It’s been over two months since my last blog post, not for lack of wanting to post or for things to post about. Every day has been busy, between sailing, exploring, schooling and maintenance, not to mention we have been having some fun in the sun with some new SeaSparrow visitors, it seems that days weeks and then months fly by. My last post left us off sailing north with the hopes of making it to Antigua for Christmas, so that seems a good place to start.
After some sporty sailing, we did, in fact, make it to Antigua, we moved quickly up the islands, with only the briefest of stops in some of our favorite spots. We would have loved to have spent some time exploring parts of those islands that we missed the first time, but as the saying goes, you can’t eat your cake and have it too, the goal was to get to Antigua to spend Christmas and if we were to do so we had to keep moving. We were glad we made it though as this Christmas was a complete contrast to last year that was spent in Simpson Bay Lagoon in St-Martin. This year we enjoyed about five days at the St-James Club resort in Antigua with about 9 other cruising families. The kids had a blast playing with their friends, enjoying the amenities of the resort, with a “break” from cruising life. We shared our Christmas traditions and enjoyed partaking in others’ traditions. It was sad when everything came to an end, but we did have the hopes of regrouping with some of the families in Barbuda.
To prepare for our time in Barbuda the SeaSparrow crew moved to Jolly Harbour. Jolly Harbour is where Eryk and Tia lived for the month of November last year while they finalized the purchase of the boat and awaited the arrival of the boys and me, so for them, it was a sweet return to the start of the voyage and a trip down memory lane. We spent the nights nearby anchorage, which has been one of our favorites, Hermitage Bay. The best part was on New Year’s Eve when fireworks were fired off just over our bow at the crack of midnight.
On New Year’s Day, the SeaSparrow crew set sail for Barbuda. After a beautiful sail north in light winds we arrived along with five other cruising families, Cayuga, Fearless, Serendipity, Abeaona, and Luna. Barbuda was an incredible place, I feel like I say this about every island we visit, I probably do and I mean it every time, but Barbuda was truly a unique part of the world and we feel very fortunate that we were able to see it. Barbuda is not often visited as it lies 30(?) nautical miles north of Antigua and although the island is a similar size to Antigua, it doesn’t have many resources and therefore has a much smaller population. In contrast to many of the nearby islands, Barbuda is very flat and surrounded by beaches and coral. Unfortunately, the island is so low that is was essentially drowned by the surge produced by Hurricane Irma when it passed over resulting in the whole island being evacuated. We were very fortunate, however, as the wind and waves were ideal for our visit to Barbuda. The beaches were pristine white or pink sand, the water was various shades of blues and turquoise with a beautiful coral reef just below the surface. Even better was the fact that there was no one around for miles other than the few other boats we came with, we were in paradise.
Barbuda has an interesting history, which differs from a lot of the surrounding islands. In the days when other Caribbean islands were continuously being fought over and changing hands due to there prosperous fertile grounds, Barbuda remained a British territory. During this time the Codrington family leased the land from the British government at the cost of one fat sheep per year. Once the Codrington family was through their lease, they returned to Brittan and left the island to the slaves. The island became a community-owned island, which meant there were no property owners and as a result, the island could not be developed. However, when the British gave Antigua and Barbuda their independence, they insisted that Barbuda must be joined as a nation with Antigua even though the people of Barbuda consider themselves very different from Antigua, and would prefer to be considered an independent nation. To this day the people of Barbuda are so against development there are stories of the locals pushing any construction equipment brought to the island from Antigua into the ocean.
While in Barbuda the SeaSparrow crew did what we always do, we went on a hike to explore the island. This time we decided to hike across the island to the other side, which seems like it was a little unconventional as we did get a few stares from people as they drove by. The island is very flat, so we didn’t have to climb over mountain ridges as we normally do on our hikes, but the walk was long and hot along a not so traveled dirt road. As we reached mid-way we arrived in a place that we refer to as the Barbuda Savana. Our path cut through fields of grass with low lying bushes surrounded by low hills in the background. There were many animal grazing in the fields and seeking shade under trees, most were the animals we encountered regularly in the Caribbean, sheep, goats, cows, and of course bulls, but Barbuda also had wild horses. As we continued down the path, we inadvertently spooked the horses which made the entire heard take off into a gallop. The horses ran alongside us for a short distance and then turned and crossed the path not too far in front of us. As we watched their manes and tails flow behind them we could feel the vibration of the earth beneath our feet and a rumble deep in our chests. In this Savana of Barbuda, amongst these majestical creatures, we felt like we were the characters from one of the children’s adventure stories, off on an epic adventure.
Another thing that made Barbuda so special was our visit to the Frigate Bird Sanctuary with George Jeffries. George picked us up from our boat and brought us to see the frigate birds deep in the mangroves. We were surrounded by hundreds of frigate birds and George got us so close we were only a few feet away from some of the birds. If the Alfred Hitchcock movie, The Birds, ever kept you up at night, you were guaranteed not to sleep again after this tour. To top it off it was mating season, so the male birds displayed a ballooned red throat that made them nearly double their original size. For the most part, the males just sat proudly on their branch hoping to be chosen by a potential mate, however, if disturbed from their resting spot they made an entertainingly awkward attempt at flight with their throats blown up swaying back and forth in the wind.
After a memorable week in Barbuda, it was time to weigh anchor and continue our journey north. We needed to seek shelter from the Christmas winds that were headed our way. Not to mention we still had a few more islands to see including the elusive Saba island on our way to the US Virgin Islands where we were to meet my sister and her family.
Thank you for the update! Wishing you continued adventures and fun! Please say hello to the boys for Justin. He misses their pop ins!
Wonderful experiences, you guys. Dave and I so enjoyed the frigate birds, blue and red footed boobies in the Galapagoes. They, too, would nest within feet of us . Had to nest on the ground as there were very few trees. Hiking across those islands was hot, hot, hot without any shade.
Have you been swimming with the sealife? I swam with the sea lions. So exciting.
Love your posts, how amazing this must be for your family xxxxxx
I thoroughly enjoy your stories of adventure. What an amazing trip mingled with visits from the family. I admire the adventuresome spirit of your entire family.