1st 1/2 2008 - Antigua, and lots of crews

We head back to "Manx Mist" again in early January 2008, and join John and AnneMarie Yeo, who have been enjoying a sailing vacation over Christmas and the New Year. John has done a superb job looking after the boat - and she is probably in better shape than when I left her.

John and AnneMarie have setup their travel plans to overlap with us, so
we have an excellent week cruising around Antigua, and we started on what was to be the first of many touring trips, anti-clockwise,  around the island - Carlisle Bay; Falmouth, English Harbour and Sunday drinks and steel band music at Shirley Hts; Mamora Bay and the St James Club; the lovely anchorage of Ricketts Harbour, Green Island; Great Bird Island; Jumby Bay, Long Island.

Annemarie and John head home to France, and Hil and I have a few days chilling, and getting the boat organized and provisioned - we have a series of friends arriving over the next few weeks.





First, at the end of January, it's Alison Young and daughter Emma.
Graeme deciding he is not a salty scotish sea-faring dog, and entrusting his ladies to Capt Kerry.

The weekend of A & E's arrival is also a World Cup bob race in Cesana, Italy  for daughter, Helen - and she captures another Gold for Canada. We're doing our best keeping track of Helen's races, and usually find a way to watch them live over the internet.

It's Alison and Emma's first real experience of the "cheese baguette" cruising life. But for rookie sailors, they do superbly well, and are fun and a pleasure to have aboard.
We start with the anti-clockwise direction around Antigua. First stop Falmouth, and the place is packed with big yachts, both sailing and power - it's the charter boat weekend. The ladies do the Sunday night steelband at Shirley Hts, and consume a few rum punches. It's a rainy night, but it doesn't spoil the fun.
Still stormy in the morning, and we're woken to the not-so-pleasant sight of a large sailboat burning over at the Cat Club Marina, after it was hit by lightning. Big bangs as the fuel tanks and propane blow up.
After another day at Falmouth, exploring Nelsons Dockyard and beaching, we return to Jolly Harbour for a reprovisioning and prep break.

With the weather somewhat settling, we head out to Barbuda. It's still windy and the seas are still over 10', but the ladies handle it well and pass the 7 hour passage time with word games. We stop at Coco Pt for a couple of nights - the ground swell looking a little high at Low Bay. But it settles, and we move around and anchor at the N end of Low Bay. Alison and Emma have left their pink hue behind them, and are looking tanned, and they are loving Barbuda's beaches.

After Barbuda we head back to Antigua, have a somewhat less bumpy return trip, and come through the Prickly Pear Island passage to anchor at Jumby Bay. "Bessie" - the ship's inflatable figurehead is rediscovered and provides much entertainment over a long cocktail hour. It's also here that we are entertained by a large 50' charter boat running aground just inshore of us.

After Jumby we move on to Great Bird Island. We have a lovely sunny day there, but overnight it's a different story and the wind picks up big time - probably blowing 30 to 35 kts. Capt Kerry lets out more anchor, and we're ok for the night.

Time to return to Jolly for Alison's birthday, a good meal at Melini's, and enjoy a few more cocktails.


It was an eventful couple of weeks for A & E - rough weather sailing;  lots of rain; burning/exploding boats; boats aground; stormy nights - and they still enjoyed themselves!

With Alison and Emma leaving, Hil and I have a day to do the laundry,cleanup the boat, restock it again and then our next visiting crew arrive - Steve and Sari Paterson, friends from Calgary.

The weather continues to improve - less rain, more sunshine - but the waves are still big.

With Steve and Sari aboard we set off on the clockwise route - and spend a couple of days at Jumby Bay, Long Island and Great Bird Island. Staying inside the reef, and the seas are calm.





Then, another trip out to Barbuda. We head through the Prickly Pear channel and straight into big seas - again. the Captain is tempted to turnaround, but we bash through them and another 5 hours later, we anchor off Coco Pt.
The ground swell is running, and Low Bay is not an option, so we stay put at Coco. We take a tour of the island with local taxi driver Lawrence, visiting  the Highlands and the west coast, and ending up at Uncle Roddys Bar on the way back to Coco.


Now time to head back to Jolly Harbour - our next crew is arriving - good friend Lesley, coming in from Florida.
We have a last couple of days with Steve and Sari still aboard, and we all sail around to Falmouth to enjoy the Sunday evening Shirley Hts bash and a tour of Nelsons dockyard.
Steve and Sari are staying on at a hotel close to St Johns, and Steve and I will hook up once more to go and watch a cricket match at the Viv Richards stadium, before they return to Calgary.

Lesley has brought an unwelcome stowaway aboard - a nasty cold bug - she's not feeling great, and Hil also picks it up. We stay around Jolly Harbour for a few days, taking it easy at the beach and pool.
This break also gives us an opportunity to watch (via the internet) Helen compete in the Bob World Championships in Altenberg, Germany. It's arguably the toughest track in the World, and Helen pilots Canada#1 into yet another 4th place finish, behind the 3 German sleds who make a clean sweep of the podium on their home turf.

Can't stay in harbour for all of Lesley's visit - we head out to Barbuda again. Another bumpy, but fast, passage which we make in 4 hours. The northerly swell has gone and we anchor off Low Bay - walking, swimming and snorkeling time. Shift around to Coco Pt and same pursuits. Then time to return to Antigua, yet another bumpy ride,  and a stay at Jolly harbour to restock with water, fuel and food.
We fit in a couple more days of sailing with Lesley - around to Carlyle bay for snorkeling, and on to Falmouth for a night out at the Mad Mongoose.
Then back to Jolly Harbour. Lesley's 2 week visit is up, and she returns to Florida

And the sun sets on the busiest month, visitor-wise, that we've had on the boat.

Hil and I will catch our breath, and then go cruising south.

What's in a name?

When you buy a second hand boat, one of your first challenges is naming. Do you keep the old name, or change it to a new one? A decision sometimes made easier if you're changing registration location.
With "Manx Mist", I acquired a boat and the previous owner's boat name.
"Manx" comes from the Isle of Man, in the Irish Sea off the NW coast of England, and the name "Manx Mist" has a story behind it - mythology.
The Celtic sea god, Manannan, protected the island by shrouding it in mists.

Not a bad story. Good to have the Gods on your side. I decided I liked the name, and left it alone.

There's all sorts of superstition around the sea, sailors and boats, and re-naming a boat is supposed to bring one nothing but bad luck.
I remember Hil and I bumping into one salty seadog and, over a few beers, we touched on the subject of re-naming boats. He emphatically said "Not a problem!" He was on his 4th boat, and had renamed every one of them. We asked what had happened to the previous 3 - and the sequence was - wrecked on a reef; sunk in a storm; sunk in a collision. Makes you think!

However, legend also allows re-naming providing that various acts are undertaken, rules are followed, and the involved sea-gods are appeased. This is usually done through a sequence of partaking of alcoholic refreshments, and sharing the same with friends and  the appropriate dieties.
Here's two of the many ceremony options available online: Re-naming ceremony, and Renaming your boat

Buying your dream boat

When it looked like early retirement was a possibility for me, I started thinking about boats again.
I have always loved the sea and sailing, had owned boats in my early 20's, back on the south coast of the UK, and had raced dinghies and yachts through my 20's. Owning a sailboat again has always been a dream. But it's an expensive proposition upfront and a money-consuming enterprise as time moves along. I have also always been of the opinion that buying a boat just to see it parked in an expensive marina for most of the year makes no sense.
So, could we afford one, and did we want to spend about half the year sailing were big questions to be answered. Hil and I agreed that "yes" was the answer, and part of this decision was that we would buy a boat in the Caribbean, with a plan to cruise through the islands over probably a 5 year period.
There are lots of boats available throughout the islands, and good deals to be had. Most marinas will have an array of boats up for sail. But the simplest way to look is via internet searches, through sites such as yachtworld.com
Decide what you want to do and where you want to go with a boat - that should narrow down your choice of boat type.
If you find one you like, you can get a lot of info on it from the internet and the broker, and you can also arrange a survey - but at some point you need to go and do an "on the water test" - take it for a sail.
Having cruised extensively (bareboat charters) in BVI, it was BVI where I started looking for a boat.
I also actually made a bid for a yacht at a US government auction in St Croix - these don't often come up, but if they do, you may get lucky and acquire a vessel at 50-60% of its market price. My bid was online, and you need to be present to win this process, so I was unsuccessful. (Go to US Govt auctions, and try a search on boats)
My next offer was also unsuccessful - it was for a 45" Hunter - the price was right - it surveyed fine - but when I came to sail it, I just didn't like the boat. So, I walked away, despite having sunk some money in the survey and travel to see the boat.

I ended up buying a boat that was coming up to the end of it's 4-5 year charter service in the Moorings fleet in Tortola. Buying an ex charter boat has pros and cons. They have been used extensively, and not necessarily handled with care. But they have also been maintained fairly well. I have always had the view that a boat stays in better shape when it's used and maintained, rather than just left to sit in the elements. You can also ask to see the boats maintenance records, and get a really good feel for its usage and history.
Charter boats come "as-is", fully equipped for charter, so ready to cruise the islands.

I found Moorings excellent to deal with, and receptive to helping with questions and issues on the boat long after the purchase date. The brokers in Tortola, John Welch and Richard Vass, were just great to deal with
Moorings also offered a nice deal to buy a new set of sails at their wholesale price, and you can often buy additional non-standard equipment from the boat owner or sister-ship owners. I purchased a gennaker, shore cables and other gear this way.

My boat purchase story was actually captured in one of a series of articles in BVI's YachtGuide magazine (Dec 2006 issue), and you can read it online.

So a few quick tips for those interested - based on buying a second hand boat

- work out how much time you want to spend on the water. If it's 2 or 3 months or less per year, you might be better off chartering.
- decide what you want to do and where you want to go, to help narrow your boat choice
- GET A SURVEY DONE, and preferably be there with the surveyor
- take it for a good sail test
- include everything you want fixed as "conditions of purchase"
- don't get carried away with size - smaller can be better - easier to handle, and less cost
- go through the maintenance records if possible
- go for low engine hours, either since new or rebuild
- if you are thinking of moving on US waters, buy a US built boat - easier resale and registration
- if you are thinking of moving on to med waters, buy a euro built boat - electrics and registration

Island hopping - st Maarten to Antigua, late 2007

It's early November 2007- probably snowing in Calgary - but great sailing weather in the Leeward islands.
We're planning to head south to Antigua, and stop at all the islands on the way. Nearly all the Leewards have their best anchorages on their western coasts, the leeward side from the predominantly easterly trade winds. Many of the anchorages are exposed, especially to any northerly weather - but it looks like we're lucky - winds are ESE and the seas are calm.

We leave St Maarten. We sail west - first stop is the Dutch island of Saba - little more than a rock in the ocean - well, actually a volcano poking steeply up from the seabed.

We pick up a mooring ball off the Fort Bay harbour and go ashore. We were hoping to scuba dive, but the dive shops are all busy, so we tour the island instead and do the big hike up to the volcano peak, Mt Scenery. Great views, when you are not surrounded by mist and cloud.

We then shift around to Ladder Bay, to enjoy some swimming and snorkeling and after a couple of enjoyable days on Saba, we sail south again.

We enjoy  a lovely sail from Saba to the next Dutch island, Sint Eustatius, or Statia for short. 
Taking the slightly longer easterly side of the island, and rounding the southern tip and picked up a mooring ball in the picturesque Oranjestad Bay, below the town of the same name, and below the volcanic peak of Mt Quill, and below the now silent guns of Fort Oranjestad.


We continue to be lucky with the wind/sea combination, and the Bay is nicely sheltered and calm.

We spend our first full day giving our legs a good work-out, wandering around Oranjestad - it's a pretty little town - and taking the nature trail up Mt Quill.
The second day we do get to scuba dive with DiveStatia - the water is very clear and the dives are good.

We're enjoying these Dutch islands. They are friendly, clean, largely undeveloped and have a nice feel about them.

But, time to move on again. South once more, and leave the Dutch behind us. The British are coming.


Having already been to St Kitts the past April, we decide to make our next stop Nevis, before making the longer hop to Antigua. It's a long beat (we cheat and motor) up the west coast of St Kitts, past Fort Brimstone, Basseterre and its Port Zante marina. And you have to be ever watchful of fishing pots - they are all over the place and just waiting for a propellor.
We arrive, very puzzled, at Pinneys Beach. As we approached it looked like the anchorage had some disease - white spots as far as the eye could see.
In their wisdom, Nevis Port had installed mooring balls everywhere. In the approx 100 around us, we had one other yacht for company! And now yachts were supposed to no longer anchor in the excellent holding off Pinneys. Progress!
But for us it was an overnight stop, and a chance to restup for the longer sail to Antigua.
The weather is turning. Winds and waves are picking up.
Hil and I head out for Antigua in an increasing breeze. Soon we're offshore, west of Kitts and bashing through 12-15' seas. This is immediately reminiscent of the ugly passage that Andy and I did 5 months previously, though the seas are marginally smaller and have a little more rhythm.
We decide to motor sail, to point better and keep a decent speedup. Halfway across, the engine alarms go off - broken fan belt. Hil keeps trying to sail the boat, while I go below to replace the belt. It's hot and the boat is bouncing around. After 2 hours of struggling, and my first ever time seasick, we're motoring again. We have one more  event, when we get slammed by a large wave, which throws us out of gear. But, after another attempt at sailing, we restart the engine, keep going, and finally struggle into Jolly Harbour - very tired, and not so jolly.

We have 2 weeks cruising around Antigua. But first we give our sea legs a rest and hop the island bus service into St Johns and wander around the town and it's colourful market.




With the seas calmer again, I decide to treat Hil to her first visit to Barbuda and it's beaches - she loves it. We spend a few days off Low Bay and also visit Coco Pt - mainly just beach walking - and we are lucky enough to have a couple of dolphins for company as we leave the island.

Time for a little more sailing around Antigua, but then we have to make the boat all ship-shape and leave it on the dock in Jolly Harbour Marina, and head back to Calgary, winter, and christmas with the family.

"Manx Mist" won't be lonely for long though. Good friend John Yeo is on his way across the Atlantic as crew aboard the 50' "Quaser V", sailing with approx 150 boats in the ARC, and destined for St Lucia. John has plans to fly up to Antigua and stay on "Manx Mist" for Christmas, where he'll be joined by Annemarie, Danielle and Ross.

We'll be back to sail with John and Annemarie in January.

2nd half 2007 - time to leave BVI and head south

"Manx Mist" safely survives hurricane season, sitting on the yard in Spanishtown, BVI. I head back down in mid October.
A little bit of reassembly and a bottom paint job, and "Manx Mist" is floating again. I sail over to Roadtown and bid farewell to  a few folks, and then head out late afternoon for an overnight solo sail to St Maarten. Good weather again - light breeze and calm seas - and it's mainly motoring under a clear, starry sky. I drop anchor outside the Simpson Bay Bridge just after dawn and grab some sleep, before heading in to berth at Island Water World.
First crew on this trip is oldest daughter Louise, flying in from Toronto. A day later Hil joins us. Then the next day Louise's friend, Jo, flies in through some horrendous storms and rain. Her LIAT flight from Antigua gets sent back once, but she makes it in on the 2nd attempt. Welcome to St maarten - everything is flooded!

We head off for a sail across to St Barths. Weather is still unsettled and it's a lumpy passage but, once stomachs have settled, Louise and Jo enjoy Barths.
And the weather is improving. We head back to St Maarten, so Louise and Jo can catch a Halloween party somewhere.
They take a pass on the obvious pirate attire, and outfit themselves as scary  basketball players!
After the brief Halloween visit, we head back out through the early bridge opening and make the short hop to Anguilla.
It's our first visit there. Drop anchor in Road Bay. I'm impressed. It's a lovely anchorage - big, sheltered and excellent holding. And customs/immigration is a breeze - helpful and friendly. We hang out first on the local beach - Sandy Ground - well equipped with bars and restaurants. The next day we rent a car and tour the island, with the main destination being the lovely beach at Shoal Bay. Thats  a great day of chilling on the beach, enjoying the rum punches and making a few local acquaintances.

Time is moving on and we return to St Maarten and motor through the lagoon to berth in Port Royale, Marigot, surrounded by bars, restaurants, shops, and lots of local colour.
Jo's week introduction to sailing is up, and she has to head back to Toronto, followed a couple of days later by Louise heading back also to Toronto and her job with the Arts & Crafts record label.






Hil and I are by ourselves again, and have plans to keep sailing south.......

1st half 2007, Part II - cruising with Hil and back to the BVI for haul-out

Mid April 2007, and after having tested my skills and survivabilty as a solo skipper, Hil flies in to join me in St Maarten.
We tour St Maarten a bit, check out some beaches, enjoy wandering around  Marigot, and then Hil is ready for some island hopping.

First stop - St Barths. Now I've been there before so no surprises this time. We enjoy swimming and snorkeling in Anse de Colombier, and also take the coastal path to Flamand.

Then we move on to Gustavia, picking up a mooring ball in the inner harbour again. We decide to tour the island, and rent a quad for the day.
Great way to get around, and it gives us a chance to check out all the beaches on a tour around the island.

 Though Gustavia is a lovely sheltered harbour, we do discover a downside - the dockside disco thumps out music until the early hours of the morning.
After a couple of nights, we clear out, and make passage across to St Kitts, berthing again in Port Zante. It's here we meet, and make friends with, Arthur and Jane, cruising aboard Arthur's boat "Zille". We spend an excellent day touring the island with them.

But time to cruise on again, and we bid farewell to "Zille"  and beat up the Kitts coast and across to Nevis, dropping anchor off Pinneys Beach. We tour Charlestown and then chill on the beach, enjoying some swimming and cold drinks.


Nevis is the extent of this cruise. Time to turn back north. We return to St Maarten via St Barths, and motor to anchor inside Simpson Bay lagoon.
 It's time to return to Calgary for a while. We berth the boat at the small Island Water world marina, under the watchful eye of Ben Botund. Hil leaves first, followed a few days later by me.

It's a 2 week short break back in Calgary for me - springtime, and I shift from sailor to gardener - but 3rd week in May I head back south to the islands and the boat, and I'm a solo sailor again.

It takes a couple of days to get ready in St Maarten, then I move the boat to anchor outside the lagoon entrance, and head off at 3am for the passage back to BVI. It had been a night of storms and squalls, and I'm hoping it's over. Luckily, it is, and I have a beautiful  calm crossing back to BVI, on a sweet broad reach.
I enter BVI at about 2pm, through the Round Rock Passage and head straight into Spanishtown where its still early enough to clear customs, or so I thought. Not to be - the boys have headed home early. I clear in early the next morning, having had an opportunity to gently brief the immigration officer on how to politely treat his countries visitors (he actually took it quite well!).

Back in the BVI and my first stop is one of my favourites - the one and only park mooring ball at Fallen Jerusalem. I then hop over to East End to say hello to Walter and the folks at Penns Landing, and then move on to Roadtown and pick up a Conch Charters mooring ball and its time for a few beers and some catch-up with Miles, Jason, Liz and Ian and other old BVI friends.

I don't have long being lonely. Hil flies in to St Thomas and I sail down to Sopers Hole to meet her off the ferry. We have a few days cruising BVI again - returning to Virgin Gorda and Anegada - before we meet and cruise with our old and good friends, the Yeo's. John and AnneMarie, accompanied by all grown-up Danielle and Ross are bare boat chartering with TMM for a week. We have a great time sailing around BVI and catching up, and we're also planning future sailing - more of that in future blogs.

   After the Yeo's leave, we have time for one more sail and we head out to Norman Island for snorkeling at the Indians and the Caves, and I take Hil for her first visit to the remote anchorage in Money Bay. There's barely room for one boat in this anchorage and its off limits to charters due to the reefs and somewhat tricky winds. Hil's enjoyment is somewhat spoiled by a snorkeling encounter with a sizeable reef shark.


 We return to Roadtown and a little more excitement - throttle cable breaks, leaving us powerless but fortunately we're securely anchored outside Village Cay Marina. With some help from a Moorings mechanic, I repair the cable and we head in for a sunset cocktail to celebrate. Returning to the boat, we discover we have a boarder - an agitated Greek, George, sitting on the  bow of a 50+' racing yacht "Brave"   and hanging on to the stern of our boat. It appears George is solo, an inexperienced sailor, and having trouble with his anchor. He gets some choice words from me, but then I relent and help him anchor his boat, prior to it being loaded the next morning on an Atlantic transport ship.


And all that excitement is enough. Hil heads off again shortly afterwards - back to Calgary and summer in Canada.
I have one last week of solo sailing, including a trip around to Cane Garden Bay where I catch the BVI Music Festival - headlined by an amazingly good Percy Sledge.
That ends the sailing year on a great note, and I sail over to Spanishtown and haul-out in Virgin Gorda marina, and my first year of cruising ends.
Back in the fall though.