Blogs from Antigua & Barbuda, Central America Caribbean - page 2

I had visited Antigua back in the day. At that time we stayed at an all-inclusive resort and only ventured out for any evening at the Casino, which we dubbed Casino From Hell. But that’s another story. Now I had the opportunity to appreciate what a lovely island Antigua is. As we pulled into dock we counted four other ships arriving. Since we were one of the earliest it was not too crowded. We boarded our van and fought rush hour traffic until we left St. John’s, the island’s main town and capital. Our guide Anita pointed out places of interest and told us of the island’s culture and history. Our stops today related to the time when the island was mainly sugar plantations and ruled by England. There were fourteen forts built to fortify against ... read more

Geo: 18.0404, -63.1042 I've heard other cruisers describe Sint Maarten as "Hotel California", saying: "You can check out, but you can't ever leave." Now I get it. It's happened to us two years in a row. We over stay. SXM is a bit too busy for relaxing. We long to be out in clean clear water, relaxing in a quiet anchorage. Sint Maarten is a lot of things...fun, accessible, provisioning Mecca...but quiet ain't one of them. This time, we stayed two weeks more than planned. It's not that SXM isn't fun. It's not that we don't enjoy SXM. We purposely come to SXM for those two reasons and so many more. The problem has become the weather. Talk to any local and they will tell you that weather patterns are changing. Winter winds are stronger, last ... read more

Geo: 17.1224, -61.842 Is it solitude if you spend it withe the one you love? I don't know, but what I do know is that it was perfect. Absolute turquoise perfection. Sometimes, okay, a lot of the time, it's nice to be away from it all. In fact, in perfect turquoise water, I could stay anchored out until I run out of food and water!! That's exactly what we did for our last 8 days in Antigua. We had gotten Rob to Antigua in time to meet Vicki at the airport, at which point he moved off the boat and into their rental unit for the week. We had a great birthday week with them, enjoying a beach day for Tony's birthday, some great meals together, getting Vicki out for a sail, and just plain hanging ... read more

Nous sommes arrivés le 4 novembre à Antigua, sans problème, avec tout juste une heure de retard. Nous nous sommes installés dans la belle chambre que nous avions eue en avril au Jolly Castle, petit hôtel qui nous avait même envoyé un taxi à l’aéroport. Le lendemain matin, Absaroque venait tout juste d’être amené dans l’enclos de travail quand nous sommes allés le retrouver. Une semaine complète de travaux avant de remettre notre corneille à l’eau : nettoyage habituel mais aussi un changement d’un passe-coque, deux changements d’étoupe dans les presse-étoupe (arbre d’hélice et safran) et une réparation sur la coque. Il y a eu aussi la réfection de la petite ligne blanche au-dessus de la ligne de flottaison et évidemment la peinture antisalissure. Nous avons également pris livraison du nouveau dodger-bimini, une mini cure de ... read more

Bilan de l’été 2015, Nous revoilà partis dans le sud après un été tranquille au Québec durant lequel nous avons profité de nos petits fils, nos familles et nos amis. Nous avons repris nos vélos et arpenté les pistes cyclables et les routes environnantes en Montérégie; j’ai (Denise) même réussi un 75km dans une journée le 19 août, j'ai accepté de remplacer le cycliste commandité par Les Cafés Européens lors de la Journée vélo de Mira. Nous avons également renoué avec notre vieux canot, question d’initier Luca à la descente de rivière; bon ce ne fut pas très super (il a plu des cordes) mais c’était bon de se retrouver sur la Diable, dans le parc du mont Tremblant. Puis, à l’automne, nous avons décidé d’aller au Salon Nautique de Newport, Rhodes Island. Toute une expédition ... read more