Ensenada Honda to Ponce, Puerto Rico

Another full day of sailing helped us arrive at Ponce, Puerto Rico where we filled up on our diesel and anchored for the night.  The last time we stayed at this anchorage, it was lit up with a lot of lights - we just aren't used to staying "in the city".  So in addition to the lights there was also a band at a local restaurant that played until the wee hours of the morning.  It was loud.  Daniel and I put movies on to watch, popped some popcorn and settled in to watch the movies. 

We left Ponce at about 6:00 a.m. on another 8-10 hour sail heading down the Puerto Rico coastline and as we came to the southwest corner of Puerto Rico we saw this beautiful lighthouse. 



Lighthouse

Benures Bay, BVI to Ensenada Honda, Spanish Virgin Islands, USA

May 24-25, 2014

Before we left Benures Bay we brought out our diving equipment for the first time and did our first dive.  It is so much different from snorkeling - to be able to stay underwater as long as you want and to see the coral up close.  It was a nice first dive.  I did lose one of the weight pouches that help to keep me under water and we spent an hour or more snorkeling trying to find it (never did).  Other than that, it was a good time.

 

We left Benures Bay and went to Cruz Bay on St. John, USVI to check in with customs and immigration.  The immigration officers said, "Welcome home".  I love it!  After a quick stop at the local grocery store, we had to make a stop in Red Hook, St. Thomas to pick up a part for our washing machine.  We had it shipped to a friend in St. Thomas from the U.S. (thanks, Matt!).  Hopefully, clean clothes are in our future.  After lunch and ice cream on shore, we headed back to C-Time. 

 

Next we set out for our anchorage for the night, Magen's Bay.  We didn't get to visit Magen's Bay last time we were in the USVI because of a northern ocean swell but this time, conditions were perfect.  We anchored and took D-Time to shore for a walk.  We walked the whole beach, probably a mile long.  We talked with a couple from North Carolina who where at Magen's Bay on vacation.  They thought D-Time looked like a lot of fun.  Daniel explained that D-Time was our family car. 

 

The anchorage was beautiful, as was the beach. 

 

The next day we left to continue on towards our next stop, Ensenada Honda in the Spanish Virgin Islands.  It probably took us about 8 hours, mostly sailing, to reach Ensenada Honda.  There was only one other sailboat in the anchorage.  After it got dark, we went up on deck to see the phosphorous that was glowing in the water - it was really awesome to see.  Kind of like lightening bugs back home, just under the water.  Really nice anchorage.

Getting Tired of Endless Vacation In Paradise (NOT!)

Carla has written quite a bit on our day-to-day activities, so I thought I would add a few of my observations.  What’s it like spending day after day basking in tropical paradise.  As Tim put it, it’s just “Surreal”.  The last four months has seemed like a year, not because we weren’t having fun, but because of the numerous sites and experiences, and because we’ve been able to just sit and do nothing for hours.  As someone else said, paradise isn’t a location, it’s a frame of mind, but the location sure helps to set the frame of mind.

Our decision to turn back at Guadeloupe was a tough one.  We’ve spent a lot of time and money preparing to go to South America, but neither of us were looking forward to spending a couple days at sea.  As I watched weather forecasts for all of the Caribbean, high winds and rough seas were the norm for the area we would have to transit.  Although the threat of pirates off the Venezuelan coast was a real one, several cruisers merely advised us to remain a good distance off the coast and travel with a “buddy boat”.  In the end, the plan just didn’t suit our style of cruising:  moderate winds, calm seas, cool nights, piracy-free waters, and a worthwhile destination. 

When we hit the British Virgin Islands previously, we were between weather windows and felt like we only had about three days.  We made a whirlwind pass at all the touristy destinations, and thus weren’t really impressed.  After reading a magazine article about secluded beaches, magnificent snorkeling, and picturesque settings, we just had to give the BVI’s another opportunity to impress.  Impressing it is.  While we were in the Leewards, a much-needed rain fell on most of the islands, and now the vegetation has regained its visual appeal.  We’ve learned how to anchor stern-to, meaning that we drop the anchor from the bow, back toward the shore, and tie a long line from the back of the boat to the shore.  Now we’re nestled with the cockpit just 200’ feet from a steep tree-covered hill in 10’ of clear water over a sandy bottom, and within snorkeling distance of beautiful corral on both sides of the boat.  We were the only boat in Long Bay, Virgin Gorda, and the white sand beach was ours alone.  Today, we’re the only boat in this lovely bay.  I think we’re liking the BVI’s.

In the Caribbean, one of our favorite pastimes is watching goats.  It seemed like they were following us from island to island.  Carla feels sorry for them, as when they “Bahhhh”, they sound like a kid (baby goat) that’s been left behind or is stuck on a rock ledge.  While we were anchored in the Lagoon at St. Martin, I watched as several goats traversed what appeared to be sheer vertical cliffs of a rock called “Witches Tit”.  It was obvious that they didn’t need anyone’s help.  We were snorkeling in Colombier Bay, St. Barts when I heard a muffled “Bahhhh”.  When I raised my ears out of the water, my suspicion was confirmed.  Those goats had followed us to yet another island.  They’ve pretty much followed us to every island.  I think I’m beginning to hear them in my sleep.

St. Martin was a very interesting place.  We chose to stay in the Lagoon due to forecasted heavy winds and seas, and slept peacefully for several nights as a result of that decision.  Being in the Lagoon places one within an easy dinghy ride of numerous restaurants, high-end shops, and numerous marine service and supply companies.  You boat owners out there, imagine what it would be like to be a 5-minute dinghy ride from two marine stores larger than West Marine, a sail loft, a full-service stainless fabricator, a custom mattress manufacturer, and navigational and communications electronics experts, all with their own dinghy docks.  And there are even more restaurants on the water that also have their own dinghy docks.  Although the water isn’t very clear or clean in the lagoon, I saw a couple cruisers diving under their boats, and kids in the sailing school were in the water.  It probably isn’t much worse than some of the harbors on the east coast of the U.S.  There were several derelict boats in the Lagoon, but there were scores more nice cruising boats and many mega-yachts.  Oh, and did Carla mention that she took the luxury of paying someone else to do the laundry?

Speaking of sailing schools, Carla was laughing out loud when one of the small sailboats “tumped over” and the two boys were trying to upright it.  I didn’t feel sorry for them because they were having the time of their life.  I saw one boat with four local boys go over several times.  Each time they were laughing and cutting up, having a blast in that Lagoon full of “nasty” water.  We’ve also been in the midst of sailboat races, sometimes while on a mooring or at anchor, and one time when we accidentally cruised through one.  In my defense, I thought they had finished racing and were heading in to the harbor.  How did we fare?  As well as a cruising Hunter 410 could, I guess.

We brought brand new dive equipment that hadn’t even gotten wet until today.  There has been such great snorkeling right off the boat that we just haven’t had the desire to anchor or moor at one of the rolly dive locations and wrestle with the gear.  Since there is excellent snorkeling AND diving right off the back of the boat here, we thought this would be a good opportunity to break out the gear.  Here's a short video of a rare sighting.  By the way, Carla was ALMOST able to climb back into D-Time by herself yesterday.  That’s a major step toward REALLY being independent. 

So far we’ve really been fortunate to have good weather for our long passages.  Being a weather forecaster in the Caribbean would be easy:  Sunny with a high of 87 and a low of 77 and a 20 percent chance of isolated showers.  When I left my job, a co-worker wished us fair winds and calm seas.  Well, a sailor really wants 10-15 knots of wind off the beam, or side, of the boat.  Our passage back to the BVI’s from St. Martin started out with favorable winds, but then went to almost directly behind us.  Even in 3’-5’ seas C-Time does a lot of rolling with a wind off the stern, so we jibed (same as tacking except the wind is to your back) as long as the wind held up.  There’s nothing quite like going in a direction for an hour that doesn’t get you any closer to your destination.  Interestingly we haven’t experienced the “doldrums” yet (no wind).  You know, when you were on the cruise ship and you looked down at the perfectly calm water and said, “We could sail in that”.  I’ll never forget the time we were on the Bahamas Bank and I unfurled both sails for the first time since we left Miami.  We were cruising along nicely at about 7 knots with about 15 degrees of heel.  Carla was hanging on for dear life and said, “I don’t like this!”  EXCUSE ME?  We just embarked on the beginning of a cruising lifestyle aboard our own sailing yacht and you don’t like SAILING?

Probably one of the most disappointing parts of the trip so far has been the lack of interaction with other cruisers.  We’ve made some good friends so far and have really enjoyed our time with them, but it sometimes seems like the only way to meet others is to go to one of the local hangouts.  Since we’re on a tight budget, and because it’s expensive to hang out at a bar or restaurant, we miss out on that social scene.  I was watching a guy in the water off the back of his boat wresting with his steering windvane and figured he could use some help, so I grabbed a hammer, jumped into D-Time, and headed over to their boat.  He was grateful for the help, even though I really didn’t contribute much, and invited us over later.  The next day, they were headed one way and we were headed the other, but hopefully we’ll run into them again.  The French seem to enjoy the company of other Frenchies, and the Canadians (there are a LOT of them) look to meet other Canadians.  Maybe as we get back in the VI’s and Bahamas we’ll have more opportunity to socialize.  We’re looking forward to meeting up with Marshall and Ann in the Bahamas.  Marshall has followed our every move and has made numerous useful suggestions through the blog.

One of my friends at work commented that we should go back to St. Barts because “it’s fantastic”.   Colombier Bay is at St. Barts, and we took advantage of their free moorings for several nights.  This is another one of those places where you have clear water, good snorkeling all around, a sandy beach, and hiking trails, all at one location.   That kind of place is a bit difficult to find, and you want to stay there as long as it takes to get tired of it.  The shopping, you know all the high-end clothing lines, wasn’t for me, but the airplanes nearly clipping the ridge and dropping to the runway below made my day.

We’ve been pleasantly surprised by the lack of insects and the comfortable temperatures.  As mentioned above, we’ve had a breeze blowing almost constantly.  We’ve kept all the hatches open for most all the time and have kept cool.  We haven’t used hatch screens and the screen enclosure has stayed in its storage closet.  Wet swim suits and towels dry quickly in the wind and sun, and it’s easy to get burned from the sun when you don’t feel hot.  Now that we’re into the “off season” for the Caribbean, we’ll probably start feeling more of the sun’s energy and less wind.  For that reason, I made some sun shades that will help keep the afternoon sun out of the cockpit.

Boredom fighting is a great problem to solve.  There are probably a lot of people who wish they could experience it for just a few moments.  I thought we would have a difficult time dealing with the sudden change in tempo, but the extra time we have to just sit still is welcome.  Before siesta, I’ll sit in the cockpit and watch clouds pass overhead, boats sailing at anchor, dinghies going hither and yon, and waves crashing on shore.  After siesta, I’ll sit in the cockpit and watch clouds pass overhead, boats sailing at anchor, dinghies going yon and hither, and waves crashing on shore.  Though this might sound boring to some, I love that quiet time recognized as “siesta”.  Some of the islands close most businesses from about noon to 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon.  Ahhhh, siesta.  Oh, I almost forgot to mention binoculars.  They are great for bringing the action, or lack of action, up close.  Did you know it can take nearly a half hour to scan one hillside for goats?  We use them so much that they stay in the cockpit, for looking at boat names and how boats are rigged, watching sea turtles poke their heads out of the water like a submarine’s periscope, and watching sailboat races.

It’s now time to take my bowl of cereal to the cockpit to watch the goats climb the treacherous rocks.  Can you tell from the picture that one of them is a “kid”?  It’s bahhhhing its head off.  I have to convince Carla that I don’t need to take D-Time to shore and help the little fella.  So much time and so little to do.  Yep, I like this endless vacation in paradise.

Great Harbour, Peter Island, BVI to Benures Bay, Norman Island, BVI

May 20, 2014

Well, our second time through the British Virgin Islands has been so much better than our first time through.  The first time we stopped at all the key spots you're supposed to stop at and I'm glad we did but this time, Daniel had read an article about some places you "must see" and has taken us to those spots.  Two of them are Great Harbour on Peter Island and Benures Bay on Norman Island. 

 

On Great Harbour they had some nice hiking trails, which Daniel tried out.  One was 6 miles long and was to the other side of the island with an amazing view.  It even had chairs set up for people to sit in and watch the sunset.  The swimming was nice, as we were on a mooring ball, so there was no snorkeling close to the boat but the location was just beautiful.

 

Then we arrived at Benures Bay and, wow!  We anchored the boat and tied a stern line to keep us close to shore and away from coral.  The water was smooth all night.  Again, another really nice hiking trail for Daniel, about 3 miles.  He said he came across a big open meadow on a ridge with a view of the ocean swell on one side and Benures Bay on the other.  It was a gorgeous view.


 

 

Me and my still recovering knee waited on the boat for his return.  Once Daniel made it back to C-Time we took off snorkeling.  This is the most amazing snorkeling place we have come to as of yet.  There is so much and so many different kinds of coral to see.  The fish are plentiful and beautiful!  Tiny, tiny fish to really large fish.  There was a school of 3 really large fish Daniel and I both saw.  The largest we've seen in snorkeling areas.  I would guess they were about 4 to 5 feet long but that could just be my bad eye sight.  Just suffice it to say, they were big.  

St. Martin to British Virgin Islands

May 17, 2014

We cleared customs yesterday and left the nasty lagoon at St. Martin and went into the bay.  It was a lot more rolly, but it was definitely clean water!  We were getting positioned to leave early in the morning for the British Virgin Islands (BVIs).  Daniel worked on scrubbing and cleaning the yukky sledge and filth off of C-Time from the week we stayed in the lagoon.  I did some cooking, getting ready for the upcoming voyage.

We left at 2:00 a.m. this morning from St. Martin and had about 15 knot winds with 2-3 foot waves.  Not bad, not bad at all!  We had the sails up for 11 hours straight, until the winds died down to 5-10 knots.  We ended up motoring the rest of the way to the BVIs.  It’s taken us about 16 hours to get here.  We are tired, going to drop the anchor and get some rest. 

St. Martin - still here...

May 15, 2014

You would think being in “paradise” you wouldn’t get bored but sitting on the boat in the same anchorage for going on a week, is getting long - especially if you can’t swim or snorkel.  I cannot tell you how disgusting the water is in the lagoon but it is.  Most days you can’t see the bottom and we are only in about 10 feet of water.  Yellow chunks of some type of matter floats by all the time.  Daniel won’t make water here in the lagoon because the water is that bad.  With that said, it is a very nice anchorage (if you can get past the water part).  It is protecting us from the waves and swells that make it difficult for you to keep your lunch down.  So the protection is awesome.  The water is smooth in here, even with the high winds we feel, the water stays very calm.  Like I said before, we are right next to the pretty Simpson Bay Bridge (which I walked yesterday) that lights up at night.  The pretty mountains of St. Martin are right in front of us.  If we get too bored, usually an airplane will take off and that will wake you up because we are really, really close to the runway and the planes are really, really loud. 

We have taken D-Time to shore numerous times but there is only so long you can sit in a restaurant and use their free wifi J.  We walk around but since we live on a boat, there really isn’t anything to shop for.  We’ve been here before – rented a car and drove the island.  So we come up with projects.  Daniel has been working on sunshades for the cockpit and they have turned out wonderful.  I’ve cleaned and reorganized my clothing storage. 

We are still in St. Martin because of the wind and wave action I mentioned above.  Once they settle down enough to make the 16-18 hour voyage to the British Virgin Islands we will be leaving.  We hope that will only be another 2 days.  In the meantime, I guess I can go rearrange some more storage.

Decision Time

For those of you who have been following us since we left Charleston, SC back in January, you know that our goal was South America (to see our two sons).  Life, as you know, is constantly changing and the two sons that have been in South America for a while (one 3 years and the other almost a year) have decided it is time for them to leave South America.  One is heading back to the states and the other is heading to China to teach English.   That along with just about every cruiser we’ve spoken with having said it is not really wise to be near Venezuela and some other concerns.  Our native Colombian daughter-in-law called me one day and said, “Carla, you cannot go to Venezuela – they hate Americans.  It is too dangerous.”  So you will now realize from the blog entries that we are now heading back towards the Bahamas/US area (still undecided).  It was decision time – spend hurricane season in Grenada or Bahamas.  We picked the Bahamas and are heading that way. 

St. Martin

May 11, 2014

Happy Mother’s Day!  I had a very nice Mother’s Day with Daniel taking me into town (to the Dutch side) first thing this morning for an “American” breakfast - eggs, bacon, toast and coffee.  The best part, I didn’t have to cook it or clean up!  Nice!  We also accessed some free wifi and both were able to talk with our mothers.  Double nice!  After breakfast we walked across the street to a French pastry shop where Daniel picked up a pastry and I got a yummy delicious brownie.  We sat by the water and ate them both.  After breakfast we walked a bit and then made our way back to C-Time.  Before you knew it, it was lunchtime.  This time we went to the French side for an awesome lunch.  I had French onion soup – the best I have ever had – and a ribeye steak.  Daniel went with calamari (which he said was delicious) and Red Snapper.  Again, free wifi and this time, I was able to talk with all of our kids.  It doesn’t take much to make Mom happy.  After that huge lunch, D-Time took everything it had to pull us both back to the boat.  We rolled out of D-Time and fell into an after-lunchtime coma.  A wonderful day – thanks, honey!

Being close to the Simpson Bay Bridge makes us close to the “path” the local party boat takes.  About 10 last night a boat filled with people, with music blaring, came within about 20 feet of where we are anchored.  And the boat moved SLOWLY.  The music blared for about 10 minutes.  A very weird feeling.  The night was so quiet and serene and then all of a sudden - loud music comes in through the hatches.  That will wake you up!

 

St. Barths to St. Martin

May 10, 2014

We had had rain off and on most of the night and as soon as we had a break in the weather this morning, we took off for the 17 mile trip to St. Martin.  Again, another nice sailing day – the winds were about 15 knots most of the way.  We timed it just right to make the 3:00 p.m. opening of the bridge on the Dutch side and then immediately after, the Simpson Bay Bridge opening into the Lagoon at Marigot Bay.  We have stayed here before, very good protection from swells.  We found a spot to drop anchor right next to the Simpson Bay Bridge, which I really like.  At night  the bridge basically puts on a light show.  The bridge is not tall but it is long and at night the lights are blue, green, red, orange, blue again…constantly changing.  Really pretty to watch from the bow of the boat. 

St. Kitts to St. Barths

May 9, 2014

We left St. Kitts fairly early in the day and headed towards St. Barths.  It was a nice sailing day as we we left St. Kitts.  We went around the island and enjoyed the view of St. Kitts for hours.  As we got closer to St. Barths, the winds and rain were picking up so we were glad to get into an anchorage on St. Barths for the night. 

Guadeloupe to Montserrat to St. Kitts

May 8, 2014

We left beautiful Guadeloupe, with the clearest water we’ve seen yet, heading towards Montserrat first thing this morning.  We sailed the entire 40 miles – nice, nice weather.  Montserrat has an active volcano on it and there is an “exclusion zone” where we cannot anchor, just in case the volcano decides to become active.  It was the first active volcano we’ve seen.  We saw one on Guadeloupe but it was a long way away from us and we didn’t see anything other than just a mountain.  Well the volcano on Montserrat still has pockets of steam coming out of it and it is located very close to the shore so we were able to sail very close to land and see the destruction it has caused in the past.  We saw the town that had to be evacuated and deserted.  Most of the structures looked fine but with the binoculars you could see the roofs only of some houses and churches, buried in ash. 

We are in a nice anchorage, just at the border of the “exclusion zone” and very close to the beach.  We are also downwind of the sulfur smell coming out of the volcano.  We had lunch and decided the smell would not be fun for an overnight stay so we raised the anchor and continued on to St. Kitts.  Fortunately, we had stayed at the St. Kitts anchorage and knew it well – since we wouldn’t be arriving until well after dark.  We dropped the anchor at about midnight and was ready to go to bed.

PICTURE TIME!

Antigua - heading to clear in at customs & immigration

 

Race week in Antigua - notice the boat "Girls for Sail" - love the name
 



Nelson's Boatyard in Antigua
 

 

Helicopter flying over our anchorage taking pictures of a boat

 

 

 

Mamora Bay, Antigua - one of our anchorages

 

 

 

 

 

Coming into our anchorage at Guadeloupe

 

 

 

 

C-Time is in the middle.  Our anchorage, Deshaies, Guadeloupe

 

 

 

 

Two waterfalls in National Park, Guadeloupe

 

 

Our first stop in the National Park - I can read "Zoo" and "Parking".  French!

 

 

National Park, Guadeloupe

 

National Park, Guadeloupe - if you look at the top of the waterfall, you'll see Daniel

 

 

Thanks, Justin, for telling me about the app "CamMe".  We set the camera up and took this.

 

 

 

Volcano on Guadeloupe - it's still active

Guadeloupe

May 6, 2014

What a day!  What. A. Day!

I took Daniel and his bike to town this morning at about 6 a.m.  The rental car we have reserved for today is 3 miles away.  He is going to bike to the rental car place and then come pick me up for a day of touring Guadeloupe.  Guadeloupe is a mountainous island with an active volcano on it.  Really cool, unless you're the one riding a bike up and down the mountains to get to the rental car company.  He made it and picked me up and we were on our way by 7 a.m.

Our first stop was the National Park of Guadeloupe.  To get there, I had to ride with Mario Andretti (a/k/a Daniel) driving like he was in a Grand Prix race.  The roads were really narrow and lots of mountains.  Up and down, hairpin turns and did I mention we got a 5-speed little car to drive around in?  I was holding on for dear life and laughing my head off.  Daniel did a great job navigating the roads and keeping us alive.  People were passing us on the 2 lane roads, if we slowed down just a little to see something.  I believe all those years of Daniel growing up driving the back country roads of Alabama equipped him for today.  Great job, honey!

We stopped in the middle of the park and went to see "Cascade aux Ecreevisses".  We figured this meant some type of waterfall.  It was a small waterfall on a really nice paved trailed.  It was only a 5 minute walk on a paved path.  Easy.  Then we stopped at a very nice picnic area with a beautiful stream running next to it.  It really reminded us of the Smokey Mountains.  We drove around a bit more and headed towards Pointe-a Pitre (the largest city) and quickly decided we wanted to be back in the wild so we head out of town and along the coast.

It was 10:15 a.m. and since we had an early, early start - I was ready for lunch.  Daniel found a nice roadside stop and I was sure they wouldn't be serving anything yet but the guy prepared us some delicious sandwiches for $3 Euros each.  We then stopped at another large parking area in the National Park and made it to the information building.  We had come across the place where you can see 2 very large waterfalls, one you can actually see from the ocean - it's that large and that high.  We were told we could walk to the first one, it was only 30 minutes away but it was too late in the day (11 a.m.) for us to do the second one - it was 3 hours away.  So we took off for the first one.  I made it about half way and my knee wouldn't hear anymore of it so Daniel went on without me.  Brought me back gorgeous pictures.  The park ranger lady also suggested that we go swimming at a swimming hole, not far from where we parked the car.  So we changed and decided to go looking for it.  It was straight downhill to get to it and I sucked it up and made it.  So glad I did.  There was a beautiful smaller waterfall and we could swim in the pool around it.  People were jumping off rocks (yes, Daniel jumped - no, I didn't).  The water was so nice and cool.  It was a wonderful stop and worth the effort to get to it.

After a couple more stops in the National Park, we continued on towards Deshaies, along the coast road.  Did you know that they grow cocoa beans on Guadeloupe?  Well, they do.  We stopped at La Maison du Cacao and bought 1 small (about the size of a Hersey bar) chocolate bar.  It cost 6 Euros, but tasted delicious!  Daniel said, I guess you know  you just ate a $9 candy bar.  I almost choked.  I'm not good with conversion rates.  I didn't think 6 was too bad - but that was Euros!  Eek!

We made it back to Deshaies and Daniel let me out.  He drove the rental car back and biked the 3 miles (up and down hills) back to me.  Before he left me though, he said, dress up for dinner so I was so excited.  Put on a dress and everything!  I went back to meet him in town and it was almost 5 p.m.  We thought we'd catch an early dinner.  Not so.  Apparently, the French eat late, really late for us.  They don't start serving until 7 p.m.  Back to C-Time for us but we weren't sad about it.  We had had a FULL wonderful day touring Guadeloupe.

Antigua to Deshaies, Guadeloupe

May 5, 2014

We had a really nice morning, sailing at least half of the 10 hour trip from Antigua to Deshaies, Guadeloupe.  The winds died down about half way through the trip so we motor-sailed the other half of the way.  We found our anchorage and it is a bit rolly but it is surrounded by a lovely little town and big mountains.  We took D-Time into town and checked in at a local shop that houses the immigration computer.  Fortunately for us, the shop keeper spoke a little english.  Everyone else we have met, speaks just French.  I have my pocket translator ready to pull out.

My friend Debbie shared the following Mark Twain quote with me today - she said it reminded her of us and I thought I would share with you:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.  So throw off the bowlines.  Sail away from the safe harbor.  Catch the trade winds in  your sails.  Explore.  Dream.  Discover."

Five Islands, Hampton Bay, Antigua

May 3, 2014

We brought C-Time back to Five Islands, Hampton Bay anchorage yesterday mostly for the free wifi for me.  (I would have written this yesterday but I was pretty medicated and didn't do much but sleep yesterday.)  I'm still taking it easy with my hurt knee and the free wifi lets me stream American television shows.  I know that sounds a little hokey but when you're not feeling well, there's nothing like a little American tv and since I was way behind on all of our shows, it has helped to keep me from moving around, forcing me to relax my knee.  That and some more medicine.  Good news, I'm starting to feel better and hopefully another day or two and I will be back to normal.  So, back to my television, pop corn, coke, ibuprofen and pain killers.

Carlisle Bay to Mamora Bay, Antigua

May 1, 2014

 

We decided to check out another anchorage on Antigua and left Carlisle Bay just after breakfast.  On our way to Mamora Bay, we wanted to take a quick look at English Harbor from the water so we headed that way first.  We knew it was sailing week in Antigua but we honestly weren't thinking about it this morning.  As we made our way into English Harbor through a some what narrowly marked channel, we started passing boats with lots of people on board - the racing boats.  We were already committed to seeing the harbor and are glad we continued on.  It was a very pretty harbor and being filled with racing boats and sailors just made it all the more attractive.  We got to the end of the harbor and turned around to head back out when it became apparent we were in the line of boats that were heading out to race.  There were bunches of them.  Small ones and huge ones.  I saw one whose boat name was "Girls for Sail", filled with all women, wearing pink shirts.

After English Harbor we continued on towards Mamora Bay.  I must say the coastline along the way was gorgeous.  Dramatic rock cliffs and deep blue water - just beautiful.  We anchored in Mamora Bay and decided to go see English Harbor from land. It was only 3 miles to town so we decided to bike there.  The road was pretty level, a few hills, nothing we haven't handled before but it has been a little while since we were on the bikes.  Anyway, as we're going up hill, I get a little winded and need a short break.  After the break, still pointing up hill, I try to get my bike started but all I do is wobble and fall - in the middle of the asphalt road.  A few scratches and a sore knee (blood on my shorts), I insist I can keep going.  We make it to town and went to a place called Nelson's Boatyard.  It is an interesting place filled with an old fort and the related outbuildings that have been converted into restaurants and shops.  They've kept as much of the old buildings as they could and they have taken a lot of care to make the whole place friendly and welcoming.  Daniel and I had a nice long lunch at their dock restaurant and then headed to the fort to walk around it.  By this time, after sitting so long through lunch, my knee has gotten worse and we ended up skipping the fort.  It takes everything I have to get me and my bike back to the boat, but I did make it.  I would ride awhile and walk awhile.  Daniel was awesome - he stayed right with me.  I think he was afraid I would fall over again.

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and washing my clothes to get the blood stains out.  After laundry, I figured the only way to really make me feel better was to make a batch of double chocolate chip cookies.  Nothing makes a girl feel better than some chocolate.  It also took some aspirin and a couple of pain pills, but hopefully I should be back to normal soon.

Carlisle Bay, Antigua

We left after the sun came up this morning for a 9 mile journey to Carlisle Bay.  We like to go to the different anchorages, it gives you a feel for the island.  In this case, it also allowed us to pass right in front of a huge home that we're told is owned by Eric Clapton (musician from the '70s?).  This anchorage had clearer water than any we've seen so far in Antigua.  The water has been silty with a lot of the sea wave movement and visibility under the water has not been good at all.  In Carlisle Bay, the visibility is probably about 10 feet.  I'm guess this because we are anchored in about 10 feet of water and I can just make out all of the starfish on the bottom.  Carlisle Bay has a lot of beautiful starfish.  We also saw one manta yesterday on our snorkeling adventure but honestly, with the visibility at about 10 feet, we just turned around and went back to C-Time.  We've been spoiled but such great visibility when we snorkel that this just wasn't worth it to us.

It's beautiful little bay we are in with a nice beach front  hotel with the long white sandy beach in front.  It is a very nice setting and we were joined with about 10 other boats throughout the day.  By the time the sun was going down, we were the only ones left in the Bay.  Made us wonder, what did everyone else know that we didn't?  Probably, they just had other places to go because, besides the visibility issue, it was a fairly nice anchorage.  I pulled out a box of pizza mix and whipped us up a pizza for dinner.  Not as good as Domino's but it was good.  We took our pizza to the cockpit and munched away, watching the sun set.