Underpants in France

So we put the rascals on the plane in Montserrat and watched as they set out for their epic voyage home. A small plane ride to Antigua, then from Antigua to Toronto and then from Toronto to Vancouver... all in the same day... more or less. They left here at noon and were home in Vancouver at 12:30 AM.

There they go!

What movie shall we watch?

Jolly Harbour

With tears in our eyes, we left the airport and headed back to Blue Pearl. We were at the dock unloading all the crap that we had taken to the house just as some fishermen were dealing with their catch of lobsters. So we bought one! Lobster salad for dinner.

Yum! Dinner.

We have been infested with bugs... little house flies that want to fly up your nose. There are probably a hundred of them on the boat. Wondered if it had to do with the anchorage so we beetled around the corner to try something different. Then we took turns as serial bug killers until it was somewhat reasonable.

With the low winds we've been experiencing we decided to motor down the west coast. No sails so any bad burning stuff from the volcano won't affect us. Got some great views of the volcano and what is left of the town of Plymouth.

Stayed at one of these places in Woodlands

Soufriere

Remains of Plymouth

More devastation

Motoring 8 miles down the coast was quite nice. Motoring into the wind for 20 miles wasn't. The last 8 miles was good and the batteries are happy.

Pam was spending time looking up the contact info for our boat broker to sell the boat so I decided to shut up and we spent a quiet night on the boat. We can check in tomorrow.

Checked in the next day and walked to the Super Marche to get Leffe beer, rabbit pate, baguette and other good stuff. Good thing we are both fluent in French. Makes it easier.

It is very hot. There is no breeze so quite uncomfortable. And we are getting gallons of rain every hour or so so we shut everything up, then open up, then shut everything up, etc, etc.

Wearing as little as possible... mostly underwear... I know, not a pretty image. Sorry!

Terrorists!

Every morning for the past 2 weeks we lie in bed in the early morning hours listening in fear to their murmuring and muttering - plotting and planning. We shudder and in only a few minutes they arrive in our cabin and we are woken... "Hi Gran!!!  Hi Papa!!!" ... and our day begins.

Pam had diversions, cards, games, toys, fishing lines... Quest endowed us with a fart machine. (Big Hit!) Used them all up on Day 1. Since then we colour, play cards, get ready for the beach, go to the beach, have lunch, get ready for the beach, go to the beach, wind-down, have dinner, look at the planets and the stars, read good night stories and put them to bed. Then we have adult time - for 15 minutes - and crash with exhaustion!

We've snorkelled up at Great Bird, hiked and swum at Deep Bay, splashed around in Hermitage (Five Islands) and provisioned at Jolly Harbour.  We spent a night at Carlisle Bay before heading into Falmouth to pick up Daddy (Luke.)

Toes in the Water at Great Bird

Hanging around

Keepin' cool with Murphy the dinghy

Looking for fishies

Up the hill at Deep Bay

My girls!

Scramble down past the goats at Deep Bay

Lucy laundry out the picture window

Keeping busy

Knotty kids

Help at the helm

We motored around to Carlisle Bay the day before Luke arrived. Quest kept us company in the bay and the kids were desparate to spend time with Sid and Cate. And, Cate got in a little grandchild lovin' in return. It's only a short trip to head around from Carlisle to Falmouth but it is always bouncy. So we sat tight for a rocky half hour.

Took the Closs family on the Middle Ground walk from Falmouth to English Harbour and then all drank a gallon of water to rehydrate.

Middle Ground hike rest spot

Fast forward to Thursday. Clearing out of Antigua is a piece of cake and we found ourselves coming into Montserrat around 1 PM. Clearing into Montserrat isn't a piece of cake - their internet was down and the paper forms took more than an hour. The fact that the Closs family is leaving here by plane was a terrible conundrum which they couldn't resolve. To make it easier, we will finish our clearance after they are gone, Monday morning. So we haven't officially cleared in!?

We are taking in the sites, enjoying the black sand beaches, Jen and Luke have been snorkel fiends and they are looking to fit in a hike on their last day.

Granview Villa

Cool Pool

Morning coffee

Hey, look what we found!!!

Closs Family at Woodlands Beach

Playing in the black sand

Soufriere in behind

Coming back sometime?

Tomorrow the Closs family heads home and we head back to Blue Pearl for more adventures farther south. Will do a better job of keeping our blog up to date with a little more time on our hands!!!

Not in Kansas!

Pammy, I've a feeling we're not in Abbotsford anymore!

At the Apple Farm

Cycling and 'wine'ing in Kelowna

Celebrating the life of the one and only Uncle Bob

Wow it's hot!!! Holy crap!!! Raining off and on just like at home but 35 degrees and HUMID!

Nice solar panels... no canvas, yet.

Rain

Home

We made careful preparations to have our new bottom paint, sails, solar panels and other new toys shipped so they would be here when we arrived last Sunday. However, nothing was here when we got here so we had them throw us in the water - no new bottom paint, no solar... you get the picture. BUT, when we are in the water we can turn the fridge on so we have cold beer and tied to a dock with 110 power we have air-conditioning! North Sound Marine folks are the best! Thanks team!

So in we go!

Walking the plank to install new davit lines.

Yes... of course I can splice a line!

With the help of You-Tube

Lots of stuff going on here!

Ed (Windswept Dreams) helping with the new genoa. I think he stretched it.

New genoa finally arrived yesterday so we threw it up right away and then threw up because it doesn't fit. Damn. Too long. So we are in the middle of trouble-shooting and looking for solutions.

Jen and the kids are coming down for a couple of weeks so we can motor around to different places with nice beaches and breezes. Oh, wait a minute... is that a crack in the thermostat housing? Coolant leaking all over? So... after urgent connections with Jen and after getting her to drive all over Vancouver today she managed to find parts to bring down on Sunday... so we can start our adventure on Monday after new parts are installed.

This all will pass and life will be lovely.

We plan to enjoy our grandkids for the next 2 weeks, showing them around Antigua and then the last 3 or 4 days in Montserrat at a VRBO with a pool near a beach.

Should be great!

Cheers.

So That's It Then

We are sitting at home, dipping our toes into our parallel life back here in Abbotsford.  So nice to be here... so lucky to have what we have.

It was a pretty good season with some pretty big adventures. Montserrat and Guadeloupe in November were awesome... our tour of the devastation from the volcano in Montserrat was spectacular.

Our "second period," using a hockey metaphor was up and down. "Up" on our connection with Quest as we traveled down to Dominica together and "Down" when we snapped our chain plates on the leg into Dominica.

The thing of it is, we had a great time in Dominica with our broken wings while we waited for good weather to head back home to Antigua. And we had a great time in Antigua while we figured out how to proceed.

During the second period intermission we replaced the chain plates. The third period brought us time with great friends... showing them all that we love about Antigua.

Bare poles

Water maker at North Sound - 750,000 gallons per day. Installing same one on Blue Pearl next year

Changing out the membranes

To the parking lot

What, here?

Bottom paint great... barnacles on the edges

We'll clean that up!

Murphy the dinghy going into storage - notice the cleaned up prop on Blue Pearl?

Pam reminds me that our year this year was highlighted by exploring new places and connecting with old cruising friends.

I've mentioned Montserrat but we also did some in-depth touring of Guadeloupe, Dominica and explored several new spots on Antigua. We reconnected with Quest, Serenity, Virtue and Vice, Aviva, Windswept Dreams, Aurora and others that I'll remember later. Lovely people enjoying the same passion for sailing around these beautiful Caribbean islands.

So another year of cruising has come to a close. We will spend a spectacular summer with family and friends in glorious Western Canada.  Lots of adventures in the next 6 or 7 months. We are so lucky!

And then... who knows? I wonder what next cruising season will bring?

Until then, Cheerio!

Just About Done

We are alongside the haul-out well at North Sound Marine. The AC is on and we are weathering the after-lunch heat of the day. Best thing to do... nap like Pam... or sit under a fan and blog.

We had a beautiful strip loin in the freezer that we were dying to eat. Pam made the rice/noodle concoction and when it was my turn to grill the steak to perfection... we ran out of gas. No self-respecting steak cooker uses a microwave... so we used the waffle iron.

Perfect!!! Although Pam was unusually mean and disrespectful as she went through the clean-up procedure.

New York Belgian Waffle steak.

We were doing non-urgent shutdown chores before we got here but still having fun visiting with friends and enjoying Antigua.

Quest (Sid and Cate) hauled last week. We were able to help a little bit but mostly take advantage of their condo near the Jolly Harbour haul facility.

Whoa - staying in here for a while!

It's the day before the day before haul-out. Let's celebrate!

Steak?  I like steak!!!

Quest, Aviva and Blue Pearl enjoying Jolly Harbour condo air conditioning.

Put to bed

Breakfast beers

Harry and Maryke from Holland - hauling soon, too.

On Thursday we had an absolutely super day with friends from a cruise ship.

It was my great privilege to work with Soraya in my last years in education. While I was there, she was the heart of the school academically and spiritually. She is on leave, and just happened to be in Antigua on our last day before getting ready to haul.

Picked them up in the morning and did a little tour from St. Johns down to Jolly Harbour. Then back to Deep Bay for a hike and a much needed "bob" in the bay. There is no wind right now and it is hot as blazes. The time flew by - as did the boat drinks and before we knew it... it was time to deposit them back at the boat.

Serenade of the Seas

Blue Pearl from the Fort Barrington look-out

Motley Crew

Beauties

Bye - loved having you aboard

After our farewells we headed up to Davis Bay for the evening... arriving right at dusk... but since we know the place well it was not a concern to anchor in the fading light.

Lovely Davis Bay

Over the week end we've attacked the semi-urgent stuff... sails, canvas, liquor management... things like that.

All hell breaks loose tomorrow when we haul around noon.  In the scorching heat of the afternoon we need to flush the main engine with fresh water, knock a few barnacles off the bottom, clean the prop and all the other things that can't be done while we are in the water.

Chasing a wayward flip-flop in a motor-less Murphy

Folding the staysail

Changing the oil in Yan Diesel

High maintenance - I mean the varnish on the bowsprit.

We've heard of boats "sinking on the hard" when rain water finds its way into the boat and can't get out. Ugly mess. To prevent that, we need to create an opening down in the bilge for water to leave the boat in the unlikely event that it somehow floods. Can't do that while we are still in the water.

So we will haul, Pam will attack all the remaining tasks and I'll try to keep cool somewhere in the shade. Spending more and more time thinking about our parallel universe back home with kids, grandkids and friends!  Woop, woop!

More when we are out of here!

Cheers.