The Wedding

The happy couple

So our friends Claire and Peter tied the knot on Saturday here in Antigua.  They had been searching for a place to get married since getting onboard.  Initially the French islands had been the favourite but unfortunately that proved impossible as you had to be resident for a couple of weeks before getting a marriage licence,  then the BVI’s were a possibility but we ran out of time there.  Finally they got everything organised here in Antigua.The ceremony was held at the dockyard which is not as industrial as it sounds.  The venue was beautiful given all the interesting old Georgian buildings around the old shipyard and the lush Caribbean plants and trees which are everywhere.  In fact, given Pete’s background in sailing and Claire’s background in antiques it was pretty much perfect.  The location was outside near the remains of what had been a sail loft.  It is a very unique setting as you can see by the photos with these huge stone columns which used to be the foundations of the loft.  Beside this was an old building which used to be the pitch and tar store but is now a hotel.

Sail loft at Nelsons Dockyard

The previous night we had had a pretty violent thunderstorm but Saturday dawned clear and dry.  Everyone got dressed up in their best clothes - we managed to get Calley in a dress and Scott wore a pair of shoes for the first time since Christmas.  The ceremony was held at 0830 in the morning and was presided over by a local Antiguan celebrant who added her own charm to the proceedings and provided a very distinctive island wedding.  

The deed is done

The ceremony was pretty short and then it was onto the champers while Pete and Claire had some photos taken.  Definitely not used to drinking at 0900 in the morning.  

The wedding party

We all relaxed for a few hours - to let the effects of the champagne wear off and then headed out to the beaches on the west side of the island in a hired car.  Its great to get out and see the interior of the island which is extremely lush - probably the most fertile island we have seen so far.  It is mango season and there are mango trees full of fruit absolutely everywhere. 

We had a swim at Turners Beach and then drove through St Johns and back to English Harbour.  That evening we all went out to dinner to celebrate at an Inn with a spectacular view over English Harbour and the dockyards.  Think Pete and Claire had a great day and they retired to a local hotel for some peace and quiet while the rest of us made our way back to the boat.

We move on from Antigua on Tuesday and head to Guadaloupe, the next island south.  Winds are up but are easterly so it should be a reach all the way down.  Looking forward to some more French cuisine on Guadaloupe and some great walks in the interior.

Our new wifi booster seems to be working well so we should be able to communicate easier with people by email and skype when we are in port or anchorage.

Antigua

Weather seems to be changing over here.  Last 10 days or so have been more blustery with rain squalls getting more and more frequent.  Not sure exactly what to expect from the summer weather here.  Believe we have these tropical waves running across the Atlantic and inpacting the Caribbean Islands every few days or so.  They bring the squalls with gusty winds and rain but in between times there is moderate to light weather.  It is these tropical waves that occassionally, when conditions are rights, turn into hurricanes.  

The hurricane season officially starts on June 1st and we are more and more cogniscent of the fact as we get closer to the date.  Our “hurricane plan” which was required by our insurers was approved a few days ago.  It essentially says that we will haul out at the first sign of trouble.  The worst months are August, Sept and October and these are the months we are planning to be on the hard in Grenada anyway.  We will all be glad to get there and ashore.

At least it is still warm so no one really minds a bit of rain now and then apart from the fact that it usually falls in the wee hrs of the morning.  As we usually sleep with all the hatches wide open to get good airflow into the cabins at night it means that we have to get up and scramble around to close all the hatches before we get soaked.  Invariably the shower only lasts a few minutes so then its back up to open the hatches again.  Its a hard life in the tropics!

We departed St Barths on schedule early on Monday morning and had a boistrous 70NM sail to Antigua.  The wind backed nicely for us so that we could lay a direct course to St Johns in Antigua.   We even managed to close reach for a good portion of the trip which was great fun.  The seas were a bit lumpy but once we came off the wind a bit it was fine.  All the way Pete had a fishing rid over the stern.  First catch was another baracuda which we threw back but about halfway through the trip he hooked three fish in pretty quick succession.  The first two were decent sized cero (mackerel like fish) and then finally we got another black fin tuna.  Fantastic haul.

The days catch

We pulled into St Johns around 15:30 with a squall blowing through.  We entered the harbour and had a look around but it did not look to appealing.  St Johns is a busy cruise port and commercial harbour and the anchorages were small areas and relatively shallow so we left the harbour and elected instead to anchor in a nearby sheltered bay called Deep Bay.  We found a lovely spot off the beach, ran up our quarantine flag and seltted in for fresh fish and a glass of vino.

Next day we sailed down to English Harbour / Falmouth down the south end of the island.  This is the really yachtie part of the island.  Everyone was excited to be here.  English Harbour and Falmouth are two very sheltered bays almost side by side.  The British used English Harbour as a major refit location for their fleet for the best part of a couple of hundred years over the 17th and 18th century and there is a well preserved naval dockyard still in existence named after its most famous Captain - Nelson.   The Nelson dockyards have been rennovated and are now a museum and marina.

English Harbour and Falmouth Bay

We anchored off in the mouth of the bay and Scott and Claire dingied into the marina to clear into Antigua.  Then we moved Dulcinea to the marina.  The mooring arrangement here is Mediterranean style i.e. stern into the quayside.  The manouvering into position for stern mooring is more difficult and Scott had not done this before although he has read plenty of horror stories about when they go wrong.  Usually this manouver occurs in a crowded harbour with plenty of onlookers which just exacerbates the situation.  The mooring procedure requires you position the vessel perpendicular to the wharf about three or four boat lengths off the quayside and then drop the anchor.  Once the anchor is dropped you reverse into the dock and come up on the anchor just as the stern nears the wharf.  Lines are then run from the stern onto bollards on the wharf to secure the vessel.  Easy.  Its kind of the marine equivalent to parallel parking.

Luckily all went well with the docking thanks in no small part to Pete, Nicole and Calley on deck, Sam in the dingy providing additional thrust where needed and Claire ashore.  After a bit of messing around we had Dulcinea secure and the passerelle (gang plank) run to shore for access.  The boat looks great tied up in this historic boatyard especially since there are not many other boats around.  In season this dock is full of mega yachts and we would be dwarfed.

Dulcinea moored at Nelsons Dockyard

Next few days have been catching up on school and a few jobs.  Finally had to send in the dingy for a professional repair and it has just come back so Sam and Pete are giving it a good clean.  For some reason we have developed a split in the toe rail at the stern where the passarelle attaches to the boat.  Really annoying for Scott as it is another repair job we will have to carry out in Grenada.

Nelsons Dockyard Marina onshore

Pete and Claire have been busy planning the wedding which will be in the dockyard on Saturday.  There is a bit of paperwork etc necessary to enable them to get a marriage licence.  They disappeared to St Johns and got that sorted out early so we are all set now.  They tried to get married in one of th French islands but “surprisingly” the bureaucracy and rules defeated them.  Scott has still not got over his Paris experience trying to get a work permit 10 years ago.

Typical Buildings in Nelsons Dockyard

We managed a trip into St Johns yesterday mainly to take the kids for a dental checkup.  Had a look around and it was interesting but not anything special.  We took a local bus to get there from English Harbour and the island scenery was very interesting.  Its extremely green and fertile and for us coming off the boat its a treat to sit on the bus and smell the land smells as we drive along.

So its wedding day tomorrow.  Scott and Sam are taking Pete out for a drink this evening and Nic and Calley are hanging with Claire.  Nothing too riotous.  We will have the wedding tomorrow and then look at heading to Guadaloupe on Monday. 

The old sailloft building columns

Ile de Saint Barthelemy

....or St Barths as everybody refers to it is just gorgeous.  We were here about 12 years ago on a day trip and were very impressed then and its been great to be able to spend a few more days here.

We left St Maarten as planned on the Tuesday morning after a really productive and pleasant stay in St Maarten.  The marina we stayed in (La Palapa) was fantastic and the staff really helpful.  We slipped our lines at 0830 in order to catch the 0900 bridge opening out of the lagoon and then set a course for St Barths which unfortunately was almost directly upwind but fortunately only about 15NM away.

The lagoon bridge at ST Maarten

We had a slow sail across tacking a few times as the wind shifted.  Pete had a line in the water the whole time but we only succeeded in catching a barracuda which we threw back as they are apparently not very good eating.  There is a small isle just North of St Barths called Ile de Fourchue which is in the shape of a horseshoe with a central spine of hills and so forms a very protected natural anchorage which proved to be quite deep.  We decided to stop there for lunch which turned into an overnight stop as it was just so idyllic.  We just swam and relaxed for the day and in the afternoon Scott went ashore to walk the ridge between four of the hills - no-one else could get up the energy to join him.  

Ashore the island is pretty rugged.  Its covered in shrubby vegetation and cactuses.  There used to be goats on the island but they ate everything and had to be evacuated.  The island is starting to recover and there are even some small trees on it.  There was a great ridge walk linking the hills and you could walk it along the length of the entire island.  The hills were great fun - rock in interesting formations, perfect for scrambling and high enough to provide great views over the bay and onto St Barths.

Dulcinea in Ile de Fourchue

The next morning we sailed into Gustavia the capital of St Barths.  St Barths, as most of these islands, has been fought over by the French, British and Spanish over the years.  At one point it was Swedish but then reverted back to France about 130 years ago.  AT one time it was owned by Malta!!  Over the last 30 years or so it has built up a tourism industry which is based on the rich and famous and an image of sophistication.  It is now considered the St Tropez or Monaco of the Caribbean.   Gustavia is a gorgeous town built around a natural harbour where megayachts can moor mediterranean style along the inner wharves.  There are a lot of original buildings which have been renovated and the more recent additions have been tastefully integrated for the most part.  There are no buildings higher than a couple of stories.  Looking into the harbour area you see the green hillsides and the red roofs.

Gustavia inner harbour

Gustavia street scene

The streets are full of chic shops and all the big names have an outlet here.  Needless to say its expensive but great to have a wander around.  The other benefit is the French food.  We have been gorging ourselves on baguettes and pastries.  It is fantastic to be able to walk to a bakery and get fresh bread.  We have been out a couple of times into town for dinner and both times the meals have been superb.  The first time everyone went out and then last night Pete and Claire watched the kids while we went into town on our own.  We found a place called Le Repaire just off the dock and had a fantastic french meal as only the french can do.  Sitting here it is just as if you were in mainland France.  

Le Repaire - Sensational menu

The island is quite small and we have confined ourselves to Gustavia.  It is nice just to wander around and stop for a coffee in a cafe every now and then and take in the street scenes.  We have been trying to do school but have still managed to see the town, a gorgeous beach called Shell Beach and the remains of a local fort.  (Seems that no Caribbean island is complete unless it has a ruined fort.).  The kids have managed to snorkel around in the outer harbour where there are some small rock islands and a shipwreck, and Pete and Calley have cleaned the waterline of Dulcinea.  Everyone bar Claire and Scott made it into the local fish market at 0600 one morning to get some fresh mahi mahi and lobster for dinner.

Beautiful Shell Beach

We are moving to Antigua tonight.  We will sail around 0200 or 0300 tomorrow morning and should be there around mid afternoon.  The wind is brisk and will probably be around 15 to 20kts gusting 25 to 30kts.  

Next stop Antigua

Sint Maarten / Saint Martin

You can always tell when we are in a marina as the blog text gets delayed due to other activities going on.

First off is news that Pete and Claire will be getting married during the trip - probably in Antigua.  So that’s something we are all looking forward to.  Obviously will be a pretty informal affair and Pete and Claire are busy trying to sort out the logistics.

We are in St Maarten berthed at a marina called La Palapa in Simpson Bay.  There are about half a dozen super yachts and then us.

We arrived here almost a week ago after an uneventful crossing of the Anegada Passage which we had started at midnight on the 6th May.  Light winds and calm seas meant we had to motor the whole way.  

The last couple of days we spent in Virgin Gorda had been fantastic.  We shifted away from Leverick Bay to the other end of North Sound on Sunday.  Leverick Bay whilst picturesque was pretty quiet and at the other end were a couple of places which are pretty famous amongst yachtees - one is Saba Rock and the other is the Bitter End Yacht Club.  Saba Rock is a small bar/restaurant with a few rooms and quaint beaches and gardens occupying this tiny island at the North entrance to the sound.  The Bitter End is a yacht club /resort and marina.  In the season (Feb/Mar) this area is jammed up with boats from small cruisers to megayachts and there are a number of regattas held.  All the uber-chic congregate in the bars and restaurants.  Luckily by the end of April/May things have quietened down.    

Calley at Saba Rock

We shifted from Leverick Bay and took a mooring off Saba Rock and then dingied over to the island to meet up with Oliver and Carlotta, a couple we had met not too long ago in Jost Van Dyke.  They are sailing onboard a 32ft yacht and came across the Atlantic from the UK last year.  The Saba Rock bar is right at the waters edge and you basically step off the dingy and onto the decking of the bar and then relax in these big loungers with a view over the whole sound and a cocktail in your hand.  The place is well known for a cocktail called a “painkiller” which is strangely addictive and very cheap at happy hour.  Nicole has latched onto the pina colada as her aperitivo-time drink.  The whole atmosphere is very low key and combined with the magnificent view and near perfect temperature is a very laid back way to finish the day.  We chatted with Oliver and Carlotta and then all headed back to Dulcinea for a BBQ.

The next day was our last in the BVI’s as we wanted to cross to St Maarten before the strong easterlies started again.  Pete and Claire were out and about early while we had school.  Mid morning this magnificent sailing ship called the Maltese Falcon came into the Sound and anchored not too far away.  The thing is huge (around 250ft long)and very impressive to see.  The picture below gives you some idea.

The Maltese Falcon

We looked around the the Bitter End in the afternoon and then finished off our visit to the BVI’s with a sundowner at a marina called Costa Smerelda which was deserted but had an awesome view from its terrace bar.

Our last night in the BVI's

So back to St Maarten.  We arrived and dropped anchor in Simpson Bay.  This was not the final destination though.  There is a protected lagoon connected to the bay through a narrow drawbridge which only opens at scheduled times.  We had just missed the morning opening and so had to wait.  While we waited Scott and Calley went into the lagoon in the dingy to clear in and look at the marina berthing arrangement.  The Marina we had chosen is used a lot by the megayachts which moor "stern to" against the wharf.  When Scott looked at it though, it was a stretch to get Dulcinea in as the bow mooring ball was about 60m from the wharf.  Thats fine if your boat is 50m long but as we are only 20m it was a bit unrealistic.  Luckily as the season is over and the marina personnel are really nice they let us come alongside instead.  I guess we do not take up much more space lengthways as some of the other boats take up with their beam.  Scott was not too keen on carrying out the maneuvering for a stern on arrangement anyway.  He has to get his head around it soon though as there will be other instances soon in which this will be the only way to moor.

St Maarten is a great place to reprovision and get work done and this was always going to be a bit of a work stop.  Scott organised to get the freezer, fridge and water maker sorted out once and for all.  It is a real pain in the ass getting work done when you are living onboard as floorboards come up and stuff has to be stored haphazardly around the boat.  Pete and Claire took off for a couple of days with the kids to Anguila - a ferry ride away which was fantastic for all concerned.  The kids, Pete and Claire saw Anguila and had a great time on the beaches and Nic and Scott got some work done.

On the refrigeration, we have replaced all the evaporators so the system which has just been restocked should be good now.  It is amazing with the cost of boat fridge/freezers systems which are built in - just to get the evaporators changed out has cost more than three or four high end domestic fridge/freezers would cost.  We also got new membranes for the watermakers.  The old membranes were completely shot due to there never having been a carbon filter in line.  Turns out that the water we had been using from the marinas has traces of chlorine in it.  The chlorine destroys the membranes so everytime we had flushed the system using marina water it was degrading the membranes.   The addition of a carbon filter eliminates the chlorine and so we are now producing pure tasty water.

Everyone has been helping out on the boat and we got the worst sections of the capping rail revarnished plus a number of other odds and ends done.  Pete and Claire are great onboard - Pete has a lot of knowledge and experience which Scott taps into whenever he can and Claire is great at rolling up her sleeves and getting involved either on deck or down below.  Both are great with the kids and whisk them away every so often to give us a break.

We have not really seen much of the island but we were here about 10 years ago when we lived in Houston.  The island is split between the Dutch side and the French side.  We are berthed at the Dutch side but can just take the dingy across to the lagoon to a place called Marigot on the French side.  When Pete, Claire and the kids were in Anguila, Nic and Scott went to Marigot for lunch.  Its really fantastic to be able to swap countries in just a short dingy ride.  Suddenly you are surrounded by small French bistos serving delicious food to french speaking clientele.  We have also managed a trip to Philipsburg which is the main town on the Dutch side.

So with a fully functional freezer and watermaker, fully provisioned lockers and a gleaming capping rail we are ready to head off tomorrow to St Barths about 15 NM away and start sightseeing again.

The Fat Virgin

We have been making our way through the BVI’s over the last few days.  I must admit that since getting up to this area the trip has taken on more of a holiday feel.  Typically at the moment it involves days of swimming, snorkeling and sailing punctuated by the odd meal and drink.  Only thing that brings us back to reality is the school work which has to get done.  There are also plenty of interesting shoreside diversions along the way which provides breaks especially for Pete and Claire while we are doing school.

The BVI’s is a magical area and it is extremely hard to find anything bad to say about the place.  It is certainly a Mecca for sailing enthusiasts and this is the off season.  By now most of the megayachts have left and are on their way either up to Newport or across to the Mediterranean for the Northern summer so we do not see too many of them.  Every now and then though one of the ones that remains in the area sails past and they are extremely impressive.  That leaves the cruisers and the charter market.  The charter market is huge here and given the climate and geography you can see why; there are numerous islands with hundreds of safe anchorages around them which provides plenty of interesting destinations both onshore and off, the navigation between the islands is straightforward and the charts are pretty reliable, the wind is generally around the 15kts mark and almost consistently from the east, the water is a dozen shades of beautiful clear blue, and finally the days are warm and sunny and a perfect temperature for swimming and the nights cool off enough to sleep comfortably.  There is even a fairly regular rain shower in the early hrs of the morning to wash give the boat a cleanse from any salt gathered during the day.  

Anchorage at Great Harbour (Jost Van Dyke)

Nic and Kids playing around

The BVI’s are certainly a wealthy area with lots of magnificent homes built into the hillsides and tranquil resorts lining many beaches.  The tourist market means that there are plenty of places to go ashore for a wander around and its easy to find places to eat.  There are also plenty of marina’s to resupply in if required. 

So if anyone out there wants to find a charter destination we can highly recommend the BVI’s.  Just make sure that you have brushed up on your anchoring techniques!  Even staying ashore here would be great.

Over the last 10 days or so we have zig zagged our way across from Jost Van Dyke stopping at various locations on Jost Van Dyke (Great Harbour and Diamond Cay), Tortola (Cane Garden Bay and Trellis Bay ) and a couple of the offlying islands (Norman Island and Peter Island).   We crossed to Virgin Gorda a couple of days ago (2nd May) and the first stop was at a place called the “The Baths”.  This is a short stretch of the southern coast of the island which is littered with massive boulders some of which are two or three stories high.  They are kind of just jumbled up on the shore and the haphazard nature of the formation has left numerous caves which the sunlight penetrates through openings between the boulders.  The cave floors are sand and there are numerous still pools from the sea washing in and out.  There is a trail through them which is just magical.  You thread your way through short caves scrambling over boulders and splashing through the shallow pools.  Sunlight reflects off the rocks and dances over the water surfaces.  Its very hard to capture the scale and beauty of the scenery with a camera.  At the end of the trail is another glorious beach.  The place is accessible from the land also and so is a very popular tourist spot.  Luckily we had arrived early and managed to see the caves before the masses arrived.  We hung around the Baths for the day and then moved up to an overnight anchorage off a place called Spanish Town.

Claire at The Baths

After a mornings school we shifted a few miles further up the coast to a place called Savannah Bay.  There was a tricky entrance into the bay with a dog leg around a very shallow reef where the depth got down to 4m.  Once in however there was sufficient water.  We had read about an Italian Restaurant being here and were looking to go ashore for a meal but once ashore we were told that it had moved due to mud slides a year or so ago.  This is why it pays to always have the latest guide book!  Our guide to the Virgin Islands is a 2011 publication.  We tried out a few snorkeling spots in the bay and generally relaxed for the day and had some spaghetti cooked by Pete onboard instead of the restaurant meal.

Sunset at Savannah Bay

Generally the snorkeling has been mediocre.  Much of the reefs we are seeing has been damaged either by boat action, global warming or natural phenomena such as hurricanes.  There is plenty of fish life around the coral but not so many big fish.  We do however see lots of turtles and can get quite close to them.  A few days ago Sam was snorkeling and he followed one around on the surface getting to within a couple of feet of it.

Do not know how we will get these kids back into school

The next day we continued north heading for North Sound or Gorda Sound at the northern end of the island.  We motored out of Savannah Bay and saw a catamaran almost come to grief trying to take a short cut over the reef.  Once clear we had the sails up and were racing along.  The day before Pete had removed and cleaned the little paddlewheel which sits under the boat and acts as a speedometer.  With the marine growth removed the boat seemed to be going at least a knot faster.

Off the North end of Virgin Gorda is Necker Island.  This is the one owned by Richard Branson.  We sailed around it and then anchored off the southern side for a few hours.  It is a small island and there had been a fire in the main building and so repair works were ongoing ashore.  We were at anchor with a huge catamaran called Necker Belle which had all sorts of water toys aboard including an open submersible vehicle which drove three people around underwater. 

Dulcinea anchored off Necker Island

After lunch we headed into Gorda Sound and picked up a mooring in Leverick Bay for the night.  Gorda sound is a protected body of water with easy access to lots of surrounding reefs, beaches and islands.  Around the shore of the sound are three marinas and various restaurants, bars and a couple of resorts.  You could comfortably spend some time here just exploring.  We on the other hand are pushing on into the Leeward Islands.

In the next couple of days we will cross to the island of St Martin which is the start of the Leeward Islands for us.  Its about 80NM away and the direction is just about due east so will be going into the weather again.  The weather is good for a crossing at the moment and hopefully will remain so for the next few days.

Oh, the title of the post refers to the name Columbus gave the island of Virgin Gorda due to its resemblance to a fat lady lying on her back.  One must remember that these guys had been at sea for a while at this stage.

PS  Happy mothers day to all you mothers out there.  Nic got a cup of coffee and some croisants and then its back into school.

Mothers Day on Dulcinea