February 2018 - East Caribbean
Eastern Caribbean | Antigua | English Harbor | Nelson's Dockyard
Eastern Caribbean | Antigua | English Harbor|
Feb. 1, 2018
Today we finally began to relax after our crossing. We went for a swim in Freeman’s Bay where we are anchored in English Harbor, Antigua. After our shower we took the dingy into Nelson’s Dockyard. It’s a bit of an ordeal as we need to take two trips to get 3 people ashore in the little dingy. We had a great lunch at the Hot Coffee Café and used their free internet to catch up on family and friends. After Lunch we walked over to Falmouth Harbor and did some provisioning. Walked to a Boatyard Decent grocery store but not a lot for meats.
Eastern Caribbean | Antigua | English Harbor | Fort Berkley and Freeman's Bay
Eastern Caribbean | Antigua | English Harbor | Fort Berkley and Freeman's Bay
Eastern Caribbean | Antigua | English Harbor | Fort Berkley and Freeman's Bay
Eastern Caribbean | Antigua | English Harbor | Fort Berkley and Freeman's Bay
Feb. 2, 2018
We got an early start today. Al dropped off Mike first and he carried our laundry over to Falmouth Harbor to the laundramat sheets, towels and a month’s worth of laundry. We were happy to let someone else do it. We had breakfast with some Brits on vacation at Hot Coffee Café and did some internet. We hiked up to the fort and then continued on up the trail that overlooked Falmouth Harbor. It was a bit of hard work for legs that sat for 3 weeks. Beautiful views. We visited with some locals about Irma. Antigua saw some 120kts of wind but Barbuda 25 miles away was flattened. We stopped at Sea Breeze Café near Antigua Yacht Club for lunch. Then stopped at The Dockyard Bakery for a Danish before heading back to Artemis.
Feb. 3, 2018
We decided to take the paddle off of the Monitor Steering and discovered the bearings and some other parts missing. Good thing we don’t need to use it right now. Mike will order new parts when back in USA for us and have Christopher bring them. Spent most of the day finishing up the watermaker and we are now making water! Still can’t find part for the grill. I spent the day going through every cupboard, tool bags, parts boxes looking for a “baggie with the part in it” We had to grill porkchops on the George Foreman and red cabbage for dinner.
Eastern Caribbean | Antigua | English Harbor | Artemis Freeman's Bay
Eastern Caribbean | Antigua | English Harbor |Shirley Heights walk
Eastern Caribbean | Antigua | English Harbor |Shirley Heights walk| Al and Mike
Eastern Caribbean | Antigua | English Harbor |Shirley Heights walk| beautiful cactus
Eastern Caribbean | Antigua | English Harbor |Nelson's Dockyard | Atlantic row boats
Feb. 4, 2018
Had a nice swim and shower. Great not to have to worry about how much water we use. Took a hike to Pillars of Hercules, walked along cliff to the fort and back through the woods to Garrison Beach. Took the dingy over to Seabreeze Café for ice cream and internet only the internet wasn’t working☹
Eastern Caribbean | Antigua | St. John Airport
Feb. 5, 2018
Happy 40th Birthday to our son Justin! Where have the years gone. I don’t feel old enough to have a 40 year old! We rented a car today to take Michael to the airport. We visited St. John s first. Some cruise ships were in so lots of tourists on the streets. Some rain off and on all day. The harbor didn’t look like a pleasant place to bring Artemis. We had lunch at the airport Big Banana with Mike. After a sad farewell Al and went grocery shopping at a big American store. We drove to Jolly Harbor and liked the town and chandlery so we’ll probably come back with Artemis. Not a lot to see on the island other than villages along the shore. Not only did Al have to drive on the wrong side of the road but had to deal with locals driving down the middle of the road to avoid huge potholes.
Feb. 6, 2018
Did some small projects this morning finishing up the watermaker and rebedding a stay. Low and behold I finally found the grill part. NOT IN A BAGGIE as Al insisted he saw me do but just laying in the tool bag. We lose things all the time only to find them where we expected to find them in the first place. Around 11 we decide to sail up to Jolly Harbor. Great NE 15-25 winds and no seas as we’re on the Leeward side of the island. We anchored about 1300. We had a long wet ride into the harbor as chop built up from the shore. Al checked us out of Antigua while I hurried to Budget Marine before they closed to get some fittings we needed to finish the fresh water flush on the water maker.
Feb. 7, 2018
We had a great sail 54nm to St Kitts (St. Christopher Island) Basseterre anchorage was a bit rolly and we had another wet dingy ride into port to clear customs and immigration. It was a long process because of cruise ships in town. Immigration cleared us in and out of St. Kitts but we have to go back tomorrow as customs demands we leave within 24 hours. We found some internet at an outdoor Casino Bar and enjoyed a couple of beers. Our anchor was dragging when we returned to Artemis and still rolling about so we hauled anchor and motored to White House Bay about 4.5nm arriving in wind, rain and dark! Great holding so all was well.
Eastern Caribbean | St. Kitts | Basseterre
Feb. 8, 2018
We took Artemis back to Basseterre Bay again to clear customs and visit the town. We were looking for a taxi to take us to Budget Marine when a lady stopped to ask if we needed help. She offered to take us to the marine store. Katelyn and family are living in St. Kitts working with Addiction rehabilitation.. prisoners, They are from Tennessee and her father lived in Franklin where our son Christopher lives. Long story short… I left our camera in her car and didn’t discover it until lunch when I went to take a picture. We spent the afternoon trying to track her down. All we knew was her first name , where they were from and what they were doing in St. Kitts. We knew her car had a big round decal advertising their services. We looked in yellow pages, talked to taxi drivers, talked to police who called the prison but they only knew a couple from USA was one of their volunteers and didn’t work on Wednesdays. Finally I got the idea to google Katelyn, Tennessee, St. Kitts, and Addiction Rehabilitation. Up popped her Blog Aaron and Katelyn Comer with contact information. No answer by phone but I sent an email. We ordered a new camera for Connie and Steve to bring. We went back to White House Bay anchorage for the night again.
Feb. 9, 2018
We left St. Kitts at 0830 128nm to Tortola BVI. Lots of wind 20-35 NE , several squalls and mixed up seas morning and afternoon. The preventer broke while trying to attach in 30-45kt winds so hooked up another one. Double reefed main and staysail. Decided to put up the starboard side of the fort after the 4th squall to stay dry.
Feb. 10, 2018
We had a sleepless night with crazy winds and seas. We arrived at Salt Island Passage about 0500 just before day break. We took our sails down in Sir Francis Drake channel and continued to fly down the 8 miles to Sopher’s Hole bare poles no engine slowed down to 4.5 knots. Sunrise as we arrived to pick up a mooring buoy about 6:45. We got settled and went to bed until 11. We went to broken marina dock and walked around the bay to customs. Strong winds funnel through the anchorage. Lots of boats on the shore and only upper level of Pussers Pub open. The customs people sat at a picnic table under an awning to complete business. Went to Pussers for a beer, a Painkiller and internet. We met a nice cruising couple Connie and Tony from Vancouver s/y Sage. Almost circumnavigated heading to Chesepeke Bay.
Feb. 11, 2018
We decided to blow up the 11.5 dingy to get ready for Connie and Steve. It’s the first time we’ve used it since Turkey 2008 so it took a while to figure things out. Connie and Tony stopped over for coffee and a visit. After lunch we put the dingy in the water and went back to Pussers for beer and internet. We visited with Connie and Tony again Decided to have a chicken Caesar salad and burger for dinner. The wind is still howling in the anchorage but the big dingy makes for a much drier ride.
Feb. 3, 2018
Yesterday was clean up and organization time. Al’s sister Connie and Steve are coming soon and we need to make room in the vberth for them to sleep and keep their things. Winds are still howling but another nice dry dingy ride to Pussers. Internet was strong enough to skype Steve for final arrangements and Christopher for packages arriving at his house. Today we made water all day and went for a walk. We found a small grocery store and a Bakery Café where we had fried chicken for lunch. We cleared customs and are heading into USVI tomorrow to meet Connie and Steve.
Feb. 14, 2018
Happy Valentine’s Day ! We sailed into Red Hook Harbor on St. Thomas. We filled up our fuel tank and were surprised we only burned 30 gallons since Tenerife, Canary Islands and that includes running the generator 2 hours a day. We anchored in the bay but I stayed with the boat as we were not sure about the holding and had choppy seas in the anchorage. Al went in to buy groceries. I put them away while he went in again to pick up Steve and Connie. We were underway motoring to Francis Bay on St. John for the night
Eastern Caribbean | USVI |St. John | Leinster Bay | Sugar Mill
Eastern Caribbean | USVI |St. John | Leinster Bay | Sugar Mill
Eastern Caribbean | USVI |St. John | Francis Bay
Eastern Caribbean | USVI |St. John | Leinster Bay | Sugar Mill
Eastern Caribbean | USVI |St. John | Leinster Bay | Sugar Mill
Feb. 14-28, 2018
We had a great two weeks playing with Connie and Steve. We had great sailing lots of wind, plenty of sun, and a bit of rain. USVI we enjoyed snorkeling at Moho Bay and Watermelon Bay. The coral reefs are mostly dead but still lots of reef fish to view, rays, squid, turtles and an octopus one day.
We visited the Sugar Plantation Mill in Leinester Bay on afternoon. The volunteer was from Newport MN! We ate well as Connie and Steve brought a cooler filled with steaks, burgers, shrimp, pork tenderloin…
Eastern Caribbean |BVI | Jost van Dyke | Foxy's painkillers
Eastern Caribbean |BVI | Jost van Dyke | Foxy's painkillers
BVI we enjoyed Foxy’s at Jost Van Dyke a couple of nights.
Eastern Caribbean| BVI |Norman Island | The Bight| Pirate's Bight Bar Restaurant
Eastern Caribbean| BVI |Norman Island | The Bight| Pirate's Bight Bar Restaurant
Eastern Caribbean| BVI |Norman Island | The Bight| Pirate's Bight Bar Restaurant
Eastern Caribbean| BVI |Norman Island | The Bight| Pirate's Bight Bar Restaurant
Eastern Caribbean| BVI |Norman Island | The Bight| hike above Pirate's Bight Bar
Eastern Caribbean| BVI |Norman Island | The Bight| hike above Pirate's Bight Bar
Eastern Caribbean| BVI |Norman Island | The Bight| hike above Pirate's Bight Bar
Eastern Caribbean| BVI |Norman Island | The Bight| hike above Pirate's Bight Bar
Norman Island had the best beach and snorkeling at Norman Bight and the caves. We enjoyed Pirates Bight Restaurant and Bar for Happy Hour and internet. Also had a nice hike up the hills behind to view the other side of the island.
We enjoyed Trellis Bay on Beef Island of north end of Tortola and rented a car at the airport to grocery shop in Road Town. We drove the island and sadly viewed the hurricane damage and hundreds of destroyed boats. We stopped at Cane Garden for a nice lunch. Rainy wet a good day for a road trip. The roads are in horrible shape and so steep at times we were not sure the car would make it to the top.
Eastern Caribbean| BVI |Peter Island
Eastern Caribbean| BVI |Virgin Gorda | The Baths
Eastern Caribbean| BVI |Virgin Gorda | The Baths
We tried two different times to visit the Baths but strong winds and seas made it impossible. We anchored off Prickly Pear Island in North Sound of Virgin Gorda one night and a mooring in Buttonwood Bay on Peter Island. Visited Foxy's on Jost van Dyke again. Met Foxy and listened to his new song about the two sisters who came to visit Irma and Maria and the havoc they caused in the Virgin Islands.
Eastern Caribbean |BVI | Jost van Dyke | Foxy's Bar | Foxy
Eastern Caribbean |BVI | Jost van Dyke | Foxy's |Foxy
We went back to Norman for one last bit of snorkeling off the beach and spent our last night in BVI with Foxy entertaining us at his bar on Jost van Dyke. We cleared customs and immigration there and spent our last two days together at Maho Bay in USVI snorkeling. We had such a good time together and we even got Alan to play 500 a few times.
Eastern Caribbean| BVI |s/y Artemis | Sally's seafood pasta
Wed. Feb. 28, 2018
We sailed into Red Hook Harbor and dropped anchor in a quiet bay this time. We got the sheets, towels and clothes done while we had lunch with Steve and Connie at the Fish Tail. After they left for the airport we went grocery shopping for our new crew arriving in a few hours. Christopher, Mary, Maddie and Jack arrived safely around 1630. We motored out to Maho Bay. Full moon so the kids got to swim while we made dinner.
