortnight.  It seems the season has ended here and already bars and restaurants are closing down for hurricane season. The bay has emptied out now that all the regattas are over and the pace of life has slowed down once again  Apparently it’s been a quiet season according to those who make a living out of the sailing scene. Its more peaceful now, turtles swim about the boat and the life that we love so much just passes us by.   The sea is a lovely blue to swim in and the sandy strip shaded with palm trees at Pigeon beach is just a stones throw away. We like to snorkel off the back of the boat to the end of Pigeon beach where the rocky outcrop is surrounded by fish and small amounts of new coral are making an appearance.

 

Sim, Rosie, Ruth & Angus from SY Do IT

Friends “Do It” have been and gone and are now making their way across to the Azores.  Susan and Jan from “Peter Pan” are planning to sail up to Canada and Sam and Jon are waiting around the corner in another bay to head south with us.  Sim has put his back out, a slipped disk perhaps.  He is rattling about the place with all the pain killers he is taking. 

 

Toe dip

Aside from Sim’s back life on board is good.  Wandering Star is being a wonderful little home and we love her very much.  We now have the water maker up and running; turning sea water into drinking water.  It has just a small output of 3 gallons an hour but it’s a perk we didn’t have before and running it for an hour a day keeps us going. We haven’t been getting many jobs ticked of the list especially with Sims bad back.  But I have made sunbrella bean bags to make the cockpit comfortable for us. At the end of each day I love sitting on the back steps with my feet dangling in the water before I jump in for a swim.  The swim platform is one of my favourite spots on Wandering Star.  

 

Soap up and jump in!

The whole of Falmouth Harbour and Nelsons Dockyard are part of a national park, there are all sorts of walks and trails to be taken over the hills and scrubby bush.  Susan and I walked (rather stupidly) in the midday heat across to Nelsons Dockyard and up the hill to the fort, then up the hill some more and down the other side to the beach at Windward. It’s a lovely untouched windswept beach.  Baking hot and the colour of local lobster we headed back to the harbour to pick up my laundry (2 loads, wash only = EC$40 or 10 quid, Very Expensive!).