1 May 1994 Falmouth Harbour, Antigua
Glenys spent all day on “Dabulamanzi” making cockpit cushions. I stayed on the boat doing jobs. The boys went over to “Dabulamanzi” to get a three hour video fix. I cooked dinner again!
2 May 1994 Falmouth Harbour
Changed the engine oil and fuel filters - I hate that job. Glenys spent another four hours on “Dabulamanzi” and finally finished the cockpit cushions. Glenys rang Ceris who is going to try to book a flight to Grenada in July. She still hasn’t received the computer. We had a quiet night.
Gareth and Fi came over to say goodbye and gave the boys an old inflatable raft that they had acquired. We’ve left the raft in the sea as a precaution against cockroaches! I’ve started reading my PADI manuals in preparation to going on the Instructors course. Glenys earned $125 for sewing work done on “Dabulamanzi” – I’m a bit jealous that she’s the first to earn some money, but only a bit!
3 May 1994 Falmouth Harbour to Green Harbour, Antigua
Gareth didn’t go to St Marten last night because they had a problem with their alternator. He came over at quarter past seven to ask to borrow my Nigel Calder electrical manual. He swam over because he’d packed away his dinghy, so I ran him back in our dinghy. I went back to bed, but felt guilty so I went over to give him moral support. He found out that his alternator was burnt out, so we dropped him ashore to get a new one.
We motored up to Green Island – what a bash! “Lady of Avalon” was there so we went for a chat at five o’clock and stayed until half past nine! What a nice couple Mike and Susan are! Mike has come up with one of the most terrible things developed by man – the pump action rum punch dispenser!
4 May 1994 Green Harbour
I had a great day windsurfing, ideal conditions for a 5.5sq m sail. I’m starting to get my feet into the footstraps and I can water start OK now. Glenys did school work and indulged me; she can do what she wants tomorrow! We met Les and Viv on “Manatee” (UK). I’ve decided that I’m going tee-total “except for social drinking”.
5 May 1994 Green Harbour to English Harbour, Antigua
Glenys went for a walk up the hill on Green Island while I did school work with Brett. We motored around to English Harbour and then spent an hour trying to anchor. We got a hold on the fourth time, but it’s not very good. Everyone swings everywhere and the bloke next to us is on a mooring which is good because he doesn’t swing very far, but bad because he doesn’t swing the same as us. We saw “Sancho Panza” just about to start their journey to the Azores.
Brett and Craig are driving us mad with their constant bickering. They must be bored with us and themselves. We were anchored close to “Lady of Avalon” who kindly lent us two of their games for the night. They left for the UK in the evening after their delivery crew turned up.
6 May 1994 English Harbour
We had a bad night’s sleep, caused by a mosquito and the odd katabatic gust, which swung us all over the anchorage. Glenys did school work while I went for a dive and then we walked up to Daw’s Hill to see an audio visual presentation of Antigua’s history.
We’d decided to go around to Falmouth Harbour for the night when I spotted a terrifying sight entering the harbour – “Wise Cat”. We just HAD to go to their boat for a drink or 5! It’s a record – I lasted two nights without alcohol!
7 May 1994 English Harbour to Five Island Harbour, Antigua
Our anchor dragged about 25 metres during the night but we weren’t in any trouble. I tried to clear out at nine o’clock in the morning, but it was shut. I tried again at ten o’clock and succeeded.
We said goodbye to “Wise Cat” and had a beautiful sail around to Jolly Harbour apart from the last 20 minutes when it rained on us. We filled up with water and I bought a copy of the PADI Diving Knowledge Workbook (which are as rare as rocking horse droppings).
We motored around to Five Island Harbour and anchored in Stony Horn Bay for the afternoon. We put 82 galls of water in. We scrubbed the bottom of the dinghy which had barnacles, goose barnacles and 3” of seaweed! On the beach we got attacked by a swarm of vicious no-see-ums, so I beat a hasty retreat back to the boat while the others collected shells. We motored over to Maiden Island and anchored out of the strong wind.
8 May 1994 Five Island Harbour to Pinney’s Beach, Nevis
We had a very rolly run to Nevis. I was lazy and didn’t bother to put up the inner forestay and second jib. Consequently, we spent 8 hours having to trim the wheel as the main overpowered the hydrovane – what a berk! We had a very clear sighting of a large turtle just off the south coast of Nevis, but by the time the boys had got on deck it had disappeared.
We anchored off Pinney’s Beach which is beautiful. The pilot book says “Behind a strip of pale ochre sand are miles of palm trees whose slender trunks and waving lacy leaves catch the sunlight. Mount Nevis ascends into the clouds behind. Gliding pelicans fold their wings and crash boldly into the sea”. The sea bed is weed on hard packed sand and I had to snorkel down and put the anchor on a sand patch to start it off.
The log is driving me crazy - it showed a distance run of 36.6 miles when we did closer to 45 miles, that’s 20% low! I’ve replaced the impellor, cleaned it, adjusted it and it still reads low. We’ve now done over 10,000 miles - indicated!
The boys and I went to the beach and, on our return, a guy from a Swiss boat “Ha Vents” waved us over. We went for a drink or two with them - Evan, Christina, Tais (6) and Jeremie (3). They are cruising by working their way (he’s a sail maker) and it’s nice to be asked over. We must start going over to boats and “breaking the ice” ourselves.
9 May 1994 Pinney’s Beach
Another disturbed night. It kept raining, but it was too hot to leave the hatch closed. Brett got up in the middle of the night and had a wee up against the kitchen sink – sleep walking, I suppose.
I went into Charlestown to clear in. I found Customs OK, but I had a lot of trouble finding the Police Station. I eventually found out that the Police Station burnt out on Xmas Day and they have temporary accommodation in an old disused hotel just outside town. The old Police Station is right next door to the Fire Station!
It rained for most of the day, so we all had a quiet relaxing day on the boat. I’m still working my way through the PADI Open water Diver Manual (yawn!). We went for drinks on “Rubiayat” with Dave, Ami, Jessica (1) and Cody (6) from the USA.
10 May 1994 Pinney’s Beach
Another hot rainy night – I must design a hatch “tent” which will keep rain out but let air in. We did school work in the morning then the boys and I went to the beach while Glenys went into town to do some shopping and to clear out.
Dave and Ami and kids joined us on the beach and then came for sundowners. Evan and Christina passed by and came for a beer too. Nevis is famous for producing beautiful stamps and there is a Philatelic Bureau in town which has a display of quite a lot of them. Glenys bought two for the boys to put in their scrap book.
11 May 1994 Pinney’s Beach to St Barts
Up and away early this morning. The boys are conditioned to move out of their cabin as soon as I start to hoist up the anchor chain. They instantly jump out of bed, run into our bed and go back to sleep. I want to go back to bed too! I fitted a new log impellor as soon as we got going - it’s a lot better now. We motored up the lee side of St Kitts. St Kitts looks beautiful with its high mountain and lush green fields stretching between the rain forest and the sea.
We sailed across to St Barts which was a close reach – fast but bouncy. We anchored in the outer part of the bay next to “Les Saintes”. The bay is very crowded and we are left out in the swell. We went into town to clear in and a quick walk around. We had to pay £3/night to anchor out here in the boonies.
12 May 1994 St Barts
Surprisingly we didn’t roll too much last night. I went and did two short dives on one tank of air which was nice. The boys and I went to get my tank filled, but the dive shop owner was still on his dive boat. I sent Brett and Craig out to pick him up in our dinghy. He was obviously impressed with Brett’s boat handling because he gave me the air fill for free – you could have knocked me over with a feather!
We all walked over to Anse Du Grand Galet which is called Shell Beach. It is amazing. Piles of shells on a beautiful 300 metre long beach with cliffs at either end. The seabed is also littered with shells and when you snorkel down you can hear the shells tinkling in the surf. There are also hundreds of live conch a little further out so I assume that it is illegal to take them – remember, the French will eat anything that moves!
13 May 1994 Anse De Columbiere, St Barts
Glenys went into town to do some shopping then we motored around to Anse De Columbier which is a very beautiful bay. We spent the day snorkelling, sitting on the beach and I did a few hours of revision. There is a farm onshore with geese and some peacocks which spend a lot of time calling.
14 May 1994 Anse De Columbiere, St Barts
Nice to spend a night without rolling. School work in the morning. Glenys has sewn two canvas panels, one for a sign advertising her sewing repairs and another for a sign to advertise “Dive Glencora”. I spent a pleasant couple of hours designing my sign and went onto designing a handout leaflet. I spent three hours revising the Open Water Manual – I’ve only gone through half of it and I’m getting bored now!
We went snorkelling off the north headland and saw a couple of barracuda. Glenys attracted a couple of garfish that followed her around. Glenys took the boys to the beach for a couple of hours. Ollie and Margaret from “Filia” (GER) came for a drink. We met them in Hog Island and they are going the same way as us.
15 May 1994 St Barts to Philipsburg Bay, St Martin
Motored to Ile Fourche which is very desolate. There is hardly any vegetation on the island and the anchorage is rather forbidding. I went and did a dive which was very good. We had a quick snorkel, lunch and then pressed on to St. Martin.
We motored all the way and decided to have a look in Philipsburg Bay before going into the lagoon. We saw “Flow” and “Drot”, so we decided to stay in Philipsburg. I spotted “Radnor” and went to have a chat with Brian and Dorothy. They were the boat who asked us to pick up some mail for them in Madeira last October!
We put out a stern anchor to keep us square on to the swell so that we wouldn’t roll. We had a meal on “Flow” with another two couples and saw 2 small turtles which seem to live nearby, as they habitually pop up in the same place. We’ve seen quite a few turtles since we left Antigua.
16 May 1994 Philipsburg Bay
I went out first thing in the morning to look around Philipsburg and get prices for a new dinghy and other bits. Glenys went out in the afternoon to do the same while I took the boys into Marigot to look for body boards. We’ve been promising to buy them some when we got to St Martin, but when we got here we found that they were at least $75US! We finally found some in Marigot for $42US, still expensive but I bought two. It was worth it to see their little faces as they carried them back to the bus.
We met Fay from “Chintoo” as we were walking around. We went to “Drot” for dinner and got a little bit drunk. Looking at the other boats, I’m glad I put a stern anchor out!
17 May 1994 Philipsburg Bay
I’ve felt better. I went to the chandlers and got them to assemble the dinghy that we had chosen while I went to the bank and got out $2000. When I arrived back to look at the dinghy, I panicked – it looked enormous. I had to go back to get Glenys to give a second opinion, then we bought it.
Glenys went out to do some serious shopping – clothes, earrings, swimming costume, etc. We did a major food shop which ended up as two trolley loads which easily fitted in the new dinghy. The dinghy is great. It planes with the boys and me, but won’t when Glenys is also in – we obviously need a 10 or a 15 HP motor!
We took a rain-check on drinks on “Filia” and went back to Glencora to collapse amongst total chaos.
18 May 1994 Philipsburg Bay
It’s still rolly in the bay, so we decided to go round to Simpson Bay to visit “Chintoo” and others. I went to get a few things from town and cleared out. They made me pay $2 departure tax for 4 days and I had to wait while they sorted out a receipt – what a waste of everyone’s time. Glenys went out for a bit of shopping while I attempted to tidy up.
When Glenys came back we decided to stay put for the night, so I worked on the dinghy and then took the boys skiing on their body boards. I stopped off on “Saltire” for a quick beer as I went past – they are getting ready to head back to Europe. We went out to a bar for twofers which was very nice with snacks laid on.
19 May 1994 Philipsburg Bay to Simspon Bay
We decided to go round to Simpson Bay. We were anchored bow and stern and the wind had swung around so it was on our starboard aft quarter. This meant that we were hanging mostly off our stern anchor and if we dropped it we would swing on our bow anchor into some other boats. We ended up running the stern anchor to the bow, snorkelling down to put a trip line on the bow anchor, pulling the bow anchor up into the dinghy and then pulling up the ex-stern anchor. It all went surprisingly smoothly.
We motored around to Simpson Bay. As we were about to anchor, Glenys put the engine into reverse but we just kept going forwards. The bolts on the coupling had sheared again! We went right up to the transom of “Aerie” barely missing entangling our dangling anchor with his dinghy. I sent Glenys up front to fend off while I confirmed that the engine was indeed useless. In the 10 seconds this took, our bow blew off to port and we gently hit “Vintage Port” amidships. I tried letting out the jib in the hope of getting some way on but we drifted down onto “Only Blue” and ended up T-boned on them with our keel on their anchor chain. The guy from “Aerie” came over in his dinghy and helped to push us backwards off “Only Blue” and we anchored (phew!)
I put out another anchor and went to work on the coupling. The bolts had sheared off in the gearbox half coupling, so I split the gearbox and took the reduction box into Island Water World so that they could get the bolts out. We called in on “Wise Cat” and had a drink, but I was not in a sociable mood! We went back to Glencora, rolled our guts out and had a bad attack of the cruising blues – I was so depressed and tired that I was in bed at eight o’clock!
20 May 1994 Simspon Bay to Simpson Bay Lagoon
It was so rolly that I ended up sleeping in the saloon with the lee cloth up. We were woken up at six o’clock by Gareth and Fi shouting. They had just sailed from the Virgin Islands and went into the lagoon. I couldn’t get back to sleep so I did some diving theory revision. I went and picked up the gearbox. The bloke had spent 2½ hours getting the three bolts out and had managed to leave four fairly reasonable tapped holes. It cost $100 dollars – that’s $40/hr!
I went back to Glencora and spent four hours refitting the coupling. Unfortunately, one of the tapped holes in the gearbox half coupling is about 10° off-square so I had to use a bit of brute force and ignorance. I think that it will get us to St Thomas but I will have to get a new flexible coupling and gearbox half coupling fitted in St Thomas. The biggest problem will be getting the bits for the gearbox because Paragon has gone out of business. The consensus of opinion is that the failure is due to engine alignment, but that can’t be done until I get new bits fitted. I got the coupling fitted by ten past five, so we just made the six o’clock bridge opening and got into the lagoon.
We took all the sail covers off and had the dinghy rigged up so we could use it if the engine failed,. I also had the kedge anchor ready to sling overboard. This was all for a 400 metre journey into the lagoon! Once safely anchored, we went for a “quick” dinner to Pizza Hut with Gareth and ended up staying up until midnight!
21 May 1994 Simpson Bay Lagoon
A bit dull this morning, so we did a bit of tidying up. We went into Marigot in the dinghies with Gareth and Fi. We bought chicken and chips and took it to a surprisingly nice beach on an island in the middle of the lagoon. Unfortunately, the water is too dirty to swim in, so we picked Nat up from “Wise Cat” and went outside the lagoon to the beach for an hour or so.
We went to “Chintoo” for an hour or so at about six o’clock and ended up staying until one in the morning! It was quite crowded with Jeff and Karen from “Timana”, Steve and Marilyn from “Vintage Port”, Dave and Debbie from “Prince”, James and Fay from “Only Blue” and a few others! A good time was had by all. On the way back to our boat, we went under the bridge and didn’t notice some guys fishing from it. We ended up with their fishing line wrapped around our propellor which took about 5 minutes to clear - they were not happy!
22 May 1994 Simpson Bay Lagoon
Tidied up the engine compartment and the boat generally. Glenys went to “Only Blue” and bought some awning material and clear plastic from Faye to make new cockpit cushions and a new spray hood. Glenys, Gareth and the boys went to the beach for an hour in the afternoon while I continued getting the boat “shipshape”. Touch wood and whistle, the coupling looks OK.
We went to “Dabulamanzi” for dinner with Guy, Marie and Tom (3) from “Sahara Blue”. We ran out of water this morning and I had to go and scrounge 10 gallons from Gareth.
23 May 1994 Simpson Bay Lagoon to British Virgin Islands (Day 1)
I sent a fax to ASAP about the coupling and gearbox half coupling. I also confirmed that there will be space in the Marina at St Thomas ($18/night - groan!) We went to a marina to get fuel and water. We filled up with fuel and the bloke wouldn’t let us stay to get water “because a big power boat was standing by waiting”.
I was so hacked off that I indulged in a bit of shopping therapy and bought another air tank for $100. We eventually filled up with water and went back to anchor to continue to get ready to leave in the afternoon.
Gareth and Fi called over and said that Fi would be going back to the UK soon because Annabelle is having more problems with her breathing after her malaria. They have a charter starting on the 19 June and asked if Glenys could take Fi’s place. We have agreed but need to work out the logistics because it’s only 4 days after the end of my diving course, Gareth needs to get Dabulamanzi to the BVI and we still need to meet Ceris on the 7 July in Granada and... !
We had to wait ages for the bridge to open because a sand barge was blocking the channel. We started our sail as a broad reach, but eventually I had to rig twin head sails which took about an hour! Glenys had an awful first watch because the wind was variable and the mizzen kept causing us to luff up. I dropped the mizzen at midnight and had a nice peaceful watch with a full moon!
24 May 1994 Simpson Bay Lagoon to Virgin Gorda, BVI (Day 2)
The landfall was very confusing because of all of the islands in the British Virgins group. It took me about half an hour to identify Round Island and find the safe channel to the south of the BVI. I cleared in at Virgin Gorda Yacht Haven and we then went to pick up a mooring in the Dol Islands, so that I could do a dive.
We motored to the north of Virgin Gorda, where we anchored next to “Wise Cat” who arrived yesterday. Gorda Sound is a beautiful natural harbour which is very protected. “Wise Cat” came to our boat for drinks and chicken drumsticks.
25 May 1994 Virgin Gorda
School work and diving theory (still Open Water Manual) in the morning. Glenys, Robyn, her Mum and I went across to Leerick Bay in our dinghy – it’s about 1.7 miles and took us ages! We had all been given vouchers to claim a free bottle of Prusser’s Rum (with no obligation), so we walked out of the shop with 4 bottles.
We had to give boat names and addresses, so I’m afraid that I was from “Dabulamanzi” and Robin was from “Amatouana 2” (who will be in the Pacific by now!) We had a rough trip back upwind and got wet even in our new dinghy. We all went snorkelling after lunch and I saw my first stingray. I also caught a young turtle which was lovely to see swimming in the water - let it go, of course.
We went to “Wise Cat” for drinks – rum punch, naturally!
26 May 1994 Virgin Gorda to St Thomas Bay, BVI
We said goodbye to “Wise Cat” who are heading off to the States tomorrow. We motored round to Mountain Point where I did a dive. We then motored over to Great Don Island where I did another dive. We then motored over to Marina Cay, where I got a tank filled. Glenys and I went snorkelling on Diamond Reef – very nice.
We motored across to Trellis Bay in the afternoon, which is unfortunately covered in bloody moorings. The only anchorage is rather exposed, so we got the hump and motored across to St Thomas Bay. It would appear that all of the good anchorages are now covered with moorings at $15US per night – it’s driving me mad! The first attempt at anchoring at St Thomas Bay was no good – I dived down and pushed the anchor into a sandy patch, but it would only go in about 6 inches and then pulled out. I guessed that it was thin sand over rock so we moved about 20 metres further from the shore and the anchor dug straight in. C’est La Vie!
We had a nice quiet night for a change! Glenys has bought some margarine in a squeeze bottle – it has to be one of the most disgusting things to put on bread – American idea of course! I put my PADI Certification Card, the Test Certificate for the new tank and $60 into a plastic bag when I went to Marina Cay to fill the tank. I was wearing my swimming shorts at the time and I think that I left the bag in my pocket while we went snorkelling and lost it – I’m sooo mad!
27 May 1994 St Thomas Bay to The Baths, BVI
I woke up this morning feeling all dynamic and checked the engine to find 8” of water in the bilge. I pulled up a few floor boards to find that the whole boat has filled with water to within 2” of the floor boards. I spent the next hour pumping and mopping the bilges. I think that it was caused by the stern gland leaking, so I tightened the bolts and we’ll wait and see!
We went into the marina to do some shopping and I sent a fax to ASAP to tell them to send the coupling and gearbox half coupling to St Thomas. It’s going to cost about £250 for the bits and freight.
We motored over to the Baths and picked up a mooring behind “Wise Cat” – they decided that it was so nice at the Baths that they stayed last night. The Baths are very spectacular. I shall have to take some photos. We went to the beach, snorkelled, climbed the boulders, crawled through caves and generally had a good time.
We went to “Wise Cat” for cocktails. Today is Friday. When we were at work, we used to look forwards to Fridays because we could finish work. Now we dread Fridays because it means that tomorrow everyone will be on holiday and we can’t buy things and the customs people start to charge overtime. Our philosophy now is “Thank God it’s Monday!”
28 May 1994 The Baths to Cooper Island, BVI
We did school work and diving theory in the morning – I finished going through the Open Water Manual and started on Physics (double yawn!). “Wise Cat” said goodbye again. We went to the beach for a couple of hours. The Baths is the most beautiful place that we’ve come across so far.
We motored over to Ginger Island and picked up a dive buoy, but Glenys put her foot down and said she wasn’t going to stay with 2 metre seas and a cliff 30 metres behind our transom. I thought this was very unreasonable because it’s a very good dive site, but I diplomatically gave in! We motored over to Carval Island and picked up a dive mooring, the seas were only 1 metre and the cliffs were 50 metres to the side of us so Glenys reluctantly agreed that I could do a dive.
After the dive we motored around to the west side of Coopers Island so that I could do another dive on the wreck of the Marie L. We then went to anchor in Manchineel Bay, Cooper Island. The bay has a narrow shelf covered with weed and the inevitable buoys. It took us half an hour with me snorkelling down to manhandle the anchor into a sandy patch so that we could get it to hold.
After that another 10 or so boats appeared and anchored all over the place between the moorings. Most are bare boats who don’t know what they are doing - if a strong wind appears there will be total chaos. We are anchored close to the shore in 3 metres of water, so at least we only have the bareboat bombs on one side. Touch wood, I hope we don’t go aground!
29 May 1994 Cooper Island to Norman Island
No-one hit us during the night, but we still didn’t sleep very well. We got away fairly early so that we could beat the rush to the moorings for the RMS Rhone at Salt Island. We got there to find 1 metre seas and loads of empty buoys! I did two dives which got me to the magic 60 required for the instructor course. Glenys wasn’t very happy sitting there, rolling away, waiting for me.
We motored around to Sprat Bay where they wouldn’t fill my tanks because the valves didn’t have burst disks (I hadn’t noticed that) and I had no visual inspection sticker. I bought a compass off them anyway. We motored around to Little Harbour, but decided just to stay for lunch because it’s very steep and the wind comes from all directions (it’s also very, very quiet!)
We sailed over to Norman Island and anchored in 12 metres near “Wise Cat”. “Wise Cat” came to us for drinks and, after they had gone, Glenys went raving mad at Brett because he had been out of control. She also had the hump with Coby because of his swearing and very bad manners.
30 May 1994 Norman Island
“Wise Cat” said goodbye again! We did school work and diving theory all morning and then went to “The Caves” in the afternoon. Quite good snorkelling but nothing to write home about (not that I do that anyway!)
31 May 1994 Norman Island
School work and diving theory. I’ve finished most of the subjects – I “just” need to read the manuals. I gave Brett another body board skiing session and went snorkelling on the NW point which is OK. We regularly see turtles in this anchorage.