Antigua or bust

We left Nevis and decided to continue along the volcanic trail or there would be a mutiny on board! Fortunately the weather was brilliant and we sailed past the island of Redonda towards Monserrat. 

My dubious captain would scare anyone who came near us!  Unfortunately the sun protection failed ...a lesson in the strength of the tropical sun and someone ended up with a burnt nose.

We arrived at lLittle bay to find it empty of yachts, mainly due to the swell of previous days. We went in and out and round and about, again and again before we found a spot to anchor. It's funny how once we'd dropped the hook several other boats came in and anchored nearby.

The following day we took a trip to see the volcanoes. We were shocked at the devastation and it was the first time we had seen the effects of pyroclastic flows of ash, so much more deadly than flows of lava.

The haze isn't out of focus, it's smoke and ash.

Plymouth was buried and it's hard to imagine the organisation that went into to evacuating people, not to mention the impact on families having to literally walk out of their homes leaving everything behind.

The brown field is ash, covering the old houses of Plymouth to the first floor.

This hotel was swamped by ash and still people are unable to return as the volcano is still active. The smell of sulphur was strong. Access is limited to certain areas and this is reviewed daily.

Nice swimming pool...

I really felt sorry for the people whose lives had been affected but we were told the British Government is supporting them. Cows, goats, horses and pigs have gone feral, no one could say whether the threat of pyroclastic ash flows or the brooding sows were the greater danger in the abandoned houses of Plymouth. With Montserratians comfortably on British dole, Guyanans and Haitians are employed in pretty much the one remaining industry, gravel extraction from the beds of the pyroclastic flows. These guys also hunt the feral animals, much to the dismay of locals who still covet the offspring of their livestock. 

We only stayed one day in Monserrat as we were expecting Tristans brother, Max, and Sarah and the boys, who were coming on holiday to Antigua. 

We had a very boisterous blast into big seas on the nose. Tristan went below and paddled into the heads. The door to our bunk had slammed shut and when he opened it a river of sea water gushed out. Someone had left the deck hatch open. So much for a romantic wedding anniversary, our bed was drenched in sea water.....bedding, cushions, clothes, the lot!

As soon as we approached Jolly Harbour, turquoise seas, white sandy beaches and turtles....all was forgiven. Calm and tranquility was restored and we remain married!

 We had a fantastic time with Max, Sarah, Charlie and Harry.....turtle spotting was top of the list.

Buoyancy aid training for crew....

The weather was a little fickle but we know how to treat or guests......put them out to sea in a rainstorm and see how they fare!

 'It's ok boys, just curl up in the boat'

'Hi!'

We enjoyed being tourists, swimming off beaches, visiting English Harbour and day sails. We had fantastic BBQ's, too many piña colada's at sunset. It was a real  break and put us in a good space for Antiqua Classics, the following week. 

 

Back on the broomstick

We finally cut the umbilical chord on March 9th ( would have been Mums 90th birthday), and inched our way out of TOBY , with a little help from our friends. True to form, Meriva ground to a halt as Tristan avoided the ferry. We were stuck aground. Keith was brilliant and nudged, badgered and like us probably cursed her out of the mud and into the channel. 

We still made the bridge and pushed ahead of everyone before anything else could go amiss. The brilliance of Marigot Bay took your breath away......this was what we had signed up for. It was so good to be floating again.

Marigot Bay

Marigot bay with Cranky in the background

Celebratory cigar! Followed by another .........

We had intended to go in for a drink with everyone but the outboard wouldn't start, it was blowing strong and a long way to row. Help was on hand and thanks to Chris, Fynn and Oscar in their rescue dinghy we made it in to spend our last night in Time Out Boat Yard with the good friends we have made. 

I think a combination of Rose wine, strong winds, lumpy seas, Tristan cursing  the outboard,  and the fact it had been nearly 10 months ashore....I felt sea sick and we hadn't gone anywhere.

One scopoderm patch and I felt fantastic....ready to face our new adventure, jump on the broomstick and sail away.  The next day we went around to Simpson Bay to see our friends, Linda and Andy for a night, then left.....direction, South!

Wind guru forcast a steady 20 knots and 2 metre seas from the east......slightly under estimated. We had nearly 3 metres, very short wave period, winds easterly with a bit of south in. It was baptism of fire for our first sail. Everything went fine, a few pumps on the bilge but nothing to worry about. Looks like Tristan's hard work has paid off. 

We approached the gap between St Kitts and Statia....the seas dropped, wind eased and it was one of the best sails we have had in the Caribbean. 

We anchored off Basseterre tired but smiling. Checked in, stocked with fresh food and decided to hide for a few days and enjoy. 

We anchored off White House Bay........but were declined entry to the beach bar dock as it was for clients only. We wanted a drink but were told to land the dinghy on the reef lined beach by a jobs worth security guard. So, we eschewed that drink...

We were told they had put a dingy dock for people to use in the marina.

The new marina 

Meriva at anchor

Thank god we didn't dinghy round.....it's a building site with nothing there but concrete pontoons for very large yachts. We did walk over to look at the plans for the salt pond and were rewarded by seeing monkeys! 

 

Green vervet monkeys

We went over to sand bank bay. It was deserted, covered in Sargassum weed with a couple of private clubs off the beach. 

Sargassum 

Tristan pointed out the sewage discharge point..I'm getting him trained. It's on a windward beach!

We left St Kitts and headed over to Nevis, another brilliant sail  and have spent a few days chillin off Pinneys Beach. Quiet anchorage apart from at night!   At 3.15 am the Friday night music stopped.  I'd spent an hour in the cockpit, unable to switch off from listening to reggae, enjoying the fish leaping and the waves lapping around the boat.The stars were bright and at last I saw the southern cross. I always look for the three stars that make up the belt of orion and think of my girls, but Tristan had talked about th southern cross, visible  in Australia.  It was rising just above the horizon.....so I spent time thinking about Amy in Melbourne. 

The red beach umbrellas look inviting!

Nevis in the background.

 

This island is so relaxing.....no hustle and bustle, laid back and friendly, very friendly, the folk here are lovely! We ventured ashore paid our mooring fees and took a ride up to the botanical gardens and hugged a few trees, not many though as they had spikes on the trunks!  It was peaceful and deserted!  We ate in the Thai restaurant and had a stroll down to the road back into Charlestown Harbour, the capital of Nevis.  

We have relaxed after a hectic few months and we are enjoying being on holiday again. It's not easy to do nothing, takes practice.  

Times out........

Well the first part of the year can be put down to Chikungunya. Chikungunya head and shoulders knees and  hands! Knees and hands! In fact any part of the body that has previously been injured and any movable joint......they all hurt. Needless to say progress on any jobs has been slow.

Tristan did manage to climb the mast after a hefty dose of paracetamol, to refit the replacement staysail stay and the rebuilt furler. We did accept help. Thank you Astrid and Bjorn. 

I've been varnishing, just for a change, and decided to sand off the transom. It's taking a long time and a lot of frustration to rebuild the layers of varnish especially in humid conditions, before we apply the new name stencil.

Once you have stopped for a while, it's hard to leave and to get going again. Compound that with Chikungunya and you begin to feel like you'll never be able to function normally again. 

We were invited to go sailing last weekend on Rosie by  Paula and Keith. After a moment of guilt for not keeping up with jobs, we jumped at the chance. It was the best weekend we have had for a long time.


  Perfect weather, excellent company, beautiful anchorage, a roaring sail and turtles!

We  passed through the bridge by TOBY at 0900 and headed out into Marigot Bay. There was no wind and flat seas, so we had a gentle relaxing motor around the south west of St Martin, past Simpson Bay and Phillipsburg in the south and out towards Ile Fouche which is part of St Barts. 

The horse shoe bay wasn't too crowded and as soon as we arrived  we all  went for a swim. It had been such a long time...I miss snorkelling. The coral reef near the shoe was good.....gorgonian corals, huge parrot fish and turtles. Perfect.

Tristan also got to sleep with a leggy blonde!

The next morning we left in gusty winds and headed towards Tintamare under sail. With the help of George, the autopilot....well until Rosie decided to turn off the 12V supply and we did a 180. That's the trouble with blondes!  

As we approached Tintamare  a dolphin crossed the bow.....never to be seen again!  Keith gave us a guided tour of Tintamare. The old airstrip used  as a refuelling station during the Second World War, reclaimed by nature. The remnents  of planes, boilers  and dwellings. Once a hectic community, now overgrown. 

After a relaxing lunch, kindly cooked by Paula we motored back  around St Martin. We had circumnavigated St Martin in 24 hours and got our sea legs back. Both of us are ready to go sailing.

We needed  a big kick up the backside to get going, but we are in no rush to get anywhere. It's another day in paradise and we need to enjoy it.  That's what we are doing.  

Varnish on, varnish off, varnish on......

We reached the end of the hurricane season, frantically trying to get work completed before we launched.

The high UV has been attacking the varnish as quick as I have been applying it and it has taken a lot of determination to keep on top of it. I'm still not sure who's winning. It's either to hot, midday, to dusty or raining!

I've lost count of the number of people have said we are mad to have a wooden boat in the tropics. Listening to people who live the cruisers life.....no boat is without it's faults and  we have confidence in our wooden boat. She is sturdy and so far has kept us safe in often horrible weather conditions both on land and at sea. 

Tristan has replaced the broken toe rail and capping piece with a lovely piece of 100 year old Trinny teak....it looks fantastic.

We worked out that our boat contains the following woods....

Pitch pine.....Scandinavia....bilge planking and garboards

Rock elm... Canada.........steam bent frames

Mahogany....Caribbean....keel laminated ring frames,  hull planking

Teak......Burma......coach roof, deck, toe rail, combings

Iroko....Africa.....new floors in heads

Utile........Africa.....replacement planks in quarter

Oak.......Cornwall.....replacement frames, ceiling in interior

Purple Heart .....Guyana........mast step and mast step floors replacing bronze strap floors. Chocks for sheet anchor.

Yellow pine.....Canada....cockpit carlings and beams

Afromosia.........Africa....internal cabinetry.

Lignum vitae used for bearing while drilling out ballast keel hole in mast step floor, current use as a key fob. 

1960's high grade plywood replaced with Robbins  of Bristol finest marine ply.

The inside has been maintained as she was when we bought her  and it's the character of Meriva that we love.

St Martin is also a good island to replace bits that have suffered wear and tear..... Hatch hinges, water pumps, alternators, stays and so it goes on with the money pit.

We have knuckled down to work and basically have only left the boatyard a few times since the hurricane. Our day out  involves a trip to Budget marine, Island waterworld, Caribbean fastenings and Ace, and if I'm really lucky on the way home.....a trip to the cigar shop!

Our saving grace was a visit from our friends on Coromandal, Linda and Andy.

 We all went on a 'stroll', originally to the forested slope of St Martin but the path was overgrown by vicious shrubs......we opted for plan B.



















It was so good to see them and I enjoyed a bit of 'girlie' time. We both needed that!

Tristan has  sanded the old anti fouling off , recaulked  and we applied four coats of anti fouling. It's not much fun balancing on oil drums and pallets to paint the top sides so as long  as everything is protected from the damaging UV, pretty can come later from the dingy.

We splashed in December. Neither of us had been feeling well........then the Chickungunya hit! Me first!

It was so good to be back on the water and feel the boat move. 

Christmas Eve was spent at Maison Flotantte in the lagoon........fantastic company and fantastic food. We spent a lot of time over Christmas resting and recouperating, then New Years Eve Tristan went down with chikungunya. It still didn't stop the midnight swim to welcome in 2015 with lovely friends.

Thank for the photos, Peter!

Needless to say New Year's Day was a right off.......and several days after, and several days after that. Tristan was ill for the first time since we met. 

I have been enjoying a weekly walk with a fellow cruiser.......we made it up into the forest this week to see the butterflies but the highlight was vervet or green monkey's which crossed our path. That will be a challenge to photograph them!

We still have a few jobs to do but we are looking forward to visiting some of the places we never made it to last year and another shot at Antiqua Classics!