Back on Board Cotinga

Back on Board Cotinga

12 April 2024

Our two week trip back to the USA was excellent, but it all went by so quickly! The flight out of  Antigua was delayed by two hours and so we missed our connection in Miami and had to spend a night in a hotel. However, other than that, the travel went fine. We were relieved to find no issues with our house, apart from evidence of some mouse activity and an infestation of lady bugs. Having spent the last several months in the tropics, it was a bit of a shock to experience a Nor’easter storm with wind, sleet and snow. 

One major project we accomplished, with help from Gloria’s brother Rod, was to machine some Delrin (acetal) bushes to connect the autopilot radial arm to hydraulic ram. It was fun to see Rod working on his lathe and drill press, and the new parts fit perfectly. 

Whilst at home, we managed to complete our 2023 tax forms and submit them on line, only to realize a day later that we had missed out two key pieces of interest income. This caused me to have a minor meltdown. Our friend Lee was staying with us at the time and had the dubious honor of experiencing my ranting … sorry about that Lee! One of the items that we had missed was an interest payment from the IRS because they took three years to process our 2020 taxes and issue a refund! There is nothing that raises my blood pressure more reliably than the annual process of filing our tax returns. I don’t object to the paying of the taxes, it’s how complicated the system is that really drives me nuts! In fairness, it only took 15 or 20 minutes for us to go on-line and file an amendment, so it wasn’t such a big deal. 

We also worked our way through a lengthy shopping list of things that we wanted or needed for the boat. These included a replacement shower sump, new dock and dinghy davit lines, spare zincs (sacrificial anodes), new swim flippers (for Mike) and several food items from Costco. When we returned our two checked bags were overweight and we had to do some frantic re-shuffling at the airport. The food caused us a little anxiety upon arrival back in Antigua as we had blocks of cheese, cold meats and bacon, all of which should be declared upon entry, but we cruised right through customs with no issues.

We spent the majority of the visit catching up with some of our family and friends, which was great, but inevitably time passed too quickly and we didn’t get to see everyone that we hoped to. Still, that gives us something to look forward to when we return home in the summer.

One of the main drivers for making the trip home was to see the solar eclipse. Our friends Sue and Stew have a farm up in Vermont that was close to the path of totality and they had invited us up to stay for the event. We had a great time visiting them and seeing first-hand how much progress they have made with their property. They plan to grow asparagus, blackberries and hazelnuts, and are doing a ton of work to get this established. Their daughter Paige was also visiting and the five of us drove an hour further north to join their friends Randy and Stacy outside Montpelier. They had a 10 inch telescope and a solar telescope set up, and we had a wonderful afternoon watching the moon slowly move across the sun. The sunlight gradually declined and the quality of the light changed, becoming eerily grey. The temperature dropped significantly and in the final seconds the earth went dark. We were in totality for about 90 seconds and it was an amazing experience. To me it felt like being in a Sci-Fi movie where you look up and a huge mass has completely blocked out the sun. This is quite possibly the last full eclipse in the USA that we will have the opportunity to see in our lifetimes. We were exceptionally lucky that the skies were clear (more or less) and I am sorely tempted to try and see more eclipses in other countries.

Gloria’s brother Rod is joining us for the next couple of weeks as we make our way south. We met in Miami airport and shared the same flight back to Antigua. The plan is for Rod to fly back from St Lucia and there are many places that we would like to stop on route, more than we have time for in two weeks! Anyway, we are back on board and have mostly completed a long list of jobs ready for departure. We intend to leave the dock this afternoon, anchor outside Jolly Harbor and make an early departure tomorrow for Guadeloupe. It is likely to be a “salty” sail …!

Mike

This is a poster that I made from iPhone photos taken handheld through the solar telescope. Each of the shots taken throughout the progression were cropped square. The colors are not edited or enhanced, simply what my iPhone captured through the telescope. 

Below are five of the shots in their original (4x5) format.