1980 (3) - Circumnavigating Antigua - Part 2

Great Bird Island.  Antigua is in the background.

To go to the beginning of this book, Tropic Moon: Memories, click HERE.

Leaving Dickerson Bay, we sailed eastward along the north coast, tacking back and forth between the coast and the outlying reefs.  Off the northeast corner of Antigua is Great Bird Island, where we anchored and stayed for a week.  Great Bird, our favorite stop on the trip, is a small, uninhabited, windswept island.  Only one other sailboat visited Great Bird during our week there, and it only stayed one afternoon.  Great Bird had two beautiful beaches, and a steep hill, which we climbed.  The view was spectacular – Tropic Moon peacefully floating off the point.  The waters were a myriad of blues, greens and browns clearly showing the locations of the underwater reefs, with the mainland of Antigua making a dramatic backdrop.  At the top of the hill we found a large hole that went right down through the island with the Atlantic surging in below.  It looked like a useful spot for human sacrifice, a favorite pastime of the Carib Indians, who originally inhabited the islands.  Lizards scurried through the colorful wildflowers, and all around us were a profusion of succulent plants, reminding me of the jade plants I used to grow back home.

Succulents

We found good swimming and snorkeling around Great Bird.  Ed did some diving for conch shells - empty ones - as he wanted to make himself a conch horn.  He found two shells, and sawed off the small ends to make the horns. His efforts were moderately successful; neither seemed loud enough to carry very far.  One of the shells had an inhabitant that became our first pet of the trip.  It was a small scallop that Ed installed in a pickle jar filled with seawater, and complete with sand and a couple small shells from my collection.  I christened him Scully the Scallop.  He seemed to be surviving quite well, until we inadvertently got some soap in his seawater.  He wasn't looking his usual pulsating self, and was on the bottom of the jar, instead of clinging to the side.  Ed put Scully in a large bucket of seawater and put it up in the bow.  When we sailed back to English Harbor, the jib sheet caught the bucket and knocked it over.  We found a very fried scallop lying on deck when we reached the harbor.

Great Bird Island

It's unusual to find good anchorages on the eastern side of an island because of the exposure to the Atlantic, and the prevailing easterly winds.  Antigua is an exception because of the extensive reefs along the north and east coasts, which offer protection from the ocean once you’re safely tucked behind them.  Antigua's east coast gives the sailor plenty of practice at eyeball navigation.  It forces you to be good at it, because you seldom get a second chance if you put your boat up on a reef.  According to our cruising book:  "The only problem with Bird Island is that having found your way in, it's a bit tricky getting your vessel out."  The directions, which took us through the reefs with no problems, read as follows:

From the western end of Great Bird, the yacht should pick her way across the shallows heading for the SE end of Long Island.  The channel will soon be seen stretching away to the NE with Little Bird to port and North and South Whelk to starboard.  Two right angle turns, one to port and the other to starboard, follow in quick succession.  The yacht will soon be feeling the effects of the open sea and should be driven ahead with conviction into clear water.  The chart is none too accurate here, and it's definitely up to the watery old eyeballs to keep you in deep water.

      

We decided to take a break in our island cruise, and sail directly back to English Harbor.  The practical world was intruding - the garbage bags were piling up, and we were out of fresh provisions.  We spent two days in English Harbor, and took the cross-island bus into St. John to do our shopping.  The amount of money we saved just on our fresh vegetables was more than enough to cover bus fare for the two of us. 

That's Tropic Moon at anchor

We had a week left on our month-long cruising permit, and one more place we wanted to visit.  We sailed back around to the east coast to Green Island, which is located in Nonsuch Bay.  Here again we were in the protection of reefs off the Antiguan coast.  We anchored all alone in a small bay on the lee side of Green Island.  I had anticipated another peaceful week, but these illusions were soon shattered; several charter boats came in, as well as a whole contingent of French sailboats that seemed to be traveling en masse. 

One afternoon we rowed in to Green Island, and walked along the windward beach.  Mounds of sun-bleached coral gave the shore the appearance of an ominous graveyard of skeletal bones.  My beach-combing efforts were more successful than usual, and I found a few intricate pieces of white coral that would make pretty pendants.

Our cruising permit expired on February 21^st, and we sailed back to English Harbor that day to begin preparations for our passage south to the French island of Guadeloupe.

1980 (2) - Circumnavigating Antigua - Part 1

Our circumnavigation started at English Harbor, on the southern coast.

To go to the beginning of this book, Tropic Moon: Memories, click HERE.

After returning to Antigua from the States, our plan was to explore the island’s sixty miles of coastline.  According to our cruising guide, the coast abounded in good anchorages that were well worth visiting.  We left English Harbor on January 24th for our circumnavigation around Antigua.  We had the wind at our backs as we sailed along the southern coast of Antigua, and then worked our way up about half of the western coast. It was a nice, peaceful sail in calm waters, on the lee side of the island, leaving the person not at the wheel free to wander about the boat, or sit up in the bow.  The calm waters meant very little spray.  Both camera and binoculars were on deck for studying and capturing the interesting features of the coast.

Coastal shot

Our first destination was Five Islands Harbor.  It was an easy harbor to find, as there are five little islands situated just outside the entrance of the bay.  Five Islands Harbor is a large bay with several inlets.  As we entered under sail, we bypassed the first inlet.  A large "pirate ship" filled with tourists from St. John’s, Antigua's capital, was motoring out of the harbor.  Some people lifted cameras to get a shot of Tropic Moon as we sailed past.  I got a kick out of occasionally finding ourselves a part of the local color.  We sailed into the second inlet.  After taking down the jib, we worked our way forward with just the mainsail.  When Ed was ready to drop the anchor, I lowered the mainsail. 

We could see the masts of a boat in the first inlet.  We saw it sail out shortly after or arrival, leaving us with the whole place to ourselves.  After the constraints of living in the densely populated parking lot of English Harbor, my first thought was that I could go skinny-dipping, and I promptly went over the side.  As you may recall, Tropic Moon didn’t have a shower.  We took our baths in the water, and it was a lot easier to do when I didn’t have to work within the confines of a bikini.

Banana Boats, St. John's Harbor

During the four days we were at Five Islands, just one other boat came in, and anchored near us, but only stayed one night.  One day we rowed to one of the beaches to climb the cliff of volcanic rock that separated the two inlets.  We had wanted a closer look at a waterspout on the far side.  There was a narrow cleft in the rock.  When the waves surged in, they would be funneled up the cleft into a geyser about thirty feet high.  It was really pretty to watch the surge, enjoy the light spray, and listen to the whooshing of the water.

We sailed from Five Islands one afternoon to continue up the coast to St. John’s, the only city on Antigua.  Our chart was rather vague about where we might anchor, showing shallow areas near the town.  Our cruising book (and bible) insinuated that yachts didn't anchor in St. John’s because it's a commercial port.  As we worked our way into the mouth of the deep-set harbor, we could see a cruise ship, and some anchored freighters.  Since it was getting late in the day, we decided not to tackle it, and sailed back around a point to Deep Bay.  Again we sailed in without starting the engine.  (We were getting really good at entering a harbor under sail!)  It took a few tacks, as there was a submerged, 3-masted sailing ship sunk in the middle of the entrance to the bay.  There were also a few anchored sailboats to avoid.

Tug Boat Annie

As we were approaching Deep Bay, Tug Boat Annie, a local excursion boat, was making her way out.  Our sails were up on our starboard side.  Annie was heading for that side when she decided to pass us to port.  That was the proper choice, so we could fall off to starboard if we needed to, but the decision was made a little late, and she crossed right in front of our bow.  I was ready to make an obscene gesture in Annie's direction, but all the tourists were waving.  I lost my nerve and just waved back.  We were recorded on a movie camera that time. 

Street Market, St. John's

We took Tropic Moon around into St. John the following morning, carefully measuring the depth of the water as we approached the town.  I drove the boat, while Ed stood in the bow, tossing the lead line.  We were still a long ways from the dock when we anchored.  The water had shallowed to seven feet, and as we drew six feet, it was as far in as we dared go. 

Street scene in St. John's

We spent the day sightseeing in St. John.  It was a good-sized town, with fairly modern buildings, and a variety of stores.  It was sufficiently well developed that the sheep wandering through the streets looked somewhat out of place!  We saw a sign for a marine chart agent.  We wandered through a garden, and up some stone steps, to walk into a room where a man was typing.  I thought we'd somehow missed the store, but we were in the right place, and spent some time visiting there.  The owner was a retired Commander from the British Navy.  His wife, whom we also met, was Antiguan.  Their business was only two weeks old, and we were the first potential customers to wander up as a result of their new sign, which had been completed just the day before.  We asked what other services they were providing, besides selling charts.  We were told he did marine surveys, while his wife provided secretarial services - as well as offering piano lessons.

St. John's Cathedral

A popular tourist sight in St. John is the cathedral located on a hill over-looking the town and harbor.  We walked through the cemetery reading the ancient stones, and entered the cathedral to hear the organist and some choir members at practice.  The church, which is Anglican, is very large with three altars and beautiful woodwork. There was an old carpenter at work who looked as if he wanted to speak to us, so we stopped to admire his handiwork.  He told us how the church had been damaged in an earthquake, as well as suffering progressive damage from termites over the years.  He had started doing carpentry work in the church eight years before, and was alone because one carpenter was all the church could afford.  His efforts were impressive - he had replaced sections of many of the pews, including the curving carved end pieces, all of which were done by hand.  He turned out to not only be the church's carpenter, but also the major fundraiser, and sold us a book on the history of the cathedral.

I combined two slides (in Photoshop) to get this panorama of the shore in St. John's Harbor.

Not comfortable spending the night anchored in St. John’s commercial harbor, we headed north a short way to Dickerson Bay.  It was the location of several major resort hotels.  After spending three nights in Dickerson Bay, we were ready to continue our clockwise circumnavigation of Antigua.

1980 (1) - English Harbor

Me, posing with one of the cannons at English Harbor

To go to the beginning of this book, Tropic Moon: Memories, click HERE.

During our 3-1/2 years in the Caribbean, we made several trips up and down the island chain.  Some islands we skipped altogether, while others, like Antigua, our favorite, we visited on four different occasions.

Nelson's Dockyard, English Harbor, Antigua

English Harbor, on the southern coast of Antigua, is one of the most beautiful and popular anchorages in the Caribbean. There are two sheltered deep-water harbors - English Harbor itself, and Falmouth Harbor.  Nelson's Dockyard, at English Harbor, is one of Antigua's finest attractions, and it was easy to spend hours wandering around the restored buildings.  The dockyard took its name from Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, who was based there for three years from 1784, and who led the construction of the Royal Dockyard.  Admiral Nelson's former home is now a small museum called The Admiral's House, and nearby is the atmospheric Copper and Lumber Store, which originally provided the copper sheathing for the hulls of the wooden ships. 

Copper and Lumber Store, Nelson's Dockyard

Many of the old buildings had been converted to modern use - a grocery, a post office, marine store, and sail repair shop. There were frequent reminders of how short in stature people were a couple hundred years ago. Leaving an office I had to reach way down for the doorknob, and Ed often bumped his head on the beams in the marine store. 

 

The Admiral's House, Nelson's Dockyard

A replica of the racing yacht, America, visited English Harbor during our time there.  In 1851, the original gaff-rigged schooner, over 100 feet in length, was the first winner of the America's Cup international sailing trophy.

Replica of America (my photo, treated with sepia, in Photoshop)