Antigua & Barbuda

Saturday 26 May: Alarm for an early-ish rise this morning, as we wanted to dinghy across the lagoon to the Codrington village before the wind gets stronger and the sea more choppy. Plan didn’t work… it was a very wet ride of 1.5nm, even with our spay tops on.
The boat dock looks relatively new, just a couple of boats tied to it. As we make our first steps towards the village, hurricane Irma’s devastation is obvious. Most roofs are still missing, debris strewn everywhere and horses, donkeys and goats running free. Here and there we see men working on roofs or pottering around houses. But mostly very few people around though.
Lots of temporary shelters and international aid still very much in evidence. We come across few of the volunteers and have a chat to them. 8 months since hurricane Irma and they are still here helping out. They are doing a great job. And there is so much more to do still, both building and clearing.
Apparently less than 1/2 the population has returned. Families with children are still in Antigua because the schools here are in ruins. Actually, we can’t decide what should be the priority: putting back roofs or clearing the tons of debris and junk that lie around everywhere.
The Antigua government are providing all the money and resources to rebuild each dwelling, one by one. As this reconstruction is free for the residents, they don’t seem to be making too much effort to repair their own houses with their own money …. instead just waiting in line for the government or charities to do it for them.
But then, we also wonder what do they live on? Even before Irma, there wasn’t any agriculture on this island. Some people were working in the tourism business, in the very few guest houses and hotels, and some fishing. But what other means of existence did they have? We can’t imagine there were many jobs here… Antigua used to subsidize Barbuda even before Irma, as Barbuda has always been a negative cash balance.
As we walk through the village a man pulls his car next to us, John, and after a couple of minutes chat we are booked for a tour of the island and a lunch on the Pink Sand Beach. John’s house still has no roof and they are living in a donated tent, but he seems to have got his tour business back in order, with a new 4WD and minibus bought from Antigua. An hour to kill till we get picked up for the tour so we wander the streets. Few temporary kiosks and very poorly stocked mini markets, a couple of street food cooking stations, fruits stand… life goes on.
We get picked up by John Jr, then drive out of town to the Barbuda Express ferry terminal where 2 tourists have arrived from Antigua and are booked on the same tour as us. As we drive, the island feels very dry, lots of the vegetation is very dry and some completely dead. There are no big trees, only bushes and very few palms, mostly to the ground after the hurricane. Glen says it feels like driving in the outback of Australia.
We visit the Indian Cave on the NE side of the island. It’s located near the highest point. It’s a small affair, with interesting rock formations. We climbed a short gap at the back of the cave and ended up on a plateau overlooking a wild beach. Beautiful view, even with all the sargasso weed rolling ashore.
Then back at the dock, where we left the dinghy, we transfer from minibus to fishing boat, and we take a 4 nm trip over the lagoon to the Frigate Sanctuary. The mangroves must have been beautiful before, now they are 90% dead, not a single leaf on them. Even so, the huge female frigate birds and their chicks are in large number. The chicks are only 3 months old, and they can’t fly yet. Mothers still need to feed them, and it is a beautiful sight to watch them do so. And when the adult frigate are flying, they are so graceful. Their wings span 2m. The mating season ended 2 months ago, and the male frigate have migrated to Key West and to Belize, for another mating season there. A good life for them!
Back on land, last stop of the tour is at a beach shack in the south of the island where we have grilled lobster caught and cooked by John Sr. Delicious! Very pleasant chat to John, but not so pleasant with the couple arrived by ferry. She is very arrogant, acting “seen it all, know it all” when in reality she has no idea what she is talking about. The guy seems decent, and we hope he escapes from her soon!
A walk on the Pink Beach was in order, to lower our lunch. Wild wide beach, with a Martello tower nearby and few bits from what used to be houses. Waves are crushing in, giving the beach a very steep slope. At the top of the slope there are traces of pulverized pink shells, which are giving the sand the pink look. Truth is, the beach itself is far from being pink. It’s normal fine soft sand, and only traces of pink shells.
Once we’re done with our walk, time to say our goodbyes. The ride back in the dinghy, the wind with us this time, was faster and dryer than in the morning. Back on Cloudy Bay, Glen goes for his usual round of swimming under the boat to clean the hull. A never ending task.
After we seep our afternoon tea, we up-anchor and move 2nm back south, and anchor next to a thin strip of sand which separates the sea from the lagoon. No bushes or drift wood here, only spotless white sand. Tomorrow Glen wants to kite-surf in the lagoon just to windward of the thin sand spit.
Early evening brings very dark clouds with heavy rain, so what better time to revert to our usual routine: evening jobs. All in preparation for our passage ahead, sailing to east coast US. Re-install the spinnaker bow sprit, check navigation lights, hydraulics, test spare water pump.
And also have a go with the SSB, and as luck would have it, we connect immediately on ch13 right on time for weather data; and we hear about Albert, the first tropical storm of the year which, lucky for us, is west, in the Gulf of Mexico. Clearly it’s time for us to get out of the hurricane zone.