ANTIGUA/BARBUDA SITE SURVEY for S-Pol
On April 13, 2003, Charlie Knight, Jon Lutz and I (Peggy Taylor) departed DIA for a site survey trip to
Antigua in search of a radar site for the RICO project. The RICO project will provide a unique
opportunity for scientists and educators to quantify the amount and structure of precipitation falling from
the shallow cumulus clouds in the North Atlantic trade winds. The project, if funded by NSF, is
scheduled to occur during the time period from November 2004 through January 2005.
We booked our tickets on American Airlines, leaving from DIA at 9:14 A.M. to Miami; Miami to San
Juan PR; San Juan to Antigua; arriving at the hotel after midnight. Our return was routed through Dallas
Ft Worth. RT tickets were about $750. We stayed at the Royal Antiguan Hotel near St. Johns.
ANTIGUA: The end of World War II marked the beginning of the process which in 1967 led to the first
step towards independence from Great Britain; in that year Antigua and Barbuda became an Associate
State, answering to the UK only in matters of foreign policy and defense. In 1981, Vere Bird, the leader
of the independence movement and Prime Minister, led the country to independence. Antigua and
Barbuda are today part of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). Since the 1960s the two
islands have gradually abandoned their agricultural economy (sugar cane), transforming themselves into a
tourist paradise. For more information:
http://www.antigua-barbuda.org/
Antigua is 17°N of the equator; 14 miles long and 11 miles wide; 108 sq. miles. The highest point is
“Boggy Peak” 1,319’ in the SW corner of the island. The capital is St. Johns and located in the Northwest
area of the island. V.C. Bird International Airport is Northeast of St. Johns. A permit was required to
drive our Hertz rental vehicle; $20 US.
We met up with Bob Rauber and Harry Ochs the morning of April 14. They had an adventurous drive in
from the airport the night before. St. John’s is a maze of unmarked streets; you must drive on the left;
steering wheel on right; deep gutters off to the left; it might be best to hire a taxi at the airport and follow
the taxi to your destination in the late hours. The locals are very friendly, speak English and are willing to
be helpful.
We headed out of St. John’s on All Saints Road to the town of All Saints. In town at the stoplight we
turned left (North) onto Jonas Road for about 2 miles and then a right (East) turn at the circle toward the
town of Willikies. Our destination was the eastern shoreline. We explored an area near “Devils Bridge”.
Sea clutter seemed to be the main disadvantage to this site as you can note by the picture below. 61°
40.73; 17° 6.094
Legend says that if you throw two eggs into the water to
boil, the devil (who’s said to be down there) would keep
one and return the other!
From Devils Bridge we headed back to Willikies and further south toward Freetown. Our destination was
to look at an area near Hughes Point (Nonsuch Bay). We did find a high level area at the end of the road
at Hughes Point. It appeared that power had been installed there some time in the past. Again, sea clutter
would be a problem. 61° 42.055; 17° 4.402
For the remainder of the day we continued to search
some very remote areas and decided not to venture
any further. (No, I didn’t pet the cow)
It was decided that none of the sites we found were
really “optimal” for a radar site and decided to fly to
Barbuda the next morning. At the airport we found
that Carib Air had two flights a day to Barbuda and we
booked the early morning flight. I understand that
Barbuda can also be reached by boat (3 hrs).
+
Our flight into Barbuda was about 20 minutes.
Terminal Building at airport in Barbuda.
BARBUDA: Barbuda is a flat coral island with an area of approximately 68 square miles and lies
approximately 30 miles due north of Antigua. Population is about 1,700 people. Temperatures range
from the mid-seventies in the winter to mid-eighties in the summer. Annual rainfall averages only 45
inches, northeast trade winds are nearly constant except for September. From what we could see, it was
very dry, desert like, both on Barbuda and Antigua. Codrington, the Capital, and only city on Barbuda,
was named after the family who originally leased land in Barbuda to produce food. We understand there
are three restaurants in town, and we had breakfast at the Palm Tree, located about 3 blocks from the
airport; also open for lunch and probably dinner if we requested. We were asked if we wanted to come
back for lunch and they offered to cook us: lobster, fish (if fishing was good) or chicken. Lobster is the
main staple of diet on Barbuda….YUM!
Our welcoming committee!
The Palm Tree Restaurant
We met with Mr. Fabian Jones, and his assistant Dorothy of the Barbuda Council. We briefly described
that we were in search of a weather radar site for the RICO project. They were very interested and were
in hopes that having something like this on Barbuda would provide a motivation factor to the locals and
the school children. We ventured as far out as the roads could go and then some in search of a site and
discovered that the Barbuda coastline is spectacular. A prime location for a radar site would be off to the
side of one of the roads that run south of Codrington. It was agreed that Barbuda was the optimal site for
the location of S-Pol.
Spanish Point shoreline
Dock & crane on Barbuda
The interior of the island is mainly shrubland and practically uninhabited with villages only connected by
dirt roads. It’s not uncommon to meet donkeys, cows or goats wandering around. The community owns
the land and no one can sell or buy it, but only rent it for limited periods. There are no fences except ones
surrounding homes, vegetable gardens, etc to protect against wild animals. There are three resort hotels
on Barbuda, the exclusive K Club ($1,500 night), Coco Point and the Palmetto. I spotted this fixer upper
that might be more in line with our per diem rates….reminded me of the Shripwreck Hotel in Westport.
I believe that we would be able to negotiate rates at the Palmetto (pictured below). There were several
“guest houses” in Codrington that would also be available; however, I don’t believe they would be
airconditioned.
Palmetto see web site: http://www.hipvillas.com/properties/palmetto/palmetto.htm
Listed below is the information gathered while in Barbuda.
Barbuda Local Government – The Barbuda Council
Codrington, Barbuda
Via St. John’s, Antigua
Tel: 268-460-0077
Fax: 268-460-0410
Mr. Fabian Jones & Ms. Dorothy Beazer
Car Rental & Private Chalet/Houses:
Byron Askie
Madison Square
Condrington Village, Barbuda
Tel: 268-562-3134 (for FAX call beforehand)
Tel: 268-460-0065
Cell: 268-773-6082
(If unable to contact Byron, we can call Roma Bailey in New York at 718-409-2512-evenings or 212-7159316-daytime or fax at 212-715-8005 & address to Roma Bailey). Byron had calculated these rates
thinking the project would occur in 2003-04. Rates may have to be renegotiated.
The Island Chalet with kitchen & lounge. Three available at $88/day US$.
Two private houses with 2 bedrooms each/furnished for $80/day US$.
Six available vehicles for $60/day US$. All require a deposit of one month security in advance.
On Barbuda we found the G&B Service Station, a laundromat, grocery store, bar, beauty shop, ice cream
shop, bank, bookstore/café.
MISC INFO:
Red Fox Taxi Service (Both land and sea)-Byron Askie see numbers above
(Day tours, deep sea fishing, scuba, bone fishing & snorkeling, horse back riding, water sports & rentals)
Construction, crane, gravel, etc on Barbuda
Nackbill Nedd
Tel: 268-460-0210
Carib Aviation Ltd., Scheduled & Charter Air Services
P.O. Box 318, St. John’s Antigua, West Indies
Tel: (268) 462-3452/462-3147/460-6132
Reservations: (268)562-2742
Fax: (268) 462-3125
E-mail caribav@candw.ag
Teddy Thomas (pilot) work (268)481-8021 or 462-3147; home 461-5001
Palmetto Beach Hotel, Barbuda
21 Beach front suites; air conditioned
Restaurant on premises
Italian owned, Italian chef
E-mail & internet service available
Phone & fax: (268)460-0442
Contact: Christiana Francesconi
(note: Palmetto usually closed from Sept. 1 to Nov. 23; special arrangements would have to be negotiated
for set up crew during October).
That evening we took off on a grass air strip near the K-Club on Barbuda for our return to Antigua.
On April 16 we began a search for a “back up” radar site on Antigua. Our fear is that a hurricane could
come through Barbuda the summer of 2004 and devastate this unprotected island.
We departed St. John’s on the Queen Elizabeth Highway and headed East. A site was located near the
town of Willikies, near the Willikies Boys Training School. 61° 43.073; 17° 4.760
Site near Willikies on Antigua
View looking away from site
View looking toward site
In Willikies we found a grocery store, barber shop, a bread store, and a café. The closest hotel was the
Pineapple Beach – Allegro Resort located on Long Bay on Antigua’s northeastern coast. The hotel, set on
25 acres of tropical greenery, is about 30 minutes from St. John’s and about 3 miles from the radar site
near Willikies. This is an all-inclusive resort, which includes all meals & snacks, including midnight
snacks and ala carte dinner at the specialty restaurants; unlimited fruit juices & soft drinks, unlimited
alcoholic beverages. There are over 180 guestrooms in four categories. Rooms are air conditioned, have a
TV, no refrigerator. There is no internet access from the rooms; they do have an “internet café” on the
premises. We met Jason who worked there and lived in Willikies. He said Willikies is very “safe”; no
crime and suggested we talk to officials at the school to find out about how we could procure a temporary
site for the radar. Check out website at:
www.allegroantigua.com
Pineapple Beach Allegro Resort, Antigua
We had a very lovely lunch at Harmony Hall Gallery & Restaurant (Nonsuch Bay). Gallery of arts and
crafts in a spectacular setting with an excellent Italian restaurant.
We also checked out the Long Bay Hotel with 24 rooms and 4 cottages. The cottages had refrigerators &
stoves, etc, however neither the rooms or the cottages were air conditioned.
On April 17 we explored the southern area of Antigua near English Harbour Town on Falmouth Harbour.
No potential sites were found in this area.
As described in the site survey from Dirks and Genzlinger, we stayed at the Royal Antiguan near St.
John’s pictured below:
Royal Antiguan Hotel
Beach area at hotel
We visited the Yepton Beach Resort that is almost within walking distance from the Royal Antiguan.
They had beachfront self-catering studios or large family suites (well equipped kitchens) and rooms. All
rooms are air conditioned, cable TV, phones, etc. There is a restaurant on the premises. Web site is:
http://www.yepton.com/
Yepton Beach Resort
Restaurant at Yepton Beach Resort
Below are pictures of the residential area of St. John’s, Antigua
Summary:
Barbuda offers an excellent scientific radar site and a very challenging radar deployment. We believe
with proper logistical support the radar could be installed there. There are very limited but comfortable
accommodations and facilities on Barbuda. We understand the scientists will also be requesting an
ISS be sited on Barbuda and possibly along the southeastern shoreline near Spanish Point (pictured
above). This would also be a very challenging deployment. There are no facilities located in that area.
Radar sites in Antigua could also work. If the project is approved to be funded, another site survey
would have to be conducted for a radar site and an initial site survey for the ISS deployment.
The following individuals were part of the radar site survey:
Bob Rauber
Univ. of Illinois
Dept. of Atmos. Sci.
105 S. Gregory St.
Urbana, IL 61801
r-rauber@uiuc.edu
P: 217-333-2835
F: 217-244-4393
Harry Ochs
Univ. of Illinois
Dept. of Atmos. Sci.
105 S. Gregory St.
Urbana, IL 61801
h-ochs@uiuc.edu
P: 217-333-4964
F:217-244-4393
Jonathan Lutz
NCAR/ATD/RTF
P.O. Box 3000
Boulder, CO 80307
jon@ucar.edu
P:303-497-2027
F:303-497-2044
Peggy Taylor
NCAR/ATD/RTF
P.O. Box 3000
Boulder, CO 80307
ptaylor@ucar.edu
303-497-2066
303-497-2044
Charles Knight
National Center for Atmos. Resh.
Meso.&Microscale Met. Div.
P.O. Box 3000
Boulder, CO 80307
knightc@ucar.edu
P: 303-497-8940
F:303-497-8171