PDQ Bay Antigua
Although the vast majority of our navigating is done with the aid of the Garmin 546 chartplotter that we have at the helm, we also try to carry a complete set of paper charts for the area we are cruising in, just in case. In addition to the above though, we also have a third source of navigational data that we can use, computer charts which we can view and work with on our laptops. Up to this point, the software that we have been using to do this is GPSNavX, one of the only Macintosh compatible programs that we could find at the time. The other day though, while visiting the awesome Active Captain website, I saw that they listed another Mac charting program, Polar View and it apparently is integrated with Active Captain, allowing offline viewing of their data. That rocks!
A screen capture of Polar View running on my Macbook Pro.
Curious to see how that would work, I visited their site and saw that they offered a free 30-day trial. I have since downloaded the application and have been playing with it. I’m also taking advantage of the relatively-strong Wi-Fi signal being shared by the 5-star resort just in front of us to download the Active Captain data. I can’t wait to experiment with this some more, when we’re not out enjoying the beautiful island of Antigua that is.
We spent a couple of days anchored just outside Jolly Harbor and we’ll be moving back there a bit later today so that we can meet up with a new friend to go hashing.
It seems we just can’t get away from all these rainbows… they keep following us!
Out walking around one day we learned a new fact… Antiguans drink Cavalier Rum.
We didn’t know that.
On this same walk we went for a little tour of the Jolly Beach all-inclusive resort. Remember the other day how I said that the Customs and Immigration people should be a little more friendly towards the tourists? Well I think they should take lessons from the guard working the gate at this resort! Not only was he doing his job of controlling who went in and out of the resort, he was also doing a great job of acting as a salesperson, inquiring on a couple of occasions about when we were going to be booking in to stay at their lovely resort. Jolly Beach… he deserves a raise!
Right now we are anchored in Hermitage Bay, just in front of the beautiful 5-star Hermitage Bay resort. Check out their rates… OUCH!
We did have this guy as a neighbor. Someone should tell him that leaving fenders down while at anchor is a bit of a faux pas.
Yesterday we went in search of the illusive (to us anyway) Eden beach.
For privacy reasons, there are no cameras allowed on that beach but I was able to discreetly snap this pic of Rebecca practicing with her Poi.
When we returned to ZTC, we found that fender-boy had left and in his place were two other Canadian-flagged PDQs, Double Exposure and Zanadu Sea! We think it only appropriate that we re-name this place PDQ Bay. It has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?
I’m using PolarView in the cabin and LOVE it. What a truly great piece of software.
On deck, on the iPad I use iNavX. Works the nuts.
Both are super programs, you’ll get used to them in a hurry.
You might want to check out MagicJack as well. Free calls to Canada and the USA from, apparently, anywhere. I can’t get over this one, it’s just great. If you have a connection, you have a phone.
Oh, btw, this is not spam.
hth,
Jim (S/V Two Can)
Thanks for the comments, Jim. I am familiar with MagicJack. In fact, we subscribe to MagicTalk, their service which does not require the hardware dongle to connect to a phone. It works similar to Skype but allows us to have a Canadian telephone number.
Hermitage Bay Resort rates are… wow! And I thought Little Dix Bay on Virgin Gorda was really high at about $950 a night!!! Even if I had the $$ I don’t know that I’d want to spend that when you can rent a really nice private house, with a housekeeper, for about $3,000 – $4,000 a week. Even that is a lot but you can usually sleep 6-8 for that.
yeah… WOW!
Oh and… I was trying to remember what make of cat you had the other day and tried to find it in back posts but couldn’t. So it’s a PDQ….and how many feet?
Now I can’t remember why I wanted to know. *sigh*
🙂
I do that a lot. It is 32′ long, 16′ wide. By the standards of most cats down here, that is TINY.
Rebecca did a good haircut (hash pic) ! I too have been using a machine to cut hair of our boys. The middle one has so thick hair that I raised my hands up. It’s like copper line and the razor gets stuck.
I liked that “Keep calm” T-shirt.
Rebecca looks stunning ! ( I have started 100 push ups series…:) – You said it: “Just do it!”).
Beautiful bays You are exploring!
Thanks Tytti. I also think she did a great job on my hair. 🙂
As for the shirt, I received a couple of compliments on that last evening. It was a gift from a couple of our blog readers (and new friends) David and Lesiya, who travelled from the UK to visit Grenada.
Good luck on those pushup!
Why is having your fenders down while at anchor considered a faux pas? Just curious.
Ummm… it just is. 🙂
Actually, having anything unnecessary (like fenders when not at a dock) hanging outside the rails is pretty un-nautical in my opinion. An exception to this that you will often see is cruising boats that leave a fender alongside where they tie their dinghy up, so that it doesn’t mar their boat’s topsides.
Hi Mike!
I wonder if this comment is not a little late, but just saw it. I give you two reasons why having the fenders out here might be a possibility.
– Either he is having doubts of the anchoring abilities of his fellow cruisers. When anchors drag at night, he is ready for some side-protection.
– Most likely scenario: those fenders are taking up a lot of space somewhere inside that cat and hanging them over the side is a great way for having them out of the way.
All the best!
Hi Etienne
It is never to late to post your thoughts here. 🙂
Given that he went and anchored in front of US, I assume that number 1 isn’t the case, unless he figures that he is going to be the one to drag. As for number 2, you may be right. I still wouldn’t do it, but that could be his reasoning. On that note, we carry 9-10 fenders on ZTC, several of them quite large, and we can fit them in our lockers. I would have to imagine that a large charter boat like that, which would not be carrying all the cruising necessities that full-time live-aboards do, could find room for their fenders.
Thanks for the comment!
Very late post, but I am starting from the beginning. Almost at the current post! Being a Windows user, I have a lot more possibilities for computer nav programs. Currently, I just have the US and its territories’ charts. Would you mind telling me where you acquired charts for the islands.
The digital charts for the islands that we have came on CDs that were included with the paper charts that we purchased.