Christmas Day Festival - Antigua

The Nelson's Dockyard Marina management and local charitable organizations throw a party each Christmas Day. It is a fund-raiser for a local children's hospital. They engaged a most energetic band, who played five or six hours straight with no break. Their lead singer was a tall black girl with (as one cruiser put it) "legs up to her armpits", dressed in a modified Santa's Elf costume. The band really got the crowd dancing, including the KINGDOM crew!

There was a dory filled with ice, covering bottles of champagne and prosecco, which was for sale to the public. I would estimate at least a thousand people, both locals and cruisers, attended the party. Boats full of people kept arriving throughout the day, many bringing picnic baskets from their sailboats anchored in the harbour. Others came in buses from the cruise ships in other ports around the island.

As the pictures show, the party was attended by young and old, of all ethnic backgrounds, with everyone open, friendly and enjoying each others' company. We and our crew found ourselves dancing with each other, and with some of our new friends. By 4:00pm, we were tired, and hungry, and ready for Turkey Dinner.

Admiral Horatio King (don't tell Susan - she thinks she's the admiral)


















Tied up beside "TIVOLI" an 80' charter yacht

















Some folks brought picnic lunches to share with friends

Susan's new friends! Aren't they cute??

A good time was had by all

I think the lady in the hat might be related to Queen Elizabeth...

Dancin' fools!

Teffany and Susan with the long-legged elf/singer

The Captain treats the crew to a bottle of prosecco

Dory full of ice, champagne, and prosecco

The Band, and the lead singer/elf with the long legs - and she can sing, too!

The party ended at sundown, and by bedtime the marina was peaceful once again.

Christmas in Antigua

Sorry, but these pix are in the reverse order of events...

Christmas Day started with a traditional Guyanese Holiday Breakfast. Carol and Teffany cooked fresh bread and "Pepperpot" (which takes two days to cook), served with fresh orange juice. The pepperpot is a sort of beef stew, made with chunks of beef. I have no idea what combination of spices are involved besides pepper, but there were lots! One forks up the beef, and soaks up the sauce with chunks of fresh bread. It was fabulous!

After clearing the breakfast dishes, Susan put the turkey in the oven. She made a traditional stuffing, except she used turkey sausage instead of pork sausage, since Carol and Teffany do not eat pork. She also made avocado and hearts-of-palm salad, mashed potatoes, English peas with pearl onions, gravy, cranberry sauce, and of course, the meal was served with more of Teffany's fresh bread.

While the turkey was roasting, we attended the Christmas Day festival mounted by the Marina management. (I'll post separate pictures of those festivities.) In the meantime, we set up the table as an open bar for any drop-in guests.

We ate our Turkey Dinner at 4:00pm, and how perfect it was! Carol contributed a lovely Christmas Cake, decorated with poinsiettas. Unfortunately we were all too full to cut it!

Having stuffed ourselves all day, interspersed with libations of rum and prosecco, while dancing at the festival, we all retired early. Actually, I think the dancing helped pack down our food, and burned a few calories at the same time!

KINGDOM's guest bar, ready for service


















Breakfast - Pepper Pot and fresh-baked bread, with orange juice


















The Guyanese Holiday Breakfast

















Teffany's fresh-baked bread right out of the oven Christmas morning


















Teffany twisting the dough into loaves

More Pix of Nelson's Dockyard & Marina, Antigua

Nelson's Dockyard & Marina, Antigua

We left Portsmouth, Dominica early on Saturday morning, December 20, bound for Guadaloupe. Since our weather forecast only gave us two days of good sea conditions, we made for Deshailles, on the northwestern tip of Guadaloupe. We only spent one night there, and did not go ashore.

On Sunday, December 21st, we made a relatively long (7 hours) crossing to Antigua in six-foot seas, which we consider our upper limit for semi-comfortable cruising. Our goal was to get to Nelson's Dockyard Marina, in English Harbour. For the next ten days, the forecast called for seas building to 12-plus feet offshore. We expect to be here through the end of December, awaiting better sea conditions, before heading onward to Nevis/St. Kitts.

This harbour is unique in a number of ways. It was used by the British Navy as a base during the late eighteenth century. The dockyard is named for Admiral Horatio Nelson, who served here. He led his fleet from here in pursuit of the French fleet, an action which led to the defeat of the French in the battle of Trafalgar. Many of the original buildings still stand, and have been restored quite attractively and put to other uses. There is a bakery, museum, gift shops, and restaurants galore. The old Copper and Iron Store is now home to a small boutique hotel and a classic English Pub.

English Harbour hosts an annual regatta each year in early December, which attracts beautiful big sailing yachts from around the world. This year it was held Dec. 6-12, and some of these famous boats are still here. There are probably a hundred boats here, including everything from megayachts to small ocean sailboats.

Falmouth harbour is just to the East of English Harbour, separated by an isthmus. It is an even larger harbour, and there we can see the masts of massive sailing yachts and cruising boats of every description. The megayacht crowd seems to prefer that harbour, as it allows more berths for their BIG BOATS.

Indian River, Dominica

Wild Ginger

Lawrence (of Arabia) took us on a tour of the Indian River. It empties into Prince Rupert Bay, near the town of Portsmouth, Dominica. The river is so named because it was inhabited and used by the Carib Indians, and the Arawak Indians before that. Apparently the Caribs killed off the Arawaks when they arrived (and ate some of them, too).

The river is now a protected habitat. No outboard motors are allowed now, so Lawrence rowed our boat deep into the interior. Fishing is supposedly banned as well. Some years ago, enterprising fishermen employed dynamite to kill and harvest fish en-masse, nearly wiping out the stocks. Since the fishing ban was imposed, native fish populations have been recovering nicely, and we were able to spot large schools in the water.

Crabs are plentiful along the riverbank, and our own "Carol of the Jungle" leaped off the boat in hot pursuit of the tasty critters. She chased them down and dragged them from their holes, and eventually caught six.

The turnaround point in the tour is at a remote riverside pub, that has been in operation for generations, and currently manned by "Boo Boo" a descendant of the Carib Tribe. There are enclaves of Carib Indians along the Northeastern (Atlantic) side of the island, and they make and sell native craftwork. We bought two beautifully made baskets during our previous day's tour.

Teffany in the Jungle Pub - their specialty is Dynamite Punch, a tasty blend of rum and fruit juices.

The boat dock at the Jungle Pub

Carol with one of her quarry - Nice Crab!

Carol - Queen of the Jungle - in hot pursuit of Crabs

Entrance to the Indian river

Boo Boo - Our host and bartender at the Jungle Pub

While at the Jungle Pub, we played three hotly contested games of Dominos -

From left, Lawrence, Walt, Teffany, and Brian

Wild Hibiscus

Bird of Paradise

Mystery flower...

Portsmouth, and Northern Dominica

Wednesday morning December 17th, we moved the boat up the coast of Dominica to Portsmouth Harbour, a very protected harbour that has no significant swell during the prevailing easterly winds. We love this bay, and the local people here are welcoming and fun to be around. We had stopped here overnight in June, on our way south, and promised the locals, and ourselves that we would spend more time next time we arrived. Since the weather was not allowing us to move northward, we were able to spend three days exploring the northern part of Dominica.

Lawrence (of Arabia) is our local contact here. He is the principal boatman who provides transportation, tours, entertainment, and can fix you up with anything you need while you're in the bay or ashore. He arranged for a tour of the northern island with his associate, "Uncle" Sam. Sam is an officially licensed and trained tour guide, and knows all the local lore. He drove us to points of interest, overlooks, tiny restaurants and pubs, and generally regaled us with information about the islands flora, fauna, history, and culture.

We had a wonderful day with Sam, which included a stop at a fabulous cliffside restaurant, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. There we were served a sampling of nearly all the local "provisions" along with our BBQ chicken and fish; breadfruit, pumpkin, yam, eddo, and plantains. And ice-cold local beer, of course. During our lunch, Sam crafted a bird from palm leaf, and presented it to Susan as a small gift.

After lunch, we stopped at a National Park, and hiked into a lovely gorge, at the bottom of which we came upon a waterfall, with a crystal-clear pool where we swam and frolicked in the waterfall. We rubbed pumice-laden mud on ourselves, as a skin cleansing agent. Our skin now feels smoooth as silk!

We ended the day with a cold one on the beach at sunset...






















Refreshing swim!

















Sam presents his finished product to Susan






























































Waterfall in the gorge

































































Sam, crafting his palm-leaf bird















































Walt at cliffside restaurant - awaiting lunch!





































Surfer's paradise!



































Susan at a small fishing village





































Sam, Susan and Carol

The next afternoon, Lawrence took us on a tour of the Indian River, a unique habitat in Dominica.

Roseau, Dominica

We arrived in the port city of Roseau, the capitol city of Dominica, West Indies around 2:00pm on Tuesday, December 16th. I checked us in through Customs and Immigration, and we enjoyed a leisurly afternoon of rest and relaxation. Unfortunately, the harbour was subject to swells, and our anchorage was "rolly" through the night. Not terrible, but not great. So, we only stayed one night

Susan, basking in the glow of sunset...






















Carol, peeking out of the pilothouse






















Teffany, fishing from the foredeck with her handline






















Brian and Walt enjoying the traditional Caribbean "sundowner"

















Cruise ships call here, too

















The Anchorage Hotel, and Sea Cat's small dock in the foreground.

Martinique, West Indies

We arrived here in Martinique on December 9th, and dropped our anchor in the bay directly in front of Fort De France. Yep, there is a fort, and the city is the capitol of Martinique. It is a very tidy place, and very French in feel and atmosphere.

This is a large bay, with several smaller arms containing villages, resorts, commercial port facilities, etc. Our view is of the main part of the city, and we get to observe the many large liners, freighters, warships, and other traffic arriving and departing. There have been an average of ten cruising boats anchored around us in the harbor each day.

Clipper Ship at sunset

The most beautiful building in the town is the Biblioteque (Library), a most unusual building that was manufactured in France, and shipped to Martinique for assembly. It appears to be made of mostly gilded metal and glass. Pictures are included here, but they cannot do it justice.

Our first day ashore was spent on a self-guided walking tour of the city. We found all 11 of the sights listed on the tourist map, and had a good lunch of crepes and beer at a little open-air kiosk on a square in the center of town. In the center of the square was a hand-made carousel for children to ride. It had no motor to make it spin or mechanical music. It was turned by the musicians while they played their drums and accordion in a calpyso rhythm. The children were captivated and wide-eyed!

While we were lunching, I had an unusual experience. A four-foot tall coffee-colored man walked up to me and held up his hand for a high-five. I said, "Good afternoon, sir", and held my hand up to meet his. He promply gave my hand the proper vertical slap, turned, and walked away. He never said a word. He was a distinguished looking fellow, well dressed and well groomed. I've been wondering ever since about the meaning of this encounter. After all, it isn't every day that a well-dressed dwarf high-fives me in a foreign port. I suppose "Little Person" is the PC terminology. Anybody have any ideas?

The "Crew" - Brian, Carol, Walt and Teffany in Fort de France, Martinique

Waterfront street - Fort de France, Martinique

Just another of the amazing sailing ships we've seen since leaving Marigot Bay, St. Lucia

Each evening this week, there has been a concert held in the waterfront park, with lively music emanating from huge towers of speakers from 8pm to around midnight. Vendors offer local produce, food, and fruit juices. An unusual feature of this festival is the LACK of alcoholic beverages in evidence. Nowhere did we see anyone drinking alcohol, and it is not offered for sale anywhere by the vendors. Not only that, but we saw almost no one smoking cigarettes. This struck us as particularly un-French! While we were in Paris, it seemed to us that Parisiennes smoked and drank all day long! Martinique is certainly a healthier place in that respect.

We've been waiting for a good weather window to proceed northward to Dominica. Seas have been 2 meters or more since we arrived. Today is Sunday, December 14th, and we will move the boat tomorrow to the small anchorage off St. Pierre, at the northwestern end of Martinique. We will spend the night there, and hope to make the crossing to the port of Roseau, Dominica on Tuesday. It appears that Tuesday is the only day in the next week that the seas will subside a bit. We will clear into Dominica, at Roseau, spend a day or two, then move northward up the coast to Plymouth, in Prince Rupert Bay, to await good weather for the crossing to Guadaloupe.

It is becoming clear that we will never make it to Puerto Rico by Christmas! Maybe by New Years...

Marigot Bay Marina, St. Lucia

We're no longer the big frog in the pond! Most place we go, KINGDOM is usually one of the largest yachts around. Take a look at these pix of two boats in the marina here....

"MERIDIAN" and "DAKOTA" make "KINGDOM" look like a dinghy by comparison! Both of these mega-yachts are privately owned. They are not even available for charter, to help defray the costs of ownership.
DAKOTA has a permanent crew of 11 people, and they just hang around waiting for the owner or his guests to show up.

Imagine having the means to support these kinds of toys....

A Day at the Beach!

Our last day in Grenada, Wednesday, December 3rd, we decided to spend at the beach. We took a maxi taxi a couple of miles down the coast, to Grand Anse, a lovely two-mile long beach. There were a number of beach vendors who provide umbrellas, lounge chairs, and offer you food and beverages, all of which we were glad to purchase! We had a lazy afternoon, swimming and goofing with the locals.

The beach was fairly active, since there were two cruise ships in port. Our maxi taxi took a long loop through the town of St. George, so we got to see the place bustling with tourists. We were very glad we had anchored in the lagoon. No crowds!

I had an appointment at Grenada Customs at 4:00pm, to obtain our clearance for departure early Thursday morning. Then we began readying the boat for the next leg of our voyage.

We hoisted anchor at 8:30am Thursday, December 5th, bound for the little town of Clifton, Union Island. It is the southernmost of the St. Vincent group of islands. We hove to in Clifton at 2:05pm. The harbour is bounded on two sides by long reefs, which provide a good barrier to the sea swell. It is a picture-perfect anchorage in good weather. The water is crystal clear, and perfect for swimming, which we all enjoyed. I went ashore to clear customs and immigration, and found the village to be small, but well-kept, with a modern bank and a good small grocery store. There is a small airport right near the village, with quite a bit of traffic going and coming. We counted a half-dozen commuter flights within an hour or so of our arrival.

After a peaceful night, we raised the hook Friday morning at 8:00am, heading for Wallilabou, on the West Coast of the island of St. Vincent. We arrived there at 2:00pm, and were met by the local boatmen, who took a stern line ashore and tied it to a strong tree. This is a steeply sloping shore, dropping in depth from 15 feet to 100 feet within 50 yards of shore. So here we set the bow anchor in 40 feet of water, then back the boat toward the shore. This procedure keeps the bow pointed toward the open sea, and into the path of any swell that enters the harbour. This arrangement makes for a most comfortable anchorage, as the harbour itself is ringed by tall cliffs to the north, east, and south. The little village sits at the base of the cliffs, and the local restaurant caters strictly to the visiting yachts. We took the crew ashore for dinner here.

Wallilabou, you may recall, is the location where much of the original "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie was shot. A lot of the sets and props remain. I remember the very funny scene where Johnny Depp casually steps from the mast of his sinking boat onto the dock, looking for all the world like he planned the whole thing with absolute precision.

Saturday morning, we departed at 8:00am for St. Lucia, and reached the lovely marina at Marigot Bay by 2:00pm. We had to wait a half hour to enter, while an enormous mega-yacht maneuvered out of the marina. We were welcomed by the dockmaster, and given the berth just vacated by the "big boy". We're no longer the biggest private yacht in the harbour as you will see from the pictures I'll post later.

This is a shot of a small island in the bay at Clifton (Union Island). It is built entirely of conch shells, and is the private home of a local Rastafarian man. He built his little island, and welcomes visitors to a small pub he maintains for his income.


















Brian and Susan at Grande Anse beach


















Carol plays the old man's drum on the beach


















Susan and I are happy as two clams can be!

















View of Grande Anse beach, St. George, Grenada