Leeward Islands - Mar/Apr 2015

For this sailing adventure we planned to visit a number of the Leeward Islands located in close proximity to and generally downwind of each other. Favorable connections and fares encouraged us to begin the trip by flying into St. Kitts with a planned departure from St. Maarten 2 weeks later.

We assembled the crack team of Stuart Wade and Beth to share in the adventure. Our yacht manager, Canter, sailed Galadriel over from Antigua the day before our arrival and met us in Basseterre, the main port of entry into St. Kitts.

Canter had already anchored Galadriel in Frigate Bay off  Basseterre so the four of us buzzed out in the Zodiac while Canter flew back to Antigua. Our late day arrival precluded us from any big adventures that day so we decided to grab a casual dinner ashore at the Circus Grill.

The meal was good and the rum no less so but unfortunately, the consensus was that Basseterre was decidedly grungy so we decided to depart St. Kitts in the morning in favor of Nevis, which could be seen in the distance. In fairness to St. Kitts, we saw little of it and I’m certain that it has other areas that are nice to visit.

Like most of the Leeward Islands, Nevis is mountainous and beautiful as you approach from the ocean.

The sail across the straight took only a couple of hours and we chose to drop the hook in the first really cozy cove we came upon- Oalie Bay.

No sooner had we waddled ashore than Tom and Stu began to do what they do best; eat and drink at the Oalie Beach Bar.

The next morning we sailed around to Pinney’s Beach and commissioned a private, afternoon tour of the island.

Nevis is a beautiful, well maintained island with several ex sugar plantations that have been converted to really cool, boutique hotels with excellent al fresco dining.

The grounds at Golden Rock were particularly beautiful and called for a group photo from the terrace with Nevis’s dormant volcano visible in the background.

After 2 nights on Nevis it was time to move on so we turned north and had a beautiful 5 hour, downwind romp past St. Kitts to St. Barts.

This was Stuart’s first chance to tackle some deep sea trolling and of course he came through with several items including a nice bull mahi. Needless to say we consumed the fresh catch shortly thereafter.

The main port of entry to St. Barts, Gustavia, has a nice anchorage just outside the harbor that is always packed with cruisers of all shapes and sizes.

The inner harbor is really cozy and is completely wrapped by the town center. The town itself and the superyachts tied to the docks are about as upscale as it gets in the Leewards.

Stuart wanted to be one of the big dogs and spent $130 bucks on an overpriced straw hat which didn't come off his head for the rest of the trip.

We commissioned another tour and can report that the whole island is pristine and boasts several coves and beaches.  Anse de Marigot is particularly secluded and if you look closely at the photo of Baie de St. Jean, you can see the single airport runway where pilots arriving in suitably small aircraft make death defying landings every few hours.

One thing we noted throughout the trips is sightings of large sea turtles which occurred multiple times each day no matter where we were.

Although we enjoyed our visit to St. Barts we all agreed that it was so pretentious and over the top we wouldn't be in a hurry to visit again.

From St. Barts it was on to Simpson Bay on the Dutch side of St. Maarten. Simpson Bay is a large, busy, crowded, rolly harbor. Ashore, we found it to range from nice (if you consider modern, ugly, mid rise hotels nice to downright grungy. Not a place we would hustle back to. At this point we bid adieu to Stu and Beth and prepared to continue on for the next 8 nights alone.

We quickly moved on to the French side and Marigot Bay. (unfortunately no photos) Although Marigot Bay, like Simpson Bay is somewhat large and exposed, a short ride in the Zodiac into the inner harbor and one can access quality dining (including the best breakfast croissants I’ve ever had) and shopping, in a quaint marina environment. We enjoyed our visit to Marigot but liked our next spot even better.

We finished out our visit to French St. Martin at Anse Grand Case, a small, picturesque beach town, appropriately described in the cruising guide as the gastronomic center of the island. We loved the place and had a couple of our best meals on the trip here.

With 5 days left on the trip we decided to finish out with a visit to Anguilla, which we could see from the Grand Case anchorage five miles away. Unlike the other Leewards, Anguilla is flat instead of mountainous, which makes its appearance from a distance less attractive.

What Anguilla lacked in physical beauty was more than made up for by the beauty of the beaches and the coziness of Road Bay, the main port of entry. Unlike the other main ports we had seen, Road Bay is small, well protected and has managed to retain the quaintness and laid back feel you usually have to go more off the beaten track to find.

Since it’s harder for superyachts to fit into relatively tight Road Bay, Galadriel was able to hold her own in the anchorage for a change!

The Barrel Stay and Madearimans were 2 of the laid back, beach bar/restaurants we frequented while anchored in Road Bay.

Just behind the beach at Sandy Ground (Road Bay), separated by a narrow strip of land are the Salt Ponds.  

During our stay we signed up for the afternoon trip to a tiny island a couple of miles offshore. The place was idyllic. Just a spit of sand and a couple of palm trees surrounded by coral reefs. A small, tiki hut style restaurant serves rum and simple but surprisingly lunch food. We  snorkeled and lay in the sun and had a ball all afternoon.  

As we began the sail back to St. Maarten to catch our flight the next day we passed the Malliouhani Hotel, probably the nicest hotel on the island.          

Antigua

Galadriel left Norfolk enroute to Antigua in late October with a delivery skipper and crew on board. According to the Captain, on the 3^rd night of the trip, as Galadriel approached Bermuda, they were reaching along in 25 knots of wind and a quartering sea when a “rogue” wave estimated to be 25-30 feet in height came aboard. In addition to some not insignificant but manageable damage above decks, the companionway hatch was open and the wave rushed below and did a tremendous amount of damage below decks. (in the end, repairs totaled over 100K) The delivery crew limped into Bermuda for emergency repairs, which took 2 weeks, then continued the delivery to Antigua, arriving just before thanksgiving.

Antigua is a lovely, mountainous island with more beautiful coves and anchorages then just about anywhere in the Leeward Islands. The people are a mix of very friendly islanders and British locals and expats from all over. The only downside is the cruise ships calling on the Capital, St. Johns but this is easily avoided. Outside of St. Johns, there is no significant commercial development but the coast of the island is sprinkled with really cool, boutique resorts. Christie and I highly recommend a visit, particularly by boat.

Since Christie and I had booked our flight to Antigua before Galadriel was damaged by the rogue wave, we decided to go forward with our vacation and wait for her arrival. As it turns out, we spent 8 nights before she arrived at very nice hotel/resort called the Admiral’s Inn, located at historic Nelson’s Dockyard. We tried several rooms over the course of our stay and one of our favorites was the “Loft” seen here. Note the mosquito netting- Antigua does have mosquitoes in areas where the wind is blocked, though they are not a big problem.

Once Galadriel arrived and the rest of the repairs were completed, we were able to spend a couple of weeks circumnavigating the island as we explored many of it’s beautiful coves, anchorages and restaurants. 

 Deep Bay on the west (lee) side of Antigua makes for a sheltered overnight anchorage.

 While there, we hiked up to the ruins of an old fort.

There is no dinghy dock on Dickenson Bay so anchoring the Zodiac just off the beach seemed a reasonable approach. It just means that someone has to get wet- a real hardship in 86 degree water.

Dickenson Bay has a couple of restaurants and other action on the beach for those seeking a break from communing with nature in the other anchorages.

 Galadriel anchored in English Harbor in front of the Admiral’s Inn.

Entering Falmouth harbor, the main harbor for resident and visiting sail and power yachts.

Some of the entries in the annual superyacht race around Falmouth Harbor. All entries were cleverly constructed the same morning and as one can see, money was no object.

Approaching Five Islands point.

Passing Prickly Pear island while traversing Boon Channel on the north side of Antigua. A nice lunch stop with decent snorkeling on the reef visible to the left of the island.

If you want to get a bit off  the standard anchorage circuit for lunch and are confident enough at reef navigating, this spot is kind of cool. A true tiny desert isle, complete with its own very nice reef. We did a tank dive here in about 30 ft of water. Just check your anchor before you continue your dive because you damn sure don’t want to drag down on the reef.

Sheer Rock restaurant atop Fryes Point on the west side of Antigua.

Sheer Rock is a really cool tapas restaurant, complete with several sunning areas and plunge pools for cooling off after lunch and sangria!

Galadriel anchored off Sheer Rock. One of our favorite anchorages just because of the sheer beauty of the multiple shades of turquoise water.

Montserrat

While on Antigua, Christie and I decided to visit the island of Montserrat. Because of the lack of protected anchorages, we decided to fly over and tour the island on land. We arranged a private tour with a local who met us at the airport. This is a trip anyone visiting the area should make.

We toured the entire island, except for the areas off limits due to the volcano. Montserrat is physically beautiful. Being volcanic, it is mountainous and probably because of the increased rainfall due to the mountains, the vegetation is more tropical than that found on most of the other islands in the vicinity.

Unfortunately it has a sad story to tell. In a nutshell, the active volcano had a massive eruption in 2010 which destroyed the capital and with it the infrastructure which might have enabled the 11,000 or so residents to rebuild. Instead, they were forced to relocate to the other end of the island in cheap, modular housing provided by the Dutch government. Many decided to leave instead reducing the population today to about 3,300. A large swath of the island that was not directly impacted by the lava flows was heavily damaged by the airborne cinder ejected during the eruption, resulting in large portions of the south end of the island, previously populated by high end home owners and posh resorts, remaining off limits to habitation or development.

We were able to view the still active volcano and the ruins of the capital from a safe distance. We were also able to tour some of the damaged areas that have recently been reopened to local tour operators.

This is the new beach area created from lava flows. Don’t think you’ll see any swimmers or sunbathers there any time soon though.

In this photo you can see the hardened lava and part of the path it took right through the capital of Plymouth on the way to the ocean. 

One of the most striking parts of the tour was visiting a hotel which only 4 years ago had been one of the premier resorts on the island. 

This is the entrance to the hotel. The whole place reminded us of something between the Forbidden Zone in Planet of the Apes and the overgrown Park complex in Jurassic Park III. It’s amazing how quickly nature takes over when man releases control. 

The entire hotel; lobby, rooms, ballroom, etc is under several feet of ash.

Note the thick volcanic ash in this hotel room.  

Note the juxtaposition of several feet of ash and the relatively intact draperies and ceiling. Much of the roof on this hotel has remained intact due to its terracotta tile construction.  

Believe it or not, this was the hotel pool. Below the Jurassic park like vegetation is about 2 feet of water over about 5 feet of ash. The whole scene becomes almost surreal when you notice the swim ladder to the left. Want to take a dip?

New England - July 2013

Christie and I sailed Galadriel up the coast from Norfolk to New England in July with John Spruill and my son Edward. The trip up was uneventful (a lot of motorsailing) except for the fishing. We caught a large ocean bluefish, a mahi and for the first time, hooked up with about a 30 lb. yellow fin tuna. Much to my dismay, when I gaffed him he gave a mighty heave and pulled the gaff out of my hand and to the bottom it went. A moment later, he threw the hook.
We dropped Edward off and picked up John’s wife, Rae, in Newport and spent the next 10 days visiting Newport, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket and Block Island; in between trips to the Hinckley yard for repairs.

The Newport mooring field was large and busy. Newport is a pretty cool place. Lots of good places to eat and things to do, if you’re looking for action. Like Annapolis on steroids.

As we approached Martha’s Vineyard from the southwest the famous white cliffs of Aquinnah (aka Gay Head) came into view.

Compared to Newport, the Martha’s Vineyard anchorage/mooring field is relatively sedate.

We hired a tour driver to give us the island tour- “leave no stone unturned,” as John said. The island is beautiful, the town is quaint and the tour was worth doing. An added point of interest was the fact that the movie JAWS was filmed here. It was really cool to see all the spots where the scenes from the movie were filmed. They still have a big shark tournament each year and the waters really are full of “great whites”. Didn’t go swimming off the fantail in the harbor here!

A cool sculpture welcomed us to the beach.

Another view of the Aquinnah cliffs.

The small (and shallow) Menemsha harbor, where Quint docked his fishing boat in Jaws. It still serves as a marina for swordfishing and other shallow draft boats.  

Unfortunately we discovered that in the summer, large ferries arrive every hour, delivering thousands of tourists to the island for the day. The island, which has a very small year round population, is overwhelmed and frankly the crowds ruined the experience for me. They should tie the number of visitors to what the island overnight lodgings can handle and limit day visitors in some way.

We spent a couple of nights in Vineyard Haven harbor then headed northeast up the western shore toward Nantucket.

On Nantucket we rented mopeds and toured much of the island. Unfortunately, after riding all day in the sun, my legs swelled up.

If possible, Nantucket was even cuter than MV. The architecture of all the homes and businesses is strictly controlled. It almost felt like a New England version of Williamsburg. Unfortunately, it had the same problem of being overrun by tourists as MV.

The Nantucket harbour houses.

The water is chilly and full of sharks and the wind is brisk on the windward side of the island, ensuring that only the truly hardy or the young and stupid actually go in the water.

Unfortunately, our only encounter with Block Island was when we broke down there on the way home. After hearing how great it is many times from friends who have vacationed there, I was disappointed. My impression was that it is a lower end, redneck version of the other New England islands. Admittedly, we didn't see much of the island because I was too busy soliciting assistance from the pretend mechanics at the main marina there. Hence no pictures.