Sad and Challenging Times

Company gone, time to get down to boat chores. Last visit to Epicurean to stock up, one last bus trip into St. John's for fruit and veg, then motor over to Hermitage Bay at Five Islands. It was calm, so decided to take the butterfly hatch apart, strip and sand everything (hasn't been done since we bought the boat), ready to teak seal. The new main should arrive in 2-3 weeks, so we'll just hang out at the various anchorages and get all the chores done we've been putting off.

Up early Monday and started work just after 8 a.m., scraping and sanding. Finished up just after 3, and after a swim and a really late lunch/early dinner, decided it was time to check the email. The first email to come up was from our good friends Larry and Melody - Mom Coon had died in her sleep at 90+. Shocking and unexpected. Booked our flights back to Florida and took the boat into Jolly Harbour Marina for the 2 week stay. We'd planned on being off at remote anchorages for a bit, so we were fully stocked. Gave all our perishables away, plugged in and left our fridge and freezer running. Had a good flight back to Miami where we rented a car for the 7 hour drive to Homosassa. Well, Allayne was driving, so it was 5 1/2 instead of 7 hours.

All I'm going to say is it was not a good time back in Florida - thank God for Larry and Melody! Did spend time with Dean and Gina, Jen, Scott and little Alia. Then Kelly and Charlie arrived with our darling grandkids, Parker and Brooklyn - and those were all good things!! It was really good for Dennis and Kelly to spend all that time together with their Grandma Coon stories. Larry and Melody drove us back to Tampa to pick up the rental car to go to Miami, and we loved that goody bag!!!! Chocolate bars, licorice, gum drops, gum - you name it!!! Then we picked up our own goody bag of stuff in Ft. Lauderdale and Miami, hitting all the marina stores before we headed back. If you ever need a place to stay near Miami Airport, The Embassy Suites is definitely the place. A five star hotel for a three star price!!!

Felt like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz - please let me click my heels and go back to Audrey Paige! Great flights back to Antigua and all we wanted was to collapse and have a cold beer. Put the bags on the boat and I went below to turn the fans on because it was so hot. Hmmmm ... something not good here, the fans are turning really, really slow. Look over at the power outlet indicator - OMG - no power. Someone who had been next to us, obviously shortly after we left, had turned our power off when they turned theirs off. Everything in our fridge and freezer was gone and, oh yeah, the smell was lovely. The marina did make good on all of our 3 garbage bags of ruined food and the extra day in the marina since our batteries were almost dead. Yeah, that's what you want to do to 3 year old batteries, run them till they're almost gone!

Off we go to English Harbour, waiting for our new main sail to arrive! ~~~/_)~~~

Company 1 and 2

There we were, sitting outside Nelson's Dockyard, waiting for Rick and Eileen to arrive. We didn't want to miss them, so made sure we were there nice and early. Brave on all our parts. We've known and loved Rick for years, but have never met Eileen. They were both wonderful - but next time they're going to bring less luggage!!! Well, they did bring really important stuff, like our mail, a new battery charger (DW fried the second one) and other good stuff.

Had a great couple of days anchored in English Harbour, walking over to Falmouth Harbour and checking out all the mega yachts (the Maltese Falcon was still at dock) and then hiking up to Shirley Heights to watch the first RYOC race from English Harbour in Antigua, up to St. Martin, back down to Guadaloupe, finishing off in Falmouth Harbour. After the hike up and back down (down was a better view and a more challenging hike), we decided to head over to Green Island. All I have to say is - ignorance is bliss. It was probably the worst seas we've headed into since we've been out. I was absolutely petrified (read, really, really unhappy and bitchy) in the 12' seas we were rolling into, and then when we turned sideways to the seas, that was the end of me. Rick was feeling a little queasy, but Eileen thought this was great fun! I never wanted to leave the calm anchorage. Only spent a day and a half at the reef by Green Island, since Rick and Eileen were only here for a week. The sail back down the south coast, past English and Falmouth, on the way to Jolly was downwind, and the rollers were down to about 8'. We do downwind sailing with just the main up with one reef. It was rolly and gusty that day, and one big gust later, our 22 year old main was in shreds. Ripped from front to back. Another thing so not in the budget. Motored the rest of the way into the anchorage at Jolly Beach, took the dink to shore and did a beach walk. On Friday, we took the bus into St. John's so they could enjoy the town, and then another bus over to Dickenson Beach to hook up with John and Brigitte from Mystic, our next company! We needed to touch base on where we were to meet up with them.

Rick and Eileen were great - we know other boaters who couldn't conserve water the way that they did, adapt the way they did and were really good sports about everything. Dropped them off at Jolly Harbour for the taxi to the airport at noon on Saturday, cleaned, had laundry done, and picked up John and Brigitte at 11 a.m. on Monday.

Picked up wine and stuff for dinner on Monday and waited for John and Brigitte to arrive. Did groceries and provisioned Tuesday morning and headed over to the anchorage at Five Islands, where we discovered the guys weren't real great at the hat overboard drill. Wow, what happens if it's us? The good thing was that Dennis and John put their brains together and discovered that we could cut the sail down to a double reef and still use it. (That's Brigitte 'relaxing' while the guys figure the sail out). We needed to check out of Antigua to renew our time here without paying $150 US to do it, so decided to head to Montserrat. A very short weather window! Had a wonderful sail over there and anchored in Rendevous Bay. Checked in, got our Shamrock stamp from Immigration, and back to the boat to swim. The night started out okay, but got more and more rolly as the night went on. Brigitte said she was willing to give up the island tour if we wanted to leave, but we'd been on the tour 3 years before and really wanted them to see the island. Did the tour, which was great, especially since we got to see an eruption. Back to the boat, and talk about working as a team!! Motor off the dinghy, dinghy lifted, lunch made, everything stowed and locked down - underway in 25 minutes! Started off as a wonderful sail ... then there was that current thing ... oh, and weather. Only 2 rainsuits so Brigitte and I were 'stuck' below, with fans blowing on us, reading and passing drinks and snacks up to the guys. Into Jolly Harbour about 8 p.m. and had a hard time anchoring. Gave up and took out the docklines and pulled into the Customs Dock. Best idea we'd had!

Checked into Customs, Immigration and Port Authority the next morning and then headed down to English Harbour. Took another dock walk, and the Maltese Falcon was still there, so the guys took our photo next to this amazing ship. They actually have a small submarine onboard! We went up to Shirley Heights and then headed to Green Island again. A much, much better trip than the
last time. Thank God! Spent 2 days and watched a wonderful full moon come up. Phil and Melanie on Samji invited us for happy hour, but we decided it was easier for 2 to get wet than 4 to get wet, so they visited us instead.

Up to Jolly Harbour, and a couple of beach walks later, it was time for John and Brigitte to leave. Where did that 2 weeks go? Motored up to Dickenson Beach to drop them off at their hotel, the Ciboney. What a quaint, clean place with wonderful, friendly staff. We anchored and had to put a bridle on for the first time in a year so that we pointed into the waves instead of riding sideways. John and Brigitte took us out for dinner that night at The Beaches, and then we were up and on our way back to Jolly by 7 a.m. the next morning. A day to relax and clean, and then took the bus into St. John's and then over to Dickenson to have lunch before they left. Loved all of our company, and miss them, but it is nice to have the boat back to ourselves! ~~~_/)~~~

Picasa Web Albums - Allayne

Our new Antigua and Montserrat photos. We hope you enjoy. ~~_/)~~

Picasa Web Albums - Allayne

To Barbuda And Back To Antigua

Finally had the right winds to sail to Barbuda, so we left Jolly Harbour and spent the night in Hermitage Bay to get an easy out early in the morning. What a sail! A beam reach all the way with 3-4' seas. No fish but a wonderful sail. Anchored off the 11 mile beach and had a calm night.

There's talk of a westerly swell coming in, but we're not quite sure when and how bad. After a 4 hour walk on the beach, we found out when and how bad. Waves were crashing over Dennis' head at times as we walked back along the beach. Hmmm ... so not good. It took us an hour and a half to time the swells and get the dinghy launched from the beach back to Audrey Paige, which was surging at anchor in 9' swells. Thought we might have to lock the dinghy to shore and swim back to the boat. I was, as the Brits say, 'shattered' by the time I got back to the boat. Then we moved the big boat farther north and tucked in behind the reef. Still not great, but a whole lot better. Another beach walk, collected some 'pink sand' and headed down to the south end for the next west swell coming in.

Had a great motorsail down around the corner to anchor out by the reef by Spanish Point. The guidebook makes it sound scary (which, for people who haven't sailed in reefs it should), but the reefs and shallow water were very easy to read and we spent another 4 days down in Gravenor Bay. Met up with Jim and Ann on Bees Knees and had them over to the boat for happy hour one night. After a week, we were ready to leave (and the weather said we should too), so we picked up anchor early and thought we'd sail to Dickenson. Bees Knees caught a baracuda, released it, and I think we caught the same one. Otherwise, no fish. Pulled into Dickenson and there were jet skis all around, so we headed back to Jolly again. Pulled in, dropped the dinghy, hit the grocery store and we were happy people. We picked up water in Jolly before we left, and weren't pleased with the taste, since we drink the water from our tank. Kind of soapy tasting. We're so used to conserving, I didn't realize how long it would actually take to run out 100 gallons of water! Met up with John and Marie on Metalia, who gave us a ride into town in their borrowed pickup truck. Well, I shared the passenger seat with Marie and Dennis rode with the propane tank in the back. All errands done, back to English Harbour we go!!

Finally, a fish!! Caught a blackfin tuna between Falmouth and English Harbour. Meal for 4. Pulled into English and got a prime spot. Unusual, but very happy. We're here till company arrives! Rick and Eileen arrive on Saturday, February 21st and we're looking forward to that.

Big charity function Friday night for the family of the murdered mega yacht captain and two of the taxi drivers with children with cancer. Wonderful night, lots of great food, drink, people, and $30,000 US raised! How cool! Had a great night with Phil and Mel on Samji and John and Marie on Metalia.

Next post, we have company!!

~~~_/)~~~