Memorable moments … Sun 25th – Tues 27th March 2018

Memorable moments   …   Sun 25^th – Tues 27^th March 2018

Not every memory from this trip will be a pleasant one. This morning we are anchored in Falmouth harbor, Antigua after an excellent passage from Guadeloupe. It’s early and a beautiful cloudless blue sky surrounds us as we sit in the cockpit to drink our morning coffee. The sun is already hot and we head below to cook breakfast. I’ve finished browning the toast and crack the first egg to drop in the pan, but this one is different from normal. A thin liquid erupts into the pan and the boat is instantly filled with the worst smell I have ever encountered (and we’re chemists, well practiced at making bad smells!). This egg is bad – no sign on the outside but moldy green on the inside. The hazmat response team springs into action, the shell goes overboard fast, along with the contents of the pan, and thorough washing-up is followed by plenty of bleach down the drain. It’s tough enough keeping on top of dirt and odors on a boat without rotten eggs!

Anyway, moving onto to more pleasant things….

We spent Sunday in Deshaies doing WiFi and checking-out of immigration and customs; as with all French islands this was a trivial process of simply filling in a form on a computer in a shop, printing it and getting it signed and stamped. There’s a nominal processing fee (in this case 4 euros) that hardly compares to the $50 US that we just spent checking into Antigua. In the afternoon we had time to go walking and in the evening prepared the boat for departure.

It was a fabulous sail up from Deshaies, Guadeloupe to Falmouth harbor, Antigua. We left at 6.15 am and covered the 42 miles in a little less than 7 hours. Winds were 12-17 knots from the ESE and we were sailing due north. We set full main and genoa, switched on the autopilot and enjoyed a relaxing passage. Oh yes, and we caught a fish; a beautiful female MahiMahi (Dorado / Dolphin fish) about 3 foot long, maybe 6 pounds or so! The lime-green colors of these fish when they first come out of the water are stunning. After filleting, we think there is enough meat for three meals. We ate one portion for dinner, sautéed with lime and ginger butter, served with white rice and green beans. Awesome! For dessert we continued the theme and sautéed some fresh pineapple in butter, brown sugar and fresh passion fruit. These are the things that I want to remember!

Mike



We saw a great display of seine net fishing here in the harbor at Deshaies. The following shots attempt to capture some of the action ...

The yellow boat circles an area dropping the net and floats. As they complete the circle they start to pull the net closed. There is a diver in the water who may be there to ensure the net doesn't catch on anything or to discourage fish from swimming out of the gap or to ensure turtles are not ensnared.

At this point the circle of net is getting progressively smaller, trapping the fish

A second, smaller boat comes alongside and the contents of the net are tipped into this boat

The nets are tied up and prepared for the next round. In northern latitudes seagulls would be circling, here it's frigate birds looking for discarded fish.

We were walking by the side of a small road when we saw a hummingbird low to the ground. It stopped moving and we saw that it had landed ona  nest about the size of a thimble (maybe 2cm wide). It took me the best part of an hour to get close enough with my 100 mm macro lens to get this shot). The bird didn't seem too bothered by my presence but wasn't so keen on the flash. My camera flash also seems to have a pre-flash which is a bit of an issue ... but that's what prompts the wing motion seen here.

The waterfront at Deshaies

An incredible sunset at Deshaies. A quick note on brightness ... I work up most of my shots in the evenings with low light in the boat.  It is sometimes hard to judge the right level of brightness. This shot looked bright enough when I worked it up, but looks really dark as I sit outside in the WiFi zone. It's easy enough for me to change later ... so I'll look again and re-edit / post as needed.