Jolly Harbor, Antigua

Hello again from Jolly Harbor, Antigua. It was certainly a dark and stormy night, and is now a dark and stormy day with lots of squalls coming thru with plenty of wind gusts. This is a major cold front that that has been forecast for several days. It is expected to last several more with squalls today and tonight then, moderating a bit. There are maybe 40 boats hunkered down at anchor here in the bay. We got little sleep last night with the strong gusts tossing us about while we worried about the anchor holding. Both slept with our shorts and T shirts on. It is a great anchor and it held well, but during the night our bridle came off and the chain was yanking on the boat so we had to get up and reconnect the bridle. The bridle is a rope from each hull connected to the anchor chain with a hook. The bridle smooths the strain from the boat to the anchor. Then this afternoon with the continuing gusts of wind the bridle rope broke with a loud bang. Another boater come over and helped attach our spare one. On top of that, our house batteries are dying fast and must be replaced soon. That is a major job. The batteries weigh 135 lb. each and are located under the front settee. First we wrestle out the old batteries, then modify the bracing to accept the new, then brace and strap down the new. Cost about $2400. Ain’t cruising a lot of fun!

We did have a nice time visiting with Kent and Cindy Brandon yesterday. The cruise liner they were on stopped for a day in St. John, about 5 miles from our anchorage. So they caught a taxi and we had lunch aboard Toucan. Not quite as large or luxurious as the huge liner they were on. Riding out and back to Toucan in our dinghy, with this storm approaching, they were able to get the flavor, and a wet bum, of this cruising life.

It is now decision time for us, we wanted to sail onward to Florida, but with a 2 month delay for my medical, weather, and now our insurance company protesting, we will head back south and visit the nice Caribbean Islands again in a more leisurely fashion and have the boat hauled again in Grenada. We plan to attend Granddaughter Brianna’s May wedding in Florida and don’t want to be caught half way there, out of time, and waiting for weather. The main deterrent is our insurance company. When I originally sent them our itinerary they misunderstood and assumed that we would sail to Florida and back to Grenada. Florida is in the hurricane area, Grenada is not. Now, when I made it clear to them that our plan was to sail to Florida and have the boat hauled and stored on land there during the hurricane season, they protested and refused to insure. Next season we will be having boat insurance with another company.

We are now considering driving back home from Florida so that we can see something besides water. Life is short - go for it.