Antigua from a different perspective

Antigua from a different perspective

Wed 13 - Sat 16 Dec 2023

We may be living in paradise but there are still plenty of boat jobs that need doing. Having returned from our excursion up north, we settled back in to life in the anchorage at Jolly Harbor and made a list of jobs that needed to be completed before Tasha and Mac arrive on Sunday. These included changing the engine oil, topping up the diesel tanks and refilling the diesel jerry cans, tidying away our stuff to create some space, cleaning the inside of the boat, laundry, refilling a propane tank, re-provisioning … and more cleaning! Jolly Harbor is a great place to tackle many of these projects; there is a waste oil disposal site, a service-only laundry and a fuel dock. You can leave an empty propane tank and they will take it away to be re-filled and return it the following day. There is also a good supermarket … actually it’s a Waitrose, a well renowned chain in the UK. We spent Wednesday and Thursday tackling these jobs, making numerous wet dinghy rides into the marina, as the winds remained strong and kicked up quite a chop in the anchorage. It’s quite hot here, so the breeze is welcome, but rain showers / squalls pass through with some regularity, requiring us to shut all the hatches. It’s always a relief to open them again once the shower has passed. It seems like the evenings are when it rains the most, often around dinner time, then it stops and we open up the ventilation, only to have it start raining again 30 minutes after we have gone to bed!

Mike

On Friday, as a break from boat jobs, we decided to visit a local nature preserve/park.  Mike had read on line that there were stone monoliths to be seen and some birding and hiking in that area.  Equipped with lunch, water and binoculars we went in search of a taxi to take us to this park.  The taxi driver seemed a little bemused but consulted some other drivers and we set off.  After a few miles along the main road to the north, we turned onto a dirt road that quickly degenerated into many potholes and large puddles.  I got the impression that our driver was regretting taking us to our destination.  After about a mile, he elected to turn around, dropping us on the track.  Off we strode.  

After a short distance, we encountered a friendly chap who told us that we were really in the wrong place to visit the park with the monoliths (the Antiguan Stonehenge).  That area could be accessed from a valley on the other side of the ridge!  He did tell us about the track we were walking along and a “government station” further along.  We had a very interesting conversation with Bernard Nichols who told us about his Scottish grandfather, his early career as a rigger for the BBC both in Antigua and in the UK and his current work as a farmer.  

Following the information we gleaned from Bernard we took a pleasant walk along the track.  The vegetation was dense with many trees and plants that we couldn’t identify.  Looking across the valley, we could see cliffs to the left and hills to the right.  Some areas along the track appeared to be under cultivation, other areas seemed to be more wild.  Once we reached the iron gates of the “government station”, we were in a more manicured area where some plants and trees had once been labeled with signs—now indecipherable.

Walking further we came to the buildings that perhaps had once been the hub of the “government station”.  Even though it was Friday, no workers were present.  There were many rows of young plants and trees in pots presumably for sale.  We noted some sour sop bushes, mango trees and pomegranate bushes.  We spotted a few hummingbirds, a broad winged hawk and eventually saw some Nutmeg Mannikins, a new “life bird” for us.  

To return we walked back along the track to the main road.  Then we had a 40 minute trudge along the shoulder of the main road.  It was a pretty hot walk but not too difficult.  We were quite happy to see the turning for Jolly Harbor and the marina.

Gloria

The strong trade winds brought out a couple of "wing foilers". We were fascinated to see this for the first time because our friend Dave Anderson has been learning to do this out on the Columbia River in Oregon. Now we have seen it first hand it's easier to understand dave's descriptions.

Some quite fierce squalls passed through the Jolly Harbor anchorage this week with gusts to just over 30 knots. We also managed to get soaked with fresh water a couple of times when we encountered squalls during our dinghy runs to town. The rest of the time we just got covered with salt spray!

The sun rises over the hills behind Jolly Harbor

Bernard Nichol, a friendly farmer we encountered on the track we were walking. He had a lot of interesting stories and helpful advice.

I created this photo using focus-stacking techniques, combining 30 individual shots taken automatically at variable focal lengths using the focus shift control on my camera 

"Fallen Hibiscus" is my favorite picture from Friday's hike. Again created using focuys stacking techniques, but I only used the first 10 frames of the set of 50 that I shot, choosing to leave the petals out of focus. (I have stacked the full set, and it also gives an interesting picture, but it needs a lot of detailed corrections to the stamen part of the image. I doubt that I will find the result as appealing visually)

I continue to work on a "Caribbean reptiles" project and took these shots up at the Government Station. The lizards were very skittish and it took a lot of effort to get these shots.

These lizard shots were taken without flash ... mostly because I left the flash gun on the boat!

A Reconnaissance Mission

A Reconnaissance Mission

Monday 11th - Tuesday 12th Dec 2023

When we visited Antigua in 2018 we never explored the northern section of the coast. Chris Doyle’s guidebook suggests that this area has some of the best anchorages on the island. When our family and friends visit we’d like to show them all our favorite spots, but recognize that time will be short and we almost certainly can’t do everything. So we decided we would take some time this week to travel up to the north east coast and check it out. Parham Sound is partially protected by a series of reefs and small rocky islands and is approached by sailing eastwards along the Boon channel, which is also fringed by reefs to the north. We approached this journey with some trepidation because there are many coral heads that require good visibility and precise navigation to avoid. The conditions weren’t ideal with moderately strong north easterly trades, but we figured we could talk ourselves out of ever leaving Jolly Harbor, and so off we set!

It took us over three hours of hard motoring to cover 14 miles up the west coast and along the Boon Channel. We had pre-loaded waypoints to guide us through the shallow, tricky sections of the main approach, and had highlighted three potential anchorages. It was a very bumpy ride. It’s not often that we get full salt spray in our faces whilst standing in the cockpit. We followed the recommended route and once we arrived in Parham Sound, chose the best protected of the three anchorages, just off Long Island. We were very keen to go to the uninhabited Great Bird Island, which is supposed to be beautiful, but the anchorage is not that well protected from strong north easterly winds and swells, and it was blowing 20-25 knots. More seriously, the last couple of miles of the route to that anchorage are the most challenging in terms of obstacle to navigation, and with so much wind we felt there was too little room for error.

We had a lovely, peaceful night off Long Island. There is no going ashore as it’s all privately owned. In the morning, after a leisurely start involving banana pancakes, we checked the weather again, to find that conditions would only become worse over the next few days. We were happy to have established a track to Parham Sound, but realized we were not going to be able to check out Great Bird Island on this trip. We debated sitting tight for two days, but in the end decided we would sail back to Jolly Harbor, where we could at least go to shore whilst the strong trade winds persisted. 

And what a sail we had! The winds were sustained 25+ knots from the north east, and we also got hit by a couple of squalls. The highest gust we saw was 35 knots. After motoring the first two miles through a couple of narrow sections, we sailed the remaining twelve miles with just a partially furled Genoa on a broad reach / down wind.  It was a wild ride! At one point we were surfing at 9.8 knots down the waves. We don’t do a lot of robust downwind sailing and this was cool! 

Back at Jolly Harbor, a little over two hours later, we anchored almost exactly in the spot we had left. Unfortunately, a couple from the catamaran behind us came over in their dinghy to tell us they were dragging and their anchor was under our boat. They were right … and wrong … they were dragging but their anchor was no longer under our boat. Anyway after much faffing around (they pulled up, re-anchored, weren’t happy …) we offered to pull up and move elsewhere. It took us a couple of attempts to get settled into a good spot. It’s tough to line up on a precise dropping point when it’s blowing 25 knots. I think it’s unlikely we will go to shore today, but we feel pretty secure with 100 feet of chain out in 12 feet of water and an anchor alarm set.

Mike

Dramatic skies as a squall passes by in the Boon Channel. Gloria thought I was insane trying to take photos at this point, and it was hard to shoot one handed as I held on with the other (my camera is heavy!) but it was worth it ... I love this shot!

This picture gives a little more impression of how wild the conditions were

The partially furled genoa ... off-the-wind sailing is so much more pleasant than beating into the winds and waves!

The "Dainty Dog" had a blast

A cargo vessel departing form St John is partially hidden by another passing squall

Exploring Pearns Point

Exploring Pearns Point

Sunday December 10^th, 2023

After breakfast, we went by dinghy to a beach on the north side of Jolly Harbor in an area called “The Bay”.  Our initial thought was to walk from the beach to the top of Pearns Hill.  Looking at the two dimensional chart, this seemed quite possible.  Once we landed on the beach and secured the dinghy, we looked at the three dimensional reality of Pearns Hill.  Achieving the summit seemed highly unlikely.  We did take a walk out to Pearns Point where we were able to peak over into Five Island Bay.  The entire area behind the beach and up the steep hill seems to be owned by a development company.  There are some paved roads, an area where homes are being constructed and many signs for different “Lots”.  We assume that these are for sale to those wishing to build a home with a great view (and many engineering challenges!).

Following a different route on our way back we came upon an area of hillside covered in a bush with tubular yellow flowers.  Here we spotted numerous humming birds that seemed to be chasing one another.  We could identify two types, the Antillean crested hummingbird and the green-throated carib. Quite a few minutes went by while we watched and photographed these very lively birds. 

We trekked back to the beach and dragged the dinghy into the water.  It was back to the boat for lunch. In the afternoon we did some testing of our VHF radio.  Mike went in the dinghy with the handheld radio and called me.  It seems the radio on the big boat is loud and clear with either microphone, except when the engine is running!  At that point the mic in the cockpit is not clear.  Good to know but potentially hard to solve, some kind of electrical interference from the engine.  More mysterious electrical problems….

Gloria

Antillean Crested Hummingbird ... In this image I have de-saturated the color of the background leaves (because I found it distracting). 

Antillean Crested Hummingbird ... I sat on the hillside underneath the flowering shrubs, with hummingbirds buzzing all around. I cleared some small branches out of the way and waited for the birds to return to this perch, which they did with some regularity. However, they are so jumpy and their reaction times are phenomenal, so the sound of the shutter opening startles them and the flash catches their motion. 105 mm Nikon micro lens ... within 3 feet of the bird

Traveller palms, a favorite plant subject of mine. In this case you are looking at the inverted (negative) of the photograph, obviously not lifelike, but I like the abstract result.

The view west from Pearns Point

Wind and Rain

Wind and Rain

Friday 8th - Saturday 9th Dec 2023

On Friday morning we took the dinghy into Jolly Harbor (Inner harbor) and tied up at the government dock. We cleared in at Health, Customs, Immigration and Port Authority; separate departments, each occupying their own office and requiring their own paperwork, but all coordinated on the veranda of the building. It took about 90 minutes, and to be fair, all of the officials were friendly and welcoming. There were no problems getting cleared in until 9th January.

We were feeling sort of lazy, so we returned to Cotinga and had a relatively quiet afternoon hanging out on board. We did a small load of laundry, washing and rinsing in a 3 gallon bucket, and then strung it all up on lines in the cockpit. This was the only signal the weather gods needed and within half an hour the first of a series of squalls came roaring through with high winds and quite a lot of rain. Down came the laundry, then back up, then down again, as repeated rainstorms swept through the area until the following morning. We ended up rigging clothes lines inside the main cabin of the boat … it wasn’t pretty and cooking dinner with damp t-shirts and undies hanging round your ears is not an experience I’m in a hurry to repeat!

All night the boat creaked and groaned as the anchor snubber (a strong line attached to the anchor chain and to cleats on the bow) continuously tightened and eased, and squeaked across the bow roller. When we went into the cockpit in the morning, after 36 hours at anchor, we realized that our position had changed and we had started to drag. Normally we set an anchor alarm using a small handheld GPS unit, but this died and we are awaiting a replacement when Tasha arrives. We tend not to use the chart plotter at the nav station as this takes up a fair bit of electricity, and we have become so confident (complacent) in our anchoring technique that we didn’t have an alarm set up. It’s highly disconcerting that this happened; not only did we have 80 feet of chain out in 12 feet of water, but our Rocna anchor is great and once set, we have never dragged. Why did it happen after we had been solid for the past 36 hours? In any event we pulled up the anchor (a lot of sand and some grass) and moved in closer to shore and re-anchored with 100ft of chain in 10 ft of water, backing down strongly (2200 rpm). It was blowing hard with gusts up to 25 knots, but other than significant swinging we stayed exactly where we started. 

We spent an hour or two just checking everything was secure (and drying our laundry) before heading into the dinghy dock. Our arrival coincided with the return of a charter fishing boat that unloaded a small tuna, a medium barracuda and two large wahoo. I was jealous, it’s my ambition to catch a wahoo! The captain said it was “blowing a hurricane out there” and the client said it was “really rough”. It made us feel good about the timing of our passage from St Martin. We wandered along to the lovely Valley Church beach, had a swim and photographed some lizards. On our return we were relieved to find Cotinga where we left her!

Mike

17 04.547 N, 61 53.571 W

A late afternoon squall clears out as the sun returns (view west from our first anchor spot)

The lovely Valley Church Beach ... about a 1 mile walk from Jolly Harbor

A cooperative lizard at Valley Church Beach

This specimen clearly has some modeling experience!

Sunset Saturday evening after teh squally weather has cleared out ... from our second anchor spot

Passage to Antigua

Passage to Antigua

Thursday 7th Dec 2023

We really enjoyed our stay in St Martin but it was time to move on. We have family and friends coming to visit in Antigua and so we were looking for a decent weather window to make the passage. Antigua is south-east from St Martin and a little less than 100 nm away. The forecast was for a brief lull in the trade winds, caused by a frontal system pushing south. After this it looked like stronger winter trades, what we think are referred to as the Christmas winds, would become more established. 

After dinner on Wednesday we caught a few hours of sleep and then got up for a midnight departure. The dinghy was stored on the foredeck, we had some food / snacks prepared and we hoisted the main sail whilst still on the mooring. The conditions were calm and it was an easy departure. We can overlay the radar image with the chart on our plotter and we had pre-marked target waypoints as well as a couple of navigational hazards within Marigot Bay. It was actually super-easy to drop the mooring and head out to the north-east up the Anguilla channel. Once past the eastern point of St Martin we headed south east, passing to the north of St Barts and almost directly towards Antigua. 

The winds were really light (< 5kts) and the seas were relatively calm. We got to see a beautiful moonrise and the sunrise. We mostly motor-sailed, but the winds gradually increased during the day and backed to the north-east, and shortly after lunchtime we turned off the engine and were able to sail the final four hours into Jolly Harbor. It was a pleasant and uneventful passage. Highlights included seeing several masked boobies that are quite rare (a threatened species) and we did some fishing. We actually hooked three fish, the first and third got off the hook, but the second we hauled in to the stern of the boat. This was a large barracuda with scary looking teeth.  We didn’t want to keep it, so I grabbed some pliers to try and get the hook out without being bitten. As I attempted to do this, the fish wriggled and snapped the line and was gone, unfortunately with the hook still in his mouth. 

The most challenging aspect of the journey was avoiding the lobster pot floats. As we noted on a previous blog, we had snagged a float during our approach to St Martin and we were worried about getting tangled up. Much of the ocean between St Martin and Antigua is > 1000 ft deep, but there are many areas, like underwater plateaus, where the depths are around 200 feet, and we were stunned to see lobster floats along the whole journey. Some of these were 40 nm from land. It was hard to spot them looking into the sun, so in the end we decided to navigate around the shallow areas and stick to the deeper water. 

We arrived in Jolly Harbor just before sunset, dropped anchor and raised our quarantine flag. Tomorrow we will start the check-in process, which is likely to be long and tedious … in the finest traditions of British bureaucracy. 

We are really excited to be here! We think we nailed the timing on this passage and possibly caught the last decent weather window before Tasha and Mac arrive on the 17th Dec. The cruising between islands from here on is more north-south and should be easier going and less dependent on specific weather conditions.

17 04.500 N, 61 53.860 W

Mike

Pre-dawn to the east of St Barts

The suns rays appear over the horizon - always a welcome sight

The view from our cockpit at anchor in Jolly Harbor

We enjoyed a cold beverage whilst watching the sun go down behind us in Jolly Harbor

Two trips to the candy store

Two trips to the candy store

Monday Dec 4^th to Wednesday Dec 6^th, 2023

After our adventures on Anguilla, we were feeling somewhat tired on Monday morning.  One of our ambitions was to go to Grand Case, the gastronomic capital of the French side of the island.  However, two adventurous days in a row seemed a step too far.  Instead we went by dinghy through the cut into the lagoon behind Marigot.  After a fairly long dinghy ride to the Dutch side of the lagoon, we arrived at the dock of Budget Marine.  This is claimed to be the biggest marine store in the Caribbean.  It was very impressive! We managed to get the large zinc for our boat, a replacement dock line (for the one that our mooring attachment has nearly severed) and some anti-chafe tubing to protect lines in the future.  Considering the wide variety of “boaty” gear we showed decent restraint.  Budget Marine makes that large chain of US boat stores (West Marine) look like a clothing shop.

Our trip to the lagoon took us past a place selling diesel and gasoline.  After lunch Mike took the jerry cans back to the fuel dock via dinghy.  Topping up with diesel was part of our preparation for the next leg of the journey.  The weather forecast was suggesting a departure late on Wednesday, so we still have one whole day for an outing to Grand Case.

After the usual morning routine, we went to shore and walked up to the main road.  We managed to find the actual bus depot and found the correct bus.  Once we thought we had arrived in Grand Case we hopped off the bus.  A kindly couple pointed us in the right direction and we found our way onto the beach.  A local resident recommended Lolo’s for lunch.  We felt that 11 am was a bit early for lunch so we walked along the beach, and returned to Lolo’s shortly after noon.  The whole place was hopping.  A large group occupying two tables seemed to be soaking up all the attention of the wait-staff.  Meanwhile, we watched the action at the BBQ grill and serving area.  Three or four women were in command and ribs were being grilled, chopped and plated along with a large selection of sides.  When our food came, we thought we might have over done it by ordering ribs and chicken!  It was a massive plate of food!  It was fantastic! Mike actually managed to eat all of his food.  I made a valiant effort but couldn’t finish.  Fortunately, we went for a walk right after lunch otherwise we might have been napping on the beach for the rest of the day.  

Today, Wednesday, we walked to the port office and checked out.  Then we walked to the “Super U” for some provisions.  (Grocery stores on French islands are nearly another candy store for foodies).  Back to the boat for lunch was followed by more “selective” provisioning.  We have been making preparations to leave this evening—the dinghy is on the foredeck, the sail cover has been removed.  Hopefully all goes well. 

Gloria

Panorama of the beach at Grand Case

Gloria on the beach at Grand Case

An English lady from Torquay who kindly agreed to be the foreground subject in this photo, as well as giving us some good advice on where to walk.

Teenage kid diving off the pier

Marigot Bay from Fort Louis after sunset

Sunset from Fort Louis

The mooring field in Marigot Bay, with the walls of the Fort Louis Marina in the foreground. Cotinga is the third boat out from the sea wall near the left of the photo.

It looks cute ... BUT it's a cat ... go figure!

In Praise of the Governor of Anguilla

In Praise of the Governor of Anguilla 

Sunday 3rd Dec 2023

Julia Crouch was appointed Governor of Anguilla by King Charles III. She was sworn in just three months ago, so it’s a little early to say how well it’s going, and frankly, we are hardly in a position to judge. What we can can say with certainty is that Julia is an extremely kind and thoughtful woman.

If I said that our day-trip to Anguilla didn’t go as planned it would imply that there was some planning … there wasn’t. Anguilla is a British Overseas Territory and is just a few short miles from St Martin, with frequent ferry connections. The ferry terminal itself is only 30 yards away from the dinghy dock we have been using in Marigot Bay. On Sunday morning we decided it would be a good day to make a visit. We didn’t read any guide books, we didn’t even check out the ferry prices, we just took a photo of the ferry schedule pinned up on the terminal wall. We assumed that we could pay by credit card, and we envisaged the ferry landing in the main town and being able to wander round and plan our day once we got there. None of this turned out to be correct! The process of leaving St Martin (France) and boarding the ferry was simple enough and the ferry ride only took 20 minutes. However, you have to pay departure tax (US$5 out, US$8 back) and the fare in cash (US$30 each way, per person). The arrival process in Anguilla (Britain) was more formal, but again, pretty straightforward. Once, we left the arrivals hall we realized that the ferry terminal isn’t in a town at all. In fact there aren’t any major towns on the island, it’s really a dispersed set of smaller communities. We couldn’t afford to take a taxi (shortage of cash) and weren’t willing to pay for a hire car (we are too cheap) and so we set off walking across the island, with a specific destination of an ATM machine that we hoped would relieve our financial concerns. We walked for about 2 miles along fairly flat, quiet roads, but it was hot. Anguilla is a coral island and as such more similar to the Bahamas than the other volcanic islands of the Caribbean, like St Martin. Unfortunately, when we got to the ATM machine it was out of order and another 2 miles to either Road Bay, which we thought looked like it would be beautiful (but no ATMs), or the center of the island and the closest bank. At this point we weren’t sure what to do and were feeling really stupid about not planning our trip more carefully. We asked a local guy about getting a taxi to the bank, but that didn’t seem too promising, so I stuck my thumb out in the hope of flagging down a taxi or catching a ride. Within two minutes a car pulled up, which we noticed had “Governor” on the license plate. The lady inside, who was indeed Julia Crouch the Governor of Antigua, kindly offered to give us a ride. In fact, she drove us over to the bank in the center of the island and then back to beach at Road Bay.

We were simply amazed that the Governor took the time and trouble to help us out and it was a pleasure to meet her and hear a little about her new role. Prior to her recent appointment, Julia had worked in the embassy in Moscow, during some challenging times. Firstly, the Covid pandemic and then the start of the Ukraine war. In her current role as the Governor of Antigua she is responsible, amongst other things, for international relations, security and prisons. The local government is run by of the premier (who we believe is appointed by the Governor) and the elected officials.

After being dropped of in Road Bay we had lunch at Elvis’s bar, sitting in the shade on a pristine white coral sand beach. In the afternoon we wandered back around the salt pond behind the beach and saw a few interesting birds (yellowlegs, black necked stilt, snowy egret). Another local driver, a long time resident from the Netherlands, offered us a lift up the hill to the main road, and we wandered the remaining 2 miles back to the ferry terminal. Our day-trip to Anguilla turned out to be quite the adventure!

Julia, if you get to read this, many thanks for all your help!

Mike

The beautiful beach at Road Bay, Anguilla

A Lesser Yellowlegs in Road Bay Salt Pond

A passing squall on our ferry ride back across the Anguilla Passage to St Martin

A wildflower that I photographed using focus stacking techniques back on board Cotinga (It took a bit of editing to fix some overlay errors on the stamen)