26/Jul/2011, English Harbour, Antigua
A few weeks ago there was a fishing tournament in Nelsons Dockyard. Although the fish were not biting, everyone enjoyed the party.
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30/Jun/2011, English Harbour, Antigua
It looks like we will be in Antigua another couple of weeks yet.
Anyone who follows our blog will know we had trouble with our fridge in the past, and had it fixed not too successfully a couple of years ago. Well, for the last few days it has been in pieces again, this time completely ripped-out, all the joinery renewed, sealed, and glassed-in; as it should have been from new, Oyster please note!!
Still have not been able to fit our new sails yet. There must be a dozen sail lofts in the Caribbean, but do they have stocks of battens, no! So another package had to be sent out by the China Sail Factory. Shipped efficiently to Miami in 48 hours, then a long wait for it to arrive in Antigua, accompanied by outrageous customs clearance fees. Antigua has it's attractions but dealing with customs is not one of them.
Instead here's a nice photo of the turtle who swims by our boat most days.
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05/Jun/2011, Marigot Bay
After a lazy week in Barbuda waiting for the wind to pick-up, it didnt and we had to motor all the way to St Martin, with an overnight stopover in St Barts.
We're here for the shopping, well duty-free shopping to be more precise, and not just the cheap crap they sell to cruise-ship tourists. We had a new set of sails shipped from China, antifouling from the US, tools from Europe, and tons of boat spares from the local chandleries, all at prices about 50% less than Antigua.
Also, as it coincides with our wedding anniversary, a nice lunch in one of the French restaurants in Grande Case.
St Martin / Sint Maarten may well be very developed compared to the other islands, but it does have its advantages! Stunning sunsets too.
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27/May/2011, Codrington, Barbuda
Well the wind, or rather the lack of it certainly made some decisions for us this time. After a couple of days anchored off Hermitage Bay scrubbing off barnacles and everything else that could attach itself to us, we had a lovely gentle sail up to Barbuda. Perfect conditions, calm seas, 12 knots of wind in our old Dacron sails that have had to be put back into use, now our once racy strung laminates have delaminated, but since we arrived here it has been so still, no breeze at all.
There are worse places to be becalmed. The beach at Low Bay is as stunning as ever, all 11 miles of it, and there is even a little wooden beach bar now, with a jetty in the lagoon making it a little easier to take a water taxi into Codrington. The pace of development is as slow as the pace of life here. We ventured into Codrington today to clear customs, immigration, and the port authority. Three separate locations, and boy was it hot. It was also impossible to get a drink. The Codrington Bar has closed, and so has the supermarket next door. The only place open was the little mini-mart by the lagoon, who do not sell alcohol. Have the residents of Codrington all turned temperance since we were last here?
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16/May/2011, English Harbour, Antigua
Its time to move again, and after four months in and around Antigua we just can't wait to get back out on the water. We're heading to St Maarten to pick up some gear for the boat; but decisions, decisions, should we spend a few days in Barbuda and St Barts on the way there, or maybe via St Kitts and Nevis? I guess the wind will decide for us.
The photo is of the super yacht Maltese Falcon, she was here for most of the winter, and I took it a few days ago, just before she sailed.
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