More cruise news , updated March 22

March 7: A “lay day”. Bengt, Lotta and Emelie go ashore to explore Portsmouth while Elisabeth and Larry stay on board to wait for Philip, the refrigerator repairman Martin has found for us. When Philip comes on board, he finds that the refrigerant is completely out of the system. While he is recharging the system, he tells us that he is also a chef and an electrician. He says that even with Dominica’s high unemployment rate you can always find work if you can do lots of different things. The Helgius return and, after a quick lunch (sandwiches made on wonderful coconut bread purchased from a local street vendor) they go with Martin for an afternoon of snorkeling. We are invited to dinner aboard Rockhopper. First Bob gives us a tour and shows us the incredible systems installed by the eccentric Englishman he purchased the boat from. The entire galley is gimbaled – not just the stove, but counters and sinks too. The dining table is also gimbaled, with each side moving separately. The woodwork and engineering required to accomplish this is nothing short of amazing. It also weighs a lot, so Rockhopper is not exactly a speed demon. Herring, snaps and Swedish songs make up the first course, followed by boeuf bourguignon and topped off by a fruit compote, coffee and chocolates. It is hard to waddle in a dinghy, but if it is possible that is how we got home.


Martin takes the family Helgius snorkeling



March 8: Saturday is market day in Portsmouth. All the farmers bring their produce in very early. The market opens about 5:00 a.m., and goes until everything is sold out. We are warned that the best items go early, and late arrivals have slim pickings. Elisabeth is picked up by the Rockhoppers at 5:45, and has a ball buying all sorts of fruits and vegetables at bargain prices. She returns fully laden at 7:00 and we all go back in for a second helping. The farmer whose land we crossed to get to the Bwa Nef falls is there, and Elisabeth buys tomatoes and lemons from him. We leave Dominica about 10:00 for les Saintes. We have a terrific reach over the 18 mile passage, much more comfortable than the crossing on the trip south. The visibility is good, so we go the short way and thread the needle through the Passe de Dames and anchor close into shore by Pain du Sucre. We go ashore and walk into Bourg des Saintes. The police station, which acts for customs at les Saintes, is of course closed, so we cannot clear in. We stop for a beer at the little quai-side bar 1664. It is just by the town dock and we watch the ferries from Guadeloupe come and go. Bengt buys some mystery pies from a roadside vendor, and decides that they are either apple or pear pies. We pick up bread and a few groceries at the local market and return to Singoalla just at sunset. After a nice dinner we enjoy coffee and dessert. The coconut pies Bengt bought are excellent. You may have gathered that Bengt’s French is not up to the standard of his English or his German.



At the market

Elisabeth's haul from the market

The market is very laid back

The variety available at the market is incredible









March 9: Relatively light winds from the east mean a very pleasant reach towards Guadeloupe. We decide to try to reach Deshaies, about 50 miles away and if possible to stop for lunch and snorkeling at Pigeon Island. We leave at 9:30 and go across the passage to Pointe du Vieux Fort at 7+ knots, a great beginning. The sail up the lee side of Guadeloupe is, as usual, quite variable but mostly very pleasant. The wind goes from 5 knots to 15 knots, and changes from easterly to northwesterly and back depending on the topography of the nearby coast. In one of the quiet spells we are within talking distance of a French flagged Beneteau, and have a nice conversation in mixed languages with the captain. He sailed in Sweden last year and was very complimentary. We are forced to motor from time to time to keep our schedule, and when we come to Pigeon island there are no moorings available. You are not allowed to anchor here to protect the coral, so we motor around the island and continue on our way. We eat lunch under way and arrive at Deshaies about 4:00. We find an excellent spot to anchor, and see not far away Nijo with our Norwegian friend John Andreasen on board. Elisabeth swims over and invites John over for a drink before we go ashore for dinner. Since Nina has had to return to Norway, John is sailing alone and seems happy to have company. After cocktails we go ashore to Le Mouillage, a restaurant recommended by the guide book. The restaurant is crowded and the staff is at best nonchalant about service. After about 20 minutes and no contact with our waitress or hostess, Bengt and Emelie go out to look for another place. After about 5 minutes they come back and urge us to move to a small Creole restaurant just down the street. We do that with great success. At dinner, we agree with john that we will sail to Antigua together tomorrow.

March 10: John goes ashore to clear out. Customs has changed its sign this morning to indicate that it will be open in the afternoon instead of in the morning. He marches in and says that he is going to leave, and waited all weekend for the opening time that was on the door. Customs relents and clears him out. Since we have not cleared in (customs was not open when we arrived yesterday) we elect not to go through the hassle. We leave when John returns at about 9:00 and set sail just after Nijo does. The boats are remarkably evenly matched in speed, so we are never more than about ¼ mile apart. We reach across to English Harbor in very comfortable conditions, a really marvelous day on the water. We motor into English Harbor behind Nijo. It is very well protected, but very crowded today. We decide to go back out and around to Falmouth Harbor next door, which is much larger and much more open. We find a good anchoring spot not far from the Falmouth Harbor Marina, and both boats anchor within talking distance of one another. It is too late to go to customs, so John joins us on Singoalla for cocktails and dinner. He comes bearing rum punch, and we have a great time admiring the mega-sailboats at the marina. Dinner of grilled chicken, pasta and salad is excellent. We agree that we will all walk to Shirley Heights for lunch tomorrow.

March 11: Larry takes the dinghy ashore and walks over to English Harbor to clear in. The customs officer gives him forms that must be filled out and signed by all crew members, and says that it is OK if everyone comes ashore and walks around before the boat has cleared in. It is astonishing how different the different islands treat the clearing in process. So, back to the boat with the forms, then everyone goes ashore. Elisabeth heads for the Internet café, family Helgius goes sightseeing around Nelson’s Dockyard and shopping for tee shirts, and Larry stands in line at customs. We all gather (including John) at the water taxi to go across the harbor to Galleon Beach from which we walk up (and up and up) to Shirley Heights and magnificent views of English and Falmouth Harbors and more. After lunch Elisabeth and Larry call a taxi to go to Jolly Harbor to arrange for summer storage of Singoalla, and family Helgius returns to English Harbor by trail and water taxi. The ride to Jolly Harbor is interminable, and we discover that it would have been far cheaper to rent a car for the day. Nevertheless, we are impressed by the professionalism shown at Jolly harbor and the arrangements they make for hurricane protection. They weld the supports together using concrete reinforcing rod and strap the boats down with heavy webbing to heavy-duty chains embedded in a strong concrete pad. We tentatively agree to have the boat stored there providing we can get it insured. Our current insurance policy does not cover the boat if it is south of Georgia during the hurricane season. There is an office of Anjo Insurance at the marina, but it is only open on Wednesdays and Fridays. We call their head office in St. John’s, and are told that we have to fill out an extensive form before they can give us a quote. They can fax it to us if we can find an available fax machine. We return and give the taxi driver all the money we have in our pockets, and it is just barely enough. Bengt picks us up at the marina, and we return to Singoalla where we have grilled chicken for dinner with John as our guest and then early to bed.

English and Falmouth Harbors from Shirley Heights

John at lunch at Shirley Heights

March 12: After breakfast Larry goes in search of a fax machine and Elisabeth goes in search of the Internet. While Elisabeth tries to arrange transportation home and to Sweden to accommodate our change in plans, Larry goes into a store called Lord Jim’s Locker to see if they have a fax that we can use. He encounters there a wonderful old gentleman named Jol Byerley who is both a character and an institution on the island. Larry saw him last during Antigua race week in 1993. He was quite memorable, because he always raced his boat with an all girl crew who raced topless. Needless to say, his competition was often quite distracted and he tended to do quite well. For some inexplicable reason he takes a liking to us – Elisabeth’s partly blond hair probably has something to do with it. He says that he knows all the people at Anjo, and after a number of attempts to reach the right people by phone offers to drive us to the head office at the Woods Centre tomorrow morning and perform the proper introductions. He suggests an alternative boat yard that we might look into that is right in Falmouth Harbor. When we get back to Singoalla, Bengt and Larry take the dinghy over to the Catamaran Club Marina to look at Hugh Bailey’s boat yard. We have mixed reactions, and decide that we should stay with the plan to keep the boat at Jolly Harbor. We have cocktails on board together with John, and go to le Cap Horn for very good wood-fired pizzas. We enjoy talking to a young Swedish family at the next table. Both parents are stunningly attractive, and we quickly conclude that they must be models, or if they are not they should be.

Nelson's Dockyard is a mostly restored Georgian British headquarters from the 1700's

March 13: We meet Jol at his store at 9:30, and he drives us in his brand new Range Rover to Woods Centre. On the way we get a perspective of the history and current politics of the island. At Anjo Jol introduces us to Mr. Watkins. Mr. Watkins doesn’t have a clue about boats, but he is very friendly and diligent, and eventually we get the necessary form filled out. He calls the underwriter who fortunately does know about boats, and she gives us a preliminary quote that we find quite attractive. We agree that he will give us a formal quote on Monday, and return with Jol to Falmouth Harbor. When he hears that we plan to sail to Barbuda tomorrow, he suggests that we spend the night at Green Island on the east side of Antigua, from which we should have a better angle of sail to Barbuda. We thank him and agree to follow his advice. John on Nijo is going to sail with us, and we decide that Bengt and Lotta will go on his boat to make life easier for him and to have the experience of sailing on a new 42 foot Beneteau. We motor most of the way across the southern end of Antigua, and Singoalla motor sails the rest of the way after we round the southeast corner with just a part of the genoa out. It is both comfortable and quick. Nijo is more ambitious and sails the last few miles. Rickett Harbor on Green Island is a beautiful natural harbor, one of the few we have seen in the Leewards. Only 2 other boats are there, and we enjoy a beautiful sunset in idyllic surroundings. Dinner begins with herring and snaps and continues with “fiskebollar” (fish dumplings) contributed by John accompanied by boiled potatoes and salad.

Nijo with guest crew off Green Island

March 14: After breakfast Elisabeth and Emelie are delivered to Nijo, as they will be John’s crew today. We motor around to the east end of Green Island and set sail for Palmetto Point on Barbuda. Elisabeth is impressed by the electric winch that John uses to hoist the mainsail, and is quite jealous. Larry is worried what this portends for our budget. Once again we are amazed by how evenly these two boats sail. We arrive at Barbuda after 32 miles of sailing at about 7 knots literally within a few hundred feet of one another. We are gratified that the wind lightens a little at the end, giving Singoalla a slight advantage so that we arrive first by about a minute. We motor slowly up the east coast of Barbuda in very shallow water along a beach that extends uninterrupted for 11 miles. Barbuda is an absolutely gorgeous island- and inhabited by only 1600 people! We anchor close to shore, both boats again within talking distance of each other. We go over to Nijo, and John opens a bottle of champagne in celebration of our “victory”. We return to Singoalla for dinner of ham and pineapple contributed by John, whose food inventory of canned goods is impressive- with tomato sauce and green peas. We make a serious dent in our wine supply. We watch carefully as John rows back to Nijo to make sure he arrives safely.

High fashion on Nijo

Singoalla on the east coast of Antigua


















Singoalla reaches along the coast of Antigua














Emelie at the helm of Nijo

Elisabeth on Nijo leads Singoalla on the way to Barbuda














Bengt, Lotta & Elisabeth celebrate our arrival to Barbuda

March 15: All 4 Swedes go for a swim before breakfast and thereafter we call “Garden of Eden” on the VHF, and George Jeffrey responds and agrees to take us on a tour of the frigate bird sanctuary at the north end of the lagoon. John joins us as we go over the narrow spit of land that separates the lagoon from the Caribbean to wait for George. He arrives in an open skiff about 30 feet long that is obviously very seaworthy. He takes us first to Codrington, the only town on the island to pay for the permit for the tour, then we head north up the lagoon. The first thing we encounter is a large lighted bell buoy lying mostly on its side where no buoy is needed. George explains that it was found floating off the island by some fishermen who towed it back home. Research indicated that it had broken loose from its home station somewhere in Canada, and in order to arrive at Barbuda had to follow the ocean currents across the Atlantic to Europe, down the coast there and back over from somewhere around the Azores. The Canadians say they have replaced the buoy and don’t need it back, much to the disappointment of the salvors. The frigate bird rookery is nothing short of amazing. In the height of the mating season there are about 16,000 birds nesting in the mangroves in a space about a quarter mile wide by three quarters long. When we are there most of the males have gone to who knows where, but the females and chicks remain. The birds are totally unafraid of humans, and we approach within a few yards of white chicks just beginning to exercise their undeveloped wings, and mothers bringing half digested fish back to their young. We return to Codrington where John needs to clear out so he can continue his trip to Tortola where Nijo will be shipped back to Europe. We leave John there and return to Singoalla for immediate departure back towards Antigua since the Helgius must return to Sweden tomorrow. We have another very comfortable crossing, but when we get to Dickinson Bay where we had planned to spend the night, it does not look very attractive and we don’t see a single other boat there. We decide to change plans and go to Deep Bay, just south of St. John’s. It is very well protected and a lovely anchorage. We anchor just ahead of a Vega, a 27 foot Swedish built sailboat, with a Swedish flag flying from the spreader. Just after we anchor a young couple rows over from the Vega because they have seen our Swedish flag. He is a Swede who came to the US to study and decided to stay. She is an American, and they met at Clark University in Massachusetts. They are fulfilling their dream of cruising in the Caribbean, and expect to spend at least 3 years on that little boat. Just after they return another dinghy arrives, with Jay Hellstrom aboard. His grandfather was Swedish and he decided to visit the “Swedish contingent” in the harbor. He is sailing Hell’s Belles, a very posh Little Harbor sailboat built in Rhode Island. After our social hour we decide to go ashore for a final dinner with the Helgius. We start at the Royal Antiguan Hotel at Deep Bay, but it is so dead that we call a cab and go into Hemingway’s in St John’s instead. We return after a very nice dinner and one of the latest nights in recent memory – it is after 10:30 when lights are out.>


11 miles of uninterrupted beach!

John joins us on the trip to the frigate bird colony













Thousands of frigate birds populate the nearby mangroves













George resorts to a pole in the shallow waters


















Emelie walks towards Nijo and Singoalla on Barbuda >













Rain showers can be very local









March 16: Morning is a flurry of packing and getting ready to leave. The larder is quite bare, so breakfast is a pretty mixed affair. We are astonished when we are hailed by a departing charter boat. There is KG Gregory, the man who sold Singoalla to us 28 years ago, and who owns the yard where we have stored the boat for two winters. We are constantly amazed at how small the world really is. While we are packing, Jay and Linda Hellstrom stop by and offer to take our garbage ashore. We consider that to be a very thoughtful gesture and gladly accept. We go ashore about 11:00. It takes 2 trips to get all the people and bags in the right place, but eventually we are able to call a cab and the family Helgius is off for colder lands. It has been really great to have them on board, and we are sorry to see them go. We have lunch at the hotel and take advantage of their WiFi network to make phone calls and do some banking business. On the return trip to Singoalla we stop by Hell’s Belles and invite the Hellstroms over for cocktails. Elisabeth spends the afternoon tidying up Singoalla while Larry does maintenance chores. Linda and Jay join us at 5:00 and we spend a couple of hours getting to know this delightful couple. They have been cruising for over 10 years, and we have fun swapping disaster stories and learning about each other’s families. After they leave we have a bowl of soup for dinner and struggle to stay awake until 8:30. It doesn’t work.








Last breakfast on Singoalla before returning to Sweden






March 17: We have heard some chatter on the radio the last couple of days about some impending northerly swells, so we make a point of listening to Chris Parker today. He predicts swells of 10 to 12 feet beginning Tuesday evening and continuing for several days. We decide that we want to be in a very well protected harbor. Since we have some loose ends to clear up with the people at Jolly Harbor, we decide to go there to see if we can pick up a mooring in the inner harbor. We leave around 9:30 and wave goodbye to the Hellstroms on the way out. Jolly Harbor is only about 5 miles away, so we sail down the coast under jib alone, admiring the beautiful beaches and nice homes – including, we were told, the home of one Georgio Armani. When we come into Jolly Harbor, we are pleased to find one mooring available and immediately take it. We go ashore with laundry and a laundry list of things to check. The yard is once again quite professional and we are pleased with them. We have lunch at Pete’s barbeque, then reprovision at the very complete grocery store. On board it is hot, so we spend some time putting up our awning and figuring out how to improve it for next year. Right now it takes too much effort to set it up, but the addition of a few zippers will turn it into something we can use on a regular basis. In the afternoon Larry works on the blog while Elisabeth is deep into reading one of Stieg Larson’s mystery novels and eventually opens the bar. A quiet evening of reading leads to early to bed as usual.