2024-04-28 More time in Barbuda, and on to Antigua

We hung out in Barbuda for a few more days.  Went over to our friends boat Matcha, and helped them start up their watermaker, which had been pickled for a while.  They recently purchased the boat, and just wanted moral support for the start up.  Everything went well, so no issues.

Sunrise at Barbuda

We took another beach walk, and just hung out on the boat.  On Wednesday the wind shifted to ENE, so it was time to move, and we had a brisk sail down to Antigua.  Supposed to have 10 to 15 knots, but had 16 to 18 with gust to 21, so we had a reefed main.  Scooted right along at 8 to 9 knots.

We anchored in Jolly Harbor in Antigua.   Next day we went into town, as even though we checked into the country in Barbuda, we had to pay the fees once we got to Antigua.   We had to stop at an ATM and take out some local money first - as we had to pay the port fees in cash.   Antigua uses the Eastern Caribbean dollar.   Tried an ATM at the grocery store, but they wanted too high of fee, so tried another, but it was broken, finally the third one worked.    

We got caught in a bit of a rainstorm on our way to the port authority office and spent some time under the eave of a building, but did make it to the office around 9:00 a.m., where the nice fella took our papers and said - come back at 1:00 p.m.   Oh well.  We then went to Budget Marine as still having issues with our port engine raw water not priming and got new hose, then to the grocery store for some fresh stuff.

Really nice dinghy dock in Jolly Harbor

Small fruit and veg stand outside grocery store

One of the purchases we made at the fruit and veg stand was a pineapple,  Specifically the Antiguan Black Pineapple.  It is said to be the world's sweetest pineapple, and although we are not pineapple experts - we can agree that it is pretty darn sweet.

Antiguan Black Pineapple

At 1:00 we headed back into town, and paid our fees to be in Antigua.  $85 EC, which is about $32 dollars.  

Jolly Harbor Bay is quite large, with lots of homes on the fingers of the bay.   There are a couple of large marinas, and a large boatyard as well.   A sailboat charter company as well, so there is quite a bit of traffic in and out of the harbor, as the anchorage is on the outside of the harbor.   

Jolly Harbor

The bay to anchor in is nice, but there are flies.  Maybe we anchored too close to shore?

Saturday we got on a bus to head into the largest town in Antigua of St. John.  They have a Saturday Market, and we thought we would check it out.    

The bus was only 3 EC per person, about $1.11 dollars US.   Bus is really an exaggeration.  It was  a van that had seen better days, but it got us there just fine.

The market was interesting.  All along the main street for about 1/2 a mile, and in a couple of  lots along main street people had set up tents, and had tables selling stuff.   All new stuff, but at a table you would see hats, shoes, laundry soap, potato chips, and paper and pencils - all at the same table.   The next table might be all clothes, in a big pile.  The next table would be all fruits and veg.   Then a table of shoes.  Then a mixed table.  

There were officials walking around making sure everyone was following the rules for table placement and tent placement, and security as well.  There were lots of folks walking around shopping.  I think we saw three other white faces besides ourselves, so definitely not in the tourist area.

Lots of clothes in this section.

Always watch where you are walking, lest you fall into a hole in the sidewalk

Tents on the side of the road, lots of cars on the road, and people crossing the road back and forth to go to the tents.

Mostly fruit and veg on this section.

The street market is only on Saturday.  We asked about it, and were told that the vendors all have stores around the area, but bring stuff to the Saturday market as well, as they have no big malls or such where you can go to one spot for shopping, so the shopping all comes to one spot on Saturday.  They also have a everyday market inside a covered area.  It had mostly fruit and veg, and was not as busy as outside.

Inside market area

Large statue in park of V.C. Bird, the first prime minister of Antigua.

We enjoyed walking around the market, and strolled some side streets as well.  Even went down by the cruise ship terminal - no cruise ships were in, but did find an ice cream store, and shared a cone.

We walked into a new large modern grocery store near the market as well.  Get a kick out of seeing the familiar foods packaged as different brands.  

Took the bus back.  We always see the countries from a coastal perspective, so nice to take an bus inland to see a different view.

Inland Antigua.  Hilly

When we got back, we upped anchor and moved a bit further out into the bay to see if we get fewer flies.   

Will be here a few more days before moving.

2024-04-20 Moved to Barbuda

We stayed in St. Martin a few more days.  

One of our hatch screen had a rip in it.  Kris had sewn it up a couple of times, but we decided to replace/repair the whole screen.  We did not have any white screen material, which was what the hatches originally had, but had black.  It turned out OK, other than not matching the rest.  At least no rips in it anymore.

New screen installed.  Kris holding old ripped one up.

On Tuesday we went and saw how our friends on Salty Fish, manta 42, were doing with their haul out.  They needed to replace their rudder bearings and a few other projects.  They were in a yard In St Martin that used a trailer and we wanted to see how that worked since when we haul in Trinidad they will also use a trailer.

The hydraulic trailer used for lifting catamarans - worked quite well

After a short visit with them, we headed to a nearby marine store to get a spare impeller for our raw water pump.  As we got to the door, a nice little cat was waiting for someone to open it so it could go in.  We were happy to oblige.  It was a hot day, and the marine store had a nice water cooler inside, so Dean and I both had a drink of nice cool water.  It was after we had our water that the cat decided that water was a good idea as well.  Guess it is good we don't mind cat germs.

Cold water with a little cat germs - yum yum

We then went to the French bakery, and had a nice fruit crumble treat.  Hard to resist the goodies at the bakery.

Fruit crumble - was delicious

Tuesday evening we pulled anchor, and left Simpson Bay Lagoon, went and anchored on the north side of St. Martin in Marigot Bay.   We wanted to clean the bottom of the boat, and get ready to head to Barbuda.

Wednesday was a super busy day.   Dean got in the water and cleaned the bottom.  Boy did it need it.  The Lagoon is known for making boat bottoms dirty and get barnacles - and boy did it do its job.  We had lots of small barnacles.

Before scrubbing

After scrubbing

Dean did a great job, and it was a lot of work, scraping off all the barnacles.   Not much slime or grass, so that was good.

While Dean scrubbed the bottom, Kris tackled and irritating issue we have had with our port engine raw water pump not being able to prime.  Each time the boat sat, we would get an air lock and would have to fiddle with the system to get the raw water flowing for our engine cooling system.   Kris ended up removing almost every hose and re-doing all the connections, but finally got the small air leak out, and now it is working well again.

Dean finished the bottom shortly after Kris finished her project, so Kris went out to help Dean clean up after scrubbing.   Don't know if the Lagoon, or the outside in the Bay was the source, but the hull was also covered with tiny little shrimp like critters which Dean dislodged with scrubbing.   Many decided that Dean should be their new home.   Not sure what they are - could be amphipoda, or small brine shrimp, or skeleton shrimp, but whatever they were Dean was crawling with them.  In his hair, beard, ears, and all over his body.  These little critters are very small - could could put 50 of them on the face of a dime.  He took a shower and stripped on the back steps, and got 99% gone.  The other 1% were stuck in his beard and ears, which Kris then helped clean out.  It was somewhat disgusting.  Guess you know you still care for each other when you clean now dead shrimp out of your spouses ears. 

Creepy crawlies

After Dean was clean, we headed to town to get groceries, and then pick up our packages that we had sent to a shipping service in St. Martin.  The shipping service was $40 to forward packages from Miami to St. Martin, but buying on Amazon saved us $120 versus local price  - so still came out ahead.  

Next back to boat to drop off groceries, then back to town to check out, and pick up bottom paint.

Kris sitting under the stairs at the marine store doing the check out paperwork on the computer

Thursday morning, we hoisted anchor and headed out early.  No wind, so motored to the south side of Sint Maarten to fill up on diesel.   

Cruise ship at the dock in Sint Maarten

Leaving Sint Maarten.  Notice the glassy flat water

We decided to motor to Barbuda, as we still had about 70 miles of easting to do, and no weather window looked good, so we took the no wind weather window to motor.  Pleasantly surprised that we had around 7 to 8 knots which allowed us to motor sail the entire way.

The next day was pretty much taken up with checking in to Barbuda - which was a bit of a mess - but we got it all worked out in the end.   Kris picked up Matt from Matcha - who we had met in St. Martin, and dinghied the 2.3 miles from the anchorage into the town to check in.  We had wanted to plan checking in with calm weather, as we knew the long dinghy ride would be bad in any chop.  We had flat calm - which made the dinghy ride easy.

Flat calm in anchorage off Barbuda

Walking to the Customs office in town.  Passed lots of wandering horses

Lots of donkeys wandering around town as well

Kris and Matt made it back just in time, being chased by a ominous looking rain cloud.

When we were last at Barbuda 11 years ago, the town was not easily accessible by boat, as it was located inland on the edge of a lagoon with only a narrow shallow entrance to the lagoon on the north of the island - Hurricane Irma in 2017 changed all that, but obliterating the sand bar between the lagoon and the ocean - making it now possible to easily take the dinghy into the lagoon and to town, although a long trip.

Once the sand bar was gone, the ocean did its job, and has eroded the sand bar more every year.  A beach resort that was high and dry, is now tumbling into the sea.

Barbuda in 2014 - no gap to get from Lagoon to ocean

Barbuda now - Lagoon open to ocean

We took a nice walk on the beach.

Barbuda beach looking north

Charm at anchor off Barbuda

Nice pink sand line in beach

Looking south back toward the dink near the buildings in the background

We went to explore the ruined resort, but did not get far, and there are several feral dogs that seem to live in the area that did not want us around.

Resort that was destroyed by Irma and time and erosion of beach

Pretty soon, it will all be junk in the ocean

Surprised how much stuff still in the buildings

We will stay here a few more days - don't know how long - will move again when the mood and weather align.

2024-04-14 Still just hanging out in St. Martin

Well, we have not moved in the last week.  Heavy NE winds kept us here, plus in no hurry to move on anywhere.  Just doing daily living stuff.

Really exciting things 😜like Kris sewed a new cover for the bean bag in the cockpit

Old bag, made of cheap vinyl just to see if we would use it, and what size to make it.

New one, still made of scrap material, but should last much longer

Went to Ace Hardware to get a plumbing part for a leaky valve we had on the watermaker backflush system

Biggest and nicest Ace hardware we have ever been to.  Even an upstairs with more stuff

Helped our friend Tracy on Wanderlust move her stuff from old dinghy to new one

Dean helping hold things steady while stuff moved from old on left to new on right.

Got groceries and marveled over how all four wheels on the shopping cart pivot.  Great for maneuvering in tight aisles

Nice grocery cart at the local Carefour grocery store, note that all 4 wheels pivot

Had a nice visit with Matt and Charlie on Matcha, who sailed a small boat and just bought a larger one, and have been working hard moving on and getting it ready to continue cruising on.   We met them in Puerto Rico.

Kris is trying to prolong the life of of sandals she finds really comfortable, but the bottoms are too hard and slippery.   Both Kris and Dean took a tumble on the  wet streets this week, from wearing shoes with slickish bottoms on the slick sloped concrete.

Smeared 3M 4200 on the bottoms to try to add traction.

Went out for lunch at McDonalds

Our standard meal.  Big Mac for Dean, and Quarter Pounder for Kris, with fries and coke

Kris dug through some lockers, cleaning and organizing, (and looking for a cable she could not remember where we put).  Decided to try to sell our 44lb Delta anchor that came with the boat and we haven't used and probably won't.

Delta anchor that came with the boat.  Has probably been stored for its entire life

We took our propane tank in to get filled, but ended up doing an exchange instead, only $19.  When we took the tank out, Dean noticed a divot in the tank.    You might remember when we had our dinghy shot in Salinas.   Well, we had the propane tank in the dinghy when that happened, and we are pretty sure that the bullet hit the tank, and that prevented it from going through both tubes, instead of just the one.  Lucky Us! 😅

Bullet impact on propane tank

This week is just more life, and looking at weather for the jump to Antiqua, or Barbuda depending on winds.  

2024-04-07 Just hanging out in St. Martin

Pretty uneventful week.  Had a nice get together with two other Manta's anchored near us.  Fun night.

Tracy on Wanderlust and Dawn and Ivan off of Salty Fish

Kris has been having ear issues - swimmers ear.  Hasn't really bothered her too much, just a general soreness of the ear.  Did some home treatment with rubbing alcohol and vinegar, which helped, but never took away the issue.  We had waited until we got to St. Martin to see a doctor, since in the United States Virgin Islands, the cheapest we found was $150 for a doctors visit.  We found a walk in clinic here in St. Martin - waited about 1.5 hours and then paid $35 for the doctor and $13 for the prescription for ear drops.  Very happy with the treatment, doctor was nice, and staff was friendly.

Took a nice walk into town, and stopped at one of the French bakeries.   Delicious

Lots of traffic in the downtown tourist area of Marigot, St. Martin

The food selection is incredible - and all so pretty

It was as delicious as it looks.  Bit spendy at $6, but worth it.  

Kris has been sewing this week - finishing the salon cushions.  Now, this project started in 2022 when we decided we were not happy with the fabric of our current cushions, and Kris was also bothered by how the foam had been cut, not lining up with the boat angles and corners as well as she wanted.   We did not know which fabric/vinyl/material we wanted to replace it with.  Not ones to rush into a decision like that - it took us until November of 2023 to finally order the fabric - and the the decision only made because we found a great sale on some expensive material.  We got original ultraleather fabric on sale for $29 a yard - compared to $79 a yard normally.   Kris struggled with the project, as the material was quite stretchy in one direction, and partially stretchy in the other.  That combined with the foam being cut and glued in pieces, without great straight edges.  Had to plan for 1/2" to 1 1/2" stretch in one direction, and no stretch to 1" stretch in the other depending on the length of fabric, and the foam compressing from 1/2" to 1" made for some frustration, and lots of diagrams and head scratching.  She got 90% done, and ran out of thread.  Derek brought some more during his visit, so it was finally time to complete the project.  Turned out OK, not perfect like Kris wanted, but good enough, and we really like the fabric choice.

Fabric is great, doesn't feel hot and sticky, and cleans easy.  Still wish we had gotten the seats tighter, as you can see wrinkles where we sit all the time

Getting the seams on the corners to line up was a real pain.

The lagoon here in St. Martin has many boats anchored, but not a crowded feeling.  Only real negative is the growth on the chain and snubber lines.  Will take some scrubbing to get rid of that growth.  We will have to give the bottom a good scrub at our next stop as well.  There was a cruiser swap meet on Saturday, did not find any needed items but it was good to go in and see all the cruisers.

View from the anchorage.  Simpson Bay lagoon

View in anchorage, looking SW towards airport

We are anchored in 10' of water and you can see the bottom when it is calm, but there is lots of growth in the lagoon that affects all the boats - We see a lot of turtles, fish and rays in the lagoon as well.  Unfortunately the water is warm, and filled with nutrients for algae growth as well.

Lots of fuzzy growth on chain and snubbers - will take some scrubbing.  Imagine the bottom will need a good scrub as well.  

With strong ENE winds coming for the next week, we will most likely be here for the next 10 days.  Oh well, will have to find some more good food, and do some more land exploration.