March 9...Arrived in Dickenson Bay, a short jaunt from Deep Bay. A large open bay with lots of people and the Grand Sandals and Halcyon Resorts but not one boat in the anchorage. Able to walk the entire beach, swim to shore and pay for a lunch at the Halcyon. Happy hour at the Coconut Beach bar down the beach which is true to its name - coconut leaves intertwined on the ceiling to keep the rain out and stone floors. Because we had eaten a large lunch decided to return to the boat for a light dinner. And now there are three other boats in the anchorage.
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| Halcyon Resort with restaurant over the water - closed for lunch and dinner but even so, long pants and collared shirt required so it didn't really matter! |
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| Sandals Resort - I must have a better picture - it is massive |
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| from the fort looking out to sea |
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| anchorage, salt pond and Grand Royal Antiguan |
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| view of anchorage from Ft. Barrington |
March 8...From a totally isolated large anchorage spot in Five Islands, we arrived in Deep Bay which is well known as a great spot. I am surprised that the bay is actually not that deep and it is perhaps only one kilometer in breadth. There are about 15 boats anchored and the main attraction is the wreck of the Andes which sailed from Trinidad and sunk as a result of a huge fire on board in 1905. The other notable spot is Fort Barrington which was a battery and observation post in Nelson's time. The other attraction is the Grand Royal Antiguan Resort which looks as if it is having a difficult time in competing with some of the newer resorts such as Sandals. When I checked prices for the coming week, they were approx. $90US a night. The pool was not bad, empty though, the beach bar only open for lunch and closed at 2 30 pm, and the resort lacked activity. There is a nice beach - one of the 365 beaches on the island, some very large homes on the hillside either being built or have been built. The water is much clearer here - can see the bottom so I felt more comfortable swimming back to the boat after our visit to shore.
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| Hawkesbill Beach Resort enroute to Deep Bay |
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| Deep Bay |
March 7...Still here in Five Islands and in very good company. Yesterday these two vessels arrived and disturbed our total privacy.
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| s/v Salute |
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| m/v Felix - 167' - can be rented for $199,000 a week |
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| another sunset! |
March 4
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| a spectacular sunset last night in Five Island Bay |
The other day we went to D-Boat but unfortunately my tablet was out of power and was unable to take photos. What a fun place to spend a relatively inexpensive day with the kids - both little and big! If only I was younger! The only expense would be drinks and food.
Last night dinner and movie at Crow's Nest - lasagna, salad and two pieces of garlic bread and a glass of wine for 50ECs. We lucked out and had an extra glass of wine at no charge. Movie was Gravity and luckily it was with English sub titles otherwise we would have had no idea what was going on! A recommended movie? Well I wouldn't rush out!
Looks like on the move today - not far, just to the next bay. Arrive in Five Island Bay and anchored outside of Hermitage Bay for lunch. Holding so so and decided to move to Maiden Island where we are presently the only boat and probably will be for the evening. Beach in the distance and plan to dinghy over tomorrow if holding is good.
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| Maiden Isle in Five Island Harbour |
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| one of the many stretches of beaches in Five Island Harbour |
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| rounding one of the Five Island going in to the harbour |
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| a clear day today - Montserrat in the distance |
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| D-Boat - Antigua's version of BVI's Willy T |
March 2...we are still here! enjoying the marina, pool, beach and just being lazy! some adventures yes - went into town again and found a new mall - sort of - with a large supermarket - our bus driver decided we should have a tour of the island and took us south to Carlisle Bay where we had anchored, we thought we were going to St. John, which is the other way. Then I guess he decided we had been very patient so he took us to Woods Mall which was good as the buses there only run every half hour.
Then yesterday a dinghy adventure! Dinghy got caught under the dock at the work dock and really stuck under the struts below the dock. A young fellow there climbed underneath and into the dinghy and took the motor off. Unfortunately, he dropped the motor into the water and once it was put back onto the dinghy, it didn't start, of course. Poor fellow felt obligated and had to take it all apart to get the water out. A visit to the work dock which originally started out to be a short visit lasted over and hour and a half! And people wonder what we do all day! Time just passes and where is the camera when it is really needed!
February 26...Yesterday into St. John and surprisingly quite nice...wide streets and they are set up as one way which makes walking quite pleasant.
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| view from the downtown docks |
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| square around market and bus station - statue of V.C. Bird,, socialist president of Antigua who is obviously much revered. was instrumental in having Antigua and Barbuda gain their independence |
Although it has been raining on and off, today was a gorgeous day. Not too hot - a perfect day. It was so clear that we could see Montserrat very clearly as well as the 'kingdom' of Rodonda, which looked like a big boulder emerging from the sea.
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| at the beach |
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| from the beach chair |
February 24...Okay, so now it is official! We will be hauling out here! After much discussion and weighing the options, this seems to be a great place. We will explore the island further and perhaps journey to Barbuda and haul out March 31. April is undecided. Blog will continue with the exploration of the beaches and harbours of Antigua.
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| parrot fish so colourful but dont know if I could eat them! |
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| fish market at bus station - red snapper and parrot fish |
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| market across from bus station |
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| these dinghies go by every day - so cute |
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| Jolly Harbour marina |
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| gorgeous pool at Jolly Harbour marina - 15EC a day |
February 17...Pulled our two anchors this morning which were caked with mud and motored over to Carlisle Bay, a beautiful bay with a resort of the same name - the water looks very clear but in actual fact not so much - however it is clean. The air is very clear and we could see Guadeloupe in the distance which apparently is unusual as it is 42.8 nautical miles.We could see Monserrat as well which is 26 nautical miles.
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| Carlisle Bay and Resort |
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| Montserrat under the clouds - look closely! |
February 16
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| Nelson's Dockyard and gardens from Pillars |
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| view of Mistress between the pillars |
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| Galeon Beach |
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| Galeon Beach |
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| Shirley Heights pan band - Halycon steel orchestra which you can hear playing in the video above |
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| Shirley Heights barbecue and party - too many people arrived from resorts and cruise ships for ribs and chicken so we left for another excellent pizza dinner at Cap Horn |
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| view of English Harbour from Shirley Heights - a 25 minute hike up a narrow sometimes steep trail - but not the toughest we've done!! |
Anchored just by Nelson's Dockyard in front of Pillars Restaurant in Tank Bay.
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| the original Nelson's Dockyard! |
February 15...After a delicious pizza supper last night at La Metis, we decided that we would leave early for the journey to Antigua. Left at 7 a.m. and had a mainly pleasant sail with a few winds and then approaching Antigua the winds and seas increased significantly! We did spot a few young dolphins on the passage that played with us a bit. Anchored presently in English Harbour for a couple of days and planning to attend the festivities on Sunday in Shirley Heights. But for tonight, feast of mahi mahi, which I had purchased in The Saints. I may have neglected to mention that Peter and I got up early, at 7 a.m., to catch the fresh fish the fisherman brought in. They would only sell me the entire fish which I purchased, they cleaned and steaked it for me. They included all of the fish and tonight I believe we are having steaks, cheeks and I am not sure what else. Mahi mahi is great and the cook can prepare it fantastically! Will comment further!
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| dinner fashionably late - 8.18 |
