We arrived back in Antigua having had a pretty miserable three weeks in the UK whilst Andrew had an operation on his nose. Poor chap had a rotten time of it and we were both pretty much stuck in the house avoiding the horrid flu bug that seemed to have taken over England. So getting back to the boat and some sunshine was a huge improvement all round. We spent the first few days in Jolly Harbour as it was very windy and caught up on lots of chores and several oil changes, good to get that all out of the way.
Once again we found ourselves in town with RORC and the 600 race and as always Sue and Eddie included us in the celebrations. My birthday fell in the middle and we celebrated at Catherine’s which as always was a treat. It also meant there were lots of friends to see and we had a very jolly week catching up and remembering how to socialise. Just a shame the skipper overdid it on the dance floor on the last night and ended up with a cracked rib to add to his ailments!
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| Eddie swan out to say goodbye |
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| My fine vessel |
We took ourselves off to Guadeloupe for a couple of weeks reacquainting ourselves with the delights of The Saintes. Unable to join me in swimming, due to his exuberant dance moves, we set out on a couple of motorised excursions, the first being in a very fine electric buggy around the island of Terre de Haut. We visited the Fort with its French museum, that seemed to gloss over the large British Victory in the Battle of the Saintes and then drove around the Island. I seemed to cause much frustration amongst the locals at my lack of speed in my fine vessel and got shouted at. This gentleman mistook me for someone who cared, after all I am the proud winner of the booby prize at a hen night for slowest driver ever in a Go cart. The embarrassed skipper and I decided to climb the tallest mountain in the midday sun climbing some two thousand meters in the spirit of mad dogs. We were however very pleased with ourselves on reaching the summit and the views were spectacular and well worth the effort.
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| We made it to the top |
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| And the view made it all worthwhile! |
Our next excursion several days later took place in a very sedate hire car in Guadeloupe . After I had navigated us by foot to the hire shop through the red light district of Pointe-a-Pitre Andrew very firmly took control of the driving and the navigation for the day, resulting in a much faster traveling experience. We visited the rain forest which was spectacular, learning that the two Islands of Guadeloupe were in fact formed twenty five million years apart. A fine and memorable lunch on the coast, the obligatory Carrefour experience and it was time to head back to Antigua.
We had decided as a late call to join the rally organised by the New York Yacht Club in celebration of their 175th anniversary and to which the Squadron had been invited to join. We had met on our return in February Poul and Sophia and asked them to join us for the five day trip which they bravely agreed to do. It was a huge success and they have become firm friends. With Sophia’s excellent cooking and provisioning and Poul’s Olympian helming of Hullabaloo, on one occasion for eight hours non stop, we had a fantastic trip. And that was on top of the very fine events we attended being a drinks party in St. Barts, then one in the Super Yacht harbour in St. Kitts, the most fabulous lunch at a Cotton Plantation in Nevis, Dinner in the Admirals Inn in Antigua and all finished off by a farewell Drinks in a private home in Mill Reef and dinner in the club house, the latter at the invitation of our shipmates. All fantastically organised we finished the trip feeling totally spoilt and with many new friendships made.
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| A day in the office |
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| Sophia making us lunch at sea |
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| The beautiful garden at the Cotton club |
On our way back to Antigua from St. Kitts Andrew commented that we were nearly home, making us realise it was time to leave before we started putting down roots which was not the idea of our adventure! We spent a last night in Deep Bay as Mary and Jeremy were in residence and a delightful afternoon racing lasers with the Thorpe family as always a joy to see them. Setting sail early the next morning we were excited to be moving again and back on our travels, knowing we would be seeing our new home and old friends again soon for race week.
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| Not such a fine catch |
We sailed to St. Barts trying once again to catch some fish and only managing to hook the Sargassum weed which literally carpets the sea. Then onwards to St. Martin on a mission for a shiny new anchor. We bought the boat with a CQR which is challenging in certain situations so after much deliberation we decided on and purchased a new Rocna. Whilst sweating and cursing as we removed the original and replaced it, we caught the attention of a large Iguana who put his feet up on the deck and had a little nose to see if this would be a nice new home, if only I had had the courage to step over him to get the camera! We are very pleased with our new anchor, every time a gold star!! The first time we used it it almost took the winch off the bow as it took up, what joy!
We didn’t stay long in St. Martin, it was sad to see all the broken boats in the harbour after the hurricane. We did catch up with our new friends Ann & Johnathan on Sophia and then we headed North to the BVI’s and more sorry sights of devastation. However it was good to see that there were quite a few charter boats about and that things were starting to get back to normal and we were reassured that our boat card was still where we left in in the roof at Foxy’s!
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| St. Thomas |
The US Virgin Islands were in a much better state of repair. Going ashore in St. Thomas we were amazed to find an entire street packed with jewellery stores, money no object! The Spanish Virgin Islands were still without power and living on generators but still smiling. After checking in at Culebra, we headed for Vieques but could find no shelter in the swell and spent the night at the Western end of the island. I had wondered why we could only find one very inferior pilot book for the area and now I know there are very few cruisers after the US Virgin Islands until you get past the Dominican Republic.
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| The mangroves |
The South coast of Puerto Rico beckoned. Our first night was spent in the mangroves in Baya Jobos, the water was now very green and no longer tempting to swim in, not least as there are supposed to be manatees around. The next night we visited the port of Salines were sixty one sunken boats had been removed by the coast guard, so far. We spent a jolly evening ashore with some locals and heard their stories, how they were cut off from the outside world for months, their only form of communication through the satellite phones of the yachtsmen. Many of the boats have been abandoned by their owners, up for sale from the local authorities for one dollar there are now local owners who never dreamed that they could afford such vessels. There is a feeling that the US could have helped more, they certainly seemed to have helped the residents of the more affluent US VI’s quite a bit more. Our last night was spent anchored of Gilligans Island. It was a Sunday and we joined the hundred of locals who had caught the ferry and bought their entire families and most of their garden furniture to wallow in the warm waters. Swimming through the mangroves against the tide was hard work, floating on our backs back down was memorable, far superior to the man made theme park equivalents.
Leaving early the next morning we had a horrible overnight crossing to the Dominican Republic, known for nasty conditions traversing the Mona passage we were faced with lumpy seas, pouring rain and not enough wind to sail so we had to motor all the way. We were meeting our old friends Andy and Lucie who had booked us into the marina in Samana which was an absolute delight with an infinity swimming pool overlooking the National Park on the other side of the bay. The local army man and his sidekick the drug officer, who looked more likely to be selling them than confiscating them, came on board to clear customs. They were actually terribly charming and very friendly as everyone we met on the island turned out to be. We were struck by how lush and green the island was having had no hurricane damage and water was obviously not an issue judging by the amount the boat boys let run into the harbour on a continual basis.
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| A fine marina |
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| Our shipmates Andy & Lucie |
Andy and Lucie arrived bringing with them a car and we set out to visit the surrounding area. In search of some rock formation that our skipper was keen to see we had to divert for lunch as it transpired that they were actually located in Australia and that seemed a little far to go, needless to say this caused much hilarity amongst the females! An amazing Paella in an Eco restaurant on the cliff side with a blow hole to explore after lunch was not a bad alternative. We spent a night anchored off the National Park, having had to obtain special consent from our new friend in the services and were thrilled to see the vast array of birds swooping above the trees amongst them many vultures, a particular favourite of Andrew’s.
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| The Flintstone hotel |
Returning to the good ship Hullabaloo in the marina we set off for a couple of nights to stay in another Eco hotel that Lucie had booked for us in the National Park. We caught the local ferry which was an interesting experience to say the least. Packed to the gunnels with people and then loaded up with a few motor bikes, the remaining passengers climbed onto, and not doubt needed to cling onto, the roof as we rocked our way across the bay for an hour. The driver could not see through the patched windscreen and was helped by the young ticket collector who hung out the side of the boat and I doubt there was a life jacket onboard!
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| A cave with a view |
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| An old carving |
Our hotel was lovely if not a little unusual in construction, it looked like it had once been part of the film set for the Flintstones, but the food was okay and the staff friendly and attentive. The next morning our guide came to collect us for our first outing of the day delivering us to a motor boat that took us out to see some caves, mangroves and all those lovely birds and this time we had an informed guide to tell us all about them.
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| Loving the look... |
After lunch at the hotel we then set of on foot into the rain forest for another informative tour. Returning the next morning on the ferry was equally perilous, the poor woman breast feeding her baby ended up on the floor when her seat came apart, but nobody seemed at all concerned as she rolled around infant firmly attached!
The next day, spoilt brats that we are, Andrew and I left Andy & Lucie to explore and took a plane back to Antigua for Race week with Mary and Jeremy, their son Peter and friends Nicky and Mike. Staying in their lovely villa and commuting each day on the Wally to race on a GP42 we had the most fantastic ten days. FANG was a joy to sail, sailing down wine at 22 knots completely under control was just amazing, particularly when we got our Swiss crew mate to yodel at the top of his voice. It was hard work and I ended up covered in bruises but we both loved the experience. In addition we saw lots of friends from home and just had a great time as we always do with Mr & Mrs Thorpe.
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| Mary & Nicky enroute to the racing |
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| Andrew and Jeremy ready to go |
We returned to the boat which had been moved further North to Ocean Marina in Luperon by our crew mates. Not such a nice marina but the staff couldn’t help us enough and we managed the usual laundry and visit to the supermarket. It was a shame that on our early morning departure two days later that the three officials who came to check us out demanded additional payment on top of the extra fees we had already paid. In general though we found the people very friendly and although they would try quite hard to sell their services they didn’t push when you said no. We will go back.
We sailed overnight to the Bahamas stopping for a night in Crocked Island where we had encountered bad hurricane damage two years previously and where pleased to see the progress made. Swimming ashore there was seemed to be a large black shark like shape that passed between us, I was grateful on our return to the dingy when Andrew offered to swim out and collect me from the beach!!! Our next stop was Exuma Island where checking in we were charged US$320 which we thought a little steep! We decided to stay put in the Sound for the rest of our friends stay and spent a very pleasant few days enjoying the lovely beaches and swimming in the largest natural swimming pool I have ever seen, nice clear water and no dark shapes
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| Swimming with the family as my husband so rudely suggested! |
Once Andy and Lucie had left us we headed to Staniel cay anchoring a couple of miles out limited as always in the Bahamas by our draft. We swam with the Pigs, large and hairy and very keen to eat our carrots it was certainly a different experience. We explored the Thunderball grotto, had drinks ashore and then headed to the Grotto National Park for a few days. A truly glorious anchorage which we just managed to squeeze into. Taking the trails we paid homage to Boo-Boo Hill where sailors leave a memento to the lost souls of a shipwreck and to appease King Neptune.
Another overnighter to the pretty Abaco Islands for a final couple of days before setting off to the USA , what a lovely and varied time we have had in the Carabean. As always the lands we visit our memorable and then we go to sea and remember just why we are doing this, we just love the sense of adventure and the tranquility of being in the Ocean. Time to head North ahead of those hurricanes....
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