Stingray!

Now sitting in the cockpit waiting for Follyfin to be hauled out of the water. Yes we are going home for a holiday! After 3 months away, we feel in need of a change… if only to arrange to see doctor, dentist, optician, hairdresser, hearing consultant etc. “Are you going deaf?” I hear you ask. Well, not exactly but each of us increasingly finds him or herself having to repeat the words that have just been said to the other! Is this because we have stopped listening to the other, or are we going deaf? Well, after almost 42 years of marriage, it could be either. Hearing tests for both should provide the answer.

The island where we are now based is shared between the French - occupying the northern half named St Martin - and the Dutch - occupying the southern half named Sint Maarten. So far we have only sampled the Dutch side as this is where the boatyard is located. In reality, the majority of people we have heard speak are American, reflected in the island-wide currency being US dollars. This island might also be known as ‘Holidaymaker Central’. It is packed with high-rise hotels and holiday apartments and all the pubs and clubs that go with them. As well as beautiful beaches it also has the one of the largest land-locked lagoons - all 12 sq.miles of it -  in the Caribbean, and in which there are numerous marinas, making it popular with superyachts and their owners (who are a rare breed, hardly ever spotted). Access is through a lifting bridge four times a day. But the lagoon is at its best early in the morning...

The moon at sunrise

Sunrise

We chose to stay anchored outside in Simpson Bay until the time came to be lifted out. This meant that we could still swim but had to travel quite a long way by dinghy  into the lagoon to do any business, shopping etc. On one trip in we had the surprise of our lives when just a few metres from our dinghy, whilst still out in the bay, a large sting ray jumped completely clear of the water - tail and all -  and splashed back beside us! Regret no photographic evidence but the image is indelibly imprinted on my memory. So lucky to have seen such a rare sight.

Here in Bobby’s boatyard, we found ourselves berthed next to the ‘Treasure Seeker’ pirate ship.

Sharing a few beers with the current owner, an American coincidentally named Ray, we found out that this amazing steel-hulled vessel was originally built in Wisconsin in 1955 as a car ferry. Ray started his Pirate Ship enterprise 8 years ago with another similar boat which sank in the Caribbean Sea (it's a long story). So successful was the business that he bought the another pirate ship, the current one, 4 years ago and ‘sailed’ it down inland waterways to Florida where he set up again. The ‘masts’ of this one are actually recycled New York lamp posts! Not seeing eye to eye with the authorities in Florida, Ray, his son and 3 other hearties sailed the Treasure Seeker down through the Bahamas to the US Virgin Islands but on the way it foundered on a reef doing $50,000 worth of damage. Moving on down here last year to Sint Maarten to ply their pirate trade, the boat was blown ashore during a hurricane. It is now undergoing extensive repairs and guess what … is up for sale! Anyone want a pirate ship?

Since I began this post, Follyfin has been hauled out

So Follyfin is now on dry land. Phew!

We fly out on Wednesday via Puerto Rico. A brief stopover in London with family Hodgkinson and then back home to Yorkshire. Brrr! Not looking forward to the cold weather - every day it's 28-30°C here, sun and bright blue sky - but it will be lovely to be home again… only briefly though as our odyssey continues from the beginning of April to the Virgin Islands, Turks and Caicos, Bahamas and thence the US east coast to New York and points north. At least that's the plan!

Of turtles and brown boobies

[Now take that smirk off your faces lads!]

One night in the Gustavia anchorage was enough. Formalities completed, online business done and bread purchased, Follyfin headed 4nm NW from Gustavia to the small island, Île Fourchue. No living person inhabits this island and it's part of the Marine Park, consequently it's very peaceful. Ashore there is mainly dry scrub on volcanic rock.

Over 10 years ago, the island was denuded of vegetation by a herd of goats, now departed. The Turk’s Head cactus is gradually re-establishing itself but very little else.

Otherwise, only the occasional cries of brown boobies are heard. In case you are wondering, the name of these birds wonderful flying creatures derives from the Spanish ‘bobo’, or dunce, as at one time it was easy for hungry sailors to approach these birds and grab them for food.

Our early morning sortie on shore provided a good view back towards the main island of St. Barts. 

Although the anchorage was quite rolly due to the Atlantic swell working its way in, a few boats overnighted with us each night during the 4 days we were there.

Wonderful snorkelling around the edge of the bay. Skipper, Bosun and Engineer enjoyed catching up with various repair and maintenance jobs on board in this time, fuelled by a giant avocado. Ones this size are a common sight in the markets at this time of year

Moved across to anchor in the Anse de Colombier on the N coast of the main island. Here at last I managed to get a photo of a turtle - greenback I think. Turtles come to feed on the sea grass growing on the bottom of these two bays. We had seen many swimming around our boat over the previous few days but none close enough to photograph or at the right time when the camera was handy. Indeed I had swum with one or two of them, trying to entice them nearer to Follyfin.

This is the only decent photo I managed to get. Turtles come up for four of five quick gulps of air and then dive to the bottom, staying under water for 10 or more minutes.

A hike up the steep hill above the Colombier beach afforded great views over the bay where Follyfin was parked. No Turk’s Heads here, only organ pipe cactus.

A further slog uphill provided a wonderful view over towards the larger island of St Martin, with Île Fourchue in the foreground. And St Martin is where we will be bound tomorrow, on Thursday 9th February, preparing for our homecoming - a short break for us hard-working sailors.

It’s not all plain sailing!

A series of recent events inspired the title to this post. First, on leaving the ‘11 mile beach’ anchorage on Barbuda, we wanted to take a look at the apparently pink sands on Cocoa Beach before heading south again. It should have been an easy 10nm sail of maybe 1.5-2 hours. It actually took 3 hours and required us to motor into wind for the final half of the passage. But it was worth it. Contrast this photo of Cocoa Beach, Barbuda

with this of Jolly Harbour, Antigua.

And where we are now, at Gustavia on St Barthélemy (aka St. Barts) is even more crowded with boats.

But I digress… as we prepared to depart from Cocoa Beach the following morning, there was a loud ‘clunk’ on the keel. We had hit an isolated rock! Needless to say we beat a hasty retreat and headed south for Jolly Harbour.  The main reason for going there was to clear out with the all-powerful triumvirate - customs, immigration and port authority. At least on Antigua the system is semi-computerised, eliminating the need to fill two or three different forms by hand in quintuplicate. Also took the opportunity to get some laundry done. Yes life’s mundane tasks continue, whether in the Caribbean or North Yorkshire. A couple of nights at anchor in Jolly Harbour was enough. On 31 January, we set sail west for the small island of Nevis, once a British colony like it's near neighbour St Kitts but now coupled as one independent state.

The passage started well, a nice downwind passage in a force 4-5 ENE wind. A good size fish was caught mid-morning but thinking it was a kingfish (possibly infected with ciguatera) and in his haste not to let it die needlessly, the skipper threw it back before it was positively identified. In fact it was a Tuny fish (the French call these Ti Thon). Fortunately two more Tuny fish were caught a couple of hours later.

As the afternoon wore on, the sky became overcast, the wind gradually increased and we saw a couple of squalls coming towards us from behind. Squalls are never good news as not only does one get very wet but the wind changes direction and plays havoc with the sail set if one is unprepared. And of course having had such an easy downwind passage thus far, Follyfin was sailing under her full main sail and jib - omuch too much canvas for gusts of 35 knots! So then the problem became reducing the sail area (technically known as reefing the sails) in such a high wind. This was eventually achieved with much flapping and blowing and turning a complete circle.

Soon the lee of Nevis was obtained and everything calmed down. The capital is Charlestown and mooring buoys have been laid for visiting yachts, thus allowing the sea grass to grow back. You might think that this would make life easier for us but no… the first one we selected had no pick-up line and the second one had such a long pick-up line that it wound itself round our keel and we ended up facing backwards! By the time this problem had been sorted it was pitch dark and skipper and crew were both exhausted.

Everything looked much better the following morning as we approached Charlestown to make our clearance with the Triumvirate again.

A short bus ride took us up to the Golden Rock Estate, which goes back to 1801 when it was owned by Edward Huggins. It is now mainly owned by a two New York artists. The estate is half-way up the mountain and borders the rain forest. The original historic buildings have been skilfully blended with modern additions but the gardens are definitely the main attraction. Pictures speak a thousand words…

It is now a rather fancy hotel and restaurant with prices to match but luckily they don't mind yachts-people arriving for lunch in their shorts. This is a place definitely worth revisiting if ever the opportunity arises.

This post is being composed whilst at anchor near Gustavia on St.Barts. The passage here today from Nevis was not without incident either… before we even started, we had trouble slipping from the buoy (see above). In fact, it took a whole hour to free one of our mooring lines from the wretched mooring buoy, a job that is normally accomplished in less than a minute. The passage itself was pretty good but the seas were across us and quite big (2-3m) so though uncomfortable, we made good time - top speed 9.4kn, average 7.2kn. Once into the lee of the island we saw with horror a veritable forest of masts. Finding a vacant spot to anchor amongst that lot was difficult but what with onshore swell in one place and weed on the sea bed in another, it took three attempts before the anchor dug in enough to hold the boat.

So you see, it's not all plain sailing!

Barbuda and the Frigates

Methinks that title sounds like the name of a pop group… purely coincidental of course. In this case Barbuda is the name of a wonderful unspoilt Caribbean island, whilst the Frigates - birds of course - are the main reason for coming here, apart from the miles of pinky white sand beaches, tourqoise sea, wild donkeys and .... NO HIGH RISE HOTELS OR TOURIST DEVELOPMENTS! In short it is nothing short of a tropical paradise.

On the passage here from Falmouth, the Magic Zero sail emerged from its locker for the first time since our Atlantic crossing a year ago.

Light south-easterly winds provided perfect conditions for flying it. However, a later start than ideal after having to pick up water before setting off, plus the slower-than-expected progress along the south coast of Antigua and then up the west coast meant that it was midday before we even arrived at the north end of Antigua. And there was still about 30nm of open water to cover before getting anywhere near a suitable anchorage off Barbuda. Taking all the advice to stay away from Barbuda at night, since it is surrounded by dangerous reefs, we dropped anchor in Deep Bay near the north end of Antigua and enjoyed a lazy afternoon swimming and reading. Just before sunset, Skipper set up the wind generator in the hope that some charging could be had if the wind came up. And of course, being the 25th January, we toasted the Immortal Memory with a wee dram or two. Regret no haggis to be had anywhere around here.

Next morning, the wind had backed but was still light so we continued our passage north towards Barbuda with conventional rig of mainsail and jib - but it was quite slow! Shortly before arriving there, and while still safely outside the reefs, we caught not one but two fish:

Spanish Mackerel - about 3lb

Kingfish - 5-6lb

Regrettably we discovered afterwards that Kingfish this large and in this latitude are liable to be infected with Ciguatera, so that beautiful fish was thrown back. Large Spanish Mackerel (over 4lb) can also be infected but we took a chance on this small one and - fingers crossed - no symptoms so far.

By happy chance we found ourselves anchored next to the same charter boat we had been next to the previous evening. The three crew, from Yorkshire, were also wanting to take the tour to the famous frigate bird colony on this island. We teamed up and managed to engage George Graham who is the premier guide here.

He whizzed us across the inland lagoon, separated from the sea by a narrow strip of land and took us right in amongst the mangroves which provide the nesting site for thousands upon thousands of frigate birds. Well, the sight of this massive colony just took our breath away - and we were only on one side of it.

"We enjoy the neighbourliness..."

"Gee whizz- aren't I irresistible dressed like this darling?"

"Where's my breakfast Mum?"

These photos cannot adequately show what this massive colony was like with huge numbers of birds wheeling overhead and filling the sky, jockeying for position whilst waiting to swoop in and find their nestlings. Their GPS is second to none!

George told us that the colony stretched back by half a mile and was over a mile wide, and is likely the biggest in the world. He also showed us the upside-down jelly fish that inhabit the lagoon.

After the two-hour tour, George took us over to Codrington on the far side of the lagoon - the only ‘town’ on Barbuda. It is named after the family who leased it from England beginning in 1685 in exchange for one fat sheep p.a. Shops are few and far between.

Returning us to the coastal side of the lagoon, where we had left our dinghies near the Barbuda Outbar 

it was (unexpectedly) open so beer and barbecued lobster with our new-found Yorkshire friends could not be resisted. Regret I didn't get a photo with Ruth in it but David and Martin are shown below.

A great way to end a fabulous tour.

The view out to sea from here sums it up - Follyfin centre stage. Now you know why I called it a tropical paradise.

 

Hello Antigua

This post is being composed whilst gently bobbing at anchor in Nonsuch Bay, Antigua, a reef-protected expanse of water covering several square miles. Incredible to think that as we gaze out to the east, there is only a reef between us and the Atlantic Ocean rolling unbroken from Africa. Turquoise, shallow, warm water over sand has encouraged even the Skipper to swim several times a day whilst I have been enjoying snorkelling over the nearby reefs; so many fish of all shapes, sizes and colours and such clear water. The coral is so colourful and so alive with so many different types. Yesterday we saw two sting rays, one from on board as it swam under the boat. It has been a great place to spend the weekend. The sunsets here have been fabulous, especially so last evening.

Arrived in Falmouth Harbour on Tuesday evening (17 January) after a fabulous beam reach passage up from Guadeloupe (Follyfin averaged 7.0kn - a record) and during which we caught a large mahi-mahi fish, 85cm long which has been feeding us for the last week. You'd be surprised how many ways this excellent fish can be served: ceviche, sautéed fillet, pasta Follyfin, curried and chowder to name but some.

Note - this is a fish of the same species caught on our Atlantic crossing, as a reminder to those who might have forgotten what they look like. I was busy operating the gaff on the latest catch so no pics!

We spent the first couple of days doing the tourist thing. English Harbour sits side by side with Falmouth and is only a short walk away. It is home of Nelson’s Dockyard, the foundations of which were begun in 1745. Completed in 1789, it was Britain’s main naval station in the Caribbean Lesser Antilles with Nelson himself being stationed here in 1784. Over the centuries it gradually fell into disrepair but has now been fully restored and is the only example of an 18th century Caribbean dockyard/harbour as it used to be.

It is all the better for still being fully functional, it attracts some beautiful classic yachts, and is home to the Sunsail Charter company. Falmouth Harbour is much larger, with two marinas designed for super yachts, of which there are many. This one shown below headed out from the marina past us one morning… aptly named Vertigo it is 223ft long, 39ft wide and has a draft of 5.1m. 

And it's not just their yachts that the rich and famous show off here. On our way up to Nonsuch Bay, we passed under Indian Creek Point (250ft), the whole of which is occupied by Eric Clapton’s mansion. Yes, Antigua really is a paradise for the wealthy but luckily small fry like us can also enjoy it in passing.

Wednesday afternoon saw us taking a water taxi from Nelson's Dockyard over to Galleons Beach where the trail up to Shirley Heights Lookout (490ft) begins. We opted for the long way up, taking us along the coast first and through a most exotic population of cacti, conjuring up HG Wells’ tryphids.

Shirley Heights, named after the Governor of Antigua in Nelson's time, affords a magnificent viewpoint over English and Falmouth Harbours.

It's easy to see why the potential of these bays was recognised back in the 18th century as they are very sheltered from storms and hurricanes, easily defended against the French (mainly) and immediate access to the trade winds. The much shorter way down via the Nicholson Trail (named after Desmond Nicholson who’s father Vernon not only instigated the restoration of Nelson's Dockyard when he found it in ruins in 1947 but also founded Nicholsons Charter Co., the first charter yacht company in the Caribbean) leads through forest with some interesting plants.

We departed Falmouth on Thursday afternoon, heading east and anchoring in Mamora Bay one night, then Ricketts harbour the next before arriving here… in paradise! Next stop will be Barbuda, after we have revisited Customs in English Harbour to fulfill the complicated formalities, and reprovisioned (and of course, uploaded this blog post!)