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.