On Feb 25th we sailed from Green Island to Falmouth Harbour. Here we helped Rum Runner get their dinghy from their boat after they returned from brief trip back home to the US. That evening we got together for some Farkel with Judie and Phil and their good friend Annabelle from New Zealand (currently travelling as crew on Cracker Jack).
While in Falmouth, we walked over to English Harbour to extend our cruising permit (only valid for 30 days). We then followed Rum Runner around to Carlisle Bay. Here there is a nice beach with a very chic resort (imagine a menu where salad costs $38 US as the least expensive item on their menu). Needless to say we didn’t spend any time on shore except to walk the dog.
From there we headed back to Jolly Harbour and then on to Deep Bay. Each night we hung out with Rum Runner and their guests, and were eventually joined by Kalunamoo and Destiny to our near nightly games of Farkel. Paul, Bill (Kalunamoo) and Phil (Rum Runner) also had a jam session on Blue Sky one afternoon in Deep Bay. I can’t believe I didn’t snap a few pics. All in all it was a busy time. By the 2nd of March we all went our separate ways.
We originally had a third guest planning to visit us in early March, but a business trip to Paris cut into those plans. As a fashion designer, when Paris calls, you go. We hope you get to rebook that ticket soon CH.
The only picture I took during all the fun was of Jolly Harbour in the rain. Rain in Jolly Harbour
I love currants and I love scones, especially with a nice cup of tea. Most scones are made with real butter and buttermilk. These scones are made vegan style.
I classify this recipe as super easy. Tea and Scones
Ingredients:
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I use Almond Milk)
1/2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
2 cups Spelt flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 TBSP unrefined coconut oil, solid (chill it in the fridge if in a hot climate)
2 TBSP unsweetened applesauce
1 cup currents, soaked in hot water for 5 minutes, then drained and rinsed
Freshly grated orange zest (from 1 orange)
Directions:
1 – Preheat oven to 375, line baking sheet with parchment paper (or use a silicone baking mat), dust with flour and set aside.
2 – Whisk together non-dairy milk and apple cider vinegar (this makes vegan buttermilk). Allow to sit 5 minutes.
3 – In a medium bowl mist together Spelt Flour, Baking Powder, Baking Soda and Sea Salt. Add the coconut oil. Using your hands pinch the coconut oil into the flour until you get pea size pieces (don’t over work it). Stir in the vegan buttermilk and applesauce until you get a sticky dough. Then fold in the currents and orange zest and form a ball.
4 – Transfer the dough to a prepared baking sheet, dust with a little more flour and flatten to form an 8″ round. Cut into 8 or more equal parts (like a pizza).
5 – Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden. Test with a toothpick (should come out clean). Scone just out of the oven
Before and after having guests in Antigua, we spent a good few weeks at Ricketts Harbour on Green Island. Green Island is located on the south eastern side of Antigua. It’s a regular stop for tour boats which bring their passengers for swim/snorkels/beach time and feed them lunch before completing their circumnavigation back to St John’s.
Here’s a shot of Alberio (fellow Salty Dawg boat) on the other mooring at Ricketts Harbour. Alberio on the other mooring ball
One day the guide that was taking people out for a snorkel came near by our boat and grabbed hold of one of the turtles. Let me tell you that turtle was not happy and I don’t blame him. I felt for him as all the snorkelers attempted to pet him.
This turtle was not happy
Turtle released back to freedom
Start of RANT: Turtles are not pets. If you ever have the opportunity to be close enough to touch one, let him be. We don’t want to give them any diseases as they are on the endangered species list. Please enjoy them from a distance and respect their environment. End of RANT.
While we enjoy having fun on the island we also take the time to work on some boat projects. This season my boat project consists of recovering the cockpit cushions. We bought the fabric through Sailrite last fall and the time on Green Island seemed like the time to get it going.
The first cushion took me two full days to do. It would have been quicker if I knew what I was doing. I had to do some rework here and there. I proudly got the first 4 finished and have 3 to go. After having the sewing machine on the table in the salon for nearly 2 weeks straight I wanted to see a tidy space and put it away. So the job will be finished when I feel ready to tackle the last 3 cushions at some point in the future.
Paul always has several boat projects on the go. He is constantly keeping our finances in order and updating our computers. His major project while here was the tightening down of the dinghy davits which had all come loose on the recent passages. On these davits are two solar panels. If those bolts had come any more loose, we might have lost those panels into the ocean. I’m always appreciative of his diligence in checking for loose nuts and bolts (ocean motion really takes its toll). He also polished some of the stainless steel in places that I can’t reach and worked on a broken shower pump and the dinghy gas motor which continued to give us problems.
Between the projects we relaxed, snorkeled, took Charlie for walks on the beach. We also entertained ourselves with guests on board and by watching the action around us.
Charlie ready for guests to arrive (or maybe he just wants some hummus)
Alberio crew kayaking at Green Island
Here’s a sample of the entertainment we get to watch while cruising
Boys will be boys
We also watched the start of the Caribbean 600 race from the boat. They were off in the distance, but we could see well enough. This is a race that takes boats around many islands in the Caribbean totalling 600 nautical miles from beginning to end. They start and end just outside of English Harbour with the first leg going past the south eastern end of Antigua and heading north toward Barbuda. We’ve seen bits of this race each year we’ve been down here and enjoy following the boats online as well.
Phaedo 3 and Concise neck and neck from beginning to end
This is the first boat we noticed, there were many more to follow
The race is on
There are a variety of boats in the race
Before leaving Green Island I wanted to give a little something back to the environment and to follow my mum’s words of wisdom, “leave things better than you found them”. So I took a garbage bag to the beach and filled it to the brim and brought it to Falmouth Harbor for disposal on Feb 25th. Our time on Green Island was over for the season.
Collecting garbage
Green Island Beach
Here are a few pictures of the local Green Island Turtles One of several turtles at Green Island A turtle coming up for air
Do you find yourself craving an old childhood favorite breakfast of French Toast, but the vegan in you won’t allow you to make it because of the eggs. Well now you can still have it without the eggs. This French toast recipe is super easy and very yummy. I know it will become a regular breakfast treat in your house, just like it now is in mine. Enjoy.
Ingredients:
1 banana, mashed
1 cup almond milk
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp vanilla extract
6 slices of bread (or 12 slices of a baguette to make mini toasts)
Coconut oil
Directions:
1 – Mash banana in a shallow bowl. Add milk, cinnamon and vanilla. Mix well. (I used my immulsifier and a deeper bowl to get it really well mixed.)
2 – Dip bread into mixture for 5-10 seconds per side.
3 – Place oil in pan, heat (medium), add dipped bread. Cook 3-4 minutes per side until browned and crispy.
4 – Serve with maple syrup or fruit
So yummy I almost forgot to take the picture.
Please feel free to respond to this post with advice on how to take better pictures of food. I need all the help I can get.
While waiting for our guests to arrive, we were joined at Green Island by Alberio (Steve & Lynne) and Rum Runner (Phil & Judie). Of course with friends around we spent many evenings aboard Blue Sky playing a favorite dice game among cruisers called Farkel. Lots of fun and laughter.
Before Rum Runner arrived to Green Island Judie messaged me on Facebook and asked if I needed anything from the grocery store. She kindly brought me a few items of fresh produce which allowed us to stay at Green Island until our guests arrived.
February 4th, all of us took our dinghies up to Harmony Hall to meet Maureen and George, neighbors of ours from White Rock. They were pleasantly surprised to see not only us to greet them, but a whole group of us to greet them.
Salty Dawgs
Harmony Hall
Sugar Mill
View from the Sugar Mill
Sugar Mill at Harmony Hall
We knew Maureen and George would be exhausted from travel so didn’t plan too much for the night of their arrival and stayed put for their first full day on the water so they could get their sea legs established. Here we also had everyone over to Blue Sky for a cruisers happy hour which includes appetizers of all sorts that everyone brings followed by introducing our guests to the game of Farkel.
We left Green Island on the 6th of Feb and began our tour of Antigua and Barbuda with Maureen and George (read to the end of the post for Maureen’s accounts of the week). The highlight of the week had to be the Frigate Bird tour. These birds are so plentiful in the lagoon on Barbuda. They have a huge rookery. The tour boat picked us up at the pier near the house/restaurant on the west side of the island. He took us right up to within feet of these birds. Mating season lasts until late March so we were there in the middle of it. Lucky for us, we saw birds in all stages of mating from the males puffing out their red gular pouches, to birds sitting on their eggs, to birds feeding their young, some young ones with only stubs for wings at this stage.
Hungry Baby
We were worried about taking Charlie along, but these birds were so calm that he didn’t seem bothered by them at all. It was fascinating.
The end of the tour took us to Coderington just in time for school to get out. With Charlie being a rather special dog around the islands, he was immediately surrounded by children of all sizes wanting to give him a pet. He is such a good sport with children. We eventually broke away and finished our brief walking tour of the town.
Children interested in Charlie
That evening a northern swell came in. There was no way to go ashore again to stroll the beach for shells which I normally like to do.
We made our way back to Deep Bay in the hope of snorkeling the wreck, but the swell caused the sand to be stirred up so much that Maureen said she couldn’t even see her hand in front of her face.
The following is an email received from Maureen for the blog that sums up the entire visit nicely.
Once in awhile, if a person is lucky, a golden opportunity presents itself to do something that he or she never ever thinks might happen. Well, that kind of opportunity happened this February to George and me.
Thanks Paul and Gwyn and Charlie, for a week of your incredible hospitality and most capable sailing on sv Blue Sky around the island of Antigua and to Barbuda. We began at Harmony Hall, drinks in hand, meeting some of your Salty Dawg friends in a warm, tropical garden atmosphere. (This, after an overnight airport sleep and flights from cold, rainy Vancouver.)
Needlenose
Stingray
Queen Angelfish
Spotted Eagle Ray
We then spent a delightful day and two nights at Green Island, swimming with the giant turtles and colourful fish, exploring the island, and celebrating the good life with more friends. What was the name of that crazy dice game again? Sailed on to Falmouth Harbour to explore beautifully restored Nelson’s Dockyard with Captain Charlie leading the way.
Waiting at Nelson’s Dockyard
English Harbour
Antigan’s dressed in their finest
Jolly Harbour and Deep Bay were next, each adding some insight into Antiguan life before setting off for the most magnificent sail to Barbuda.
Hiking at Deep Bay
Serenity
Ruins at Deep Bay
Maureen & George at Deep Bay
To heck with windburn and hot sun, standing on the deck watching the scene unfold before us, I had the incredible luck to see a manta ray breach ahead of us. It looked like it was trying to fly, its magnificent fins flapping down a runway of whitecaps and waves. Easy Downwind Sailing
Barbuda, with its up close and personal small boat tour of a frigate bird colony consisting of thousands of birds in all life’s stages and a walkabout in the small village of Codrington were absolute highlights. So were the size of the waves crashing on the beach that night and being woken by the bang of the waves breaking on Blue Sky’s hull. Timing was everything getting on and off the beach in the zodiac but we were a team!
Sand – Barbuda
Waiting for the tour guide – Barbuda
Tour Boat
Frigate Bird Rookery
Rookery
Frigate Bird with puffed out Red Gular Pouch
Cyclist in Codrington
Archaelogy in Barbuda
Northern swell- Barbuda
Deserted beaches, fine, soft sand and sunny days. This was the stuff of one’s imagination. The last night was spent in Jolly Harbour before saying our goodbyes.
Thanks again to our great hosts for making a dream come true. The 360 degree view and the comfort of Blue Sky added to it all. May you have many happy and safe seasons of sailing in your paradise.
