Saint Barths

Friday, April 13, 2012

We had following seas and SSE winds almost all the way to St. Barths. We only had the main sail up and we motor sailed most of the way as winds were usually only 11-15 kts on our stern. We had left Jolly Harbor about 6p.m. (1800hrs) and arrived in Gustavia about 9a.m. (o900). We rested a couple of hours and then went to the Port Authority to check in. French island check in is so easy and quick! We first found an ATM and then we had a leisurely lunch at the route of the Bouchaniers. Then we went back to the boat to rest some more. It was sunny and very hot!

Saturday- Sunday, April 14-15, 2012

We had made a list of chores to do before the arrival of our daughter Lynn and her husband Dan on late afternoon Sunday. We spent most of this day and Sunday doing those chores. We had to move the cruising spinnaker out of the V-berth to in front of the mast so they would have space to sleep!

The winds were high these two days 15-15kt gusts and we had scattered showers. We went to shore about 5:30 to wait for Lynn and Dan to arrive from the airport only to discover that there had been no flight on Sunday due to the high winds! The ferry boats from St. Martin were full to overflowing with passengers due to this. Once we discovered this we imagined that they would have to find a place to stay in St. Martin overnight. They we saw them on the LAST ferry of the day! They had arrived in St. Martin in time to change their plans and catch that last ferry! We welcomed them and had dinner on shore at Le Repaire. Then back to the boat to settle them in for the night.

Monday, April 16, 2012

We let our visitors sleep in as they had had a long day of traveling from Chicago and then the frantic change of plans to catch the ferry. We went ashore for lunch and allow them to explore the Gustavia area. We did a bit of shopping in the grocery store and bakeries. We had to get our french bread for pate. We had lunch at the famous Le Select (hambugers). Then we walked to the Shell Beach for a couple of hours of relaxing and sunning, but not too much to burn them! Back to the boat for dinner.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

We got ashore about 10:30 and checked out the times for "The Yellow Submarine" . It had a "tour" at 11a.m. which we went on. We saw a number of variety of fish, an eagle ray, turtles, coral, scuba and snorklers. The tour included a sunken ship (100 Ft + fishing vessel sunk in a hurricane) and the nearby reef. there were many yellow snappers, , a puffer fish, sergent majors, blue parrot fish, nurse sharks, baracuda, etc.

Our tour was followed by lunch at "Le Bar De L'oubli" which is the bar of forgetting where we could also get online. We checked the weather for the next few days to ascetain the best time to sail to St. Martin. Charlie stayed there while Lynn, Dan and I walked up to the Lighthouse. The road up gave us great views of the whole harbor. We picked up Charlie and back to the boat for dinner. Overnight the winds died down a bit.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Another bright and sunny day on ST. Barths! After breakfast Charlie fixed one of the bilge pumps by replacing the diaphram which had split. Then he put antifreeze into the engine. So we did not get ashore until about lunch time. We ate a long leisurely lunch at Le Repaire and then went on an island tour via taxi. Our taxi driver/guide had grown up on St. Barths so he was very informative. Dan and I had made a mad dash to the bakery before it closed to buy some more delicious breakfast pastries. After the tour, we went to the Port authority to check out for tomorrow. Then Charlie and Sharon went to The Bar of L'oubli to get online while Lynn and Day hiked up to Ft. Karl above the Shell Beach. We will go back to the boat, take the dinghy out of the water and put it up on the deck for our sail to St. Martin tomorrow. The winds are forecast to be 10-15 from the NE and E. It should only take us about 4 hours. We plan to leave by 0900.

Enjoying Antigua

April 6, 2012

We took the dinghy into Nelson's Dockyard where we

solved my HotHotHot problem and Charlie found an electrician to go to the boat and check out our battery bank. After tightening some of the connections, and giving some advice, the battery bank was judged OK. I was able to

find some good bakery items at the Nelson's bakery but the Liquor store/market left much to be desired.

We had lunch at "Catherine's" on the Slipway side of English Harbor. It was recommended highly in articles and by a friend. It lived up to its billing.

I am always amazed at how relatively small these famous harbors are. Antigua Race week is a week or so off, but it is filling up. there were empty spaces, but I guess they

were reserved as the "Marina" did not answer our calls. Several boats were being worked on at Slipway Marina/Boatyard as well.

We went back to the Nelson's Dockside for Seafood Friday put on by the Pepper and Ladder Restaurant. They must have had seating for 100 outside some under tents, with 4 food tents. The food was fabulous! The music was great and mellow and with a full

moon under the stars, who could complain!

Saturday, April 7, 2012

We had a leisurely breakfast and headed in to the chandleries for some odds and ends. Then we walked over to Falmouth Harbor. Due to Easter Weekend, many small restaurants were not open, but we found Mad Mongoose whose speciality was hamburgers so big that I couldn't eat all of mine! Charlie enjoyed the local Antigua beer. the Mad Mongoose had a take off of Van Gogh's flowers in a vase (see picture)

We did finally find a larger market where I could by some essentials for the time being. We saw the Breezeway and the Antigua Yacht Club while there. Many big ships were in that harbor as well. Charlie's back was bothering him so we took a cab back to English Harbor.

Sunday, April 8, 2012 (Easter Sunday)

Today arrived with much rain. We had scattered showers in the morning but the sun came out for the early afternoon. Families were on the beach nearby having picnics. Rain came again in late afternoon so we did not go to the traditional Sunday Shirley Heights event. We could hear the music just above us.

Today was also Charlie's Mom's 97th birthday celebrated in Chattanooga with other family members.

Monday, April 9, 2012

We left English Harbor heading for Jolly harbor with the wind directly behind us so we ended up motoring the three hour trip. Jolly harbor reminds me of Fort Lauderdale because it has various tributaries of water with houses lining them each with their own boat

dock. The marina is far in from the coast and well protected. They have a large boatyard. Evidently many boaters pull their boat for Hurricane season and leave them in Antigua. Also the big Antigua Boat weeks start April 19 into May. Some have arrived and are being worked on and others are out practicing or recruiting crew. We are in the marina which

has few finger docks so we have to depart the boat over the anchors on the bow. There are several restaurants and shops nearby. There is also a great big grocery where we will provision.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

We got our wifi code so we can get online. We also found the laundry and dropped of 2 loads worth ($90EC). We made a trip to the Budget Marine for supplies: oil, line, etc. We actually were able to find the correct rearming kit for one of our SOSpenders that lacked one! We discovered that the yellow salt bobbins are specific for each model. There is a big ornate concrete building here that once was a CAsino. It has been shut down for a few years.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Charlie changed the oil in the generator and disposed of it. He also found out where the Customs offices are so we can go tomorrow and check out. I made a big trip to the grocery store to replenish our stores for this next week. we are trying to spend our EC dollars as we will not need them anymore. Tomorrow (Thurs.) we will leave in late afternoon to sail overnight to St. Barths. This will allow us to arrive early morning on Friday.

4 countries / Islands in 4 days

April 1, 2012

We left Rodney Bay sailing to Fort de France, Martinique. We had a great blustery day of sailing and arrived about 3p.m. The anchorage by the Fort was not nearly as crowded as the last time we were there. Many children were out on the beach playing. Maybe it was a holiday.

April 2, 2012

We had the longest trip the next day, 48 nm, to Roseau, Dominica; but the winds were great and we were sailing along at 7+nm over the ground. We arrived in the Roseau early afternoon. the Sea Cats boat met us and put us on a mooring ball near Anchorage Inn. Of course they did not have the correct change. All along the coast of Dominica the anchorages always seem to be rolly so we rocked all night long.

April 3, 2012

Our next stop was The Saints. All along the lee coast of Dominica we had westward wind although the forecast was E and ESE winds. As we sailed several miles beyond Dominica, we finally picked up good E and ESE winds s all the way to The Saints. we had great sailing! The picture on the right is approaching the small islands of The Saints. the picture on the left shows the windmills on the south side of one of The Saints islands.

we

We planned to anchor off the biggest island as we did last time hoping to find enough space. BUT since we were there in 2011, The Saints has put in 60-80 mooring balls! You just

pick up a vacant one! It was great. Eventually the harbor boat came around to collect. Luckily I had some uro change left over from the previous trip. It cost 11E.

April 4, 2012

Off to the next island/ country: Guadeloupe. The Saints are only about 8 nautical miles from the coast of Guadeloupe.n We had great winds until we hit the lee coast of Guadeloupe where we again experienced west winds all along the lee coast. There was plenty of wind so we sailed almost all the way to Deshaies on the north end of Guadeloupe. We had beautiful blue skies and great winds. It was a relaxing sail. We anchored near the shore at Deshaies. They now have a new dinghy dock near the Blue Pearl. Before one had no choice but to tie up in the creek on the south end of the town. The harbor was very crowded. Several very large boats were anchored there. We were able to get online with a HotHotHot site so we could check the weather for our sail to Antigua the next day.

April 5, 2012

We left Deshaies about 0800 heading for Antigua 42 n miles to the north. The winds were great; E to ESE at 15-20. It was a fast but comfortable ride. We arrived at English Harbor about 2:30 so we quickly launched the dinghy, put the engine on it and sent Charlie in to Customs. We couldn't get a slip so we anchored in 11 feet water in Freeman Bay at the entrance of English arbor. Toward the evening a very unusual boat anchored next to us. It eviden

tly did not have an engine so three dinghies pushed it into the anchorage. We are calling it the "Zebra boat".