Gwyn Wagschal

Leaving Antigua

Last night we joined Molly , Baxter, and Kala the dog on their boat Tarrapin. We kept looking at their boat anchored next to us saying, ‘that boat looks so familiar’. It turns out that they we’re in the rally to the BVI and we may be remembering the boat from the marina in Hampton. They invited us and a few others for drinks and appetizers. We enjoyed great conversations and learned we are not the only vegan cruisers out here. What a delight.

Today we met with the vet to clear Charlie out of Antigua. He provided us with an updated health certificate for clearing Charlie in to our next destination. Next we cleared ourselves out with the Port Authority, Customs, and Immigration. So we are set to depart in the morning for the BVI.

You may be wondering why we are returning to BVI when our original plan was USVI and then the Bahamas. Well while we were sitting here in Antigua we signed ourselves up with the Salty Dawg Rally for the return trip to the USA. We tentatively leave from the BVI on May 15th and there are events beginning May 1st to organize the fleet. Besides we want to go back for the snorkling and hiking that we enjoy there, plus we need to get our mail and do our taxes (that doesn’t go away just because your cruising).

Antigua and Barbuda have so many sandy beaches and we’ve enjoyed it here. But it’s time for a change of scenery. So we’ll be offline for a few days while we make another passage.

Generator problem

The making of water on Blue Sky consists of running the generator while the water maker is running. We opted to save a few thousand dollars on the water maker and utilize the large generator on the boat rather than have it sit idol. So we’ve been running it every 4-5 days since December 24th when the water maker became fully functional. The generator has been good for the most part. It has had days when it would shut down after 25 minutes or so with an error code that states ‘low oil pressure’, but would always restart and run another 25 or more minutes following that. We could live with that. In fact, it even improved over time. Then just last week it ran the 25 minutes, stopped and would not restart for any length of time. This means no making water beyond 25 minutes. Problem solving is in order.

Paul got out his trusty meter reader and watched the generator closely. He changed the oil with no improvement. We can’t get a new oil filter, but the oil appears clean. So we’re down to figuring out if it’s a faulty sensor, a faulty control board, or a serious engine problem. So the next step was to order a new sensor. Paul did that two days ago and we are crossing our fingers that it will arrive later today. So we wait here in Jolly Harbour, Antigua hoping for a quick resolve of the generator issue. If the sensor replacement doesn’t work it looks like we’ll be seeking an engine mechanic for help. We can’t go without making water or risk ruining a very expensive asset on the boat.

So I’m not washing clothes and we’re being water misers again. We hope to depart Antigua at the end of the week, with luck that we can fix the generator before we leave. I’m ready for a change of scenery and ready for another passage. So I’m putting it out there to my angels to guide us in solving the generator problem so we can sail off to another destination.

Winch Maintenance 101

A few days back the winch that we use to bring up the dinghy gave up the ghost, in other words, it would not turn. With today being very calm day on the water we decided it was the perfect day to take care of this task. So Paul researched online, we both watched a video and proceeded to take apart the winch. Not an easy task as everything on it seemed to be frozen into place unlike the video where everything came apart so nicely (wonder when it was maintained last, if ever). With combined efforts we managed to take it all apart using the standard cruising tools of cussing, hammering, abusing screwdrivers, wd40, and shear force of will with the occasional coaxing. Cleaning the individual parts was my job and Paul cleaned the gears that remained attached to the boat. Following that Paul oiled the parts that required oil, and I did the greasing of the gears. It was actually fun to help and I learned a thing or two. Mostly we discovered the task was much less daunting when done as a team. We now have a nice working winch. Next we tackle the anchor windlass.

Stripped of all gears, just needs a cleaning

Barbuda

March 22nd we sailed over to Barbuda from Antigua (3 hours and 45 minutes) on a nice beam reach. We arrived near noon to an expansive landscape of 11 miles of beach. The sand appears pink in certain locations due to broken down pink shells.

There's even a bar/restaurant that may or may not be open - otherwise it is a park or a place to visit the frigate bird sanctuary from — There’s even a bar/restaurant that may or may not be open – otherwise it is a park or a place to visit the frigate bird sanctuary from

Surprise! Climb on top of the salon roof and the beach is very narrow with a large lagoon and the town of Codrington on the other side.

There is quite the large surge here so landing the SUP on the beach is a bit of a challenge. Charlie nearly got run over by it on our first landing. We’ve improved since by learning to ride the wave in and then quickly hopping off and grabbing the SUP out of the water before the wave takes it back out.

Next swell coming in - scoot towards beach — Next swell coming in – scoot towards beach

Okay, safely arrived, let's play. — Okay, safely arrived, let’s play.

Charlie loves this beach, but it’s got too much of a surge for him to swim. The undertow would sweep him in to deep water, so he settles for running along the sand. Yesterday he decided to wander into some bushes. This followed with a squeal and he couldn’t move. Paul discovered he’d found a patch of what the locals call ‘prickles’. His fur is like Velcro for these things. Paul couldn’t even pick him up as his belly and legs were completely covered. He sat down on the spot and began to pick them out of Charlie’s fur. I noticed this from shore and opted to swim in to help out. It took both of us about 45 minutes to get the prickles out. Believe me, it’s not fun as you get pricked by every one. Now when we go ashore, we yell ‘prickles’ to Charlie and he happily stays on the sand. No exploring the bushes of Barbuda.

OK, those prickles were very stressful. Need to relax and feel the breeze.

Yesterday, we met a couple from the boat ‘Over Budget’. They sailed in the Salty Dawg Rally with us in November. It was decided that we’d have a happy hour on board Blue Sky in the early evening. They also invited people they knew from Echo. JW & Jenny (Over Budget) and Mary & Jeff (Echo) along with us all enjoyed a delightful evening of salty tales. We feel so lucky to have the opportunity to be a part of this sailing community.

Extend our cruising permit

March 16th I woke with the instinct that I should recheck our documents. We’ve been here nearly a month and I’d looked at our passports which gave us until May in Antigua/Barbuda. Good thing I looked again, as our cruising permit expires on March 17th. So we needed to get to either English Harbor or Jolly Harbor to get the permit extended. We opted to go around to Jolly Harbor where there is a large Emporium grocery store to get some of the staples we’re running low on. The extension was simple at a cost of $25EC. We also arranged to have our propane tank refilled (you need to drop it off and pick it up the next day). So we spent a few days in Jolly Harbor enjoying the luxury of being able to get groceries with a dinghy ride and walk.

Once we retrieved our propane tank we took a short 1 hour sail around the island to Deep Bay. We’d visited this bay with Laurie and Joe and enjoyed the place. Great beach, nice hike to Fort Barrington, calm enough water for paddle boarding, and snorkeling the sunken ship the Andes if we so desired. Charlie was especially happy to swim, as this beach does not have large surf.