Antigua to Anguilla via Barbuda and St Martin.

Stern to, Jolly Harbour

The speedy crossing of the Atlantic meant that we had more time to enjoy in Antigua than I had allowed for when planning. By the 1^st of February the pleasure of being in Jolly Harbour was beginning to wear thin and hence we moved out to spend the following day or two relaxing, at anchor, in Hermitage Bay, part of Five Island Harbour; we were waiting our moment to head north and take a look at Barbuda, the island devastated by last year's hurricane Irma.

With suitable winds forecast we set off the following day at 0900 and by 1530 we were anchored in Low Bay off the west coast of Barbuda, some 200m offshore, and not far from the devastated remains of the Palm House Hotel, half of which looked to have been claimed by the sea.

Sunset, Five Islands Harbour

The sand spit separating Low Bay and the sea from Codrington Lagoon had been breached in at least two places, forming shallow channels into the lagoon, and a large number of the palm trees, previously stabilising the sand spit, had been torn from the ground. We navigated with care given that the chart and the present reality might be somewhat at odds and discovered that the point where we anchored was shown by GPS to be on top of the sand spit (yes I did check the chart and GPS datum settings!)

Barbuda

We spent the night at anchor here and then, next morning, sailed south and round the south western tip of the island, called Palmetto Point (on which there was another dilapidated hotel but this one seemed to date from an earlier era), and into the south facing bay to the east of Palmetto Point. Here we were able to anchor much closer inshore and not far short of the

Hermitage Bay, 5 Islands Harbour

Martello tower half way along the bay. Only Christoph swam ashore for a walk on the beach and in the process he managed to bump into four locals on horseback who appeared to speak very little English, only Leeward Caribbean Creole. (Seen from a distance Malvena and I thought they might be local police on horseback!). They seemed less than phased by his relaxed style of dress (or lack of it), keen to chat and offered large shells for sale; that is until they realised that Christoph had no pockets and therefore no means of paying! They were obviously some of the very few people left on the island, the entire population having been evacuated last year, with most still housed in Antigua. In the event our stay there lasted only 24 hours after which we set sail back to Antigua and a return to Five Island Bay. By 2000 we had effected a night entry under sail and were again anchored in Hermitage Bay, back in our old position with three other yachts to keep us company.

The beat through Goat Head Channel

At 1430 next day, the 4^th of Feb, and after enjoying a salad lunch, we sailed off the anchor and set off for a new anchorage in Carlisle Bay on the southern side of Antigua island. To get there we either had to pass north or south of the coral reef paralleling the south coast at the western end; we opted to pass to the north. Thus it was that we enjoyed a beam reach down the west coast and a challenging beat to windward through the Goat Head Channel (between the reef and the mainland shore).

.......and it can rain, Carlisle Bay

By 1700 we had sailed into the bay, anchored amongst the other four boats already there and were preparing for our first G&T. The bay has one large hotel development at the inner end but is otherwise relatively quiet; except when it rains!

Next morning we enjoyed a swim in the bay, a leisurely lunch and then we set sail again, sailing off the anchor and heading for English Harbour and Nelson's Dockyard Marina. Our plan was to spend one night in the marina, dine ashore and re-victual from the local supermarket. On arrival we realised that it was also the finishing line for the Talisker Whisky Challenge, the Trans-Atlantic rowing competition.

Stern to in English Harbour, Nelson's Dockyard

At 0700 the next morning one of the British entries finished to a cacophony of ships sirens, whistles and cheers from the crowd. They were helped ashore, on rather wobbly legs, and on completion of formalities, enjoyed a hearty breakfast on dry land. The previous evening we had opted to take our meal ashore in Trappas, a restaurant I knew from my last visit to Antigua, and very good it was too. From here it was a nightcap (Rhum punch) at “The Bar on the Corner” and then a slow walk back to Kurukulla.

Nelson's Dockyard

The dockyard is a Heritage Site and is a splendid example of an 18^th century Royal Naval Dockyard, restored in the most part to near original configuration. Notwithstanding its attraction the marina is an expensive place to stay and so we limited ourselves to one night only. By 1200 we had departed the berth and were motoring towards the harbour entrance where we set sail to head back westwards, this time downwind and a very much easier sail. Our original plan had been to spend the next night in Falmouth Harbour which is only one mile to the west of English Harbour but having seen the crowded conditions in the anchorage we opted to go further west and anchor nearer to Jolly Harbour.

Ffryes Bay

For the next anchorage we chose Ffryes Bay, recommended by the pilot as a day anchorage but in fact a very good night anchorage; it is equally well protected as Morris Bay (the next bay north) which is much more crowded and at the entrance to Jolly Harbour.

Malvena was set to depart back to UK in 48 hours time and so we spent her last full day aboard sailing back to Five Islands Bay for a final sail and swim before moving into Jolly Harbour Marina for the night and dinner at Melini's (in our opinion, without doubt, the best restaurant at Jolly Harbour). Next morning it was a trip to the immigration Office to remove Malvena from the ship's papers, lunch on the waterfront, and final goodbyes before her taxi departed for the airport. Very sad to see her depart after such a great crossing.

The next morning Christoph and I made a raid on the local supermarket and then headed for the now traditional anchorage at Hermitage Bay where we stayed for four days, doing the odd bit of maintenance. We were awaiting the arrival of the next crew member, Melvin, due to arrive on the 14^th of Feb. On the morning of the 14^th we sailed back to Jolly Harbour and re-took our usual berth.

St John's centre, capital of Antigua

Before departing Europe I had omitted to lay in stocks of RNSA burgees for the trip, the consequence of which was that my Blue Ensign was at risk of becoming illegal due to the absence of a burgee to accompany it. A phone call to the RNSA offices, the day after we first arrived in Antigua, had two spare burgees dispatched, by Royal Mail from UK, within hours, but what I had not allowed for was the postal system in Antigua. Each day we were berthed in Jolly Harbour I went to the offices of the marina to enquire whether the package had arrived and each time I was greeted with the same sense of amazement that I should believe it would arrive in anything less than three weeks. In the event the yellow notice announcing that the package had taken root at the main post office in the capital, St John's, arrived on the day we had set for our final departure, I having decided to give up on the burgees ever arriving. The notice was date stamped 14^th Feb and arrived on the 21^st! Given this news we decided to postpone our planned departure by a day and take a taxi to St John's that afternoon, and so by 1430 we were in the main post office ready to do battle; the only minor problem was that the staff of the parcels office had decided to take an unannounced half day holiday and the counter was empty. The other staff on duty had no access to the parcels section and were unable to assist!

Melini's as I remember it from 2011

We returned to Jolly Harbour empty handed! No to be defeated we decided to delay a further day and that I would take the same taxi, next morning, in the hope of retrieving the package.

Melini's today

In the meantime we settled for another splendid dinner at Melini's where, by this time, we had become established customers; their generosity resulted in us yet again having severe hangovers next morning.

At 0830 the following day I set off for the Post Office in St John's whilst Christoph and Melvin did a victualling run to the supermarket adjacent to the marina. By 0900 I was at the counter doing battle with the parcels clerk who informed me, having checked the yellow notice once and my passport twice, that I should take a seat and wait........and wait........and wait; eventually my name was called and I was invited to go into a back room from where the customs officer operated, my passport was checked a third time and the package was then produced but, before I was allowed to take it and leave, it had to be ceremonially opened and the entire contents displayed for all to see. I appreciate this is to prevent drugs being shipped through Royal Mail but the whole process seemed to be treated as something that had to be endured by all rather than an effort to enforce the law. That said, ultimately we had a fresh (intact) burgee and were set to depart. On my return to Jolly Harbour we had to make a visit to the Harbour, Immigration and Customs offices, to get Melvin on the ships papers and approval for us to depart Antigua; this took only one hour and after paying our dues at the marina office we were set to go..... Phew....

Barbuda waterfront, Cocoa Point

The wind was north easterly and gusting strongly; hence, once we had ventured out of the shelter of Morris Bay, we decided to defer our trip to Barbuda for 24 hours and to anchor on the NW side of Five Island Bay, for the final time, and wait for the improvement in the weather that was forecast for the following day. Sure enough the improvement arrived but even so it was a boisterous close fetch to reach Barbuda the next morning, ending with a beat into Cocoa Bay in 35+ knots of wind. Here we joined four other yachts sheltering from the high winds and surveyed more of the devastation ashore left by hurricane Irma. Not a building was left intact, a few had walls still standing and even fewer had any of their roofs in place. Heartbreaking to see and devastating for the population of the island; you can understand why very few have returned. It was here also that our brand new Rutland wind generator gave up the ghost completely. I had been suspicious from the start that it was not producing the specified outputs but now it refused to produce anything. One to investigate later.

Sad sight in St Bart's anchorage

Next morning the winds had moderated and we set off early, well 0800, for St Bart's some 70 miles away, downwind. The entire trip was a beam/broad reach and was achieved at an average of 7kts plus, despite the moderating wind. By 1900 we were passing Gustavia, the capital, and were headed for our chosen anchorage for the night in Anse du Colombier at the north western end of the island. Our plan was to pick up a mooring for the night, head into Gustavia the next day for clearance and remain one night in the harbour before departing for Sint Maarten. Nature had different plans.

St Bart's, Gustavia harbour

Next morning a quick phone call to the Capitanerie at Gustavia revealed that Gustavia Harbour was untenable due to the send in the harbour caused by the swell outside. All boats, other than those on the permanent moorings in the centre of the harbour, had been required to leave and anchor outside the harbour. We stayed put until early afternoon and then motored the two miles to the entrance to Gustavia Harbour, picked up a mooring (which we were told later by the Capitanerie we were not allowed to do!) launched the dinghy and headed into the harbour to do our clearances, both in and out (available for stays of less than 24 hours), before taking a walking tour of Gustavia. The clear up after hurricane Irma had been rapid and impressive but still many buildings were either missing or damaged. The main street was full of “Duty Free” shops and was more reminiscent of an airport duty free shopping arcade than a real town.

Departing St Bart's, Anse du Colombier

Not my sort of place and I was soon itching to get back onboard and away from the port. After four hours ashore I was already convinced I had been there two hours too long! We dined ashore in a smart but not very welcoming restaurant before heading back to Kurukulla for a night on the mooring and then departed the following day, mid morning, back to Anse du Colombier where we again spent a night.

At 1100 the following morning we set sail for the tiny private island of Isle Fourchue only 5 miles away and by 1200 we had picked up a mooring, under sail, and were ready for a lazy day and leisurely lunch. In the bay were five other yachts/catamarans but the bay was large, well sheltered, and peaceful.

Anchorage at Ile Fourchue

By 1600 it was time to be on the move again as we needed to be in Sint Maarten by dusk and were keen to anchor before sunset in Groot Baai (Great Bay), off Philipsburg in the Dutch part of the Island. We sailed in and dropped anchor just as the sun was setting. The bay is very large but somewhat nerve-wracking as it is mostly only 2.5 – 3.5m deep with an undulating sandy bottom and hence, once you depart the buoyed channel, you need to keep a very close eye on the echo sounder. Nonetheless we found a suitable anchorage point for the night.

Philipsbugh, Sint Maarten, the damage after Irma

Melvin was due to fly back to UK the next day and Bobby's Marina seemed the easiest point to get alongside, do the clearances and get him a taxi to the airport. By 0900 we were alongside and by 1100 all formalities were complete. Yet again there was plenty of evidence of the damage wrought by Irma, even full size shipping containers had been picked up by the wind and thrown around like confetti, the boatyards were full of damaged boats and building repair or demolition was evident everywhere. All of the waterfront hotels were roofless and some verging on demolished. The locals told us that if we thought their part of the island was badly affected the French side was much worse.

Philipsbugh, Sint Maarten. Even modern hotels devastated.

We wait to see....... Certainly there is still much to do to get many of the businesses back up and trading. That said the determination of most of the local businesses to get back up and running, in whatever form, was amazing and the fact that three cruise liners came in on day two of our stay proved that some things are getting back to normal. The down side of the event was revealed by one of the local boatmen who told us in some detail of the looting that had gone on in the wake of Irma, he compared it to the spirit of cooperation that had pervaded in Anguilla, only 10 miles away, where looting had been unheard of and recovery very much more rapid.

More devastation.

It is impossible not to be moved by the predicament of the locals who have lost everything; their homes and, with so many hotels and businesses destroyed, probably jobs as well. Although many expensive looking holiday homes have been badly damaged I suspect for the overseas owners life goes on more or less as normal, not so for the majority of the locals!

Whilst in Bobby's marina I took the opportunity to strip and inspect the wind generator. My suspicions were confirmed, one of the two carbon brushes, conducting the power generated from rotating head to the support post, was seized in it's holder and surrounded by molten plastic. It had obviously been a tight fit and had never made good contact since it was manufactured, hence the disappointing output since installation.

Simpson Bay Lagoon, The end of someone's dream...

A telephone call to Marlec had a new brush assembly en route, by courier this time, but this meant we had to remain local until it arrived, forecast for five days time. Christoph and I decided we had had enough of the tourist-ville elements of Philipsberg and so we moved out into the bay for a quiet afternoon and peaceful night at anchor. The following morning we set sail for Simpson Bay, 3 miles west, with the intention of anchoring there for a day or two. The anchorage was crowded but we managed to find space near the edge of the fairway leading in to the Simpson Bay Lagoon. Our visit coincided with the Sint Maarten, Heineken Race Week, hence we had ringside seats for the race finishes and were located on the approach channel to the lagoon where most of the racing yachts were berthed. It was fun to watch and brought back many happy memories of my racing days.

Simpson Bay Yacht Club and Lagoon Bridge

The down side was that the anchorage was not as protected as hoped and was subject to significant swell, much worse than Groot Bay at Philipsberg.

On day two, whilst the majority of boats were out on the “Round the Island Race” we took the dinghy in to visit the lagoon, call at the chandlers and catch up on e-mail etc. at the Yacht Club; inevitably this led on to a couple of beers and lunch whilst we watched the early finishers jostle for position as they re-entered the lagoon. The yacht club was soon full to bursting and we opted to take our leave rather than be assailed with all the stories of mark roundings and close misses. It would have been too much like old times! That afternoon we sailed off the anchor and headed round to the NW coast of Saint Martin (French part) and anchored off the beach in Baie Rouge. A long low swell was coming in but nothing to prevent a good night's sleep! In fact so peaceful and pleasant was it that we stayed a second night before moving back to the Dutch part of this the smallest divided island in the world.

Red Bay anchorage, Saint Martin

Our move back was prompted by a rock & roll awakening at 0730 when the wind and sea set in from the west, as had been forecast. This was our signal to move back to the shelter of Simpson Bay but this time we anchored at the far western end in the lee of Beacon Hill, along with four other yachts. Although exposed to the slight residual swell from the south east it was much more comfortable than Baie Rouge, the downside was that we were less than 500m from the runway of Princess Juliana airport, the upside was that we were close to the edge of the upwind leg of today's course! Lunch was accompanied by an interesting analysis of the upwind tactics of the competitors!

The following morning was the earliest that our spare parts from Marlec were forecast to arrive and therefore, just before midday we set sail and headed back to Groot Baai and Bobby's Marina in the hope of finding them waiting for us. From UPS's tracing system we discovered they were in Sint Maarten but had not yet arrived at the marina, after our experience with post in Antigua this alone seemed little short of a miracle! The next day looked hopeful! We settled for an extended lunch at an unusually quiet Greenhouse Restaurant (there were no cruise ships in this day) and caught up on our personal administration using their WiFi connection. The rest of the day was declared a maintenance day with me fixing a 'reluctant to light' burner on the stove whilst Christoph stripped the varnish on the gas locker door. Not exciting tasks but they needed addressing, sure enough late that afternoon the wind generator parts arrived but too late to install them... A job for tomorrow. Whilst walking the Philipsberg seafront that evening it was evident that the seas that we had experienced whilst on the north west facing shores of Baie Rouge were nothing compared with those in Groot Baai. Half the beach had been deposited on the promenade and the marina staff testified that they had never seen seas like it outside of the hurricane season, fortunately we were not there to witness them! As if they hadn't got enough to cope with already! Nature can be cruel!

Kurukulla and Charm III, in Road Bay. Another casualty of Irma.

The following day we had a late start, perhaps something to do with the pitcher of rum punch consumed the night before! Well one has to help keep the local economy going! By the time either of us ventured out of our cabins the sun was already high in the sky. The first decision taken was to stay a day longer in Bobby's Marina and install the wind generator parts before going elsewhere. We also needed to do a major shop for food etc and clear outwards from Sint Maarten before heading to Anguilla. Thus the revised plan was to depart mid day of the following day, Thursday, and enjoy a relaxed cruise the 10 miles over to Anguilla ready to clear in on Friday afternoon having anchored over night back in Baie Rouge. The afternoon was verging on windless and thus we were forced to motor the eight miles to Baie Rouge but sadly there was an unanticipated south westerly swell running into the bay rendering it unsuitable for an overnight stay. Not to be defeated we pressed on a mile further east and anchored in the western end of Baie de Marigot, with Pointe des Pierres a Chaux sheltering us from the swell. The buildings on the point looked completely devastated but the more we looked at them the more we were convinced that they had been abandoned well before hurricane Irma hit the island.

Next morning we set off for Anguilla planning to arrive in the early afternoon. By 1300 we were anchored in Road Bay, one of two possible entry points, and by 1430 I was heading ashore in the dinghy to clear in. Surprise one was that the Customs and Immigration offices by the dinghy dock were deserted and closed, as a result of damage by Irma; that was not a problem as they had simply transferred 500m to the commercial jetty further south along the bay. Immigration was easy, they even provided carbon paper to allow you to fill in the quadruplicate forms two at a time; after this it was Customs where they collect the cruising permit payment, surprise two was that it was $60 US per day, midnight to midnight (i.e. one night = $120!). The only free anchorage is in Road Bay (I asked the question “what happens if Road Bay is untenable” to which the answer was “use Crocus Bay”; the fact that it is equally exposed to the same wind/sea direction did not seem to compute!). These charges seemed to explain why there were virtually no boats in Anguillan waters compared with the 'crowds' in Sint Maarten/Saint Martin. I opted for a four day (i.e. three night) permit commencing the next day and thus it was that we set off from Road Bay mid morning the following day heading for the “marine reserve” at the northern end of Crocus Bay.

The anchorage at Road Bay, Anguilla

Anchoring in the marine reserve is not permitted but there are some mooring buoys laid in the area which are free to permit holders. In fact all but two of these buoys were lacking bridles and, as a consequence, were almost useless, despite the charges they had not been repaired following Irma's damage, but as we were the only boat there this was not a problem. In fact we opted to stay there for all three nights, given the wind direction and strength, this being the best protected and most comfortable anchorage that we could identify. Anguilla has a dirth of protected anchorages with several bays where anchoring is forbidden, add this to no marina facilities nor fuel/water facilities and you can easily see why few boats visit. A shame as there is the opportunity to boost the local economy with only minor investment and some relaxation of the rules.

For our last two days we were constrained to remain in Road Bay, free of charge, where we opted to catch up on admin and maintenance. I will not be rushing to revisit Anguilla or not by boat anyway; that said it is a beautiful island!

Tomorrow morning we depart.

More when we are in the British Virgin Islands …............