Boats being loaded for race week

First a correction:  Our wind generator that initially was a great disappointment has redeemed itself.  This is producing enough power for our needs (which includes our 12 volt refrigerator which is always on).  With the light to nonexistent winds we were experiencing on our offshore run and our landlocked time in St Thomas, it never had a chance to prove itself.  I take back all the bad things I said & thought – the wind generator is great.

Dominica was as far south as we were going to make it this season given how much time we’ve spent in each location. I don’t regret the time anywhere, whether due to too much fun or lack of weather windows. It simply means we didn’t make it to Grenada as originally planned – first world problems.

We left Dominica early Monday as the winds and seas were ‘calming’. We still had winds blowing in the low 20’s and gusting to 30. The seas weren’t bad but we were flying along, sailing at 7 knots for most of the trip, even hitting 9.2 knots once. The passage between the Guadeloupe mainland and the Saintes had taken 3.5 hours coming over and less than 45 minutes on return! We dropped the anchor in Deshaies, cleared in, picked up some more boxed wine, and stopped for drinks and appetizers.

Boat guys in Antigua – wildly different than Dominica

Well rested, we left early the next morning for Antigua. Again, the weather was supposed to calm further. Instead, we wound up with a day of sailing that Trip described as ‘nice’ and I referred to as ‘active’. The first couple of hours were lovely – a couple of reefs still in the main, staysail, and half jib – running 7 knots comfortably. Suddenly we were riding the forward edge of a massive squall covering the northern end of the island. The next couple of hours gave us a range of no wind to 30 knots in short periods of time, combined with seas stacked 8-12 feet and starting to break. Thankful that we had never shaken out reefs in the main, we plowed on. Eventually winds and seas eased and the last few hours were as pleasant as the first, maintaining 6-7 knots under much calmer conditions. We dropped anchor in Jolly Harbor, Antigua late afternoon.

Nelson’s Dockyard

What a difference. The islands we’ve been visiting the last few months are part of younger volcanic chains – rising starkly out of the sea with deep anchorages. They don’t have the number of visitors that other islands do and several were pummeled by one or both of the hurricanes last year. Provisions and everything else have been limited. Now we’re in Antigua with shallow water (anchored in 14 feet of water), crystal clear seas, no winds funneling down the hills, and civilization galore.

Our one disappointment was to find that while we were moving north, Stephen and Maureen suddenly made a huge jump from St Maarten, to Guadeloupe. We had assumed they’d still be island hopping in the immediate area with lots of islands in between to visit and thought we’d have a chance to cross paths, but it wasn’t meant to be…..at least we had December with them!

Castaways Bar

Jolly Harbor was designed for the modern cruiser. Inexpensive slips, moorings and open to the general public who are out in the anchorage. Laundry, boat repairs, Budget Marine, grocery store, wifi, showers, and lots of good restaurants and bars with tasty drinks. What better place to wait out the coming odd weather (winds blowing from the west and big seas from the northwest).

Rum Bus Restaurant and Bar view

We had heard from others about a famous red double decker bus within walking distance that served fish & chips. Turns out the bus was moved MUCH further down the road and is now part of a fancy bar/villa compound call RumBus. We hopped on a bus and decided to go check it out. The bus has been converted into mini studios for rent, but it was still a great place for lunch and drinks right on the beach.

Next we caught the bus up to St John’s, the capital of Antigua. On our way in we noted that there were still plenty of moorings available so decided to hold on moving in from the anchorage.  St Johns is incredibly touristy because of the cruise ships that are constantly coming through, but it was fun to shop for tshirts, see the local markets, and I even managed to find silver beads for my new braids. On our way back out to the mooring that night we suddenly realized there was only one mooring left so we quickly upped anchor and came into the harbor. Quite the smart move we were later to realize.

Amusing signage at the cruise ship docks

We caught up with Norman and Sarah from Norsa, who we had moored next to all the time in Dominica, and only now really met. The four of us jumped a couple of buses to head off to Falmouth and English harbors. Our first stop was Nelson’s Dockyard, the British stronghold for so many centuries. After decades of neglect, it’s been restored and in the past two years has received UNESCO world heritage status. Though most of the buildings have been turned into inns or restaurants or shops, the yard is still quite beautiful to walk through. And the yachts. We saw everything at the boatyard from a 27 footer that had just been sailed solo across the Atlantic to mega yachts of all shapes and sizes – quite fun to ogle. We treated ourselves to a posh lunch at the Pillar Room at the Admiral’s Inn before wandering through the rest of town. A fun place to be, but Jolly Harbor is much more compact and convenient for our needs.

Boat projects never end

We were grateful for having moved to a mooring, as once we were back we watched a steady stream of boats coming into the harbor, looking for berths to escape the roll in the anchorage. Some boats dropped anchor right in the mooring field, even though it’s not permitted. We watched the tops of masts still in the anchorage swing wildly and knew it could not be comfortable at anchor out there. The next morning we were not surprised but sad to see at least one sailboat had broken free of a mooring or her anchor and washed up on shore.

During our wanderings around the marina we had met a Dutch couple from Canada who winter for two months down here every year. They insisted that we make it over to a local restaurant, Al Porto, on Tuesday night for 2-for-1 pizza, but insisted we make a reservation because it’s so popular. Norman and Sarah were in so I made reservations for 4, which quickly turned to 6 when friends from Tigger showed up and then expanded to 8 when yet more friends from Pearl Bali came in. It turns out we had all been in Dominica during the same week.  There had just been so many people and boats that we never had a chance to get to know each other till Antigua.

Shades of blue

Start of sunset

End of sunset