January 2, 2026
Ever since we decided that we wanted to move onto the boat and explore the world for a few years, it has been non-stop preparation. There was a lot to think about; the house, the cars, the camper, our belongings, the boat’s preparedness, the finances and our jobs. Would we sell the house and completely part from it, or would we not risk that and rent it out? I have had a long term rental before and knew that I didn’t want that for this house as it requies a lot of landscaping and gardening work. It is simply too special to let someone move in and ruin it. The decision to put it up as a short term vacation rental made sense. The house is a huge asset and will likely continue increase in value. It’s located in an amazing place on Chickamauga Creek with creek access, great views, and hiking and climbing within walking distance. It would allow us to store the belongings we kept in our shop and not have to deal with moving out all the furniture. It was, however, a lot of preparation to get it permitted, and in the best shape it could be before we left it to a property manager.
All summer, every weekend after working my screen job was spent doing some form of maintenance on the house whether it was landscaping, staining decks, fixing random things, planning and paperwork for the permitting, or sifting through our belongings to pare our lives down and move them out of the house. We sold things, we donated things, we worked all summer long with barely a days break. We had a few foster kittens in the middle of it all just to keep us sane and smiling in the house. Then we arrived in Antigua and the work didn’t stop. Another month of boat preparation in between our regular jobs. All the while knowing we would be leaving those jobs soon.
This last week has been a sigh of relief. A moment to breath and actually enjoy the boat and our surroundings. To be outside, stick our faces in the water, and explore the Caribbean. It has been a taste of what is to come, a relative freedom without a schedule. There’s no 9 to 5, no impulse to look at the news, no cars, no large box stores, no lights (other than the BMF’s), no hustle and bustle. It’s simply been a moment to enjoy, relax and have fun.
Of course not everything is rainbows and butterflies, but for the most part it’s been a much needed moment of peace. We started our visit to St. John in Lameshur Bay, which is on the south side of the island. This may be the best morring field in St. John. The main reason is because there are no lights on land, It’s all park. There’s a nice goverment dock for landing your dinghy and even pit toilets and trash cans! That’s typically unheard of for normal crusing life. Additionally, it has one of the best snorkiling spots on the island!
The wind here is pretty light this time of year, so we motored around the island to our next stop, Francis & Moho Bay on the North side. Due to a winter ground swell from the north there are many areas that are not comfortable on the north side, but this is where a lot of the action is. You are so close to the British Virgin Islands so there are tons of mountainous islands very close to each other. It’s quite beautiful, but also busy with boats and land tourists. We had a nice snorkle in Francis Bay and saw some rays and turtles. Unfortunately, the over night in Fancis Bay had a bit more swell than expected. The wind died at night and we swirled and rocked around our morring ball as it bounced against the boat multiple times throughout the night. Not ideal for a good nights sleep… The next morning we took a dinghy ride to the beach and walked to the Annaburg Sugar Plantation (click the link to learn more). We scoped out another mooring field just in front of it that was supposed to be more protected and decided to move there.
We moved to Lienster / Watermelon Bay that afternoon. It was a little busy, but there was supposed to be really good snorkling there, so worth a visit. This is where we first experienced the genorators. Sadly, many boats around here seem to have few solar panels, and / or are using too much electricity (i.e. running air conditioning) to get by with their solar or engine charge. All evening and all night some boat or another was running their generators. No problem, let’s just burn some more fossil fuel! We need air conditioning! It felt like we were in an RV park and we were annoyed. Regardless, we made the best of it and went for a snorkling / paddle boarding in the morning. The snorkling was pretty good, given the current state of our oceans.
It would be remiss of me not to mention the state of our coral reefs. Yes we have all heard about it, but I feel as if I have seen it with my own eyes. I grew up in the ocean. At 13 years old I was a certified open water diver. We took trips to the Bahamas and Cayman Islands and I was lucky to see some amazing underwater landscapes in my youth. The first time I noticed the change in the ocean was in 2014 when Tony and I went to Austrailia and I drug him on a 5 day live aboard dive boat to learn how to dive on the Great Barrier Reef. There was a significant amount of bleaching in the shallower areas of the dive sites. Yet, it was still pretty good and the majority of the reef was in good health. I do not remember seeing coral covered in algae. At that point it had been a good 10 years since I had dove last.
Fast forward another 10-12 years and the state of the reef is even worse. We did have some pretty good snorkling off the coast of St. Vincent a few years ago. It seemed to be a weird little bubble of pretty healthy reef right on the coast. Antigua is unfortunately in a sad state, at least in terms of shallower snorkling areas. The majority of the coral is dead. Most of it covered in algae. There’s still tons of fish. Sea fans, sponges and some softer corals seem to still be in existence, but the structure building corals are suffering greatly.
In St. John USVI, a protected park that should be in a good state of affairs is unfortunately also suffering. Watermellon Cay had a lot of diseased / dying sea fans and other corals. There was still some life, but it was obvious to me it was not in a great state. Lameshur is in a better state, at least on Yawzi Point. The sea fans are healthy and there’s more brain coral than I have seen in a long time. We lucked out and got a close look at a spotted eagle ray yesterday! Still it saddens me to say, we are ruining the ocean. I am hoping I can contribute in some way during this journey to help.
We moved back to Lameshur Bay and have been here for a few days. Unfortunately, we have had a southeast swell in the bay that has made for some rolly conditions, but it’s still better than the north side in generator city. I have been watching the weather to make our short passage to the Spanish Virgin Islands, hoping for a bit more wind than we’ve had. Looks like we will depart St. John early tomorrow morning. The wind looked better, but then changed and doesn’t look amazing, 10-11 knots if we are lucky. I’m crossing my fingers we can get to Culebra, PR in 7-9 hours. Its only 36 nautical miles away. Next week is a bit of a tough one. 2026 will be a new start, a change in what life had become. I will finally inform my employer that I am leaving the rat race and the Wind Industry…
One response to “A Sigh of Relief & A New Year”
I’m excited for your new adventure! Maybe we will have an opportunity to meet you on an island this year. Safe travels