Barbuda - Guadeloupe

Time and Tide, wait for no man. Well it’s almost five months later and we’re 300nm south of Antigua and the fun and frolic of Race week, yet we are woefully behind. We’ll see what we can do about that.

As we prepared to depart Antigua on April 22nd there are still many things to do, provisioning. Just imagine hopping on a bus travelling halfway across an island stocking up on all the wonderful items you’ll want in the coming weeks only to realize once at the checkout that we have little money and no credit cards, ouch! Never was a problem before, but that is one of our issues these days, “I thought you brought the money”. Ah well, all’s well and such. We made it home with our bundles in time for a tour of the “Picton Castle”, (http://www.picton-castle.com/). The Barque Picton Castle is a three-masted tall ship based in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada but best known for her sail training voyages around the world. For a fee you can become one of the crew and see the world, we’re happy on board BOTO.

A short hop over to Nonsuch Bay to get away from the crowds, and ready ourselves to jump over to Barbuda, while a part of Antigua, Barbuda is an island and a world unto itself. Just 35nm to the north of Antigua, Barbuda has a small community and some of the most beautiful beaches in the islands.


 Anchoring in Low Bay in about 10 feet of water and less than a hundred yards off the beach we are ready to kick back and relax. Oh yeah and enjoy the King Mackerel we hooked up on our sail over.

 While there is no real tourist stop over on Barbuda, one could always check out the K-Club; Prince Charles and Princess Di honeymooned at the now defunct K-Club.

Although we have lots of stories, we don’t have any related to near disaster at sea due to weather; we’ve had our share of bad weather due to bad forecasts, but then when things look questionable we sit back and relax, there’s always tomorrow. So we sat out several days off the picturesque beaches of Barbuda while the wind howled and the sun shone. It’s amazing to be enjoying sunshine in the cockpit while the wind blows in our face at a good 30k (that’s 35mph).

Time to go, so at 0330 (yeah that’s early) we’re off to St. Kitts. The forecast is good and as mentioned we are careful to find a good window, so we are smug in our knowledge that we’ll have a nice and easy 60nm ride. Hah. Nothing like having the wind off your stern quarter at 20-25k, while the waves come at you from either side like freight trains. Too much wind and too much sea for the delicate auto-pilot so we hand steered the 12 hours across to Kitts, taking a few rather large waves like a punch drunk fighter that refuses to go down. Oh and just so no one thinks it’s all cocktails and sunsets, the forward head (toilet) picked this crossing to backup/leak all over the floor of the vberth (that’s the room on the boat where we sleep!).  Lots of fun. Decided to drop the anchor in White horse Bay and check into the country the next day, too tired. Our old friends from the “Maltese Falcon” are anchored next to us, although they didn’t invite us for a sundowner, go figure.

More fun and games as we discovered a dead starter battery coupled with mysterious wire/alarm problems. Oh well, deal with that later. We make our way to the capitol where we run into the crew of “Altair” (http://sailblogs.com/member/altair/ ). Becca and Dudley are returning north to Florida, taking the long way. A nice reunion and a plan to tour the island the next day unfolds. Meanwhile customs and immigration await.

As the officials indicate the wish to survey Boto, we make ready for them to come aboard. The first official aboard make Ed look tiny by comparison and because of his size he has some trouble maneuvering in the cockpit and promptly tears the canvas which shades the cockpit, oh well! As he prepares to descend the companion way to inspect below decks he is greeted by all 30lbs of Chula, with a big grin and tongue hanging out excited for some company. As I mentioned the official was a big man, but he sure could move fast as he nearly levitated off the steps and back into the cockpit pointing at Chula and asking if she was ok. Gotta tell ya, seeing her scare off a 300lb linebacker prototype made us feel good about her guard dog status. She got a biscuit. As the sun set on another long day we had the tour and the company of Altair to look forward to the next day.

We’re off on another tropical island to see the sights. The islands do not lack for history, indigenous as well as more recent European. Forts abound, the French fought the British who defeated the Spanish who took land from the Dutch, and the forts are the reminders of a time when great navies ruled the world.

 Of course the forts almost always took the best real estate with a commanding view, 

 


  After the blood and guts tour, it’s time for a little more relaxed local fun.



a monkeys uncle

Now off to the jungle and cooler breezes.

 

By daze end we are ready for a nap. Finally, correcting some of our mechanical troubles, we bid farewell to Altair as they head north and we are off to Nevis.

The sister island to St. Kitts, the two islands make up a nation although there is much history between the two, both good and bad. The major difference from our point of view is that Nevis is a more relaxed island.

Here you can see the killer attack dog with some of her admirers.

 

See how they tremble!

It’s Friday, May 6th (ok, it was when we left Nevis). Superstition has it that to start a voyage on a Friday is bad luck, “Sunday sail never fail, Friday sail ill luck and gale”. The myth seems to have come from the crucifixion having taken place on a Friday. The British Admiralty tried to put this superstition to rest once by having a new ship commissioned on a Friday, with the Keel laid up on a Friday and being launched on a Friday, even being commanded by a Captain Friday. The vessel set off on its sea trials on a Friday and was never seen again. Oh well, the weather on the 6th was nice and it was to be a short over night sail to Guadeloupe, so off we went at 0800.

With the wind off our quarter and a gentle sea we are sailing east/southeast getting closer to the Windward Islands, but first Montserrat, Guadeloupe and Dominica.

As there is still an active volcano on Montserrat and the anchorages on the north end of the island are bumpy we opt to continue past on our Friday voyage, taking in the view, of course the crew is on guard.

it's a hard life

The cone and lava flow are visible from eruptions in 1995 and 2010 which left the southern end of the island uninhabitable.

 

What about Friday you ask? Well as we left Nevis we had a wonderful sail with 15-20k winds abeam and calm seas, by nightfall the wind had swung around to the SE (in our face) and increased to 20-25k causing us to reef (reduce) sails. Good news as we leave Friday behind and head into Saturday the wind has died and the seas have calmed, now we motor. As the rain begins to fall and we come into sight of Guadeloupe we are hailed by S/V Tenacious of Houston, TX. There are a lot of Texans out here, makes ya feel all warm and fuzzy. Finally, at 0900 just under 24hrs from our departure we are safe and sound at the Marina Bas du Fort, Guadeloupe. Greeted by the welcome wagon.