Exploring English Harbour

Here we are still in Antigua awaiting the arrival of parts to fix the staysail furling system. We decided to do some land exploring while we are in Antigua this time.

We wrote about our trips to St. Johns and Deep Bay with Holly and Joe and now we will fill you in about our time in the English Harbour area.

This area consists of two harbours, English and Falmouth, which are separated by a narrow peninsula of land. The village of English Harbour is situated at the land end of the peninsula and stretches from one harbour to the other. The Falmouth side of the village is where most of the businesses, like grocery store, laundry, restaurants, gas station etc., are situated. Along the road to English Harbour are a few restaurants and then on the English Harbour side is Nelson’s Dockyard.

We were anchored in English Harbour for the first few days – a harrowing experience at times. The inner harbour is quite calm. It was actually used as a ‘hurricane hole’ in the past. That is a place where it was relatively safe to anchor during a hurricane. However, the currents were variable and the boats turned every which way. Add to that the fact that some of the boats had the stern tied to shore, meaning they didn’t swing, and the anchorage was quite full, there were times when boats came very close to each other. We finally decided to leave when another boat anchored closer to us than we were comfortable with and Griff had to push it off a couple of times during the evening. We then moved to Falmouth Harbour and have been here a week now. The anchorage here is a little rolly, but there are not as many boats anchored here and the water is clear so we can swim off the boat.

The marinas in both harbours seem to cater to the larger yachts and there are some beautiful boats here – both sailing and motor, but they are humongous compared to our 49 footer.

Some of them are in excess of 200 feet.

One we were particularly interested to see was the Maltese Falcon. We had read about it in one of the sailing magazines. It is 289 ft. long with 25,791 sq. ft. of sail. The sails are trimmed to the wind by rotating the masts – no ropes or stays on the boat. If you would like to charter her here is the website http://www.charterworld.com/index.html?sub=yacht-charter&charter=sailing-yacht-maltese-falcon-1096 or you could just book a flight down and join us - maybe not as luxurious, but definitely cheaper. The Nelson Dockyard Marina was interesting. They have Mediterranean type docking. That is the boats dropped an anchor or picked up a mooring ball and then went stern to into the dock. What was interesting was for the longer boats they would drop their anchor at least a boat length away from their bow which meant the anchor was on the other side of the harbour from the marina and therefore the anchor chain stretched across the channel. We watched a couple of boats leave the marina and because other boats had docked after they had they we picking up anchor chains as they weighed their anchor. We saw one that had three chains laid across his chain. In addition to that hazard there are also still chains across the harbour from 200 years ago when they were used to moor boats.

Nelson’s Dockyard is exactly that. It is the dockyard built in 1725 and used by the English Navy as its main naval station. Admiral Horatio Nelson used this as his base for his excursions to the other Caribbean islands to claim them for England. After they emancipated their slaves, the English would attack slave ships from other countries, buy the slaves off the ships and then bring them to Antigua where they were apprenticed to craftsmen (for a wage) and later became master craftsmen themselves. Since 1951 most of the buildings in the dockyard have been restored and house various tourist related businesses. Here is a website if you would like more information on the dockyard http://www.paradise-islands.org/antigua-nelsons-dockyard.htm

Beside the dockyard there were also a number of fortifications built around the two harbours. There are numerous hiking trails in the area as part of the Nelson’s Dockyard National Park system. Because of these fortifications Antigua is one of the few islands in the Caribbean which remained in English hands for most of its history.

We did one walk from Fort Berkeley at the mouth of English Harbour across the sea end of the peninsula to Pigeon Beach in Falmouth Harbour – a distance of 1 mile, up and down a hill that is 300 feet in elevation. On the way we passed a Keane’s Battery, Middle Ground Barracks and Fort Cuyler. All had excellent views of the sea to the south and west of Antigua. You could see why they were situated where they were.

This is how we have been spending some of the time waiting for parts. The rest of the time has been spent with the usual boat maintenance stuff - polishing the stainless steel, swabbing the decks, etc. etc. We are looking forward to the arrival of the Perrys and sailing again.

2,107 Nautical Miles and One Year Later

Well, believe it or not it has been exactly 365 days (January 20, 2008) since we landed at Beef Island, Tortola to go to Nanny Cay and pick up Mystic Journey for the beginning of this life adventure. We thought it might be a good idea to reflect a little on how that year has affected us and what we might have found out about ourselves and our view of the world. I am doing the initial writing on this blog so the first part will have mostly my slant on things. Since Cheryl and I seem to see things in a similar light most of the time, this is probably a fairly accurate representation of her thoughts also but she will add anything at the end she thinks I have missed. I will mention now that this won't be a recap of our journey - look at the 116 preceding blogs if you want that. This is about reflections and, knowing me when I get started, lots of ramblings.

When we decided to write this blog, it led me to reflect on how it relates to my thinking on a more general level. One of the things I realized was that although there have been tremendous changes in my life from what I ever thought it would be and certainly from where I was headed 19 years ago I have become accustomed to them. That is not to say that I take them for granted, but when I realize that in the past, if I had thought by some impossible stretch of the imagination that I would reach some of the milestones in my life that I have, I would have said that I would not have enjoyed them because I would be too in awe of them. This is not to suggest that these things are something so awesome, but to my previous way of thinking they were out of reach and therefore if they happened I would be awestruck. Even something as simple as teaching a class a couple of semesters at a university I had previously considered as done only by "the professors" and far above my station in life. After having done it, I was happy I had done it but it was no big whup. I am not sure if this makes sense to anyone out there but it does relate to the blog and our reflections on it so keep it in mind as you read further.

Cheryl and I talked a lot about the things we have learned and the things we accomplished and the mistakes we made. As we did I realized that it was like a series of adjustment scenarios and to my mind, this is how it relates to "becoming accustomed". I remember when we took Mystic Journey out for our first solo sail. We were heading for the USVI, via Jost Van Dyke in the BVI's, to pick up some more tools and supplies. We both felt a little nervous about it but at the time is was not "fear" nervousness but more "apprehension" nervousness. We were going to sail alone to another island but that was okay - there was no a thought that we couldn't or shouldn't do it. (Flashback to non-sailing days - "what, sail a 49 foot sailing yacht by ourselves in the Caribbean - never happen")

So let's move forward - after doing a few of the islands in USVI and BVI, time to go further afield and do our first overnight sail - into the wind in 10 ft seas with no moon no less - again nervousness, yes - ny idea we couldn't or shouldn't do it, not a bit. (Flashback to early sailing days "what, tackle an overnight, away from land, into unknown waters in the dark with no moon - not likely")

Okay, forward again and more experiences and some mean squalls and some mean seas - no problem, it was part of the life and by now we were "accustomed" even more to the life. Now we want to go to the ABC's (Netherland Antilles) and we don't want to stop in Venezuela so off we go. Now we must sail for 3 nights and 4 days and when we arrive in Bonaire we have to change our destination because there was no room at the moorings. Again nervousness but again no doubt that we could do it because that is what sailing is about. (Flashback to just after our first overnight to St Maarten "It was bad enough doing one night - 3 nights - not yet brother, we wouldn't be ready")

To make this a bit shorter, consider the sequences above and apply it to sailing from Curacao to Antigua - when the time came, there was no should we or could we, but rather when would we and let's get on with it - apply it to sitting on the edge of a hurricane and dealing with it - apply it to putting the boat on it's side and not panicking I guess that is one of the things that stand out about our whole adventure - how adaptable people or more specifically Cheryl and I, can be. It would be wonderful to be able to put this knowledge to its full very powerful use every time something new and really challenging came up - just say "remember the sailing", but I know that this is also not realistic - to lose the "nervousness" entirely - but I think that the last year has been invaluable in teaching us that we can work with it and use it.

The most important thing that has come to fruition over the last year is not only the cementing of the relationship that Cheryl and I are so fortunate to share, but also the realization of what a partnership it has truly become. Perhaps the challenges I spoke of or didn't speak of were the catalyst - I think that truly the blossoming would have come anyway but perhaps not as apparently or even as quickly. At home we had our roles that we kind of fell into. There are things I am better at and there are things that Cheryl is better at and around the acreage that became somewhat the norm. That is a good thing but it is also kind of a "fall into" kind of thing. Out here it was quickly apparent, particularly in times when action or speed in both decision-making and acting on those decisions was essential, that I didn't have to second-guess any of Cheryl's decisions or actions and hopefully the reverse was true. This is not to say that we both do what we do without need of consulting or of double-checking. If I am not sure of what I am doing, I can depend on my partner to be there for me to discuss it and either provide answers or provide support for the decision I do make. This is a two way street. Our decision making is truly a shared instrument for us to enjoy this journey in the most enjoyable and at the same time the safest way possible. I think TRUST probably sums it up.

So, I have shared some of the reflections - well, actually two aspects of a subject that I could probably go on and on about - about the last 365 days of our lives. I hope that it makes sense to some of you - if not, you could save your questions, we will be home some day!! Which reminds me of one last thing. We are having someone do our taxes this year since it is easier than trying to do them from here. One of the questions we were asked was "Have we really left Canada in our heads?” The answer - a resounding NO, and particularly we haven't left it in our hearts. We are on the adventure of a lifetime but our hearts and lots of times our minds are back there in Canada with all of you family and friends that we love and miss so much. So - we will return!!!

It is amazing to me (Cheryl) that here we are approximately 3 1/2 years after the initial discussion with the Perry's about us joining them on their sailing trip. A lot has happened in those years. This past year we have been adjusting to the sailing life, but also to being together 24/7, married life and retirement.

The being together 24/7 and married life has not been a difficult adjustment. Surprisingly even though the boat is small with limited individual space we are able to find ways to have alone time. Griff mentioned roles we had 'fallen into' at the acreage. Actually the same thing has happened on the boat. I am the primary cook, Griff the bottlewasher. I look after the heads and keeping the teak polished while he does the engine stuff. Even while sailing we have divided tasks, he does the heavier tasks such as hauling up the mainsail and setting the anchor and I haul on the lines to bring out the smaller foresail and staysail and to trim the sails while underway. We take turns at the helm - keeping Mystic Journey on course.

Getting used to retirement has not been as easy. I know I wasn't working full time before we left, but I did have my work with Victim/Witness Services that keep me busy or as I say now gave me some purpose in life other than ourselves. That is what we are both still having trouble with - not contributing to the area where we are living. Other cruisers tell us we are contributing by the money we spend on the islands. Some days that doesn't seem to be enough. Maybe this year we will be able to do find more that we can volunteer to help with - does that sound patronizing, I hope not.

Griff spoke about missing family and friends. What I have found difficult is not being there for family milestones. We have missed engagements, weddings, births and funerals as well as the many gatherings that occur throughout the year, especially our Canada Day barbecue. The hardest one was having to find out over the phone that we are going to be grandparents again thanks to my daughter, Leila. She is expecting her first child in July. We will then have 8 grandchildren. We will get to see them all next fall when we return home for a visit so until then we must have patience and at the same time live to the fullest this journey.

One Plus of Having Visitors

One great thing about having guest visit us is that we have the opportunity of having pictures taken of us doing things while sailing or working on the boat. Normally we are both busy doing our part of the task that we cannot take pictures. We would like to thank Holly for taking the following pictures.

Griff half way up the mast

(Cheryl is at the winch lifting him up)

Climbing back onto the boat after attaching the dinghy to the davit ropes

Pulling the dinghy up on the davits

Cheryl flaking the mainsail while Griff lets it down

Dropping the anchor

Part II - The H&J Watson Visit

Well, it is now Monday the 12th of January and after a very windy night that left Holly a little nervous (she had heard the story of the Perry's and Mystic Journey's dragging anchor at Santa Marta) the day arrived bright and sunny. About Holly's unease - I had, for my own peace of mind, dove our anchor the day we arrived and was happpy to see that it was buried so deep that only the end of the arm showed but I understood Holly's concern. Anyway, after trying some more fishing with no luck - Holly told Joe that our Dad would call the one he caught the day before "The Lone Ranger" - we decided to go and explore Fort Barrington, which sat on the north hill overlooking the harbour. We had seen and heard lots of goats up there ever since we had arrived and had actually seen people up there the day before so we know we could get there. Fort Barrington was a fort established around the time of Nelson by the British. It had not been restored or looked after so we weren't expecting any "fanciness". The path we took up and later on down was certainly not meant to be easy. I commented on how hard it must have been to take provisions as well as whatever ammunition they used up the very steep path and it didn't appear that there had ever been any other way up but it was well worth the climb. I prefer the old buildings that have not been restored or fixed up. To me it is easier then to get a grasp on what it must have been like back in the days when the fort was in use.

After exploring the fort and the point of land on which it was constructed we went back down and walked down the beach as far as where the Royal Antiguan Resort had their beach chairs. Incidentally, if you didn't read Holly's comment on the last blog, apparently the Royal Antiguan was robbed at gunpoint the first night we were in Deep Bay. They didn't get much and were caught quite quickly but it just goes to show you that crime exists in places we really don't expect it. We went for a swim before going back to Mystic Journey and spent a quiet evening playing Scrabble and watching an episode of SG1 - we got the whole 10 year series as a Christmas gift. For those of you who don't know, SG1 stands for Stargate 1, a series set in the 1990's with Richard Dean Anderson (McGyver for those of you who remember) We were all surprised it had been on 10 years because it was never mainline popular but Cheryl and I really enjoy it.

Tuesday we decided to go back to Jolly Harbour since the winds didn't show any signs of lessening and in fact seemed to be increasing. The bay was not too bad but the constant wind kept us from enjoying fishing or swimming off the boat as much as we would have otherwise. Besides, Holly had seen a hill at Jolly Harbour that she wanted to climb. We came back using the foresail only as it was a fairly short trip and the time we gained using the mainsail would have been cancelled by the time it took to turn into the wind to put it up and take it down. We were still able to sail at 6-7 kts so it was fun. When we got back we took a mooring ball farther into the harbour rather than anchor out in the bay. Cheryl and I wanted to do this since HotSpot, the server we were using for wifi, was not performing well further out. After getting set up we went into the marina and made the climb up Sugar Ridge. Well, one of made the climb up Sugar Ridge, the rest went about halfway up. I mean I know it was really steep but, you 3 who didn't go up........'nuf said.

Finally, for the last day before H&J went home, we went back into St Johns so the Watson's, more specifically Holly, could do some last minute shopping. We also stopped for lunch in a neat little place that featured roti's so we could sample some island food. I ordered a doubles too which Joe liked but Holly thought too spicy. That evening we again played some Scrabble and watched SG1.

Finally the sad departure day. Holly had checked the temperature in Ottawa and found it was to be -34C so maybe they were a little sadder than we were. (Not really) Joe is like me in that he likes to get to places like airports nice and early so at 11:30 we took them into the marina so they could catch a taxi and we said our farewells.

This is the third set of visitors we have had - Randy and Aleitha Ward, Rob and now Holly and Joe (not counting the Perry's who are not really visitors) and there are similarities - some good, some not so good.The good is the anticipation prior to the visit and the visit itself where we are able to share that particular part of our journey. It is very special and I think provides special shared memories that help keep us close. The not so good is the feeling of kind of an emptiness after the visit is over. This too stays but as a much lesser part of our memories.

Thanks Holly and Joe for taking the time and bearing the expense and taking the "risk?" to come down. It made this part of our Journey special. Since I have never specifically said this to our other visitors, I would like to take the opportunity to do that now - including the Perrys - Julie, Graham, Alex and Amelia. Thanks!!!

Now - we wait with great anticipation and some impatience the arrival of our next guest - Jason. Come On Down!!!!

Visit with Loved Ones

Well, it is Thursday afternoon and Holly and Joe will be getting on the plane to go back to ice and snow about now. We took them in to the marina here at Jolly Harbour earlier today to catch a taxi to the airport so now is the time to reflect on and share the visit.


We had originally intended to join them on the 2nd or 3rd of January at the villa they had rented for when they arrived on January 1. Because of our Christmas committments and the fact the weather didn't cooperate in Curacao we were late getting away and of course as you might have read in our previous blogs, the weather continued to be uncooperative so that we didn't get up here until January 6. They had already checked with the landlady to see if the villa occupancy could be extended so when we arrived, we discussed it and decided we would stay in the Villa until January 9th, which we did. I must say at this point that part of that decision, as far as Cheryl and I were concerned, was based on the great difficulty we had in getting our land legs back. For any of you who have experienced it, you may have some idea what we are talking about but for those of you unfamiliar with the phenomenon, I will try to describe it.

After you have been on a rolling environment for a period of time, when you leave it, the body tends to still feel as if you are there. Of course this messes up the mind because you are on solid ground. Cheryl and I had felt this on previous occasions such as when we were first learning to sail, when we did our first overnight from Virgin Gorda to St Maarten and a bit more so when we sailed for 3 days from Grenada to Curacao, but let me tell you we had never experienced anything like what we felt after our trip from Curacao to Antigua. The fact that the ship was rolling so constantly and to such an extent as well as for that length of time really threw us for a loop. When we first went into Customs, our first time on land, we actually had to sit down or we would have staggered all over the place and we both actually felt quite nauseous. Compare it to swinging round and round and round in a circle for 10 minutes and multiply that by 10.


Anyway, when we hooked up with Holly and Joe (H&J from now on) we were still very much feeling those effects so we thought it best to get our land legs back before going sailing again. The nice thing about it was that the villa had a dock and after the landlady very kindly had cleats put on the deck we were able to bring Mystic Journey right to our back door, so to speak.


First night at the villa we took it pretty easy. Cheryl and I were pretty tired so we were in bed pretty early but when a new day dawned, we were ready to share time, albeit still reeling somewhat when we walked.


H&J had done some sightseeing on their own before we got there so we were able to pick and choose somewhat as far as agenda was concerned. They had previously gone into St Johns, the capital of Antigua, but Holly wanted to go back with us so we took the bus on Wednesday and away we went. St Johns is similar to some of the other capitals of islands of the same size we have visited -narrow streets, lots of noise, and lots of small stores that seem somewhat overcrowded compared to what Canadians are used to. There were 2 cruise ships in that day so there were lots of "pinkies" around the dock area. Cruiser people tend to stay in the more touristy places so we didn't spend too much time there. One unfortunate event during this time - H&J had tried to get some American money at the two Canadian-based banks, RBC and Nova Scotia, but they would only give it on credit cards and they wanted to use an ATM card. A teller in the Nova Scotia told Holly about an ATM down by the docks that gave out US $'s so we went down there. I went in first and got some US money to give to Joe as our share of the villa. Then Holly went in and although the machine whirred and clicked, it didn't dispense any money and there was no receipt issued. Joe then went in and used his card and he was also successful. Holly thought she had better check to make sure no money had left her account so we went to an internet cafe and she checked. Sure enough, the money had come out. They went right to the Nova Scotia bank only to find it closed at 2 PM so that night was spent making some frantic calls to try to straighten the mess out. Long story short - at this point they have been assured that once they get back, they will have the money returned to their account.


Thursday the 8th we decided to take a walk to a beach that the next door neighbour said could be reached by going down a country road and following a path. Well, he didn't mention how far it was or how hot and dusty but when we arrived we found we were on a beach at Five Islands Bay and it was well worth the walk. We were able to swim, walk, collect shells and just relax and enjoy. The walk there and back plus all the fresh air and swimming ensured we all slept well that night.


The next day we loaded up Mystic Journey and left the villa. The first thing we did was stop at the fuel dock to fill up on liquids. Of course since we had visitors on board (and because of the wind blowing us off the docks and the fact we had to come in from a very cramped space to bring our starboard side to the dock - honest, it wasn't my driving) it took two tries to get into the fuel dock slip and when we got there, we discovered they had closed for lunch so we got to wait for over an hour. We then went out into Jolly Harbour Bay and put our anchor down. Once that was done,we relaxed, enjoyed the rest of the day aboard the boat watching the pelicans and the setting sun.

I must explain at this time that our intended agenda for when H&J were here was to make sure we sailed to Barbuda. This is an island that is actually under the governance of Antigua but is about 25 miles north. It has beautiful beaches and not many boats and there are some neat things to see up there. Unfortunately, beginning about Thursday, the winds began to increase until they were blowing at 20-30 knots regularly and the seas increased to between 8 and 12 feet. We wanted H&J to enjoy their sailing experience so made the decision that we would not subject them to the rougher sailing that the conditions were providing. We talked about what to do and decided that if things didn't improve, we would take the easier road and sail up to Deep Bay, a protected anchorage about an hour up the coast, which is what we eventuallly did. More on that later.

The next day was a day of rest and relaxation. The wind was too high to do much so we sat around and talked and read. We eventually went into the marina to get access to the grocery store where we stocked up the larder. The wind was producing wind chop even in the protected harbour so it was a wet trip both in and out. Of course I, as the boat steerer and thus at the back of the dinghy, stayed fairly dry. Not planned that way but nice for me!!

That evening, while watching the sun go down, we told H&J about the green flash which can sometimes be seen just as the sun finally dips below the horizon. We had never seen it up to this point and so were somewhat skeptical ourselves. Sure enough, thouogh, as we watched the sun dipped below the horizon there it was - a brilliant green flash. From the other boats around us came the cry "Look the green flash" so it was not a figment of our imagination. Sorry no picture.

We had decided to go up the coast to Deep Bay, as I said, so early the next morning we prepared for the trip. We have been having problems with our wind indicator showing wrong wind speed and direction so before we left I went up the mast to see if I could lubricate the moving parts and make it better. After I came down we set off for our new anchorage. The wind was still blowing 20-25 kts so we put one reef in the mainsail when we raised it. Reefing the main means you control how much sail actually goes up. We have mentioned this in another blog but it is done when the wind might be a problem and in this case we raised the sail so it was one reef from full sail. We also raised the foresail but since we lost our staysail coming from Curacao, we didn't use that. Actually we would not have used it in any case as it is best utilized when the wind is much less and we need more sail area.

With the sail we had up we were able to get to about 8.5 kts without leaning Mystic Journey over too far and scaring the bejeesus out of Holly and Joe. It was actually a great sail, with lots of sun and sparkling waves and it ended too soon.

Deep Bay is just south of the capital, St Johns, and does not seem to get much boat traffic. The Royal Antiguan Resort is there but it is set back well off the beach, which incidentally is very nice, so the anchorage was much more "tropical islandy" than the Jolly Harbour anchorage. Joe and Holly, being avid fisherpeople, had quickly gotten out the rod and reel that Randy Ward had so kindly gifted to us when he and Aleitha were visiting and they soon had a line out. I had not been very successful up to this point - the only thing I had caught was the line on the dinghy or some part of the boat. Imagine our "happy happy joy joy" when Joe hooked the first fish caught from Mystic Journey. It was a Horse-eyed Jack and was big enough to allow us all to have a fish filet for supper. Randy - I found out it was not our fault the reel kept throwing off line - Joe told me there was way too much line on the reel so he took some off and it works fine now.

I think that I am going to close this blog for now. I have 4 more days of visit to talk about but I don't want to put you to sleep with too much blogging so will resume later.

The Watson's Blog

Well, we have come to the end of our voyage on the good ship Mystic Journey. I wouldn’t say that our journey was Mystic, rather well planned and a very special experience, since the captain and co-captain knew what they were doing!!!(although Joe and I tended to be in the way of the ropes and the thingies that they needed to keep an even keel ….)However, the beaches and the beautiful trees and flowers, and the frogs singing at night certainly leant a mystic quality to our adventure.


It was such a special moment when we finally saw Griff and Cheryl pull up to the dock, and after they got their sea legs, what an incredible experience to sail away with them. I didn’t know if the rocking would be a problem but it was lovely and comforting…. Unfortunately the winds didn’t die down enough for us to go very far, but we really enjoyed the rush of hearing the motor stop and the sails taking the wind (or is it the wind taking the sails)and the swish of the ocean going by when we went to Deep Bay. Our last night there was really rocky but that was OK; it was the pull on the anchor that seemed to keep us awake!
I’ve seen Jaws too many times to feel 100% safe jumping off the boat but it was the best feeling in the world and even better the warm shower after! The other magic moment was when we came to a secluded beach at Five Island after we walked and walked in the heat, passing cows and egrets and even a truck with mud flaps from Tomlinson in Hamilton Ontario!!!We enjoyed a beautiful swim and a walk on the beach at Five Islands.

Taking the “bus”, usually a van, to St John’s was a lot of fun! There were always some Christian tunes playing, and on our last trip back, it was like an omen when Amazing Grace played since honestly I do feel very blessed by a Power greater than me to have been able to take this trip and spend this time with 2 special people; a once in a lifetime experience!

So a big Thank You to Cheryl and Griff for sharing a little bit of their Never-ending Story with Joe and I. Fare well and may the winds be blowing in the right direction and may you continue to enjoy your Mystic Journey.

Final Thoughts on 'THE TRIP'

It's been a week now since "THE TRIP" ended. We've had time to relax and reflect about how the trip went. My final thoughts are going to be what I remember most about the trip.

As Griff mentioned we didn't get rained on, but we were wet most of the time. This was mainly from waves spraying into the cockpit, but also there seemed to be a fine layer of moisture on every surface. I'm not sure if it was dew or spray from the sea, but whatever it was it was uncomfortable. As you can see from the pictures we were dressed accordingly. I never expected to be wearing 3 layers of clothing while sailing in the Caribbean but we were.

I am very greatful for Mr. Otto, the autopilot. There were times when we both had to be on deck working, like when the staysail came down, and we just put Mr. Otto in charge of where we were going and headed out to the deck. For those of you who worry about us - yes we were teathered to the boat when out on deck, in fact we had our lifejackets and teathers on the majority of the time. Now back to Mr. Otto. Remember the song "What a difference a day makes" well we were singing "What a difference a degree makes". Using Mr. Otto we could change our coarse one degree at a time and notice the difference in the way the wind caught the sails. Steering manually we were unable to steer so precisely and I for one was always overcorrecting my coarse.

On the short trips we have done there was always something for me to take pictures of. This trip didn't provide many photo opportunities. I did get lots of pictures of sunrises and sunsets. We experienced both red skies in the morning and at night. I'm not sure how that saying is supposed to apply - Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning; red sky at night, sailors delight. I can't say that sailing was any better with red sky at night.

We sighted one cargo ship a day, usually off in the distance, although we did have to tack a couple of times to get out of the path of a cargo ship. Theoretically they should adjust course for us since they were overtaking us and we are a sailboat. However, they are much bigger than we are and they cannot maneuver as easily so we take no chances and move first. The last two nights we spent at sea were filled with ships in comparison to the first five. As we neared the islands the cruise ships became more plentiful. At night they are lit up like Christmas trees and can be seen from many miles away.

We didn't even see much animal life. Flying fish were fairly plentiful almost every day. In fact when we got to Antigua we discovered five flying fish that had flown onto the deck and caught where the staysail was lashed to the deck. We also saw a brown booby every day. I decided that was our sign that land was somewhere out there.

The one thing from the trip that will remain with me is how much of a team Griff and I have become. We both took our turns at the helm with three hour watches during the twelve hours of darkness. When things happened, such as the staysail coming down, we worked together and did what had to be done. I will always appreciate the care he took to ensure that I ate something even though I didn't feel like eating.

Looking at the position reports we sent I realize what an accomplishment "THE TRIP" was and am amazed that we did it.

In answer to a couple of questions people had. I slept in the cockpit most of the time. As Griff says I can sleep almost anywhere. I found sleeping below deck was too noisy. Griff slept both in the cockpit and below deck, but I don't think he slept that well in either place. As far as how long the trip should have taken. As the crow flies it is 560 nautical miles. At an average of 5 knots that should have taken approximately 110 hours or 5 days. It took us 7 days less 4 hours with a stop of 8 hours in Nevis.

776 Nautical Miles in 140 hours Non-Stop

Well, it is time for a blog about “the trip”. I was thinking about how to describe our journey from Curacao to Antigua and realized there was not really a lot to write about but there was so much we learned.
Back to basics – in case you have missed out last blogs, we spent Christmas with Rob and the Perrys at Lucy’s Place, a villa we rented in Santa Marta Bay. On the 27th we sailed to Spanish Waters with Rob and on the 28th he left for home. The weather had been bad over the Christmas season with lots of winds and lots of rain and lots of squalls out to sea so Cheryl and I ended up leaving Tuesday the 30th for Antigua where we were to meet Holly (my sister) and Joe (her husband). They had flown in Jan. 1 and booked a villa at Jolly Harbour until the 6th when we were going to take them aboard Mystic Journey until the 15th. Okay, stage is set.
Cheryl and I left about mid morning on the 30th and sailed south to go around the end of Curacao and get into the “heading” of our journey as soon as possible. We needed to go basically Northeast to get to Antigua and unfortunately the prevailing winds this time of year are from the Northeast so we knew we would have to do lots of open sea tacking (a zigzag path that allows us to make some way against wind). We had gotten a custom report from Chris Parker – a supposed weather guru who forecasts for Carib Wx and also offers subscriptions and custom forecasts to yachties. He had advised that we head east as much as possible for the first couple of days because the wind was going to be turning more easterly later in the journey.
One word to describe dealing with the winds and seas on this adventure – frustrating!!! It was not so much sailing against the wind as the fact that the only thing you could count on as far as direction and strength of wind, seas and current was that you could not count on anything. We at first tried going by Parker’s report until we discovered it was for the wrong area of the Caribbean. Even after that was corrected, we found it highly suspect most of the time.
Graham (Perry) very thoughtfully sent us nearly daily updates on the weather based on sources available to him but unfortunately these forecasts were also mostly inaccurate (nothing to do with you Graham – you sent the information – you didn’t forecast it!!!) We also sent for weather specific to the latitude and longitude that we provided but again, they forecast based on computer models and ocean buoy information and it was not that helpful. The main frustration – we would be in certain conditions i.e. winds from 070 degrees (ENE) so we would set our course to 115 degrees and plan on tacking to 025 degrees after 6 hours. Sure as shooting before we got to that point or even sometimes just as we got to it, the 070 wind would change to something totally unsuitable for the tack we needed. When this happens once or twice, it is annoying – when it happens constantly it is depressing.
We ended up with far too much northerly so that when we got up almost directly East of Antigua we were still 250 nm from where we needed to be. I won’t bore you with the details of how we dealt with that other than to say we did. I don’t want this blog to sound like a whine session (too late you say – ha!) so I will talk a little about the logistics of the trip.
Sleep – in the evening we split the watches into 3 hour shifts beginning at 6 PM and ending at 6 AM. This seemed to work best for us. I found that I could not sleep during the day but Cheryl was usually able to grab a couple of hours lying on one side or the other in the cockpit – usually the “down” (leeward) side because the boat was usually at about a 20/25 degree angle so if you didn’t stay on the down side you could roll off.
Food – Cheryl is usually the chef on Mystic Journey but she found that if she stayed downstairs too long she felt queasy so I became the sous-chef. Because of the angle of the boat, we didn’t do a lot of cooking. Even though the stove is gimbaled (set to swing on a pivot so the top surface stays parallel to the “ground”) neither of us felt that with the boat heeled over so far that it was safe to heat liquids or liquid materials. It is also very difficult to pour things in a boat with about 5 different directions of motion due to the seas. Anyway, I was able to keep us sustained for the trip. Would you believe that I had to do without my tea on all but 2 days of the trip – horror at sea!!!
Passing the time- during the day it was not difficult to pass the time. We talked about the trip, about people, about plans and sometimes just vegged. One very positive thing about the trip is we never had rain and more importantly we never had squalls or really high winds. I think probably 30 knots was the highest wind we had and that was mostly for short periods of time. The fact that we were sailing so close to the wind also lessened the effect of the wind because it was not pushing from the side but from more to the front. It actually sounded a lot worse than it was. Usually when you hear wind howl the way it did sometimes, it means you are really moving. Not so in this case because of the direction.
What helped - One thing we did see every day was birds, either frigate birds or brown boobies. It was in a sense comforting because it gave us the feeling we were not that far from land. Another very supportive aid was the fact that we were able to communicate by winlink email with the people that have been so helpful in our lives and on our journey, both family and friends. When we lost our MaxSea (our navigation tool), the fact that we were able to contact Graham (another big kudo to GP for his instant and effective help) kept us from panicking or going off the deep end. Finally, the contact we made with other yacht people via the Coconut Net every morning at 0800 was a real grounding for us. Special thanks to Dee and Don on Southern Cross for the extra contact they initiated after the net so let us know they were thinking of us and praying for us.
To finish up our trip – we arrived at Nevis about 0600 on the 5th. If we had been experiencing better wind conditions during our trip we might have carried on and tried for Antigua that day but the way things had been happening, we thought it likely that we would have the same problems we had been having all along and end up getting to Jolly Harbour after sunset and that is not a harbour that I would want to navigate to and then set anchor in after dark. This we decided to pick up a mooring ball in Nevis, stay for the day, have a refreshing swim, a warm meal and then leave that evening to arrive in Antigua bright and early on the morning of the 6th, which in fact we did.
Next blog I will fill in some of the spaces in our trip that I missed here, little items or anecdotes that we will carry as memories when our journey is over. For now I have gone on long enough so until next time – ciao.

Our Last Days in Curacao

When we sailed to Spanish Waters it was our intention to clear out of Curacao on Sunday and then leave on Monday for Antigua. However, when we got up on Sunday we decided we all (Rob included) need a day of rest and relaxation so except for a couple of boat chores that's what we did.
Unfortunately the anchorage in Santa Martha was very muddy and our anchor chain came up "wrapped" in mud. Griff tried to rinse or brush it off while bringing up the anchor, but a lot of the mud went down the windlass channel into the chain locker. Needless to say when Griff let out the anchor in Spanish Waters the dry mud came up too and was all over the bow deck. I decided to clean it up before it rained and the dirt reverted back to mud. I was successful. Then we took our gerry cans to the
yacht club and topped up the diesel, gasoline and water tanks.
After that and a quick shower Rob took us out for dinner to The Boathouse, a restaurant overlooking one arm of Spanish Waters. The food tasted great and could easily have been served in any five star restaurant back home. Rob got a cab from the restaurant to the airport for his flight back to cold Toronto.
Bright and early Monday morning we headed into Willemstadt to clear Customs and Immigration. When we got back to the boat Griff snorkeled down to clean the prop of all the barnacles that had collected since Grenada. He discovered there was still some rope from when we backed over the mooring line in Bonaire. We then decided to check the foresail. The rope ends looked frayed and in order to fix those we had to pull out the sail totally. We discovered the stitching on a couple of seams had come
undone so that meant a repair job before we put the sail back up. Unfortunately the wind kept us from taking the sail down until Monday evening s0 I worked on it then and Tuesday morning. Finally we were ready to head out to Antigua.
Leaving Curacao I got to thinking about what was most memorable about our stay there. Of course there was Christmas with the family - watching everyone opening their presents. Amelia with wild exuberance, Alex more subdued and the adults acting like adults. The final memory of Lucy's Place occurred while we were bringing up the anchor. We heard a shout and looked up. There on the patio of Lucy's Place stood Ricarda (Rica) Jason. Rica was the housekeeper for the rental agency, but she looked
after us way beyond what I'm sure her job required she do. She lent us her wireless modem and TV until the ones we had previously that didn't work were replaced. She was there every day including Christmas acting as a supervisor of the workers and providing us with information. This even though she spoke little English and we spoke no Spanish or Papiamentu - her native tongues. She is a beautiful person and helped make our stay at Lucy's Place tolerable.
The last occurrence, although memorable was not pleasant, while it was going on in Spanish Waters. It seems that fireworks play a large part in the island's holiday celebrations. However, they are not like the fireworks at home. Here they have a lot of noise, but little display. Unfortunately to us they sounded very similar to the sound we heard when the boat in Bonaire burned. Like I said - memorable but not pleasant.
Well that's it for Curacao. Next blog will be about our trip across the Venezuelan Basin of the Caribbean Sea on our way to Antigua.