Latitude 17°00.98’N
Longitude 061°46.39’W
We are having a blast!!!
Our friends Syd & Liz joined us March 2nd for a week. We were in Jolly Harbour, Antigua when they arrived. It was really windy the whole week but not a drop of rain. There was lots of time for swimming, snorkeling and enjoying the scenery and time for a little excitement as well. While sailing from Jolly Harbour to Falmouth Harbour on March 4th, the fitting at the foot of the Genny disintegrated and the head sail blew out of the furling track. Our first instinct was that the forestay had let go and we were all looking to see if the mast was next. Fortunately, the forestay was intact, the sail was still attached at the mast head and we were able to haul it all in on the deck, with no harm done, except a few missed heartbeats.
Falmouth Harbour is a big, protected bay full of Mega Yachts, both sail & power and just a short walk to English Harbour and Nelson’s Dockyard. (We will have to learn how to post pictures on the Blog). The Antigua Yacht Club is based here and home to The Antigua Classic Yacht Race mid April as well as the gigantic Antigua Race Week the last week of April. We are planning to crew for our friends Rick & Carey on their yawl Memory in the Classic Boat Races.
Sunday night we took a taxi to Shirley Heights for a Bar-B-Q and some great music with a local Steel Drum Band. Probably the best we had ever heard. The panoramic views from the top of Shirley Heights were breathtaking, looking out across the open water of the Atlantic Ocean in one direction, then looking down into a very picturesque English Harbour with Falmouth in the background, then looking across the mountainous island. WOW! Shirley Heights was used as a signal station to warn the navy of the enemy approaching. This whole area is a national park, filled with forts and ruins from the days when the English and French were at war. Lord Nelson was based here. The history is quite interesting.
From Falmouth, we beat to windward up the East Coast to Green Island and Nonsuch Bay. We anchored in a tiny cove protected from the waves by a network of coral reefs.
On Friday, we enjoyed an afternoon at Harmony Hall in Brown Bay, a restored Sugar Mill now housing a restaurant, art gallery and gift shop. After ordering drinks, we climbed to the top of the old sugar mill and enjoyed the view, including watching a race around the buoys by the local yacht club. As all good things come to an end, we said goodbye to Syd and Liz on Saturday morning.
It was great to have company but then we needed to relax. Green Island was the place for that (it is uninhabited). We read, snorkeled and generally did nothing for a couple of days. Sunday night was perfect as we enjoyed home made pizza and a movie in the cockpit. Life does not get any better than that.
Monday morning came & it was time to move on, as we were expecting more guests on Wed. (the 14th) We wanted to return to Jolly Harbour Marina as it is a great place to reprovision and meet quests. We had an incredible 4 hour downwind sail to cover the 20 miles. It was so much better than the beat to windward of the week before.
The 14th arrived and so did Steve, Gerry & Sean. More fun in store. Jolly Harbour is on the West coast of Antigua, and we decided to head north. We spent a night in Deep Cove, and then went into St. John’s for the afternoon before moving to an anchorage in Dickenson Bay. Saturday we beat to windward, again, to head east. We covered 49 miles before arriving in Green Island. I think we gave the guys a real good idea of what ocean sailing is about. Now Pat & I can say we have circumnavigated the island of Antigua. Today we arrived in Falmouth after a nice short 9 mile run. Pat, Steve, Gerry & Sean went up to Shirley Heights tonight to enjoy the Bar-B-Q and the steel band. I decided to stay home for some quiet time and to get caught up on the blog.
We are able to pick up Wi Fi on the boat, so it is a real treat to sit at the nav station and enjoy the benefits of the internet instead of sitting in some café or bar.
Take care everyone and please keep in touch.
Fair Winds,
Miriam
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Friday, March 2, 2007
Antigua
Wednesday February 28
Hello from Jolly Harbour, Antigua,West Indies.
Latitude 17° 04.4’ N
Longitude 061° 53.6’ W
A week has come and gone & we put on a lot of miles for a shakedown cruise. After launching Rhiannon last week, we discovered the depth sounder was not working (something you can not check while on dry land) then worried about what to do since we had a deadline of being in Antigua for March 2nd. We weighed the options, bought a hand held portable sounder that would at least get us into an anchorage, and decided to just go.
At 0730 Saturday morning Feb. 24 we found ourselves heading out of Prickly Bay with a good weather forecast. Once we cleared Pt. Salinas on the south west shore of Grenada, it would be a straight line to Antigua, 295 miles away. If you look at a map of the Caribbean, you will notice there are a lot of islands between here and there, so we had some bail out plans if things were not right on the boat. The sailing on Saturday was incredible, average 18 knot winds on a close reach with a course heading of 030 degrees magnetic. Winds were NE to E with a 5 foot NW ocean swell and lots of little NE wind driven waves. It was fun, exhilarating and most of all GREAT TO BE SAILING. (We did not go under 6 knots or alter course for more than 24 hours under a reefed main and reefed Genny).
Night fall came and it was time to take 3 hour watches. Sleeping in the main cabin proved to be more comfortable than our usual bed in the V Berth; as the Hobby Horse effect of the wind and waves is less noticeable midships. At this point we were 20 to 30 miles off shore of the closest islands but still felt the effects of the lee of the islands, and the effects of the open passages between them, something I never expected. One of the things I really love about sailing is that no matter how long you’ve been doing it, you learn something new every time you go out.
Night sailing can be very intimidating at times, especially when fighting sleep, and you start seeing things in the water or in the night sky, but it is also very magical.. One of the modifications Pat did to Rhiannon before leaving our land home the summer of 2005, was to extend the stainless pushpit around the cockpit. I often have the feeling of being in a playpen, confined and safe. I feel so safe and secure while standing in the cockpit, holding onto the stern rail looking into the water while heeled 15 degrees, it is reassuring and comfortable. There was a lot of florescence in the water that night. We have florescence in parts of the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Maine, but a lot of people have never seen it before. It is difficult to explain, but I thought the best way to describe it is it’s like looking at a million little sparklers dancing off the bow wave. Magical!
Another magical side of night sailing is the Stars. Normally while anchored, the Bimini covers the cockpit, for sun & rain protection and you never think of taking it down at night. Well, while sailing, the Bimini is rolled back about ¾ of the way and as you lie in the cockpit looking up at the sky, you start to notice constellations you have never seen before, and see our northern stars in different quadrants of the sky. At times like this, I always swear I will learn more about astronomy.
PS I guess I should mention that our 3rd crew member, Auto, was steering the boat the majority of the time and did an incredible job.
Sunday morning arrived and at 7:30 am we had covered 144 nautical miles totally under sail. Not bad for a 36 foot boat. Then about 2 pm. WHERE DID THE WIND GO? WE ARE WALLOWING! Time to take advantage of the calm and do some dishes etc., and start the motor to recharge the batteries, then at 4:30 the wind came back to 18 knots just as fast as it had died a couple of hours before. Interesting. By 5:45 she was blowing a constant 22 knots and time to reef in the Genny even more. The main sail was still reefed from the day before. Now we didn’t go under 7.2 knots. FUN!!! Rhiannon was singing. She liked this Trade Wind Sailing. By 9:30 pm we were finally in the lee of Guadeloupe and had to motor for an hour or so. By 11:45 we are sailing again, this time with gusts to 33 knots. It’s amazing how fast conditions change. We decided not to head out into open water in the middle of the night and that Deshaies was a great option. Deshaies is a sheltered bay in the North West corner of Guadeloupe we had visited last spring and knew it would be easy to enter in the dark. By 2 am Monday morning, we were poking our nose into the bay and dropping anchor in 50 feet of water. After feeling comfortable that we were well hooked, we both slept soundly till about 9 am, & enjoyed a day of rest. We did not get off the boat.
7:05 Tuesday morning, feeling re-energized, we headed out across the 45 mile open water passage arriving in Jolly Harbour on the West coast of Antigua around 2 pm. Another great sailing day: wind 14 to 18 knots with occasional gusts to 20, seas 7 to 10 feet, a typical sailing day in the West Indies and another milestone accomplished.
After clearing customs, immigration and paying the Port Authority, we anchored in 10 feet of water in Mosquito Cove & enjoyed a nice calm, relaxing evening.
By for now
Miriam.
Hello from Jolly Harbour, Antigua,West Indies.
Latitude 17° 04.4’ N
Longitude 061° 53.6’ W
A week has come and gone & we put on a lot of miles for a shakedown cruise. After launching Rhiannon last week, we discovered the depth sounder was not working (something you can not check while on dry land) then worried about what to do since we had a deadline of being in Antigua for March 2nd. We weighed the options, bought a hand held portable sounder that would at least get us into an anchorage, and decided to just go.
At 0730 Saturday morning Feb. 24 we found ourselves heading out of Prickly Bay with a good weather forecast. Once we cleared Pt. Salinas on the south west shore of Grenada, it would be a straight line to Antigua, 295 miles away. If you look at a map of the Caribbean, you will notice there are a lot of islands between here and there, so we had some bail out plans if things were not right on the boat. The sailing on Saturday was incredible, average 18 knot winds on a close reach with a course heading of 030 degrees magnetic. Winds were NE to E with a 5 foot NW ocean swell and lots of little NE wind driven waves. It was fun, exhilarating and most of all GREAT TO BE SAILING. (We did not go under 6 knots or alter course for more than 24 hours under a reefed main and reefed Genny).
Night fall came and it was time to take 3 hour watches. Sleeping in the main cabin proved to be more comfortable than our usual bed in the V Berth; as the Hobby Horse effect of the wind and waves is less noticeable midships. At this point we were 20 to 30 miles off shore of the closest islands but still felt the effects of the lee of the islands, and the effects of the open passages between them, something I never expected. One of the things I really love about sailing is that no matter how long you’ve been doing it, you learn something new every time you go out.
Night sailing can be very intimidating at times, especially when fighting sleep, and you start seeing things in the water or in the night sky, but it is also very magical.. One of the modifications Pat did to Rhiannon before leaving our land home the summer of 2005, was to extend the stainless pushpit around the cockpit. I often have the feeling of being in a playpen, confined and safe. I feel so safe and secure while standing in the cockpit, holding onto the stern rail looking into the water while heeled 15 degrees, it is reassuring and comfortable. There was a lot of florescence in the water that night. We have florescence in parts of the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Maine, but a lot of people have never seen it before. It is difficult to explain, but I thought the best way to describe it is it’s like looking at a million little sparklers dancing off the bow wave. Magical!
Another magical side of night sailing is the Stars. Normally while anchored, the Bimini covers the cockpit, for sun & rain protection and you never think of taking it down at night. Well, while sailing, the Bimini is rolled back about ¾ of the way and as you lie in the cockpit looking up at the sky, you start to notice constellations you have never seen before, and see our northern stars in different quadrants of the sky. At times like this, I always swear I will learn more about astronomy.
PS I guess I should mention that our 3rd crew member, Auto, was steering the boat the majority of the time and did an incredible job.
Sunday morning arrived and at 7:30 am we had covered 144 nautical miles totally under sail. Not bad for a 36 foot boat. Then about 2 pm. WHERE DID THE WIND GO? WE ARE WALLOWING! Time to take advantage of the calm and do some dishes etc., and start the motor to recharge the batteries, then at 4:30 the wind came back to 18 knots just as fast as it had died a couple of hours before. Interesting. By 5:45 she was blowing a constant 22 knots and time to reef in the Genny even more. The main sail was still reefed from the day before. Now we didn’t go under 7.2 knots. FUN!!! Rhiannon was singing. She liked this Trade Wind Sailing. By 9:30 pm we were finally in the lee of Guadeloupe and had to motor for an hour or so. By 11:45 we are sailing again, this time with gusts to 33 knots. It’s amazing how fast conditions change. We decided not to head out into open water in the middle of the night and that Deshaies was a great option. Deshaies is a sheltered bay in the North West corner of Guadeloupe we had visited last spring and knew it would be easy to enter in the dark. By 2 am Monday morning, we were poking our nose into the bay and dropping anchor in 50 feet of water. After feeling comfortable that we were well hooked, we both slept soundly till about 9 am, & enjoyed a day of rest. We did not get off the boat.
7:05 Tuesday morning, feeling re-energized, we headed out across the 45 mile open water passage arriving in Jolly Harbour on the West coast of Antigua around 2 pm. Another great sailing day: wind 14 to 18 knots with occasional gusts to 20, seas 7 to 10 feet, a typical sailing day in the West Indies and another milestone accomplished.
After clearing customs, immigration and paying the Port Authority, we anchored in 10 feet of water in Mosquito Cove & enjoyed a nice calm, relaxing evening.
By for now
Miriam.
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