Category Archives: Antigua and Barbuda

Passage to English Harbor, Antigua

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This morning Eric was up early. The waves had picked up considerably during the night, and our once fairly flat anchorage was now rocky as all get out. Eric was having a hard time sleeping with all the motion. We got ready quickly and pulled up anchor at 0745.

A little bit southwest of the sand bar is a long, thin strip of especially shallow water. While the water in the rest of the bay is about 15 feet deep, this strip is only 9 feet deep. We were stunned as we watched enormous waves breaking on the 9 foot strip. We mean enormous. Oddly, the Continue reading →

Island Tour and Flipping the Dinghy

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Continued from yesterday”¦ After we were done eating, our new friends continued to roam the town while we went back to immigration. It was once again very simple. Just one form, and no fees. This agent was also causally dressed and professional, but curt. Our new friends rejoined us as soon as we were done, ice cream cones in hand. Christi thought Eric might die of jealousy.

The town is cute. It is very small, probably all of 6 or 7 blocks in total from what we can tell. Most of the buildings are low bungalows with metal roofs. Most look to be in good shape, with none appearing especially weather beaten. You definitely get a strong sense that everyone knows everyone else, and that they view themselves as a big family.

We took a dirt road east. It looked like mostly undeveloped land to us, though we did pass a few small farms. We also passed a few shacks in the middle of nowhere. They were kind off odd anomalies since pretty much everyone on the island lives in Codrington. The taxi driver explained that these are real Rastafarians, who choose to Continue reading →

Frigate Bird Mating and Checking into Barbuda

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Just in case anyone is unclear, yesterday’s post was an April Fool’s joke. There is no magical algae, at least that we know of. The duty free fuel in Guadeloupe is dyed green, which was why we had to go to the special pumps. When we saw the green fuel, we knew it would be the ideal joke.

So, back to our travel log: Last night we found out there is one drawback to this anchorage. The resort uses a very loud generator that they run all night. It must drive the hotel guests mad.

This morning we were up early, preparing to go to the one and only town of Codrington to check into the country. From where we are, there are two choices to get to the village. You can either drag your dinghy across the sandbar and into the lagoon, then take yourself over to the village, located due east on the other side of the lagoon. Or you can Continue reading →

Batch 14 Fuel Treatment

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So we did something absolutely insane. We didn’t mention it at the time because we knew we would be bombarded with criticism and we just didn’t want to hear it, so we kept it to ourselves. But, it looks like our insanity turned out to be a smart choice after all, and since it worked out, we are going to tell you about it.

While we were in Guadeloupe, we met a fellow boater on the docks and started chatting with him. He is Continue reading →

History of Antigua and Barbuda

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The country of Antigua and Barbuda is made of two main islands, Antigua and Barbuda, located about 25 miles from each other. Barbuda is a low, flat island that is 62 square miles big, with a population of about 1250. Antigua is hilly, 108 square miles big, and home to 72,000 people. Antigua also has several little satellite islands surrounding it very close to the mainland.

Remains have been found on Antigua that indicate that a hunting/gathering Amerindian people group inhabited the islands prior to the Arawaks. These remains include tools made of shell and stone that are quite different than the typical Arawak tools. Once again, we get conflicting information on Continue reading →