Volunteering with ABSAR

I have recently become a volunteer with Antigua & Barbuda Search and Rescue, a non-profit organization that is committed to providing emergency services to people on the island. It is directed by a paramedic from the US who grew up in Antigua and is dependent on donations for funding. ABSAR has two boats and two emergency response vehicles so they can cover both land based and marine emergencies. Volunteers go to weekly training sessions on a variety of topics, are on-call for emergencies and support certain non-emergency events like the Transatlantic Rowing Race. I was able to go out one recent evening to greet, support and guide one of the transatlantic rowing boats after 63 days of rowing. We headed out into the darkness to a spot about five miles east of Antigua to the rowers’ last satellite tracked position. A small light showed up on the horizon, bobbing up and down in the large Atlantic swell. The two French rowers were elated to complete their journey and it was very emotional to watch their faces as they crossed the finish line along side our boat. We escorted them by the outlying reefs and by the famed Pillars of Hercules that mark the entrance to English Harbour. All the boats inside the harbor blasted horns as the rowers cut across the calm waters with the night sky lit up by flares. Last weekend, I joined the ABSAR boat to support a long distance swim sponsored by a local swimming club. We ferried some 33 men, women and children to an uninhabited island 2.5 miles off the coast and dropped them in the water. We cruised alongside to support any tired swimmers and tried to keep a running head count going as the group began to spread out. Luckily two other boats and a few kayaks helped to keep track of the elongated line.

Hitching Rides

It is very common for people to hitch rides in Antigua. There are buses and taxis but people will simply reach an arm up and give you a wave signaling for you stop especially if you’re coming down the road in a pick up truck like Subi. I will just pull over and the riders will jump in the back and ‘Ride Rasta’ style. As I pass by a place where they want to get off, they’ll just give a couple taps on the roof and jump out before I come to a full stop. One time when I was stopped by the side of the road chatting to a friend in another car, a construction worker at a nearby house site asked if I could give him a lift to which I agreed. While I was talking with my friend, other workers came out of the house and nodded at me. When I started down the road again, I had six guys in the bed of the truck and another 3 inside the cab. There is a mechanic who works in St Johns who Javier and I always pick up on the way to work. It’s a great way to meet some of the locals and find out more about the island. Additionally, we are always giving rides to our students which is a welcome relaxed attitude compared with life back home.

A Little Ocean Rowing?

Antigua is the finishing point for a 2500 mile rowing race that began in January in the Canary Islands. There are 29 boats in the race and are manned by single, pairs or four rowers. The first boat came in on February 26 after 52 days at sea. Charlie Pitcher stepped onto the dock to greet a small crowd gathered in English Harbour. He looked a little tired and sunburned but happy to be on solid ground. You can check out the progress of the other boats still out there at: http://www.atlanticrowingrace09.com/progress/

RORC Caribbean 600

The RORC Caribbean 600 is a six hundred mile long sailing race that starts and ends in Antigua. The course takes a circuitous route that passes by several neighboring islands. It is the second year the race has been held and around 30 yachts started this year. I was lucky enough to hitch a ride in an inflatable to watch the start up close.

My Pool No Longer

Alas, I lost MY pool because the house next door that was vacant for so long now has tenants. I miss that after work dip or the moonlit swim with the view of the bay! Just have to get to know them well.

Hands on Deck

The hull of the kayak is glued and glassed and looks pretty much like a boat! I started work on the deck a few weeks ago and it is ready to be glued to the hull. Every day, I get a little closer to a launching date. One of the first destinations is a remote beach I can see from my porch with binoculars. It’s almost impossible to walk to and it’s shrouded in a ring of coral reefs so a kayak is the best way to access it.

Young Neurologists

At the end of a unit of study on the nervous system, my class had the pleasure of joining Dr. M, the high school biology teacher, in the secondary science lab to get a close look at the brain of a cow. Put any kind of body part or organ in front of a 10 year old and watch the curiosity and learning spiral upwards!

Roadside Critters

Some of the fauna you can see in and along the roads of Antigua.

Wind Changes, Ash Falls

Last Thursday, the volcano on Montserrat had a ‘partial dome collapse event’ and spewed hot gases, rocks and ash in rolling pyroclastic flows. These flows careen down the mountain and sweep across the sea for half a mile or so. The current Hazard Level is at level four on a five-point scale so something is brewing deep within the mountain. The winds on Thursday were uncharacteristically out of the southwest which blew the ash cloud directly over Antigua. The sky had a thick haze and fine grey ash covered everything in a thin film. Looking out to sea, it appeared as if a fog bank was lingering just offshore. Flights in and out of Antigua were cancelled as the ash reached altitudes of 40,000 feet and reeks havoc on jet engines. On Friday morning, the sunrise was striking in its colors and the winds shifted back to the east, clearing the skies of ash. The Montserrat Volcano Observatory runs a great website for news, videos and monitoring info at: http://montserratvolcanoobservatory.info/

Sailor Reunion

I first sailed to Antigua 27 years ago aboard the 55 foot steel ketch ‘Queequeg II’. We sailed from Boston, stopped in Bermuda and made landfall in the Caribbean at St. Barts. From there we worked our way to windward and sailed into English Harbor just before Christmas. Some of the crew flew back to Boston while I stayed on for another 6 months. Last fall, I reconnected on Facebook with Doug, one member of the original crew. He was excited to know that I was living and working here and I was more excited to hear that he was sailing his own 47 foot sloop ‘Trinity’ down to the Caribbean where he would spend the season sailing with his wife and four young children.

Last week, Trinity sailed into English Harbor after sailing from New Hampshire to the BVI, St. Barts, and Nevis. It was a perfect place for a reunion; the same harbor where we parted ways 27 years ago. We spent the next three days catching up with each other, getting to know his family and visiting the island. We hiked up Strawberry Hill, collected specimens at Fossil Beach and enjoyed an afternoon sail to Rendezvous Bay aboard Trinity. They plan to be here for another week or so before they head ‘down island’ to Grenada. It was wonderful to see an old sailing mate again. The bonds we formed years ago were strengthened by the challenges we faced on our first offshore sailing experience and will continue to last despite years apart. You can follow Trinity’s progress on their own blog at http://sailingtrinity.blogspot.com/

Kayak Update

In my driveway above the waters of Willoughby By, ‘K4’, my fourth kayak is taking shape. The pieces that make up the hull have been stitched together with wires, glued along the seams with epoxy and then covered with fiberglass cloth and more epoxy. The boat is 17 feet long and I am building it outside which poses a few challenges. I’ve set up a tarp to ward off the rain but the wind keeps lifting up the light pieces of plywood that make up the panels of the boat. I’ve got lots of weights handy. I had to squeeze it into my cottage during one particularly nasty squall when I was in the middle of an important assembly point. I will begin working on the deck next and then join that to the hull to complete the boat. Coincidentally, I met two men who work in a woodshop here who are also building very similar boats. We plan to launch them together and are planning some paddling trips.

Voyage to the Next Bay Over

Last weekend Javier and I sailed ‘Fwa!’ to Half Moon Bay. The conditions were perfect for the 4 mile trip to one of the nicest beaches on the island. We loaded a dry bag with a few essential items and headed out across Willoughby Bay in light winds. The sea inside the reef was flat which helped as we picked our way around shallow areas, coral heads and out around the breaking surf. Once outside the reef, we encountered the large, regular swell of the Atlantic Ocean. ‘Fwa!’ sailed smoothly over the waves even though we lost sight of the horizon when we dipped into the valleys. We got bounced around a little when we sailed close to Hudson Point and encountered the clapotis caused by reflecting waves bouncing off the steep cliffs.

After about an hour, we came around Soldier Point and entered Half Moon Bay. We were holding off on the decision to beach the boat to see what the surf looked like. There were 3-4 foot waves breaking in the center of the mile long bay but on the southern end, under the lee of Soldier Point, there was just a gentle surge. With both blades up, ‘Fwa!’ skidded to a stop in the soft, white sand. Sails were dropped and we headed over to Hungry Harry's where we dined on parrot fish with a cold beer. The return trip took longer as the wind had switched and dropped forcing us to tack back and forth several times. We came across one large sea turtle lazing at the surface. Future outings are planned as we just got a glimpse of only a small fraction of the more than 100 miles of coastline that Antigua possesses.

Time Capsule

During the first few weeks of 2010, students from Kindergarten to Grade 12 at the school prepared items to be buried inside of our time capsule. The capsule was buried at the official opening ceremony for the new campus that took place on January 14. The Prime Minister and other members of government were in attendance. Directions will be left in a safe place at the school and the capsule will also be registered with the International Time Capsule Society. It is scheduled to be uncovered 25 years from now on January 14, 2035! Below is a list of some of the items included inside:

A list of all students, teachers, and staff
Self addressed letters
Letters and other writings addressed to the Students of the Future
Drawings
Photographs
Copies of the day’s newspapers
“I Like Center Time” booklet created by Kindergarten students
DVDs with pictures and videos of school
Thumb drives with pictures and videos of the school
an Island Academy Tie and Shirt
Yearbook from 2009
Letters to Spanish Class Students of the future
a Samsung Mobile Phone
a list of the Best Cars of 2009
a $20 EC bill
an Intel processor
a 2 and a1/2 inch floppy disc

I was able to glance at some of the letters written by our students and wanted to share some of their thoughts, hopes and advice.

“Here, everybody gets along.”
“I want to work on solving global warming.”
“I want to be a forensic pathologist.”
“I will be an Olympic Swimmer.”
“I hope to be a fluent Spanish speaker.”
“I hope I will be able to help others by being a doctor.”
“I wonder if any of the current students children will be going to the school.”
“If you want to contact me call 463-5555 and try to refresh my memory.”
“I will maybe have seven tortoises and four dogs”
“If the world is taken over by robots, don’t fight, RUN!”
“You won’t probably be obsessed with Michael Jackson.”
“In 25 years, I will have a pet hamster.”


It was a very thought-provoking exercise and gave us all a chance to think about what state the world will be in after another quarter century and where each of us will be. That future will be shaped and occupied by the students who attend this school and all other schools and universities around the world. This simple gesture reminds us all of the importance of education.

Fwa!

After three months of preparation the 14-foot Laser 2 made its first splashes into the colorful waters of Willoughby Bay. Conditions were a little too much for a first voyage in an unfamiliar and untested boat with a totally-green-never-been-sailing Spanish crew with no maritime vocabulary whatsoever but that didn’t stop us. We had worked hard and waited so long for the day that winds of 15-18 knots and big Atlantic swells out by the reef were no deterrent.

With only a few awkward moments, we found ourselves power reaching. The boat really moves! We were skittering down the face of waves with the dagger board half way up and spray flying, both of us hiking out, everything vibrating and humming. With the self-bailer sucking water like a wetvac and us hooting and a hollering, we sailed the mile and a half across the bay in just moments, tacked and were back in less! We had such huge speed grins on our faces that our jaw muscles actually cramped up!

It took a while to assemble all the missing pieces of the boat. I found several parts when I went home in December. Antigua Rigging made up the essential diamond wires I was missing and a wire jib halyard. I made a tiller out of a scrap piece of mahogany and a new set of grab rails out of driftwood teak. New hiking straps came from seatbelts out of a wreck at the junkyard.

I didn’t have a name at her launching but soon settled on ‘Fwa!’ which comes from Javier, my novice crew, who uses it as a catch-all expression so many times that his students actually call him that behind his back. On that first day, he uttered it every time we tacked, jibed or headed off the wind and came up on a plane. In English, it might be understood as, ‘Wow!’, ‘Holy Sh*t!’, ‘WTF?’, ‘You’ve Got to Be Kidding!’, ‘Oh My God!’ or, as I prefer, ‘That’s Frackin’ Fast!’

Stuck in the Mud

On a recent Sunday, I received a call from a colleague who had managed to get his car stuck in the mud on the way to a secluded beach. I rallied to help him and threw some boards and various lengths of thick rope in the back of Subi and headed out. By the time I arrived, six or seven Antiguans were in the process of lifting the back end of the stuck car onto firmer ground. The pulling power of Subi in low 4 wheel drive and the pushing power of, by that time, eight or nine helpful Antiguans was what was needed to get the car out of the greasy, clay-covered and deeply rutted road. With the car finally freed, we all shared smiles and thanks and continued our days, albeit, with greasy, muddy clay splashed over our clothes.

A Mountain on the Move

On an unusually clear and windless day two weeks ago, we were hiking atop Signal Hill, one of the higher points in Antigua’s southwestern mountain range. At the summit we were treated to an amazing view of the Soufriere Hills Volcano on Montserrat some 30 miles to the west. A recent increase in activity within the volcano sent a plume of ash skyward and the lack of wind made it tower over the island. I wonder if there is any relation to the activity in Montserrat and the earthquake in Haiti as we are all on the Caribbean Plate down here. The Montserrat Volcano Observatory has a great website that keeps islanders and the world updated on what is happening. http://www.montserratvolcanoobservatory.info/ Ferry service to Montserrat has just resumed and it’s on the list of my upcoming destinations.

More Signs from Antigua

Second installment in a continuing series.